KT7-RAID/1GHz Tbird/Herc GF2 Ultra Blank Screens

[roblap]

Hello,
I've been struggling with a new PC I'm putting together from scratch.

KT7-RAID
1GHz Tbird
ALPHA PAL6035 HSF
Hercules Geforce2 Ultra
256MB Crucial CAS2 PC133
2 Maxtor 20GB HDs
Creative 52x CDROM
SuperMicro SC750-A w/ 300W PS

The problem I have been seeing recently is a sudden black screen. I'll run FDISK, format the drives (either together in RAID0 or seperately), install WIN98SE, then try to install the VIA drivers when BAM! Blank screen. The power indicator on the case stays lit, but that's all. Sometimes I can get farther in the installation process, sometimes it'll crash during the windows install.

I don't think cooling is a problem. I have the Alpha correctly installed with Arctic Silver Paste and have had up to 14 other fans in the system. These crashes occur with the minimum of hardware connected (just the above list) and in every configuration I can think of.

The L1 bridges are NOT connected and no overclocking has been attempted. I've tried the fail-safe BIOS settings, optimized BIOS settings, and many other tweaks.

Things on my to-do list:
Swapping in a Voodoo3 3000 in place of the Ultra.
Trying to set up the mobo outside of the case. (grounding issue?)

Has anyone had a similar experience or have any other ideas for me to try before I start shipping pieces back to vendors?
Thanks
Rob

 

[Guest]

Well if it were a grounding issue you would have had a problem with it in the beginning and not just at the VIA drivers.

Take Care.
Yes,I know I'm immature, but my goal is insanity!

 

[roblap]

Yeah, but it seems to happen at random times. It will crash sometimes during bootup right before the "login to windows" screen pops up.

I failed to mention that I had the system up and powered on for almost 5 days running benchmarks and testing out games before I decided I wanted to start over from scratch. Big mistake! All was good with a SBLive platinum 5.1 in the mix as well...no crashes. This mess all started with me tinkering.

It's not just the VIA drivers either. Sometimes I'll get through those fine, but while installing the Hercules drivers...blank screen.

CTRL+ALT+DEL doesn't work either. Only a RESET or power cycle will bring it back from the dead. Temp readings in BIOS are all in the 30s.

Question. The voltage is set at the default 1.75 for the 1GHz Tbird, but the VIA hardware monitor software reads 1.84-1.85. Is there a known issue with that?
Thanks
Rob

 

[phsstpok]

There is a documented problem between Hercules 3D Prophet II PRO and the KT7 family motherboards. I don't know if it applies to the Ultra but you might want to read about it at Paul's Unofficial KT7 FAQ, http://www.icrontic.com/faqs/kt7faq/kt7faq.htm.

Look in the Graphics Cards section.

 

[roblap]

Thanks. I had heard about the problem with the Pro and the KT7 but I guess I assumed it hadn't carried over to the newer Ultra. I'll check it out.

Here's an update:
The system seemed very stable with the Voodoo3 in place of the Ultra, until this morning when it started rebooting itself constantly when it reached the "login to windows" screen.

I'm now thinking it could be the motherboard or power supply.

As a side note, I popped the Ultra into my K6-2 400 machine and it behaved very badly. It sounded like the drives were having a hard time spinning up. I guess the older, smaller supply couldn't handle the increased load of the Ultra.

Rob

 

[roblap]

OK, sorry about replying to my own post, but here's another update, and things are looking up!

Turns out the IRQs were the problem. The AGP slot (Hercules), and PCI 1, 2, and 3 (SBLive!) were all being granted IRQ10. This was apparently causing some problems because after I forced the AGP to use a free IRQ, all was fine.

I ran into a similar problem when trying to install a LinkSys network card in PCI 6. Slots 4 and 6 and the USB hub all share an IRQ and the system didn't like that at all. I was forced to put the NIC in slot 2 and have it share an IRQ with the SBLive! On Paul's Unofficial FAQ it says not to do this but I didn't have much of a choice, and I'm not seeing any performance problems yet.

Anyway, thanks for all the help!
Rob