DFI NF4 Expert not booting from HDD

Hi folks I have an issue on my hand and it sounds bad.

MOBO - DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR UT Expert
CPU - Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Memory - 2x512MB DDR400 OCZ Platinum Rev.2 [2-2-2-5]
HDD - Seagate 300GB SATA
PSU - 500w Delta Power
Video - GeForce2MX PCI (temporary card)

Hi folks I have an issue on my hand and it sounds bad.

I am attempting this with a 300GB SATA Seagate, 80GB WD IDE, and a 80GB Maxtor IDE (not all connected at the same time). Video is a GeForce2 PCI because the 6600GT died a horrible, horrible death.

CPU is an Athlon 64 X2 3800+.

ALL SPEEDS STOCK.

On to the problem. It occurred when I moved the motherboard out of it's case and then put it back in the same case. Booting XP off a CD works fine, those bootable technician CDs work fine. When you install XP off the CD, when the installer restarts to load XP setup i get the message "error loading operating system." That was achieved using either the WD 80GB IDE or the Maxtor 80GB IDE, both wield the same results. The jumper settings are fine, the drives show up in the BIOS, appear to be normal, and I get the same problem with 1 or both drives.

Oh what fun this is. I tried installing windows on a Seagate 300GB SATA HDD to spice things up a bit. I now get the message "A disk read error has occurred, press ctrl+alt+del to restart."

I have tried clearing the CMOS, that was obvious. I cleared the **** out of it, POST says 'checksum bad' afterwards so it has been cleared. I had the 4/06/06 BIOS originally so I flashed it with the 11-2005 BIOS, same problem, then flashed the 12-2005 BIOS, no diff. Flashed on the 4/06/06 BIOS again. Flashing was ALL done using a 3.5" floppy drive and the process was completed with no problems.

I have tried this with 4x512MB DDR400, 1x512MB DDR400, and each one of those 4 sticks one at a time in various slots not changing anything.

I have a PSU tester and it tests perfectly. PSU is new.

Was there anything I missed? I have tried a million BIOS settings and nothing changes. Everything was just peachy until I carefully removed the motherboard from it's chassis.

PLEASE SAVE ME!! This is driving me crazy.

After bios flash did you go into bios and load default settings. Try installing windows with only 1 HD and CD drive installed. Make sure boot order goes CD then HD. My expert had fits with certain ddr memory so you might wanna run memtest, within bios if i remember correctly. GL and keep us updated.

BTW if you have cpu or memory OCed, drop everything to stock until OS is installed.

troisanh said:

After bios flash did you go into bios and load default settings. Try installing windows with only 1 HD and CD drive installed. Make sure boot order goes CD then HD. My expert had fits with certain ddr memory so you might wanna run memtest, within bios if i remember correctly. GL and keep us updated.

BTW if you have cpu or memory OCed, drop everything to stock until OS is installed.

Click to expand...

tried all that! everything is in order. nothing oc'd.

well try this and see if this cures it...run a win 98 boot floppy and run fdisk to clean all off the hd...if its w/digital run the floppy boot dos diag disk and write zeroes to the entire drive....I had a simular problem a few years ago on an expert board..
then set bios to boot off the xp cd and see if it loads ....good luck...

Tried EVERYTHING, nothing was working. I tried all of your suggestions at the same time, and it worked!
- Took the mobo out of the case and lied it on syrofoam to test
- Updated BIOS
- reset all BIOS settings
- cable was not the issue but i changed it anyway

somehow something made it work and it works like a champ now. awesome possum i can now get back to work!

THX for your suggestions!