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Need Help with ASUS AM3+ MB and Win XP

G

Grandcheapskate

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Joined
Oct 9, 2014
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808
Location
New Jersey, USA
Hi Guys,
Yesterday I assembled my first new machine since the Pentium 1 days, so this is my frst crack at recent hardware. Everything went together cleanly and the machine will boot. However, I can't get Win XP SP1 to install - I will apply SP2 and SP3 later.

It is an ASUS M5A78L-M USB3 motherbard and an AMD FX 6300 processor. The only components are a DVD drive, WD 1 TB hard and 4gb of memory.

I can format a C: drive and start the install. I get to the point where Win XP reboots the machine to continue the install. Then it goes along until it gets to where it is "Installing Devices". I then get a blue screen error. My guess is there are some built-in devices which I need to disable on the motherboard in order to get Win XP (SP1) to install.

I have written to ASUS and hopefully will get a response. I am hoping some of you may have experiance with new hardware and Win XP and can give me some hints.

Thanks...Joe
 
Are you using a SATA hard drive? If so, check your BIOS settings to say that hard drive access is IDE and not AHCI. This was a common problem in XP installs with SATA drives.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Are you using a SATA hard drive? If so, check your BIOS settings to say that hard drive access is IDE and not AHCI. This was a common problem in XP installs with SATA drives.
Click to expand...

Hi Chuck,
The BIOS setting for SATA1-SATA4 and SATA5-SATA6 are both set to IDE. The MB has six SATA connectors and apparently groups the first four and the last two in the BIOS. I have the HD in SATA1 and the DVD in SATA2.

Most, if not all, of the BIOS settings are set to the default. Anything that can be set to AUTO is set to AUTO. With this being my first "modern" PC, I don't want to fool with the BIOS yet.

Thanks...Joe
 
Okay, Joe. What's the BSOD message when the thing dies? Also, what cards do you have inserted in your motherboard? Are you using the on-board video or are you using a PCIe video card? The trick is to strip the system down to the bare minimum when installing. Also, on the off-chance that your motherboard drivers are not up to date, have you visited the ASUS web site for driver updates?
 
Chuck(G) said:
Okay, Joe. What's the BSOD message when the thing dies?
Click to expand...

If it's 0101: A clock interrupt was not received...
Then you've run into the usual bug with outdated BIOS: http://scalibq.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/amd-bulldozer-can-it-get-even-worse/
The sad part is that many FX-compatible boards were EOL by the time that the FX-CPUs were finally on the market, so they never received a fix.
As you can tell from AMD's KB-article, AMD flatout denies that FX-CPUs should even be compatible with anything other than the 990 chipset (because everything else is EOL).

TL;DR: if updating the BIOS doesn't fix your problem, just return that stuff and get Intel.
 
Hi Guys,
Thanks for all the replies. Let me answer a few questions.

The BIOS version is 1801, which should be well beyond the 1401 level needed for this processor.

There are no expansion cards on the motherboard. The entire machine at this point is motherboard, CPU, memory, hard drive and DVD. That's it. I am using the VGA output from the motherboard. There is nothing to strip out.

Here is part of the BSOD (took me a minute to figure out what that meant) I am getting:

-------------------------------------
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

*** STOP: 0x0000000A ( 0x00000010, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x8051AA58 )

It says "If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing".
------------------------------------------


That is the basic information I am receiving. I am getting a good ways through the install before this error occurs, and it always occurs at the same point. Shutting the machine off and turning it back on results in the install trying to pick up where it left off. But it always terminates at the point where it is "Installing Devices". This is why I think it has something to do with a motherboard mounted device - I doubt it is the HD or the DVD drive.

By the way, do all DVD drives sound like motorboats?

I have tried installling three times from three different CDs. Each time I wipe out the C drive and recreate it. But always the same error.

This should be the easy part. I didn't expect issues until I tried to put in a video card.

Thanks...Joe
 
Last edited:
Try going straight to SP2; forget about SP1. Better, slipstream SP2 into your XP install copy using nlite or similar.

From the web, SP1 appears to be exhibiting this problem on some AMD motherboards.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Try going straight to SP2; forget about SP1. Better, slipstream SP2 into your XP install copy using nlite or similar.

From the web, SP1 appears to be exhibiting this problem on some AMD motherboards.
Click to expand...

Skate:

A few things. Do some basic troubleshooting on your installed components. The first thing is to make sure that the CPU is properly seated. Next I would check the RAM modules. If you determine that the RAM is properly seated, and in the proper slots (the ASRock 990 uses slots 2 & 4 for example), your next step should be to run a test on the RAM. It would be a good thing to review the KB on this: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/314063. You may want to check the specs on your new mobo and see if it has driver support for XP. I recently (last month) built an ASRock 990 with a FX-6300 and there was no driver support for XP offered. Also, as long as you have AHCI enabled in the BIOS prior to initiating your install, it should not be a problem. Another way to attack the issue is to just download W8 from MS just to see if loads properly, then blow it away if you don't want it. At least you can eliminate the hardware part of the problem. Finally, you may want to take a look at your P/S. Just because it boots doesn't mean it's up to the task of running the system as a whole. Good luck.
 
