System shuts down during XP install from floppy

Hi All,

Im building a couple of new PCs and I am getting the following problem:

The PC boots OK and I can get into BIOS. I am then installing XP from the set of 6 floppy disks downloaded from Microsoft.

This all goes OK until it gets to the end of the 6th disk and the actual setup starts. As soon as I press enter on the first setup screen, the system just powers off.

I have removed all unecessary h/w and tried re-installing several times to no effect.

I think this may be a hardware/config issue as this seems to be the point where setup looks at the HDD. I have also tried more that one HDD.

I am a bit stumped now so would appreciate any advice.


Hardware as follows:

MSI 745 Ultra Mobo
AMD XP 1800+
256 Mb PC2700
Hitachi Deskstar 60GB HDD
Liteon CDRW


Cheers

Mark

 

Try booting from a 98/ME startup floppy to see if you have access to the HD from there.

Try booting from the XP CD, and check for scratches. Is this a copy or an OEM CD?

Be sure you have the right floppy set. There are 4 types. Home and Pro, each with and without SP1.

 

Thanks.

Unfortunately, I dont have a 98 boot floppy, dont you need to have a 98 system running to create one? The only working system I have at the moment is W2K.

I cant boot from the CD hence the floppies, it is in fact a copy.

I do have the right floppy set - XP professional without SP1.

Any way I can get a 98 floppy or other ideas?

 

You can give this bootdisk a try. If it is the same as when I used it, it is a modified ME startup disk from which XP can be installed. It is an alternative to the 6-floppy method. It contains and automatically loads smartdrv which is a DOS caching utility that speeds the first part of the installation.

So we get both in one floppy.

Run the program with a formatted floppy in your drive and it will create the bootdisk:
http://server.times.lv/Hakers/xpboot.exe

Then, try booting from this floppy. Once in DOS (choose the boot with CD-ROM support option), switch to your hard drive to see if it detects it.

If it does, you can try just proceeding from there with the installation.

Note during startup what drive letter was assigned to your CD-ROM. If it is normally D:, it will probably become E: due to the ramdisk that the bootdisk creates.

So, if E: is your CD-ROM, you can then start the installation by typing:
E:\i386\winnt

If E: doesn't work, try another letter. It won't do anything but give you an error until you get the right letter .

It's possible, of course, that the CD is bad. Just being non-bootable shouldn't be a problem, but could there be any other possible problems with it that you are aware of?

EDIT----if the above link is dead as it was when I tried it, here is another:
http://directcch.com/downloads/boots/xpboot.exe

 

Ive created a bootdisk from the 2nd link. The PC boots with the bootdisk OK, and for some reason the CDROM is drive R:

I can read it OK in DOS, but my hard drive is not available (Ive tried every letter!)

If I run R:\i386\winnt.exe it falls over with a message saying cant find and area for swap. I presume this is because the HDD is not visible.

How to I make the HDD available to DOS?

 

The HD should be detected during boot. There is a hardware issue here somewhere.

Go back to the beginning and check everything. Be sure of the cables, jumpers, BIOS settings, and anything else you can think of. Something is not connecting to something.

Are the 2 PC's you mentioned identical, and both have the same problem?

What information does BIOS give you about the HD? Is it detected correctly there?

Do you get any HD activity during POST, does the light blink, can you hear the HD?

 

The Hard disk is detected OK in the BIOS as Primary IDE Master, it shows the correct model no as the name.

The CDRW is secondary IDE master.

Cables seem OK, jumpers on both set to Master without slave.

I have booted with the floppy bootdisk you showed me and then run FDISK from DOS which CAN see the HDD OK and would let me create a DOS partition.

FDISK checks the drive and whilst this is running the HDD light is on and it is spinning.

I also have got hold of the original Windows XP Pro CD today which I can boot from. However I still get the same problem that it powers off during setup.

Last time I tried it, I got slightly further as I got to press F8 to accept the license and then it powered off just as it showed the disk details.

