Hey all! I was looking for a good forum related to computers and I figured I would try this one out, so first, a hello to everyone here.
Second, the mind boggling problem.
Please read carefully. This is weird.
I previously had a nForce4 T-Series mobo by Biostar. This mobo was awesome. No problems at all. Very stable. I just needed a motherboard to handle the newer video cards, hard drives and processors.
So I upgraded to a Biostar T-Series TF8200 and this is where the trouble began.
I put in my new motherboard and processor and then set up my RAID (2 Western digital Caviars 80 gb each). Things were ok.... for a few weeks.
A few weeks later, Windows begins reporting in the lower right corner:
"Critical Raid Access error! Critical Raid Access error! Critical Raid Access Error!"
I ignored the errors for a few days. Next thing I know, my OS won't even load. I dual boot, so I tried both OS. Vista64 and XPi386 pro. Neither would boot. After a few attempts, MediaShield/Bios says: Raid Striping error! And wouldn't even prompt me for my operating systems. Numberous hard restarts proved wasteful. So I opened my case. Replaced my SATA cables. Restart. Viola! All well!.... for a few days.
A weeks later. "Critical Raid Access Error! Critical Raid Access Error!" Once again, I ignored them and the process repeated. 2 days later, OS no boot. A few restars later, MediaShield in Bios fails to initialize my RAID array.
I open case. Undo my SATA cables. Switch differen SATA ports. Reboot. Viola! All well!.... for a few days.
A few weeks later, same thing. I open case. Switch sata cables around. Viola!... for a few days. Same process.
It seems that every 2 weeks, I have to open my case, switch sata ports, and things work great. For a few days.
WHY?
Disc checks and diagnostics show NO errors on HDs. I do have one other hard drive that I use for music, videos and other storage purposes that is NOT on a Raid array and it reports NO errors. It's only my 2 HDs on the stripe.
What in the world is going on here???
My conclusion is that there's something wrong with this motherboard. It worked fine before I got it. Since I get errors during Bios testing, this tells me it's not windows. I'm leaning away from the hard drives because diagnostics report no errors. But I don't know. I'm hoping I won't have to return this motherboard because well, I don't want to be several weeks without a computer. So, what do you all think? What's going on here? Mobo? But just switching the cables around... why would that solve the problem temporarily? this is weird
Specs:
AMD 64x2 6000+ 3.0ghz
OCZ 512mb DDR800 x 4
Biostar TF8200
80gig Western Digital Caviar x 2 (Stripe Raid)
320gig Hitachi (Independent, no raid)
GeForce 8800gts 320mb
600w Ultra PSU
Second, the mind boggling problem.
Please read carefully. This is weird.
I previously had a nForce4 T-Series mobo by Biostar. This mobo was awesome. No problems at all. Very stable. I just needed a motherboard to handle the newer video cards, hard drives and processors.
So I upgraded to a Biostar T-Series TF8200 and this is where the trouble began.
I put in my new motherboard and processor and then set up my RAID (2 Western digital Caviars 80 gb each). Things were ok.... for a few weeks.
A few weeks later, Windows begins reporting in the lower right corner:
"Critical Raid Access error! Critical Raid Access error! Critical Raid Access Error!"
I ignored the errors for a few days. Next thing I know, my OS won't even load. I dual boot, so I tried both OS. Vista64 and XPi386 pro. Neither would boot. After a few attempts, MediaShield/Bios says: Raid Striping error! And wouldn't even prompt me for my operating systems. Numberous hard restarts proved wasteful. So I opened my case. Replaced my SATA cables. Restart. Viola! All well!.... for a few days.
A weeks later. "Critical Raid Access Error! Critical Raid Access Error!" Once again, I ignored them and the process repeated. 2 days later, OS no boot. A few restars later, MediaShield in Bios fails to initialize my RAID array.
I open case. Undo my SATA cables. Switch differen SATA ports. Reboot. Viola! All well!.... for a few days.
A few weeks later, same thing. I open case. Switch sata cables around. Viola!... for a few days. Same process.
It seems that every 2 weeks, I have to open my case, switch sata ports, and things work great. For a few days.
WHY?
Disc checks and diagnostics show NO errors on HDs. I do have one other hard drive that I use for music, videos and other storage purposes that is NOT on a Raid array and it reports NO errors. It's only my 2 HDs on the stripe.
What in the world is going on here???
My conclusion is that there's something wrong with this motherboard. It worked fine before I got it. Since I get errors during Bios testing, this tells me it's not windows. I'm leaning away from the hard drives because diagnostics report no errors. But I don't know. I'm hoping I won't have to return this motherboard because well, I don't want to be several weeks without a computer. So, what do you all think? What's going on here? Mobo? But just switching the cables around... why would that solve the problem temporarily? this is weird
Specs:
AMD 64x2 6000+ 3.0ghz
OCZ 512mb DDR800 x 4
Biostar TF8200
80gig Western Digital Caviar x 2 (Stripe Raid)
320gig Hitachi (Independent, no raid)
GeForce 8800gts 320mb
600w Ultra PSU