Member Avatar for KF4SQB

I'm trying to install Windows XP Pro to a system with a Mach Speed MK8-939A mobo, AMD Athlon64 3200+ CPU @ 2.0 GHz, and 512 MB of RAM. I've tried this on three different HDDs now, with the same results on all three. The install itself goes fine. First boot from HDD (during install process) goes fine. After that, Windows will not boot unless I boot in safe mode. If I try to boot normally, I get the Windows XP logo screen, then the system hangs with a blank screen. I can, as I said, boot into safe mode with no problem. This is a new (to me) system. The previous owner of the mobo and CPU had no problems.

As a side note, I've tried installing SlackWare Linux on the same system, with slightly different results. With Linux, the install goes fine, but I get an "error loading operating system" message at boot, and it won't even try to load. Again, I've tried this on three different HDDs, with the same results on all three. Any ideas?

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Member Avatar for Moz

It seems your problem is not the HDD ....
Have you tried a different video card? I can remember years ago having a similar issue when trying to install XP using a Sparkle branded video card. Never again.
Nevertheless, it appears the problem is with a driver, otherwise it would be unlikely you could boot into safe mode. Check the drivers for all hardware. Perhaps remove any unnecessary devices and cards and see if that helps.
Cheers

Member Avatar for KF4SQB

Moz, thats certainly an idea I didn't think about. Now that you mention it, that could very well be the problem. Instead of an AGP port, the mobo has an "MGP" (Mach Speed Graphics Port), which is some kind of screwy proprietary graphics port that accepts AGP cards, but actually works off of the PCI bus. The manufacturer does state that some graphics cards don't work very well with it. I'll give it a shot and see what happens. Thanks (for pointing out something I should've caught myself:icon_redface: )!

Member Avatar for Moz

no probs
good luck

commented: Great job! Hit the nail on the head, and courteous & professional! +4
Member Avatar for KF4SQB

UPDATE:

Problem solved! It was the video card. Most likely something to do with the screwy "MGP" slot on this strange mobo. Oh, well. I'm running a 64 MB ATI Radeon 7000 PCI card for the moment. I'll upgrade to a PCI Express card in the near future, maybe. Thanks again for the help, Moz!

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