Lost all respect for Abit.

[Datsin]

I have offically lost all respect for Abit.

this Nf7-s 2.0 is the worst motherboard i have ever had.

i have had the:

KT7-RAID
KT7A-RAID
KR7-RAID
KX7-RAID

and loved each and everyone of them.

Though this nf7 is a f*cking joke.

I have been downloading Linux for 2 days @ 10KB/s.. only to find now that 3/4 of it is corrupted.

I have heard about HDD corruption on these boards though i was yet to witness it.

Btw i know its not just the download.. cause i cant move the file anywhere else on either of the HDDs (Striped RAID)..

iam running XP SP1 with the 2.03 nvida drivers.. latest BIOS and the XP RAID drivers that came with the board.

Please tell me that this something i can fix.

Is it related to drivers? overclocking too hard?

[lechumbl]

Hi Datsin,

You can tell by my avatar, what mobo I think is worth having.
Sorry can't help on the drivers, BIOS, etc, but I would not own any other than an MSI mobo.

Believe me, I have had every brand out there and have decided that this is the brand for me.

Take care...........

[Tweaked!]

Actually out of all the manufacturers out there, MSI and Abit have always been my favorite two. As lechumbl has said, MSI is about the most stable and flawlessly running brand I've ever encountered, but my Abit boards have always been the better overclockers.

As far as your problem with the Linux file, I'm not able to help with any raid array problems, I don't bother with any types of setups. If I ever need fast hdd's, I always go SCSI. I've always maintained the moto of Keeping it simple. But as far as downloading the linux files, It's been my experience that corrupted files happen a lot with downloading free versions. Which linux file were you trying to obtain? I've also heard plenty of others even expand on the corrupted linux files, as far as having to burn iso's on high quality cds, that lesser quality cds don't work right for them. I personally haven't encountered that problem.

[Datsin]

thx for your input guys.. maybe MSi will be my next mobo of choice..

Tweaked:

Btw i know its not just the download.. cause i cant move the file anywhere else on either of the HDDs (Striped RAID)..

I download about 15GB a month every month iam very familiar with corrupted downloads..

and this is not on of them.. simply becuase i cannot move the files to another HDD or even elsewhere on the same HDD.. it is HDD corruption pure and simple.

i just hope there is a resolution for this somewhere.

[The Therion]

So...you think Abit is crap after all these good motherboards, just because the RAID function,on the nForce chipset model, probably has glitches ?

Dont you think you're kinda harsh ? Most people just buy them for overclocking you know ;)

[Player0]

The Nforce2 does have some drive corruption issues. I haven't used those boards yet, so I am not aware of the fix. But I know there are others on this site who have overcome this problem.

In terms of loosing respect for Abit... I beleive you misplacing the blame. If you want to blame someone, blame Nvidia, it is their chipset afterall. The bug is with their controllers, or so I hear. Again, can't comment on the problem itself. Abit is responsible for integrating the chipsets on to boards. Abits speciality is programmable PLLs and designing a board to push the chipsets over the limit.

I find it funny when people mention that 'a board overclocks better, but isnt as stable as XYZ'. If a motherboard is a better overclocker, it is by DEFAULT more stable, because it has to be. The reason Abits DO overclock higher is added capacitors, quality componants, stricter design standards, better BIOS, etc. Overclocking boards make some of the best server boards out there because running them at default is usually handled with ease.

Hey, everyone has their favorite brands. Mine are Abit and Asus. LiquidNinjas.com is running on an MSI board right now, and has been very stable itself, with only a weird lockup here and there. All three brands have had very reliable boards these days, as well as Epox and Iwill. Just give credit where credit is due and be sure of just whom you are blaming.

I mean, you are overclocking a motherboard. There are certain pitfalls that go along with overclocking. No one can guarantee that your overclock will work. People just seem to expect amazing overclocks these days. Nono, it doesn't work like that. You do it at your own risk. It is up to you to test stability before you try and use the computer for every day use.

Now if the board wasn't stable at default speeds, then you can start placing blame. But as soon as you start overclocking, the blame falls on your lap because your running the board beyond what it was intended to do, and sometimes things just dont work out right. Nvidia is new to the chipset game, and you can't expect them to have the same design experience as Intel or Via yet. Their chipsets have been pretty good, the NFS boards are really popular, but just like the original Nforce (and honestly, most chipsets), there are issues that appear, especially when overclocking.

[Datsin]

actually iam running at standard voltages, CPU speed and memory right now and the problem remains..

I have lost respect for Abit not due to one glitch.. i have lost respect by the way they have handled it.. or lack thereof.

They have not publicly come out stating that this problem exists.. they have not had a recall of their product. yet their forums have hundreds of people having the same problem..

(the problem only occurs when 2 SATA devices are plugged in)

This has been a nightmare for me.. i have spent countless hours researching and troubleshooting this issue with no avail.

I would like to believe that Abit will bring out a BIOS/Patch that will resolve it.. however i cannot have a PC that has HDD corruption every other day till they get their shit together.

[mdzcpa]

Well, the reason Abit has not "recalled" the board or "fixed" the issue is because it isn't as wide spread of an issue you think it is. You see "hundreds" of posts (which I think is a slight exageration), on the Abit forums because that is where users with trouble go. Your gonna see a high concentration of troubled users in forums...that's just the nature of the beast.

The NF2 HD corruption issue is real, no doubt, but there are things that can be done to mitigate the potential for trouble:

First, do NOT use the Nvidia drivers form the Nvidia site. I cannot stress this enough. They suck and that's a fact that I will not even bother debating with anyone. Use ONLY the drivers that come on the Abit disk or are on Abit's website. Those are, afterall, the only drivers approved by Abit for use with their board.

Second, reduce the overclock. The numba one source of HD corruption on Abit boards stems from this (cause everyone wants to overclock their Abit board). In addition, this is particularly true on the NF2 boards. Be aware that overclocking the NF2 without raising the vdd (chipset voltage) is another common source of HD corruption.

BTW, once files are corrupted reducing the overclock no longer helps.

Third, watch your memory timings. The is the numba two source of HD corruption on Abit boards, and numba one reason on all NF2 boards when not overclocked. Running too tight of timings on the NF2 dual channel boards is just asking for HD corruption. This is especially true for the memory modules that have a problem with T(RCD) set at 2. Many memory makers (like Corsair) are now setting the T(RCD) to 3 in the SPD. It is recommended that max aggressive settings of 2-2-3-6 are used, and that users manually change this if that is not what SPD is programmed to.

Fourth, watch you memory brand. For example the Corsair LL modules are having a terrible time with dual channel boards...both Intel and NF2. The SPD is just too agrressive (and uses the deadly T(RCD) set at 2).

To make sure it is not your timings, your memory brand compatability, nor your overclocked chipset, you should be running Memtest86 for at least a few hours to ensure your memory subsystem is completely stable.

Fifth, have you tried the latest Silicon Images driver? The latest one is supposed to help the corruption issue. It's been on the ABit site for only about 2 weeks now. You can find it HERE (http://www.abit.com.tw/abitweb/webjsp/english/download_content.jsp?pTITLE=NF7-S&#Driver)

Sixth, avoid the SATA converters. Although they work for some users, they can cause a lot of headache too. Moral...if you want SATA, get a SATA drive. Use your PATA drives on the PATA IDEs. (i know this does not apply to you, but i wanted a complete post).

These items above may not cure all the SATA issues, but they go a long way. I'd perhaps be in more agrreement that this is a bigger issue if I had run into the problem myself. However, I just completed my 8th client build based on the NF7 and using the SATA controller, and I've had no issues. Although I did have some initial teething problems, by following all of the above points I was able to get every system running 100% stable with SATA. I know my small sample is not completely representative, but it does prove that not every NF7 has SATA issues.

In the end, the real trouble with SATA on the NF7 comes far more from the POS Silicon Images controller than Abit implementation. A quick trip to NForcersHQ will quickly reveal that every mobo brand that uses that POS controller has issues. You can only hope to reduce your chances of trouble, but not eliminate it for all users. Of those SATA builds I just mentioned, I recommended SATA to none of those clients...in fact, I asked them NOT to do it. SATA is just not quite ready for prime time yet. The only SATA I feel confident in at all right now is the Intel implementation in their new southbridge (and that is indeed a nice implementation).

Just some perspective...maybe it helps.

[4.6POWER]

dude... the NF7 is a good mobo, not perfect... but it is solid. I can't help but frown on your copy paste from one forum to the next... but I can see you are upset, so I guess you are just looking for answers.

If I were in your shoes, I would forget using the sil3112 chip for any form of raid. Just use your drives as normal, I have yet to see anyone reputable say there are problems working in this mode. I have both a v1 and v2 of the board... and the v2 had corruption with striping. I setup it up as two standard drives and it works fine.

If you must have raid, buy a simple controller card and bite the bullet. The mobo is good... great performance, great flexibility... you gave up some pretty good boards to have an NF7, so I know the money isn't holding you back from buying the pci raid card. Then again... you could also "throw it in the trash" as you stated on abits forums.

[Player0]

I use PCI raid controllers these days. Then i dont have to spend the extra money for onboard raid, and i can switch my drives and card to other systems without reformatting.

[Datsin]

for starters thanks to all for your replies..

iam not done yet.. i am still tryting to reslove this issue..

first thing is first i have Native SATA HDD so using IDE is not an option..

from what i have read the problem stems from having 2 devices plugged into the SATA ports.. not the fact that they are in a RAID array.

it seems that iam screwed no matter what i do..

Iam currently running my PC on Default Voltages, CPU/FSB Mhz and memory timings. and the corruption remains..

for god sake my memory is running at 266 instead of 400.

Iam considering throwing in the towel and buying a AT7-MAX2.. this mobo would be the best i have ever seen without this problem.. however i dont have the time to spend a week troubleshooting this.. i have already spent 5 hours plus researching and trying different BIOS settings with no avail.

The worst thing is that its intermittent.. so any changes i make i then need to spend hours checking things just to see if it has resolved the problem.

[sptw]

Hi Datsin,
There's nothing much to add here.I think Mdzcpa have a lot of help in his reply.Abit is a excellent board in the same way Asus, MSI and others are too.3/4 of corrupted files are a lot, but i had the same problem before when downloading a large file with a stable board and 1 Mb of bandwidth, but not 3/4 of course..Yes, the files was Linux too.
About the SATA corruption, i'm not sure who is culprit, if Silicon Image, Nvidia chipset or even a Bios board fault.Silicon declared in his site that this problem is related to an issue with the PCI controller in the nVidia chipset and can be fixed with a system BIOS update.Unfortunately there are no words from Abit and Asus yet.I couldn't see no Bios released from both of them related to this problem.
Here is a statement from Silicon:
"We previously had a BIOS file and flash utility posted here. However, flashing the motherboard BIOS is not as straightforward as we had previously thought and may vary depending on your motherboard manufacturer, so the utility has been removed. For the latest BIOS updates for your nForce motherboard that fixes the data corruption problem, please visit the website of your motherboard maker for the appropriate BIOS and flash utilities. Silicon Image cannot provide the solution to this issue since it does not have to do with our SATA controller. There were no revisions made to the drivers for the SiI3112A so you may use the latest version posted on this website."
For now you can try
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Silicon Image Serial ATA RAID driver version V1.0.0.281 (http://www.techspot.com/drivers/index/file/information/1932) that seems to work on ABit NF7-S too, but unfortunately downgrade the performance or you can search here (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/michael.mcclay/) for something else..I know that Asus released a an8d1004 driver (http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/selectftp.aspx?l1_id=1&l2_id=10&l3_id=23&m_id=1&f_name=an8d1004.zip~zaqwedc) for PCB revision 1.03, 1.04 and 1.06 and c18D1005 driver (http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/selectftp.aspx?l1_id=1&l2_id=10&l3_id=23&m_id=1&f_name=c18d1005.zip~zaqwedc) for PCB revision 2.0 and later only that both of them " Fix large data transfer failed under Win2K and WinXP with hard disks configured as RAID0 ".I don't know for Abit NF7-S, please try to search in the ABIT's site.
Before to try this drivers i would try to read the Mdzcpa's reply carefully.

