Updated: 07/09/2004
Bios
Please let me know if you have experienced the problems (or conversely no problems) described below.
I advise you to install a minimal system (motherboard, one stick of memory, graphics card, hard disk, floppy and CDROM) and then to boot up the system and enter the BIOS to set the correct CPU speed and detect the hard disk. Note that the floppy cable supplied with the motherboard occasionally has the notch on the wrong side, causing floppy problems - you may need to cut off the notch with a knife and reverse the connector if the floppy light stays permanently on. Make sure the CPU cooler fan is connected to the correct header that monitors its speed.
Please read "How should I connect my hard drives and other storage devices?" below. If you have problems at this stage, read the boot/shutdown section of the FAQ - most likely causes are incorrect cabling, poor power supply or memory or that the motherboard is being shorted-out somewhere.
Make sure that the mounting posts used to mount your motherboard to the computer case are not shorting out any connections on the back of your motherboard. This can often be the cause of instabilities and problems such as the BIOS forgetting its settings.
Make sure you install the memory in the correct order as this can impact on stability. The motherboard manual will state which DIMM must be populated first. When installing your RAM make sure that it is properly seated (it requires some force to properly insert the memory and the tabs either side of the DIMM should close with a click). You may also want to ensure that the contacts are clean - use a little alcohol to clean them.
When you first boot the machine after installing the intial set of hardware, you must first enter the BIOS and the Softmenu III page to set the correct CPU speed. Save and exit. I then strongy advise that you then re-enter the BIOS and go to the PC Health Status page and watch the CPU temperature for 5 or 10 minutes. Providing it remains below about 60 degrees C then your cooling is adequate. If it rises above this your cooling is defective and it is essential that you improve the CPU cooling before proceeding - you risk damaging your CPU!
At this stage, before installing Windows, I advise you to test your system's memory for stability using memtest86. . This can prevent problems during the subsequent installation of Windows and allows you to verify stability after tweaking the memory settings. Memtest-86 is a standalone application that installs to its own bootable floppy.
Next you need to start installing the software for your system. Read "How should I install the software for my new motherboard?" and "How do I install Windows directly on my RAID disks?" below. If you plan to use Linux, read "How do I install Linux?".
Once the basic system is installed and running you can start adding your peripherals and additional storage devices. Read Complex Configurations and IRQ Information for the AMD Processors at AMD's web site - much of the information is also applicable to Intel-based machines. AMD recommend installing cards one at a time, shutting down and powering off between the addition of each card. They recommend installing cards in the following order:
Finally, to test your new machine, read "How can I test my new machine?" below.
Now for those links I promised! For more information I recommend you take a look at the following:
If you have found any other useful guides to PC building on the web, let me know and I'll add them to the list!
You should install Windows with only a basic system configuration - disk, graphics card, CDROM and memory. Nothing else. Follow the software installation order given below. Having achieved a stable system like this, you should then introduce all your other cards one-by-one. Please read the IRQ and resources section for advice on the correct order in which to introduce your peripherals. This gives useful advice that should prevent many problems.
For instructions on how to physically install your new motherboard and the fundamental components (CPU, memory, etc) I recommend that you read the Motherboard Upgrade/Installation Guide at Sharky Extreme. However, I advise you to ignore the final advice about adding all the peripherals at once - add them one at a time as described below. It's often quicker in the long run! You may also wish to read their CPU Installation Guide if you haven't installed a CPU before.
A clean install of the operating system is recommended. The following instructions assume that the disk onto which Windows is being installed is connected to IDE1 or IDE2. If the disk is installed on the Highpoint controller then replace Steps 1 and 2 below with the instructions given in "How do I install Windows directly on my RAID disks?" in RAID section, and hence omit stage 5.:
The basic principal is to work up from the most basic software towards the higher level applications.
Note that one user reported that if he set the boot sequence to Floppy, CDROM, ATARAID100, then when Windows Me setup did the system check before the installation it said that the FAT's were different and tried to fix the drives and create to separate disks. He found that this was solved by not having both floppy and CDROM set in the boot sequence.
In this section I will describe four approaches to migrating from your old machine: the first assumes you are reasonably well organised and able to back up your data; the second assumes you want to simply move the disks over and get the machine running; the third assumes you want to migrate your old system onto new disks; and the fourth assumes you want to migrate an old single disk onto a new RAID array.
