Best BIOS settings for Dragon Plus!

Poot_Dog · Post by **Poot_Dog** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 9:00 pm

I've tried this mobo with every flavor of windows there is. I keep getting all sorts of errors, lockups, freezes, blue screens, etc. I've tried all the new drivers, got the latest BIOS flash, started barebones, etc. I really don't know what else to try. Anyone know what the best BIOS settings are? In particular, the RAM settings.

Poot_Dog · Post by **Poot_Dog** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 10:10 pm

Here's my Specs:
Athlon XP 1700+, 3 DIMM's of Micron DDR 256MB PC2100, ATI Radeon 7500, SOYO Dragon Plus!, WD 60G ATA-100, Creative Audigy Platinum, HP CD-Writer 9300, Creative PC-DVD 6x

JMan · Post by **JMan** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 10:28 pm

You say that you tried starting barebones... I assume this means you pulled the sound card? If not, try that. I'd also try pulling one stick of RAM at a time, just to check if one is at fault for your problems. Also, what kind of cooling do you have on there?

JMan

dadx2mj · Post by **dadx2mj** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 12:50 pm

A lot of people have problems trying to use all three ram slots on the Dragons some are able to just fine but I would try it with just one stick to see if that gets things going. To start I would let SPD asign ram settings you can go back and tweak them later after you get thiangs going. Just out of curiousity, there were two version of this board. The first were meant to be Dragons not Dragon Plus then they pulled the 266 chipset and put a 266a in and added the word Plus with a sticker where it says Dragon Plus between the PCI slots. The second are laid out a little different and have some different commponents. They have the word Plus silkscreened instead of the sticker. Which board do you have?

Poot_Dog · Post by **Poot_Dog** » Thu Feb 07, 2002 10:14 pm

Ok, here we go. I just booted up with 2 sticks of RAM and so far so good. Funny, I've tried it with 1 thru 3 sticks before with all sorts of problems. I'm currently using Win 98SE but plan to go to XP Pro as soon as I can get it stable enough to load. Here's ome more specs for you guys:

My case is a black Antec SX1035B SOHO File Server (this sucker is bad-ass)
I have 4 2500 RPM case fans - 2 in the front and 2 in the back
I have an Antec JetCool CPU cooler with a 5000 RPM fan on it
I have a 500w CompUSA power supply

So far so good with the 2 RAM sticks!! It's been a whole 10 minutes without a lockup, freeze, blue screen, etc!!!

I'll let you know how it does after I do the SANDRA 2002 tests...

Poot_Dog · Post by **Poot_Dog** » Fri Feb 08, 2002 11:37 am

Ok, I've been up and running now for about 12 hours non-stop! The only problems I'm having right now are I/O errors when I try to install any software, especially from CD. Although I even tried copying the stuff to hard drive and installing from there. I still get the same error trying that. Could this still be memory related? I'm down to 2 RAM sticks...each one is a Micron 256 MB PC2100 Do you think I'm stable enough to wipe out WIN 98 and move up to XP Pro? Obviously, I don't have anything worth saving on there yet....

dadx2mj · Post by **dadx2mj** » Fri Feb 08, 2002 11:44 am

I'd format it and do a clean install of XP. XP is much more stable thatn Win98. Dont know what is causing your I/o error tho.

Poot_Dog · Post by **Poot_Dog** » Fri Feb 08, 2002 1:34 pm

I've reformtted and loaded up Win XP with no problems. Everything seems to be running great. I haven't tried any software installs yet to check the I/O error situation. So far so good though...

chottoED · Post by **chottoED** » Sun Feb 10, 2002 12:40 pm

Great to hear that!... So let us know what speeds you hit in the end.

Poot_Dog · Post by **Poot_Dog** » Wed Feb 13, 2002 3:02 pm

Still going strong... Occasional I/O errors still, but I suppose I can live with it for now. So, weird...why does the D+ board have three slots for DRAM when it only works with two? So, now I've got this $70 stick of Ram sitting on my desk and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. I suppose I could upgrade the motherboard and chip of one of my other computers... If my wife wouldn't shoot me!!

phried · Post by **phried** » Wed Feb 13, 2002 7:09 pm

lemme know if you want to get rid of it! (the RAM)