Problem with 8kta3+

[Spilson]

Hi there

I'm having some problems with this sys:

Epox 8kta3+
AMD Duron 800mhz (FOP 38+AS3)
512 mb RAM pc133
Asus V7700 32mb pure
Sb Live!
Realtek NIC
Hd 40gb Seagate
HP 9100i CDRW

Nothing is OC'ed


I was using WindowsME perfectly for about a year or so.
Then I decided to upgrade to XP.
First, i downloaded the latest BIOS from Epox's website for my board and tried to flash it. This is where the problems began ( i think).
When atempting to flash (reboot with a minimal boot floppy), i got a msg saying something about a checksum error and that the bios i was trying to flash wasn't an original one. But it flashed ok (i guess).

NOTE : My mobo came with the infamous locked BIOS chip. I contacted epox and they sent me a working one pronto.

Ok. Then i installed windows XP.

Everything was ok during the installation but if i turned off my computer for a long time (overnight) and tried to turn on again i'd always get an BSOD saying IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL a couple of times before XP could load itself properly. Once in there, everything was ok.

I learned to live with that error (i couldn't fix it no matter what i tried) and everything was fine for about 4 months.
Then other day, i was playing Operation flashpoint and the game crashed to desktop. I decided to restart the machine. When windows was turning off the BSOD came up with the same error (it never appeared when shutting down, only at start up). I restarted manually and it never got in to Windows anymore. It gives me the BSOD everytime when loading even if i restart 50 times.

Since i didn't want to loose any files i had in my windows xp HD, i installed other HDD and attempted to install XP there so i could access the other HDD (NTFS) from it. This is the weirdest part. When trying to install, after the first boot during installation i get that BSOD. Always. Sometimes with a different msg.

So i installed Windows ME again on this other HDD. It installed fine, but sometimes (3 out of 4 attempts) it gives me a BSOD when loading, just like Windows XP used to.

Here's what i tried:
A LOT of different BIOS settings;
Tried installing with only the basic system (vid card, one memory module, cpu, hdd floppy and cd);
Flash to an older bios (i also get the same checksum error, no matter what bios version i try).

By elimination, it must be either the vid card or the mobo. Am i right?
What does that checksum error means? Could my BIOS be corrupted?

Any suggestion would be great.

Thanks and sorry for the long text.
Spilson

[EPoX Tech]

What version of Highpoint BIOS was supplied on the BIOS chip that you were sent in replacement ?

What version of Highpoint drivers have you applied by floppy disk during XP setup ??

[Spilson]

Thanks for the awnser

I belive it was version 2.01019

Since i wasn't using RAID nor any of the highpoint controlled IDE ports, i turned it off in the BIOS before installing Windows XP, so i didn't used any driver for it.

Thanks

[Spilson]

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

[Spilson]

Some more info:

The BSODs i get in WinME is always about VxD stuff.
Someone told me that these VxD problems are usually related to power issues.

I checked my BIOS and my voltages are as the following (at idle):

3.3V at 3.3V
12V at 12V
5V at 4.73V

I have a cheap 300W PSU

Since the 5V line is low, i was wondering if this could be a power issue indeed.

?