I have also tried swapping the memory out tonight as someone from work suggested it may be a memory problem. It was also suggested it may be a CPU overheating problem, but as it always does this at the same time I dont beleive it is.

I am going to rebuild the other box now to see if it does the same.

Im running out of things to check

 

I agree that both the memory and heating could be culprits. Try taking the side off (it probably is already ) and putting a portable fan in place to blow on the CPU. This may tell you about heating.

Any hardware temp sensors in the BIOS? If there is, go immediately to the BIOS the next time it shuts down and see what the temp is before it has time to cool.

Did your CPU fan come with the board and does it have 3 connectors for speed sensing?

If you can do it, you might try lowering the CPU multiplier or the FSB speed in the BIOS just to see if that helps.

Did the processor come with the board? If I have the correct mb, they don't list AMD processors at all (???):
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/cpu_support/cpu/spt_cpu_detail.php?UID=313&NAME=MS-6566E

Also, check for a BIOS update. Some of the most recent releases have addressed XP installation problems (primarily USB problems):
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/bios/bos/spt_bos_list.php

Is there a separate jumper on that HD for master without slave than there is for master with slave?
Either way, you might try it with no jumper at all.

 

Do you have the latest BIOS update or have you tried loading the BIOS defaults? During setup when it tells you to hit F6, press F7 instead to select a standard HAL.

 

Are you positive about that, unixfan? I thought F5 let you choose and F7 automatically chose Standard Computer.

EDIT--
Sorry. Read it wrong. That's exactly what you said.

 

Thanks for replies.

The motherboard is this one: http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/cpu_support/cpu/spt_cpu_detail.php?UID=13&NAME=MS-6561 which does list AMD

There is CPU temp in the BIOS, from memory it is in the high 30's. What is normal? I will try a fan on it and see what happens.

I will check for BIOS updates. (I have also tried the reset to defaults as per unixfan advice)

There is different jumpers for master with and w/o slave. I have tried both but not none.

Looks like this will keep me busy again tonight.

 

That temp is fine---low actually. Most BIOS that contain temp alarms go off at 50 C. Try the fan anyway. Something else in the case may be getting hot.

And definitely try the suggestion about F7 when you see the RAID prompt to press F6 on the bottom of the screen. This will attempt an installation as a non-ACPI computer but will work with both standard and ACPI-compliant BIOS. It may tell us something if it works. You won't have ACPI, but that is right now the least of your problems. And I have switched some computers back to Standard that were unstable using ACPI.

Here's the most recent BIOS for your machine, Oct. 4, 2002:
http://download.msi.com.tw/support/bos_exe/6561v16.exe
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/bios/bos/spt_bos_detail.php?UID=13
(Do you know what version you have now?)

Disable the boot-sector virus detection in the BIOS during setup.

Good luck. Don't get discouraged. We haven't given up and it's not even our computer . We've been working on your computer all day while you were gone.

 

Abraxas,

Thanks for all your help, you should get paid for doin this!

I appear to have found the problem

I was thinking about the cooling problem so I remoned the heatsink and the thermal grease on the bottom wasnt completely in the right place. I have applied more grease and re-seated it and it has gone past where it has always shutdown before and setup is continuing.

Not out of the woods yet but it's looking like it was a cooling problem. It always seems bloody simple after the event!

The 2nd machine however is a different story, this doesnt seem to boot at all, 3 beeps and it powers off. If I cant get that to work, Ill post a new thread tomorrow.

Cheers again.

 

Was just looking through the manual on that board. It looks like a good one.

I'm an AMD fan, but they do run hot and cooling is very important. I've had bizarre things attributed to heat. Unfortunately, the temp sensor may be cool and the machine hot somewhere else.

Congratulations and good luck, but it looks like you don't need it now! And, yes, it always looks simple when you already know the answer. I tend to overlook the simple things and dive right in!

I'll be looking up BIOS beep codes, just in case.