MK79G-N Problems

[Chris]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.aopen (More info?)

Hello,
I have put together a system for a client (my father-in-law, uh-oh)
based on the MK79-N (with an Athlon 2500+, 512MB 333Mhz RAM (not the
best, Apacer is the brand), 80GB Seagate HD, LG 4082B DVD-Burner and
WIN XP Pro SP1.

When I first built the system, I had a few problems. Thought it was a
bad install. Format and re-installed. No problems. After applying the
SP1 and rebooting, I got a POST screen with all garbage text, bad
characters really. I could still read the POST screen (sorta) but it
was garbled with characters that should not be there.

I WAS geting a full stop blue screen with the first install, just
after the Windows XP boot screen (the one with the logo and the 3
little blue scrolling blocks), but not after the second install.

At this point, nothing boots, no Windows XP boot screen, after the
POST (and, of course, a check to the floppy and CD for a bootable
disk) I get a black screen.

In the end I suspect the video.
So heres the questions:

Has anyone seen this problem?
How can I tell what version of the BIOS do I have?
And how does that work for integrated Video? Can I flash only the
video and not the BIOS? I only see BIOS upgrade on the Aopen website,
and the details dont mention any video issue fixes.

How can I tell FOR SURE that its the Video and not the RAM (remember,
the RAM is used for Video memory). I can install a PCI video can I
have lying around, but that might not prove that it was video. What if
the RAM just wont work well with the Video.

Heres my thoughts: Either swap the motherboard or swap the RAM.
What do you think?

Thanks in advance, folks.

Chris P

 

[C]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.aopen (More info?)

"Chris" <cp98ak@yahoo.ca> wrote in message
news:cdd2b856.0405201546.2e492113@posting.google.com...
> Hello,
> I have put together a system for a client (my father-in-law, uh-oh)
> based on the MK79-N (with an Athlon 2500+, 512MB 333Mhz RAM (not the
> best, Apacer is the brand), 80GB Seagate HD, LG 4082B DVD-Burner and
> WIN XP Pro SP1.
>
> When I first built the system, I had a few problems. Thought it was a
> bad install. Format and re-installed. No problems. After applying the
> SP1 and rebooting, I got a POST screen with all garbage text, bad
> characters really. I could still read the POST screen (sorta) but it
> was garbled with characters that should not be there.
>
> I WAS geting a full stop blue screen with the first install, just
> after the Windows XP boot screen (the one with the logo and the 3
> little blue scrolling blocks), but not after the second install.
>
> At this point, nothing boots, no Windows XP boot screen, after the
> POST (and, of course, a check to the floppy and CD for a bootable
> disk) I get a black screen.
>
> In the end I suspect the video.
> So heres the questions:
>
> Has anyone seen this problem?
> How can I tell what version of the BIOS do I have?
> And how does that work for integrated Video? Can I flash only the
> video and not the BIOS? I only see BIOS upgrade on the Aopen website,
> and the details dont mention any video issue fixes.
>
> How can I tell FOR SURE that its the Video and not the RAM (remember,
> the RAM is used for Video memory). I can install a PCI video can I
> have lying around, but that might not prove that it was video. What if
> the RAM just wont work well with the Video.
>
> Heres my thoughts: Either swap the motherboard or swap the RAM.
> What do you think?
>
> Thanks in advance, folks.
>
> Chris P

More often than not, if you have problems getting XP to install without blue
screening, it is a RAM problem. I would recommend going to
http://memtest.org/ and getting their memory test utility. I don't know if
you have changed any BIOS settings or not, but if you reset the CMOS jumper
(read the manual) then all of the settings will go back to default. When you
get a video signal again, you can read the POST screen to get the BIOS
version.

Chris