[4.6POWER]

Datsin, If you notice... you can probably find a problem with almost every aspect of the board on abit's forums. There are a lot of first time system builders on there... and I have a hunch it is these people having all these problems.

My running philosophy is that it depends what drives you are using with the board. My old IBM 75GXP's have been working flawlessly in raid0 ever since I got the board. The two new WD with 8meg cache started corrupting immediately. I definitely don't think it has to do with the number of devices... my v1 board has a device in every port, plus I am using some with slaves... and NOOOO troubles.

Seriously... just use the two disks as normal disks on SATA... I bet it works great. If you want raid... I don't think the sil3112 chip is of any use for you right now.

Here's to good luck :drinky:

[greylock]

Slightly off subject but, where are you dl'ing linux from. 10k is ridiculous! If you can ftp and have a fast connection, go to ftp.math.utah.edu. They have both Redhat and Mandrake there and I can get a 1Mb connection regularly and bursts up to 3.5Mb.

[Datsin]

iam in AUS.. and i only have 32KB/s..

:(

[erasmus]

April 19th 2004: Has a resolution for this problem been found yet?
I'm having the same kind of problems with my 2 SATA HDD's and the Abit N7s-rev2.0

[Kill-Switch]

:D:D Welcome to the boards :D:D

Damn you did some digging to find this thread LOL

FYI the Abit NF7 - S rev 2.0 is probably THE best motherboard for an AMD setup. The problems that they used to have have been sorted quite some time ago :)

[tripodal]

My questions for you is, how many files are on your HD?
100,000 maybe 200,000 for any aged installation....
and this 1 file being corrupted causes you to believe that the motherboard is at fault? What about the tens of thousands of files the windows accesses during the coarse of the day... not one other one has been corrupted? Never seen a delayed write failed error?
Not to get personal man but just 1 bad file... even it it took you 2 days to get.. its still 1 file.

[tripodal]

wow this thread is old... im getting angry at something 6 months old..
im such a dork

[Gabriel]

There must be a better way of letting new folks, or even old ones who drank too much, know that these are old posts. I mean, before it was just a POLL thread, but it's threads like these that make me worry. I see too many of these familiar threads pop up nowadays, and I am wondering if people think this is new information. I only notice because I lurk, but I pride myself in that, seeing what is going on. Every once in a while, a thread rings a bell. More worried about the guy that makes 3 posts here, only to learn something from a year old post.

Sorry, it's late, my soapbox needs to sleep
sorry folks.

G

[tripodal]

Most of the time I am guesing they get revivied as a search engine spits them out when the moon is full.

[erasmus]

Here’s my configuration:

AMD XP 2500+ (no overclocking)
Abit NF7S-v2.0 with BIOS flashed to rev 23
Silicon Image S3112 Sata raid controller: latest driver installed
2 x SATA Maxtor 80 gig installed in removable tray’s
2 X Apacer DDR 256 MB PC3200
Windows XP home SP1 all updates done

Here’s the problem I’m having :

Whenever I try to backup a large amount of data from one HDD to the other; the copy is corrupted. For example: When I backup the folder with all my personal pictures (1,2 gig), about 1 out of 5 pictures is damaged in the copy. When I backup the folder of my installprograms, most programs will not install anymore from the backup.
I cannot use Ghost or driveimage: the image is corrupt.

I have no problems when only small amounts of data are being transferred. I can also copy an entire DVD full of data to the HDD’s without problems and backup large amount of data and images to DVD.

