Driver Lockup during boot (After Windows XP welcome screen.)

ylla · Sep 9, 2005, 01:09 AM

Hi,

I just installed an ASUS P5P800 motherboard with 3.4GHX LGA775 processor. I installed my Saphire 800XL 256MB AGP card (from my older system) and everything runs well except the system locks up almost EVERY time when starting - it locks right after the Windows XP welcome screen. I know it is driver related since I have NO problems if I uninstall the ATI Cat. 5.8 drivers and use driver cleaner to remove ALL ATI drivers so I can run on standard VGA mode. Re-installing the drivers the first time will cause things to load fine - next time though = HARD lock up. I tried disabling AGP rights and reads, AGP FAST RIGHTS, and turing the AGP mode to 4X from 8X but still it locks up on boot. It takes 3 or 4 re-starts to get it to load, and then the card runs PERFECTLY in all games (no lock ups at all.) Only booting or re-booting causes problems. Installing a clean XP made no difference. Any ideas? I can see that my USB controller is sharing the IRQ with my Radeon but that cannot be changed unfortunately - besides I don't think that should be an issue with XP anyway. Although I wonder if the card and the USB drivers are loading at the same time and causing boot problems? Could LAN drivers be causing this too? I'm at a loss here - any ideas at all? I've listed my specs below. THANX!!!

Windows XP Home
1GB Atlas 2CAS RAM in linear dual channel mode.
3.4GHZ LGA775 CPU
Saphire 800XL 256MB Radeon
Audigy2 platinum Sound
LiteON 16X Dual layer DVD writer
Pioneer 12X DVD ROM
Lite-ON 52X CD writer
USB Intellimouse Exlorer 4.0
PS/2 connected Microsoft Natural Keyboard
Gygabite Marvel built in LAN connected to Linksys router/Cable internet
300GB Serial ATA Maxtor drive
550WATT power supply

cswiger · Sep 9, 2005, 01:39 AM

I've seen something similar to this once in a while, generally after updating the driver without doing a full uninstall. On the other hand, doing a clean driver reinstall fixed the issue for me, yet you've already tried that and say it doesn't help.

Hmm. Try booting via F8 and going to VGA mode, then changing the graphics resolution downward to something minimal like 800x600 mode and rebooting normally. Sometimes changing the display resolution like this would "reset" whatever was causing the problem without needing to do a driver reinstall.

ylla · Sep 9, 2005, 02:46 AM

Hi!

Thanx for the reply. I tried it, but no luck. I uninstalled the drivers again and tried the Omega drivers which seemed to load well - unfortunatley they did not seem to include drivers for Rage Theater Video NSP and it showed as unknown hardware (didn't even know I had that as part of the card till then.) I had to uninstall them and put in the Catalyst drivers again, which locked up at boot AGAIN. I tried 5.7 with no luck too - at the moment I installed the drivers WITHOUT the CCC and will see if this will work( doubt it though.) I did notice that smartgart loaded after the last lockup at restart WITHOUT AGP rights/reads and PCI reads enabled. Does that sound sound like this could be a memory issue perhaps?

Tipstaff · Sep 9, 2005, 08:35 AM

Few things to try:

- In the bios there should be a listing for resetting configuration data (could also include "at next bootup"). Enabling this will reset IRQ/DMA settings, and Windows may reshuffle them, however it most likely won't. While your in there also change your AGP apreture size to 128MB, or even 64MB.

- Since I don't assume anything this question might be reduntant. Did you remember to install the chipset drivers for your motherboard? As well, you might want to update the bios for your motherboard as well. Latest version is 1011.
(for all drivers/bios for that board you should check out THIS page)

- Which version of XP Home are you using? Original, SP1 or SP2? In any case make sure to install Service Pack 2 (since this includes patches, as well as Direct X 9.0c) before anything else, then the chipset drivers, then everything else.

- You could try installing the drivers manually without the control panel. This has the added benifit of bypassing the SmartGART utility that gets installed if you run the installer. This will let you know if it's your system is having trouble with the Control Panel. You can then install the Control Panel, or even the Catalyst Control Center afterwards.

