Tong Family

Boy it sure has gotten complicated installing Windows. Here’s what I did (breadcrumbs for Calvin’s new machine):
# BIOS errors. On startup, I got BIOS errors 7F and 8C. 7F is “Keyboard is locked”. This means the BIOS thinks that there is a lock on the PC case itself and you have to turn it off. Scary thing is that PCGuide also says this could mean that there is a motherboard problem. Uh oh.
# Loud fan and bad temperatures. The fans are just on at full bore. The CPU fan in particular is ridiculous. Loaded Speedfan and it doesn’t seem to be able to control it. Need to see if I installed the fan connectors correctly. Also Speedfan reports the CPU is at 126 C. Which is clealry impossible. Motherboard monitor doesn’t see the temperature or the fans, so this might be a new motherboard problem. Will have to figure this out later. The Digidoctor utility seems to show a CPU temperature less than the case temperature, so this is equally confused. “AMD Forums”:http://forums.amd.com/index.php?showtopic=24218 reports that there are problems with the Chaintech reading temperatures correctly, so I think I’m OK. You need a BIOS fix for the newer Newcastle (which I have) and the later Clawhammer Rev CG parts. So burning new BIOS I go!
# Memtest86+ v1.26. This you can burn onto a CD and see if the memory essentially works.
# Windows XP SP1. I have one of these disks.
# Windows Update. I like to install all the updates to the core operating system first. This currently take three reboots from the start. You first get some fixes to Windows Update, then you get some critical bug fixes and then you get SP2. Takes about an hour.
# “Chaintech”:http://www.chaintechusa.com/tw/eng/product_spec.asp?MPSNo=13&PISNo=276. Went to the Chaintech VNF3-250 product page and downloaded the latest BIOS, Digidoctor utility, Manual and Motherboard drivers. It is a little confusing how to actually do an upgrade, but trolling around, Chaintech “support”:http://www.chaintechusa.com/tw/eng/Download/ has a document explaining the process. Their error message summary BTW is really unclear on what the Post error is all about.
# “Nvidia”:http://nvidia.com. Next stop is the motherboard website. There is the nVidia system level drivers, then their tweaking tool called nVidia system plus their audio setup tool.
# “Benq”:http://support.benq.com. The DVD-RW drive I got is constantly getting new firmware. So have to go get a firmware upgrade as well.
# “ATI”:http://ati.com. I got an ATI 9800 Pro to go with it so needed the latest Catalyst Drivers. YOu get the default drivers with SP2, but this adds their control panel in all its geeky glory. Also loaded RivaTuner 2.0 to get ready for overclocking.
# “AMD Quiet and Cool”: