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COMPUTERS: Do-it-yourself & learn
A PC TO DIE FOR
Part 3: squashing some more bugs and
updating the BIOS & drivers
By GREG SWAIN
Computer lock-ups and system crashes are annoying. Don’t
put up with them. If you’ve been tearing your hair out over
stability problems, this article will show you how to squash
the bugs. It describes how we solved the problems in our
new PC but applies to lots of other PCs as well.
A
CTUALLY, WE TORE out quite
a bit of our own hair recently,
battling instability in our new
1GHz Athlon PC. And although this
article describes how we solved the
problems, the basic approach described here applies to lots of other
PCs as well.
That’s because there’s nothing
unique about our hardware. Lots of
motherboards use the Via chipset,
while video cards based on the nVidia
GeForce2 and TNT chips are commonplace. And of course, lots of PCs are
fitted with sound cards, network cards
and other devices.
So although your particular machine mightn’t exactly match ours,
a lot of the advice given here still
applies.
It’s common practice for the AGP (video card) slot to share its IRQ with the first
PCI slot (arrowed). However, many AGP video cards don’t like sharing an IRQ,
so it’s standard practice to leave the first PCI slot empty.
24 Silicon Chip
Our problems with our new PC
really started when we decided to
convert it for use as a desktop publishing machine. There were several
things we had to do to: (1) convert
the operating system to Windows NT;
(2) install a 250MB ZIP drive; and (3)
install a network card so that the new
machine could be plugged into the
SILICON CHIP network.
We cheated when it came to the
Windows NT conversion by using
Power Quest’s “Drive Image” to clone
the installation from my old machine
(the old machine was later converted
to Windows Me). Before doing that
though, we changed over to a standard VGA driver so that there would
be no problems with the new video
card. The 250MB ZIP drive was also
pinched from the old machine and
slaved with the DVD-ROM drive on
the primary IDE port.
Did it work? Umm, no – it wouldn’t
boot initially because it couldn’t find
the drive (no driver for the on-board
Promise Ultra ATA100 controller, you
see). That was solved by temporarily
transferring the hard drive to one of
the “normal” IDE ports. This then allowed us to install the Promise driver
from the motherboard CD-ROM, before
swapping the drive back to the Primary
Ultra ATA100 IDE port.
www.siliconchip.com.au
Go To These Websites For The Drivers & BIOS Upgrade
Device
Website
Download
Asus A7V133 BIOS Upgrade
www.asus.com.tw/index.html
avu1005a.awd (BIOS); afl ash.exe (Fl ash Memory Wri ter)
Geforce2 MX Graphi cs Card
www.nvidi a.com
12.41-W9x.exe or Win98_Me(12.41).exe for Win98/Me
12.41-W2K.exe or Win2000(12.41).exe for Windows 2000
12.41-NT.exe or WinNT4(12.41).exe for Windows NT4
Via 4-In-1 Dri vers
www.viatech.com
4in1432v.zip
Promi se Ul tra ATA100 Controll er
www.support.promise.com/status.asp
ul tra100b35.zip (beta build 35 driver)
Note: final dri ver may now be available
Iomega ZIP250
www.iomega.com/software/ioware28pc.html
ioware-w32-x86-28.exe
SoundBlaster Li ve Soundcard
www.soundblaster.com/drivers/
Driver to sui t your soundcard
Note: download the correct BIOS for your motherboard and the correct drivers for your hardware (sound cards, network cards, etc).
You don’t have to do this with a
new NT install, by the way. You just
connect the hard disk to the primary
Ultra ATA100 port from the beginning
and install the “SCSI” driver when
prompted to do so during the installation procedure (Windows NT labels
all disk drives as SCSI devices).
Next, the Via 4-In-1 drivers were
installed, followed by the video card
driver. These all went without a hitch,
so the machine was powered down
and the network card installed in the
first PCI slot (ie, the slot adjacent to
the video card AGP slot).
