passes all dos based tests but can't boot to xp

[kensuguro]

hey, my desktop is still down, but I'm trying to revive it to write some articles for Dante's webzine.

The problem is that I cannot figure out what component is causing an issue. I know this much:
1. XP won't get past the low res loading screen (auto reboot)
2. XP won't safe boot (or any variation of it), keeps trying to read something off HD, goes on and on forever.
3. memtest86 checks out fine. In fact, it ran 6 cycles no problem. Passes all Dos based tests from Hiren's Boot CD.
4. main boot drive failed Seagate dos tool's short check, but passed long test. Either way, boot drive is on its way out. (already made a copy of it on a brand new 500gb sata drive)
5. Tried booting into Puppy linux Live CD, with all cards removed, and all drives removed, all motherboard features turned off (lan, soundblaster, usuala stuff) but I get errors while boot. I get kernel panic with bad EIP, which I gather is some sort of hardware issue. Puppy linux used to run fine with everything plugged in.
6. Tried all permutations of ram slots (1gb, 2gb, 4gb) and they all have the same results.
7. Fresh XP install to brand new 500gb sata drive fails while copying basic files, and reboots. (before it goes into gui mode)

I currently use an old p4p800.. ya, it's OLD.

So it seems to me it's something on the motherboard that is screwing things up... but I can't tell what. Is it ram? It is hd controller? Should I throw down $300 and just get a new socket 775 motherboard+ram+cpu?

I guess I can also try to find a p4p800 and just replace it, but so far, I haven't been able to find them cheap. You'd figure after all these years the motherboard would be worth like $20 right? They're still going for over $100!

[dawman]

I have a 965PERL you can have free if you want to wait for 10 days.
I also have a P4 I never used, and a used 3.0GHz Northwood.

[dante]

My main desktop died a coupla days ago ( not the new music machine thanks god ), so Im also on an old P4 for this web stuff. Did you check the BIOS battery not flat ?

Better do what I did last year & quickly find a MOBO with enough PCI slots for yer Scope cards....

Anyway good luck getting it going Kensuguro...

[Neil B]

I had roughly the same problem on my office pc (not the music one thankfully) some weeks ago.
Sadly the hard disk had died and there was nothing I could do in the end except fit a new hard disk and re-install.
Thankfully I'm obsessive about backing up, but it was a real pain.

Hope you get yours working Ken.

[garyb]

7. Fresh XP install to brand new 500gb sata drive fails while copying basic files, and reboots. (before it goes into gui mode)

something has definitely failed. if you can get your hand on spare parts(like Jimmy's parts), you can swap out until things work. start with only one stick of memory at a time, then the videocard, then the motherboard, then the cpu. hopefully, it's as easy as a bad stick of ram. otherwise, it's an excuse to build a new computer.

[kensuguro]

ya, might revert to buying one of jimmy's old boards..

One thing that puzzles me is how well everything runs while in dos mode.. Hiren's boot cd seems to have every dos based test known to man, and all of them pass. I guess it takes windows, linux, or some sort of advanced OS to take advantage of advanced features, and perhaps one of them had failed.

Failing windows fresh install, and even to a greater degree, failing to boot linux live CDs is definitely a red flag for something hardware related.. Dunno, seems like at the end of the day it's easier to get new mb+cpu+ram just to make sure I'm not running around in circles.

[Neutron]

Maybe some advanced disk mode on the motherboard? BIOS? try running the SATA drive in ATA emulation mode?

[valis]

I would put my time into a new system if you're going to be essentially rebuilding. A core2 era system based on a proven socket775 board or any P55 board that Jimmy/gary approve of gets my vote... Don't reuse your existing PSU, gpu (if PCIe) or drives unless it's just transitional for the drives (don't ever reuse a PSU unless it's less than a year old imo.)

[zangsta]

based on my own experience with one of our computers, that had similar, hard to pinpoint, problems, I´d take a guess
and say that the power unit about to die.. running dos uses less power than windows

[garyb]

that sounds like a good guess, zangsta.

[netguyjoel]

I have seen similar situations with faulty RAM as well...

[valis]

That's easy enough to check from bios, check your +/-12v, +/-5v & 3.3v lines to see if any are sagging. Remove excess bus-powered devices if it's 5v, or +/-12v you might need to pull power from your burner and a few non-OS critical drives to see if you can get things to boot.

For memory you can use the memory test utility from MS or use Utimate Boot CD and use memtest86+ on it. Or simply swap sticks around (in singles if u can set the bios for that) until u find the culprit.