EP-8RGA+ Problems, problems problems and misery

[offie]

hi there,

i have just "upgraded" my motherboard from an Asus A7V-266E to an Epox EP-8RGA+. I have had numerous problems, and if any one can answer ANY aspect of these problems, i would be greatly appreciative. I am a full time programmer, who is unable to do any programming.

Right then:

1. I have got a Logitech Wireless Kb/Mouse. I plugged in the reciever into the usb, to find that it did not light up. i thought this could be a fault with my keyboard and mouse and reciever, so i borrowed my mates. still the same problem, so ive had to plug it into PS/2 where it works fine. Any ideas?

2. Windows 2000... well, i have installed it 50 times, and everytime, i have found that SVCHost.exe has generated errors and will have to be shut down. Why is this? It was working fine with my previous motherboard.

3. In windows 98 now (i triple boot with Linux/Windows 2000 and 98SE) when i try to play media (mp3, wav, midi, mpeg, avi etc..) it is played back at double or triple the speed, hence a song which lasts 3 minutes, elapses in less than 15 seconds. I have tried Windows Media Player, Winamp and Real Player One. Media plays back fine in win2000/linux.

4. And last, but not least, the networking in linux is not working, but i take it that the mobo is so new, that linux does not yet support it.

Thanks in advance, i am needing solutions URGENTLY. if any body can possibly help a.s.a.p it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

Offie

[flytek]

best guesses
1 set bios to enable legacy usb or keyboard?
2 memory timings? detonator driver? directx
3 set hardware acceleration in playback device 2 notches down in control panel, multimedia ,advanced fetures?
4 try manual irq settings in bios. disable irq11. may need to disable apic and reinstall? don't quote me
running an 8rga+ under 98 and 2k for months. no problems.

[Áedán]

2. Svchost.exe is a wrapper that helps a number of different services on the machine. One of those services is dying for some reason. Unfortunately, svchost.exe won't tell you which service blew up.

4. Linux has been supported for a while now. The nForce driver provides support for networking, GART and basic audio. Look at http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux.html for details. It's the nForce Driver (1.0-0261) you want.

[Mr.Yubbo]

I think I know what your problems are, but you're better off posting your system specs here first. Are you using the onboard IGP Video also? If so, then its a common problem that almost every user falls into including myself, and one that Epox still haven't fixed no matter how many people complain. Specs first mate.

No idea about the mouse problems though.

[offie]

Thank you every one for your help.

Flytek: The bios is already set for using legacy k/b and mouse Really confusing. Err, i dont really understand about memory timings? or detonator driver? however, i understand the Direct X part of which i have the most recent release. I set the acceleration down, but still no go, and finally, i understand the irq part, but whats apic? - Thanks for your help mate.

Áedán - thanks, thats a reassuring for me - i thought id be stranded without linux!!

Mr.Yubbo - My PC Specs are as follows:

Onboard GeForce 4 being used (only 1 monitor though)
Athlon XP 1800+
256mb Ram
Onboard audio being used
Onboard networking being used
Usb ports seem to be not liking USB keyboards and mice.
1x Raid card
1x SCSI Card

I'm begginning to feel as though it is a motherboard fault.

Thanks everybody for all your help, it is greatly appreciated!

Offie

[Mr.Yubbo]

Argh, i'm having mad forum access problems!

Offie, regarding your ram, do you know exactly what make and speed it is? e.g Twinmos DDR3200, DDR2700 etc? nForce mobo's are very picky about DDR ram, and the 8RGA+ is extremely fussy about the ram it uses for its onboard IGP video.

Lastly, is Linux working perfectly compared to Windows?

[offie]

well, all aspects in linux were working properly except for the networking, of which it could not find a network card installed.

Hmm, the ram. Not sure, i just bought it from somewhere.

Is it a problem not knowing where the ram came from/what make it is?

offie

[Áedán]

APIC is the Advanced Peripheral Interrupt Controller... It's a standard that's slowly replacing the old PICs.

Basically, when IBM invented the XT PC, they put two PICs in there to handle the interrupts. Each PIC can handle 8 IRQs, giving a total of 15. Why 15, rather than 16? Well, the output from the second PIC is connected to IRQ2 on the first PIC, using one up. However, the PIC design is slow and old, originally designed to be on the ISA bus. Although computers have moved forwards, the PIC interface still needs to look like it's ISA.

APIC splits up the way the PIC works, and provides the possibilities for more IRQ lines. Basically, the processor has part of the APIC onboard, and the chipset has another part of APIC. These communicate over a special serial bus.

Unfortunately, APIC mode doesn't always work as well as it should do, and some drivers can't handle interrupts above 15.

[Lazgoat]

Aedan, didn't you once post a link or raise the point about some USB devices not working correctly on NF2 mainboards?

Laz.

[Áedán]

Yeah, I did actually. The basic outcome was that some USB devices didn't quite follow the USB spec, and produced out-of-whack timing. nVidia's solution, if the device was a USB1.1 device, was to plug the device into a USB2 hub, and let that retime the signal.

Personally, I prefer using PS/2, as the PS/2 hardware can buffer data if the processor gets too tied up. With USB, if the processor doesn't poll the USB devices, data can go missing.

Also, I'm not sure what the status of the USB drivers under Linux is. Last time I looked, the USB module would load, but wouldn't actually support the USB ports.

[offie]

thanks, but are there any other solutions to any of the other problems? or should i scrap the board?

offie

[flytek]

set memory to 100% and optimal in the bios? downloaded the latest nforce2 drivers and the nvidia detonator graphics driver? (man i hope you've got descent bandwidth)

[bilboda]

Considering your up to rma'ing your board now, have you tried just a basic installation, no scsi or raid card loaded? And no extra software? Check out your problem devices with just a basic config and if everything works, proceed from there 1 by 1 adding hardware and software until the problem reoccurs.