Initially, the network card wasn’t
recognised, despite being exactly the
same as in the old machine – that
would make things too easy, wouldn’t
it? This problem was solved by deleting and reinstalling the driver. The
network then came up OK after we
had re-entered the network settings
and it appeared to be all systems go.
The lockup bug
Well, it was all systems go for the
first few hours – then the machine
“locked up” and would not respond
to either the keyboard or mouse. Even
the customary three-fingered salute
(Ctrl-Alt-Del) brought no joy and there
was nothing for it but to press the
Reset button.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a one-off
event and the machine subsequently
continued to lock up, seemingly at
random. There just didn’t seem to be
any pattern to it. Sometimes it would
go for hours before locking up; at other
times it would lock up again after just
a few minutes.
So just where do you start in tracking down a problem like this? Well,
www.siliconchip.com.au
it’s really just a matter of eliminating
the likely suspects one-by-one until
you nail the culprit. But what are the
most likely possibilities?
On the hardware front, it could be a
crook memory module, a faulty video
card or motherboard, a compatibility
problem or something as simple as
a resource conflict. Alternatively, it
could be a software problem; eg, a
buggy device driver, an incorrect BIOS
setting or even the BIOS itself.
The memory was quickly cleared by
swapping over memory from another
machine. Choosing conservative performance settings in the BIOS didn’t
help matters either and nor did turning
off the Norton AntiVirus Auto-Detect
utility that normally ran in the background.
That left either a resource conflict
or a buggy device driver – possibly
involving the video card – as the most
likely suspects. Why the video card?
Well, buggy video drivers are a common source of problems and in this
case the machine appeared to sometimes “trip” over the splash screens
that are commonly displayed when
an application is launched.
As a result, we decided to download and install the latest drivers for
the video card. While we were at it,
we visited the Viatech website and
grabbed the latest Via 4-In-1 drivers
and installed these as well. These
drivers are necessary to support the
Via chipset on the motherboard and
include an AGP VxD driver, so it’s
important to use the latest version.
By the way, don’t go to the Prolink
website for video card drivers. You’ll
find the most up-to-date drivers for
GeForce2 MX cards on the nVidia
website (www.nvidia.com). Just click
the download driver button when
you get there, select your operating
system and grab the Detonator2 v12.41
drivers.
In common with many other AGP video
cards, this Prolink GeForce2 MX card
doesn’t like sharing an IRQ.
August 2001 25
Fig.22: the Systems Properties dialog
box is opened by double-clicking its
icon in Control Panel or by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Properties from the drop-down list.
Fig.23: double-clicking the computer entry in Fig.22 lets you check the
system resources. Make sure that the
video card doesn’t share an IRQ with
any other device (IRQ Holder For PCI
Steering excepted).
You have a choice here – you can
either download the self-extracting
installer or you can download a
self-extracting zip file. If you have
self-extracting installer, you just double-click the file to begin the driver
installation and choose “GeForce2
MX/MX 400” as the display adapter
when prompted – assuming, of course,
you are using the PixelView GeForce2
MX video card.
Unfortunately, the new video card
and Via 4-In-1 drivers didn’t cure the
lock-up problem, although they did
appear to alleviate it somewhat (or
perhaps that was just our imagination).
OK, what next?
Read the manual, dummy
It turns out that the answer is in the
FAQ section in the video card manual.
26 Silicon Chip
That’s right, when all else fails read
the <at>#%^&<at>! manual.
According to the manual, this particular video card doesn’t like sharing
its IRQ (interrupt request setting) with
any other device. However, the Asus
A7V133 motherboard forces the AGP
slot (which accommodates the video
card) to share its IRQ with the first PCI
slot – a feature that’s common to many
other motherboards as well.
So what was in the first PCI slot?