Perhaps this thread is already relatively old, but the problem is still very alive for me and nothing that has been previously suggested in this thread has helped to solve my problem.

Kill_Switch says “The problems that they used to have have been sorted quite some time ago” Kill-Switch, in that case would you be so kind to tell me where I can find the solution.

Thanks for your help, guys. And please, stop whining about this thread being old and revived unnecessarily! I can assure you that the problem is still very acute for me and the solution has not (yet) been given in this thread.

Regards,
Erasmus.

[Synthohol]

hey, i want some cheeze with my whine please:)

[illmatik]

I had the same problem with my board. I couldnt properly installed XP on a 160gb R0 stripe. A BIOS update w/ the latest raid bios did the trick

[Kill-Switch]

Well if you can copy an entire DVD full of data (over 4gigs worth) to and from the hard drive but can't copy the same (or larger) from hard drive to hard drive then it is very obvious it has nothing to do with the motherboard. Perhaps you should check your system over for low quality cables (blah blah blah) and also defrag, virus scan and all that fun stuff. He!l I'd even check you backup software you're using, maybe that is at fault!

In simple terms it could be ANYTHING that is causing this problem ... perhaps the 2nd hard drive you're copying to is knackered? Maybe you're doing something on the computer whilst the backup procedure is taking place which will obviously cause problems. Maybe you need a BIOS flash (regardless of if you have the latest one or not). So yeah it could be anything :)

As you can see by my sig I have the same motherboard as you, as does my friend and my brother ... strangely enough I've never run into a problem with any of them when transfering large amounts of data around. FYI I transfered over 30gig of data (an entire data partition) from an old hard drive to a new one on my friends system and not a single file was damaged in the process :)

[sptw]

Hi Erasmus,

:D WElcome to the Board :D

Try this on Bios:
Check for an option "EXT-P2P's Discard Time" in "integrated Peripherals".The default setting is "30 us" ; which is recommended by NVidia. In case the problem is still there, try "1 ms" please."
If you are using NTFS file system, change it for FAT32.
Let me know how it performs.

[erasmus]

Eureka: I was finally able to solve the problem!
(Just before SPTW gave the solution here, thanks a lot anyway!!!!)

Shame on Abit for hiding the solution to my problem so well.
I found this (http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?threadid=6873&perpage=15&highlight=nf7%20corrupt&pagenumber=28) thread on the Abit forums.
If you look at the last reply, you would think that flashing the BIOS would solve the problem. So that’s what I did. I flashed it to version 23. Sh…t, that didn’t help.

And then I stumbled across the Bios history page (http://www.abit-usa.com/downloads/bios/bios_revision.php?categories=1&model=124) .

There you have to look at the history for BIOS version 14.
It says:

4. Fixed SATA RAID-0 data corruption issue by adding a new option "EXT-P2P's Discard Time" in "integrated Peripherals". The default setting is "30 us"; which is recommended by NVidia. In case the problem is still there, try "1 ms" please.

And yep, the 1 ms setting in stead of the default 30 us did the job. Everything works fine now!

Damn, I lost about twenty hours looking for a solution for this problem, and then it turns out that it can be solved by a simple change in the bios setting.

You’ll have to admit that their tip, try “1ms” please is extremely well hidden.

Regards,
Erasmus.
BTW: Thanks again, SPTW

[sptw]

I'm glad you sorted it out Erasmus :) , but i have to tell you that this tip is not extremely well hidden like you said before.With a little more attention, you could see here (http://www.abit-usa.com/downloads/bios/bios_revision1.php?categories=1&model=124) that since the NF7/NF7-S V2.0 BIOS 14 revision the option is still there.
Anyway, thanks for your kind words, and i hope you continue to post here to make this board better and better :)
Be happy now, using one of the best board in the market : ABIT :D

[tripodal]

SWEET, AND now the ancient thread can be closed because the problem was solved. :)

*hint*

[Synthohol]

;)