- If you install the Catalyst Control Center version of the CAT drivers you might want to update to a later version of .Net (DOT.Net).

ylla · Sep 10, 2005, 12:21 AM

Thaks for the response! I am running Windows XP SP 2 with my my motherboard chipset drivers so i know I'm OK there. Also, I've set my AGP to different settings (64--256) a few times with no effect unfortunately. I should try without the SMARTGART though and see what happens. If I do though, will AGP rights and reads be disabled by default? I'll try and let you know what happens!

PS

I did have the most recent version of .Net framework installed so i should be good there too.

PPS
It's funny, but the NON CCC control panel seemed to work fine for me when I tried those drivers yesterday until I told SMARTGART to redetect my settings and then the lock up started to also happen with the old ATI control panel on next boot...hmmmm.

cswiger · Sep 10, 2005, 02:10 AM

Are you using .Net 1.1? For a while, CCC worked better with the .Net 2 betas, but the recent 5.6 and later versions seem to want .Net v1 only. If you boot in safe mode or VGA mode, does event viewer tell you anything interesting about the previous boot?

ylla · Sep 12, 2005, 06:22 PM

Yup...I'm using NET 1.1. I have booted in safe mode, but strangely nothing interesting shows in the event viewer. I just changed my RAM too but still it locks...very frustrating.

Sep 9, 2005, 01:09 AM	#1
ylla DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	Driver Lockup during boot (After Windows XP welcome screen.) Hi, I just installed an ASUS P5P800 motherboard with 3.4GHX LGA775 processor. I installed my Saphire 800XL 256MB AGP card (from my older system) and everything runs well except the system locks up almost EVERY time when starting - it locks right after the Windows XP welcome screen. I know it is driver related since I have NO problems if I uninstall the ATI Cat. 5.8 drivers and use driver cleaner to remove ALL ATI drivers so I can run on standard VGA mode. Re-installing the drivers the first time will cause things to load fine - next time though = HARD lock up. I tried disabling AGP rights and reads, AGP FAST RIGHTS, and turing the AGP mode to 4X from 8X but still it locks up on boot. It takes 3 or 4 re-starts to get it to load, and then the card runs PERFECTLY in all games (no lock ups at all.) Only booting or re-booting causes problems. Installing a clean XP made no difference. Any ideas? I can see that my USB controller is sharing the IRQ with my Radeon but that cannot be changed unfortunately - besides I don't think that should be an issue with XP anyway. Although I wonder if the card and the USB drivers are loading at the same time and causing boot problems? Could LAN drivers be causing this too? I'm at a loss here - any ideas at all? I've listed my specs below. THANX!!! Windows XP Home 1GB Atlas 2CAS RAM in linear dual channel mode. 3.4GHZ LGA775 CPU Saphire 800XL 256MB Radeon Audigy2 platinum Sound LiteON 16X Dual layer DVD writer Pioneer 12X DVD ROM Lite-ON 52X CD writer USB Intellimouse Exlorer 4.0 PS/2 connected Microsoft Natural Keyboard Gygabite Marvel built in LAN connected to Linksys router/Cable internet 300GB Serial ATA Maxtor drive 550WATT power supply

Sep 9, 2005, 01:39 AM	#2
cswiger DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: NYC Posts: 233 Rep Power: 0	I've seen something similar to this once in a while, generally after updating the driver without doing a full uninstall. On the other hand, doing a clean driver reinstall fixed the issue for me, yet you've already tried that and say it doesn't help. Hmm. Try booting via F8 and going to VGA mode, then changing the graphics resolution downward to something minimal like 800x600 mode and rebooting normally. Sometimes changing the display resolution like this would "reset" whatever was causing the problem without needing to do a driver reinstall. __________________ Do you remember Shalebridge Cradle? Beware! The Cradle doesn't forget.... AMD Opteron 185 @ 2.6GHz/200HTT \| 2GB G.Skill DDR3200 @ 2-3-2-5/1T \| 512MB eVGA 8800GT @ 600/1800 \| SB Audigy 2ZS eX, Outlaw 1050 6.1ch amp, Paradigm speakers \| MSI K8N Diamond Plus mainboard \| black Lian-Li USB68 case + Foxconn FX600-GLN 600W PSU \| 2xWDC3200AAKS (RAID1) \| Sony GDM-F500R CRT, BENQ G2400W LCD