Answer – the network card that we
had installed earlier. This meant that
the video card and network card were
both grabbing IRQ11 (as indicated by
the on-screen boot messages) and it
was this that was causing our lock-up
problems.
The cure was simple – move the
network card to the second PCI slot
and leave the first PCI slot free (this
also improves the airflow around the
video card). The network card now
happily shares its IRQ with the mass
storage controller (IRQ10), leaving
the video card with exclusive use of
IRQ11.
In case you are wondering, manually assigning a different IRQ to the first
PCI slot doesn’t help matters. If you do
manually assign an IRQ to the first PCI
slot, the AGP slot follows and grabs the
same IRQ. So that’s not a solution – at
least not in this case.
The easiest way out is to leave the
first PCI slot free if you are using the
Prolink GeForce2 MX video card. Also,
don’t allow any other expansion cards
in any other slots to share the video
card’s IRQ. If you are using Windows
98 or Windows Me, you can check
the IRQ assignments in the System
Properties dialog box (right click My
Computer, click Properties, click the
Device Manager tab and double-click
Computer).
Many other video cards, especially
those using GeForce2 and TNT chips,
are just as fussy. So, if you strike this
sort of problem, make sure that the
video card has exclusive use of an
IRQ (the only exception here being
the “IRQ Holder For PCI Steering”).
Kick in head time
Normally, my advice to anyone
who strikes this sort of problem is to
strip the machine down to its bare
minimum (ie, eliminate unnecessary
expansion cards) and troubleshoot
from there. If only I’d followed my own
advice – I’d have solved the problem
Fig.24: the latest video card
drivers (Detonator 2 v12.41) can be
down-loaded from the nVidia website.
much sooner than I did.
That said, it’s still a good idea to
download and install the latest drivers.
Sometimes there can be more than one
factor that’s contributing to system instability and you really have to cover
all the bases.
Upgrading the BIOS
Moving the network card proved
to be a complete cure for our instability problems – well, almost. System
lockups were now quite infrequent
but they still happened so we weren’t
quite out of the woods.
Adelong Computer’s advice was
to upgrade the system BIOS, as there
have been several revisions since
our motherboard was made – some
of them apparently involving issues
with the AGP slot. Our Asus A7V133
motherboard came with Award Bios
version avu1002a.awd, whereas the
latest version (at the time of writing)
is now avu1005a.awd.
Upgrading the BIOS is a simple
enough procedure. First, you need to
go to the Asus website and download
the latest BIOS file (avu1005a.zip
for the A7V133). You also need to
grab the Award Flash Memory Writer
Utility (aflash.exe) and print out the
instructions.
Next, you need to make a bootable
floppy disk (type format a:/s at a DOS
prompt) and copy the aflash.exe file
across to this disk. You also need to
unzip and copy across the new BIOS
file (avu1005a.awd). It’s a good idea to
write down the name of this file, since
www.siliconchip.com.au
Squashing The Bugs – Follow
These Steps
The following steps are necessary to ensure a stable system. Carry out
the steps in the order listed but before you do, make sure that any critical
data is backed up.
The Tiger
comes to
Australia
(1) Leave the first PCI slot vacant to avoid IRQ conflicts with the video card.
If you have a sound card, plug it into PCI slot 3. The network card can then
go into slot 4.
(2) Upgrade the motherboard BIOS to the latest version (to avu1005a.
awd in the case of the Asus A7V133). Note: BIOS upgrades carry some
risk – see text.
(3) Download and install the latest video card driver from the nVidia website.
(4) Download and install the latest Via 4-In-1 drivers from the Via Technology
website. Install any service packs first if you are running Windows NT4 or
Windows 2000.
(5) Download and install the Beta Build 35 driver for the Promise ATA100
controller if you are running Windows 98 (this step is optional for other
operating systems).
(6) Download and install the latest drivers and utilities for any other devices
that you have – sound cards, network cards, ZIP drives, scanners, etc.
