Login at Kodi Home

**patseguin** · 2012-03-13, 16:52

OK, so since I had great HD audio working on my huge tower I decided to build a small form factor box for my HTPC in my living room. It's been nothing short of a disaster and I can't figure it out. Here's what I posted somewhere else, maybe you guys have some insights:

I'm building a newer smaller box for my HTPC in my living room, actually already built. I bought an intel LGA1156 H55 Mcro ATX mobo, Core i3 Clarkdale, Gskill DDR3 RAM, Corsair Force 3GT SSD. I have no optical drives of any kind and am installing Windows 7 from USB like I always do. The first install went fine until I installed drivers for the motherboard after which I was greeted by blue screens. I could boot to safe mode but repairs were unsuccessful. Subsequent installs gave me just black screens after installing drivers. On my latest attempts to install Windows I get to various percentages and it tell me in installation files are missing. A few times Windows install told me it couldn't find any information on drives in my system. So, I used a brand new USB drive with Windows on it and got the same error. I replaced the SSD and got the same error about missing installation files at around 98%. I am really at a loss on this issue, I was up till 3:30am trying to figure it out. The board was pretty highly rated at Newegg but maybe it needs a critical BIOS update or something? Any other suggestions? The RAM should be good, I've used it on other builds and have run overnight memtests on it.

eskro · (This post was last modified: 2012-03-13, 18:33 by eskro.)

many things it could be...
hard to pin point...

however, example, for the SSD, since its a sandforced one,
u should update its firmware as we all know those SSD's caused insane BSOD...

if u havent done so, do it now and try again!!

http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100162

also, make sure to use AHCI as SATA TYPE before installing the firmware
and leave as is also, use AHCI and install windows...

**patseguin** · 2012-03-13, 19:32

Yeah I would check the firmware first thing too. However, I tried a regular hard drive and had the same issues. The last few Corsair's I bought already had the latest firmware too. If XBMC marketed a box I'd buy it. :-)

Kirky99 · (This post was last modified: 2012-03-13, 22:38 by Kirky99.)

Is that memory on the Motherboard Approved Memory List? Make sure you're running the latest BIOS. BSOD is usually memory related in my experience ( Oh, and OCZ SSDs)

I've had nothing but trouble with memory on my last few builds. Used to be that memroy was memory, these days, it pays to NOT deviate from the approved (tested) list provided by many manufacturers. I don't care how good the deal is, I only use memory that's approved.

eskro · 2012-03-13, 22:49

definitely, RAM is a major issue these days.
its actually one of the main components if not THE main component
responsible for the "Damn, My PC won't Post" reaction...

Subliminal Aura · 2012-03-14, 00:35

Have you ran memtest ?

http://www.memtest.org/

Could be the RAM, could be an overclock (go back to stock if so). Write your windows copy to USB using Rufus and see if that makes a difference.

http://rufus.akeo.ie/

**patseguin** · 2012-03-14, 16:14

I did do the RAM test on it previously and it was 100%. However, after trying everything in the book last night, I ripped out the RAM and threw in some PNY DDR3 RAM I found at Best Buy and it works flawlessly! Install went without a hitch as well as all my driver installs and Windows updates. I installed XBMC RC2-HD Audio and was watching an episode of 24 while (presumably) it was still scraping the movie library. About 10 minutes into the video it froze and I got a blue screen and literally said "f*ck". I rebooted and all has been well since. Could that just have been an XBMC bug since I added the movie source and started watching TV while it was scraping? I figure since I hard rebooted and re-launched XBMC that my log wouldn't show anything...

saitoh183 · 2012-03-14, 16:51

Have you tried putting your SATA ports in IDE mode, then install windows. onces inside change the registry setting for AHCI...reboot back into the Bios changes Sata ports back to AHCI

**patseguin** · 2012-03-14, 18:40

No need, as stated above everything works perfectly now except for the one blue screen which I think may have been caused by XBMC.

bluray · (This post was last modified: 2012-03-14, 18:47 by bluray.)

(2012-03-14, 16:14)patseguin Wrote: About 10 minutes into the video it froze and I got a blue screen and literally said "f*ck". I rebooted and all has been well since.

Intel LGA1156 H55 is a great mobo, but it is very picky on RAM. My friend own this mobo. He had a lot of problem till he got the suggested RAM. Everything work great after he installed the suggested RAM. You can find the info on RAM at Intel website- http://www.intel.com/support/motherboard...htm#tested

(2012-03-14, 18:40)patseguin Wrote: No need, as stated above everything works perfectly now except for the one blue screen which I think may have been caused by XBMC.

Just keep an eye on it. If there is anymore blue-screen, it still can be RAM related!

**patseguin** · 2012-03-14, 18:54

Thanks for that info bluray. If I have a couple more blue screens I'll buy some RAM off that list. You're the most helpful guy on these boards!

teaguecl · 2012-03-14, 18:58

(2012-03-14, 18:40)patseguin Wrote: No need, as stated above everything works perfectly now except for the one blue screen which I think may have been caused by XBMC.

I don't use Windows, but I believe that XBMC causing a blue screen is not possible. It runs in user space, and doesn't have permissions to do anything that serious. Since about Windows NT, a blue screen is a sure sign of either:
1. a device driver bug (runs in kernel space), or...
2. a hardware problem

MarvinMar · 2012-03-14, 22:36

Quote:You're the most helpful guy on these boards!

I think it's a tie between Bluray & Eskro Nod

**patseguin** · 2012-03-14, 22:53

(2012-03-14, 18:58)teaguecl Wrote:
(2012-03-14, 18:40)patseguin Wrote: No need, as stated above everything works perfectly now except for the one blue screen which I think may have been caused by XBMC.

I don't use Windows, but I believe that XBMC causing a blue screen is not possible. It runs in user space, and doesn't have permissions to do anything that serious. Since about Windows NT, a blue screen is a sure sign of either:
1. a device driver bug (runs in kernel space), or...
2. a hardware problem

Ah OK probably more of a reason then that I may need RAM that the board likes.

eskro · 2012-03-14, 23:04

i had a BSOD too when i was in XBMC, i actually was watching a movie,
nothing running in BackGround...
happend only once, and it was when i first built the HTPC last yr...
No BSOD since then,,,
Lets hope for the best!