Sep 9, 2005, 08:35 AM	#4
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,660 Rep Power: 187 System Specs	Few things to try: - In the bios there should be a listing for resetting configuration data (could also include "at next bootup"). Enabling this will reset IRQ/DMA settings, and Windows may reshuffle them, however it most likely won't. While your in there also change your AGP apreture size to 128MB, or even 64MB. - Since I don't assume anything this question might be reduntant. Did you remember to install the chipset drivers for your motherboard? As well, you might want to update the bios for your motherboard as well. Latest version is 1011. (for all drivers/bios for that board you should check out THIS page) - Which version of XP Home are you using? Original, SP1 or SP2? In any case make sure to install Service Pack 2 (since this includes patches, as well as Direct X 9.0c) before anything else, then the chipset drivers, then everything else. - You could try installing the drivers manually without the control panel. This has the added benifit of bypassing the SmartGART utility that gets installed if you run the installer. This will let you know if it's your system is having trouble with the Control Panel. You can then install the Control Panel, or even the Catalyst Control Center afterwards. - If you install the Catalyst Control Center version of the CAT drivers you might want to update to a later version of .Net (DOT.Net). __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Sep 10, 2005, 02:10 AM	#6
cswiger DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: NYC Posts: 233 Rep Power: 0	Are you using .Net 1.1? For a while, CCC worked better with the .Net 2 betas, but the recent 5.6 and later versions seem to want .Net v1 only. If you boot in safe mode or VGA mode, does event viewer tell you anything interesting about the previous boot? __________________ Do you remember Shalebridge Cradle? Beware! The Cradle doesn't forget.... AMD Opteron 185 @ 2.6GHz/200HTT \| 2GB G.Skill DDR3200 @ 2-3-2-5/1T \| 512MB eVGA 8800GT @ 600/1800 \| SB Audigy 2ZS eX, Outlaw 1050 6.1ch amp, Paradigm speakers \| MSI K8N Diamond Plus mainboard \| black Lian-Li USB68 case + Foxconn FX600-GLN 600W PSU \| 2xWDC3200AAKS (RAID1) \| Sony GDM-F500R CRT, BENQ G2400W LCD

Sep 9, 2005, 02:46 AM	Thread Starter #3
ylla DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	Hi! Thanx for the reply. I tried it, but no luck. I uninstalled the drivers again and tried the Omega drivers which seemed to load well - unfortunatley they did not seem to include drivers for Rage Theater Video NSP and it showed as unknown hardware (didn't even know I had that as part of the card till then.) I had to uninstall them and put in the Catalyst drivers again, which locked up at boot AGAIN. I tried 5.7 with no luck too - at the moment I installed the drivers WITHOUT the CCC and will see if this will work( doubt it though.) I did notice that smartgart loaded after the last lockup at restart WITHOUT AGP rights/reads and PCI reads enabled. Does that sound sound like this could be a memory issue perhaps?

Sep 10, 2005, 12:21 AM	Thread Starter #5
ylla DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	Thaks for the response! I am running Windows XP SP 2 with my my motherboard chipset drivers so i know I'm OK there. Also, I've set my AGP to different settings (64--256) a few times with no effect unfortunately. I should try without the SMARTGART though and see what happens. If I do though, will AGP rights and reads be disabled by default? I'll try and let you know what happens! PS I did have the most recent version of .Net framework installed so i should be good there too. PPS It's funny, but the NON CCC control panel seemed to work fine for me when I tried those drivers yesterday until I told SMARTGART to redetect my settings and then the lock up started to also happen with the old ATI control panel on next boot...hmmmm.

Sep 12, 2005, 06:22 PM	Thread Starter #7
ylla DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	Yup...I'm using NET 1.1. I have booted in safe mode, but strangely nothing interesting shows in the event viewer. I just changed my RAM too but still it locks...very frustrating.