(7) Don’t install DOS emulation for the sound card if you don’t intend on
running DOS games. If you do require DOS emulation, install the sound card
in PCI slot 3 and assign IRQ5 to this slot in the system BIOS (under PCI/
PNP IRQ Resource Exclusion). It may also be necessary to reserve IRQ5 for
a legacy device. Note: you cannot run DOS emulation under Windows NT4.
you have to type it in later.
This done, it’s simply a matter of
booting from the floppy and typing
aflash <Enter> at the A:\ prompt to
run the Flash Memory Writer Utility.
You then follow the on-screen prompts
to save the motherboard’s current BIOS
to a file (eg, oldbios.awd) and update
to the new BIOS.
You don’t really have to save the
current BIOS to a file but it’s a good
idea to do so. That way, you can reinstall the old BIOS if you get error
messages when you attempt to flash
the latest version.
When it’s finished programming, the
message “Flashed Successfully” will
be displayed and you hit Esc twice
to exit the Flash Memory Writer. You
then remove the floppy disk, restart
the computer, enter the BIOS setup
and choose Load Setup Defaults at the
Exit Menu. After that, it’s just a matter
of going back over the BIOS settings
before saving the changes and exiting.
If you get an error message when you
attempt to flash the new BIOS, go back
to the Main Menu and try writing it
www.siliconchip.com.au
again. If this doesn’t work, it’s possible
that the new file is corrupt and you
should reinstall the old BIOS. What
ever you do, DON’T turn the computer
off if you get an error message – it may
no longer boot if you do and you will
need to go back to the dealer to get the
BIOS re-flashed.
Similarly, if the power fails while
you’re flashing the BIOS, you’re right
up that proverbial creek. Re-flashing
the BIOS is a simple enough procedure but it does carry some risk
– don’t blame me if it all goes pearshaped.
In our case, the BIOS upgrade put
an end to our instability problems. We
haven’t experienced a single lock-up
(or any other crash) in four weeks now,
so the problem is finally cured.
Just one more thing here – when
you go to the Boot Menu in the BIOS
setup, the default for the “Other Boot
Device” entry will now be “[INT18
Device (Network)]” (ie, a network
drive). All you have to do here is
select this device, press <Enter> and
then select “[Onboard ATA100 Boot]”
The BASIC, Tiny and Economy
Tigers are sold in Australia by
JED, with W98/NT software and
local single board systems.
Tigers are modules running true compiled multitasking BASIC in a 16/32 bit core, with typically
512K bytes of FLASH (program and data) memory
and 32/128/512 K bytes of RAM. The Tiny Tiger
has four, 10 bit analog ins, lots of digital I/O, two
2
UARTs, SPI, I C, 1-wire, RTC and has low cost
W98/NT compile, debug and download software.
JED makes four Australian boards with up to 64
screw-terminal I/O, more UARTs & LCD/keyboard support. See JED's www site for data.
RS232RS485
Converter
This small plastic case (100mm by 55mm by
25mm) is an Australian-made RS232-RS485
opto-isolated converter. It connects a PC or PLC
RS232 serial port to a multi-drop RS485 network
up to 4000 ft in length. Several models are
available with RTS or automatic control.
The J995X uses an internal microprocessor to
turn the TX on byte-by-byte.
$176 plus $22 for plug pack.
$330 PC-PROM Programmer
This programmer plugs into a PC printer port and
reads, writes and edits any 28 or 32-pin PROM.
Comes with plug-pack, cable and software.
Also available is a multi-PROM UV eraser with
timer, and a 32/32 PLCC converter.
JED Microprocessors Pty Ltd
173 Boronia Rd, Boronia, Victoria, 3155
Ph. 03 9762 3588, Fax 03 9762 5499
www.jedmicro.com.au
August 2001 27
Fig.25: Windows NT4 labels all disk drives as SCSI
devices.
Fig.26: clicking the “Drivers” tab lets you check which
drivers are installed and confirm that they are started.
from the drop-down list. This device
can then be moved to the top of the
boot order.
www.softsynth.com/jsyn/support/
removed_error.html
The Promise controller bug
If you’ve already upgraded the system BIOS and/or installed the latest
VIA 4-In-1 drivers, you won’t have to
worry about this problem.
The 686B data corruption bug only
occurs with VIA chipset motherboards
using the 686B Southbridge chip (eg,
the Asus A7V133) and usually only
if there is also a SoundBlaster Live
soundcard installed. Basically, it
prevents you from copying more than
100MB of data from one IDE drive
to another and also causes problems
when burning disks on CD writers.
If you have an Asus A7V133 motherboard, it would appear that this
problem is only possible if you have
one or more drives connected to a
conventional IDE port. Apparently, it’s
caused by an incorrect BIOS registry
setting that was made by many motherboard manufacturers in an attempt
to fix a conflict with the SBLive card.
This problem has since been corrected by motherboard manufacturers
and it’s probable that the latest BIOS
upgrade for the A7V133 fixes the
problem. If not, the fix is to install
the latest Via 4-In-1 4.32 drivers. No
harm will result if you upgrade both
the BIOS and the VIA drivers – in fact,
it’s a good idea to do both.
If you want to find out more, take a
look at: www.viahardware.com/686bfaq.shtm
This particular bug only occurs if
are using the Promise Ultra ATA100
controller and you are running Windows 98. When present, it sometimes
causes a fatal error during boot up
with a blue-screen message that says:
“The volume that was removed had
open files on it. Next time please check
first to see that the volume can really
be removed”.
The user then has no option but to
do a hard reset, which is hardly the
way to go.
This problem apparently occurs
when using version 1.60 Build 34 (or
earlier) of the Ultra ATA100 driver.
Promise Technology’s recommended
cure is to download and install the
latest Beta Build 35 driver – called
Ultra100b35.zip from their website.
Note that this driver is only a beta version (we tested it without problems)
but Promise will probably have a final
version on their website by the time
you read this.
In Windows 98/Me, you can update
the driver via Device Manager in the
System Properties dialog box. Windows NT users should double-click the
SCSI Adapters icon in Control Panel,
then click the Drivers tab to bring up
the dialog box shown in Fig.26. The
old Promise Ultra ATA100 controller
can then be deleted and the new one
installed.
For further information on this
problem, point your web browser to:
28 Silicon Chip
The 686B data corruption bug
Installing an IDE ZIP drive
If you have an internal IDE ZIP, the
best approach is to slave it with the
CD-ROM drive (or DVD-ROM drive)
on the conven
tional primary IDE
port. Alternatively, you can configure
it as a master and run it by itself on
the secondary IDE port, although this
involves running an extra cable.
Don’t choose auto detect for the
ZIP drive in the system BIOS, as this
can cause problems. Instead, choose
“None” in the BIOS setting if you have
a ZIP250 or select the ZIP100 option
if you have a ZIP100 drive.
Finally, don’t forget to install the
Iomegaware software that was supplied with your ZIP drive. Even better,
download the latest version from the
Iomega website (see table). If you don’t
do this, you won’t have any of the
Iomegaware utilities; nor will you be
able to read 100MB ZIP disks if you
have a ZIP250 drive.
Do it logically
If you’ve feeling confused by now,
the accompanying panel sets out all
the things that you have to do in a
logical order, so that your machine
behaves the way it should. Apart from
reflashing the motherboard BIOS, the
job simply involves downloading and
installing the latest drivers for your
motherboard, video card and any other
devices that you may have.
This advice not only applies to our
particular hardware combination but
to any other hardware combination as
well. The web is your weapon here –
just be sure to get the correct drivers
for your hardware and don’t upgrade
the BIOS unless you have to. After all,
SC
why take unnecessary risks?
www.siliconchip.com.au
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