Agent Orange said:
Skate:

A few things. Do some basic troubleshooting on your installed components. The first thing is to make sure that the CPU is properly seated. Next I would check the RAM modules. If you determine that the RAM is properly seated, and in the proper slots (the ASRock 990 uses slots 2 & 4 for example), your next step should be to run a test on the RAM. It would be a good thing to review the KB on this: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/314063. You may want to check the specs on your new mobo and see if it has driver support for XP. I recently (last month) built an ASRock 990 with a FX-6300 and there was no driver support for XP offered. Also, as long as you have AHCI enabled in the BIOS prior to initiating your install, it should not be a problem. Another way to attack the issue is to just download W8 from MS just to see if loads properly, then blow it away if you don't want it. At least you can eliminate the hardware part of the problem. Finally, you may want to take a look at your P/S. Just because it boots doesn't mean it's up to the task of running the system as a whole. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Hi Orange,
I do have a copy of Windows 7 (32 bit) I have not yet opened. I could try to install that and see if everything goes okay. I did notice on the MB box it mentions Windows 7 but no other OS is mentioned. I do however see some WIN XP questions in the FAQ section for this motherboard on the ASUS site.

I would assume if the CPU or RAM is not seated correctly, I would not get as far into the install as I get without other problems.

I took a quick look at that article and because I have the minimal amount of hardware installed, there is nothing to strip out. There is only one memory stick running at DDR3-1600 in slot 1. The PS is new at 430 watts.

I am very much leaning toward there being hardware on the MB or BIOS option(s) that XP SP1 can't handle. Wish I had some idea what they might be.

Thanks...Joe
 
Chuck(G) said:
Try going straight to SP2; forget about SP1. Better, slipstream SP2 into your XP install copy using nlite or similar.

From the web, SP1 appears to be exhibiting this problem on some AMD motherboards.
Click to expand...


Okay, I need help with this. I only have the base Win XP install at SP1. I then have a CD with the downloaded SP2 and SP3. I think you are asking me to somehow update my base install CD to at least SP2 but I don't understand how that would be done.

Thanks...Joe
 
Grandcheapskate said:
I do have a copy of Windows 7 (32 bit) I have not yet opened.
Click to expand...

Unless you have a specific reason to put XP on (and why not SP3?), I would go with Windows 7.
In my experience, Windows 7 works a lot better on modern systems. XP simply doesn't know what to do with all these cores and all this memory. Windows 7 gives you a much smoother experience, with more performance (I upgraded from a Core2Duo to a Core i7. In XP the Core i7 actually seems worse than the Core2Duo sometimes, while in Windows 7/8/8.1 it's a very nice system. Might mostly be the IO prioritizing that Microsoft has added... too many threads accessing the disk at once in XP makes a mess).

Another thing I would recommend is to disable any onboard devices you don't specifically need for installation (all you need is the CPU, some memory and a HDD really, so disable onboard audio, LAN, etc). Also pull out any USB devices or expansion cards.
That way you should be able to at least postpone any driver/hardware issues until the OS is actually installed. Once it's installed, it will be easier to install updates and new drivers that didn't come on the original installation media.
So then you can start enabling devices one-by-one, and get them working.
 
Skate:

Look at your RAM slots to see if they are color coded; i.e., red - blue - red - blue. If so, your mobo supports dual channel RAM and you need to have at least 2 sticks for optimum performance. You can Google for slipstream info. If all else fails send me a PM and I can work with you on XP w/ SP2 slipstreamed. I'm up in the northern Michigan sticks for the Christmas holiday and will be back to civilization over the weekend.
 
Hi Guys,
Thanks for all the replies and I will respond to all of them a little later. Right now, I have a question.

ASUS responded to my inquiry with the typical form-letter. One thing suggested is to update the drivers. Question - how do you even consider updating the drivers if you can't get an OS up and running?

Thanks...Joe
 
Chuck(G) said:
Well, Here's a guide toward using nlite to do the job. The process is called "Slipstreaming" Here's another guide that discusses this in more detail.
Click to expand...

Thanks Chuck. Over the next couple days, I will set up a machine to do this task and create a Win XP SP3 installation CD with the SATA drivers on a WIN XP machine. Maybe do a Win 2000 SP4 CD (plus roll-up) as well. That second link is a great titorial.

I've always installed SP1 and then SP2 and then SP3 (and in the case of WIN 2000, SP4). Can I go from SP1 directly to the last service pack?

Thanks...Joe
 
Agent Orange said:
Skate:

Look at your RAM slots to see if they are color coded; i.e., red - blue - red - blue. If so, your mobo supports dual channel RAM and you need to have at least 2 sticks for optimum performance. You can Google for slipstream info. If all else fails send me a PM and I can work with you on XP w/ SP2 slipstreamed. I'm up in the northern Michigan sticks for the Christmas holiday and will be back to civilization over the weekend.
Click to expand...

The memory sockets are color coded as you describe. I installed only one 4mb memory stick, although I bought a matching pair. Since a 32 bit OS cannot access 8mb, there was no point in installing the second stick. It is something I can try if the other optons fail.

Thanks...Joe
 
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