Migrating using a backup
I assume you have a second hard disk or CDRW on which to backup your data. The key to a successful migration is careful preparation on your old machine. Windows makes it particularly difficult to just upgrade the operating system, as all your applications will have embedded entries in the Windows registry when they were installed, and so it's not possible to simply put the operating system on a separate partition from the applications and treat the two as distinct. That would be too easy. In this approach, therefore, we have to accept that we will need to reinstall Windows and all the applications, but will seek to minimise the loss of critical data - such as your documents, MP3 files, weblinks, address book and email messages. Look on the bright side though: this approach gives you the opportunity to review which of those hundreds of applications and background processes you installed off the Internet and the cover-CD of magazines you really want to keep.
On the old machine then, the first step is to start backing up your critical data. You could use an application like Microsoft Backup for this - but I prefer to just use Windows Explorer and drag-and-drop the files and directories I want to keep onto the backup disk. You don't get any data compression but it's much easier to keep track of what you have copied. Now, this is where you have to think hard about the critical data on your machine. For starters, you will probably need to copy at least the following data:
It is also advisable to make some notes on how you have your system configured. In particular information such as the account configurations for email and news in your email client (under the Tools menu in Outlook Express), your browser configuration (again under Tools with Internet Explorer), network settings, etc. Mentally consider every device on your system, and all the things you ever do with your computer, and make notes on any difficult configuration data you will need.
Having done all this, disconnect the backup disk from you old machine and put to one side. Next, install the software onto your new disks. Once you have completed this, plug your backup disk into your new machine, and carefully put back all the data above into the original locations. You will need to "import" data that was "exported". You're done - you have a nice clean machine but hopefully you haven't lost any of your critical data!
Migrating without a backup (using your old disks)
The next approach describes how you should go about simply plugging your old disks into your new machine. Unfortunately, unless your new motherboard is identical to the last (unlikely!), then it is most probable that your old disks contain drivers and configuration data that is specific to your previous motherboard. Although Windows does a reasonable job of detecting new hardware, some devices in your system or motherboard are sufficiently similar for Windows not to notice a difference: but sufficiently different to require different drivers! You must therefore take care to remove all your old drivers and configuration data on your old disk before plugging them into your new machine! If you don't do this, at best you risk reduced performance and intermittent instabilities, and at worst an unbootable machine.
You have two options (which essentially do the same thing):
If you are migrating a RAID array from one machine to another, you should be able to simply move the disks from your old motherboard to the new (after following step 2 above) providing the same RAID controller is used. If different RAID controllers are used then this may not be possible. If migrating from a Highpoint HPT370 controller to the newer Highpoint HPT372 (used on the KR7A-RAID) using WindowsXP then you must take the following steps:
Next install the remaining device drivers and other application software for your system.
Migrating without a backup (onto new disks)
The basic plan here is to make a functional copy of your old disk(s) onto your new disk(s) and then install the new disks on the new machine. It is therefore necessary to first prepare the old disk as described in "Migrating without a backup (using your old disks)" above (but stop before removing the disk from the old machine). This will ensure that all the old configuration data relating to your old motherboard is removed from the old disks before you copy them onto the new disks. You must then copy the data from the old disks to the new disks. You again have a few options:
Install the new disks onto your new motherboard and then install the remaining device drivers required for your system.
Migrating from one old disk onto a new RAID array
If you old machine had just a single disk, but you wish to use RAID on your new machine, but still migrate your old data onto the new machine, I advise you do the following. The plan here is to use your new machine to build the RAID-0 array and copy the data from your old disks. You will need to do the following:
ATAPI drives such as CDROM, DVD, CD-RW, Zip, LS120 and tape devices should be connected to the native IDE controllers (IDE 1 and 2), as should additional disks when IDE 3 and 4 are fully occupied. CD-DVD and CD-RW devices may perform best when each is connected as IDE Master. So, if you have a CD-DVD and a CD-RW, connect each one as the Master on IDE 1 and 2, and use slaves for other devices like the LS120, tape, Zip, etc. Ensure the DMA-box is checked for your CD device properties under System Properties. Set the BIOS for the four primary IDE channels to AUTO to see your ATAPI devices correctly on the IDE 1 and 2 ports.
For RAID-0, Highpoint recommend that the two disks be placed on separate Highpoint IDE channels. Most people, however, achieve good speed improvements whether or not the disks are on separate controllers. You may wish to experiment - you don't need to reinstall anything if you simply move a disk to the other Highpoint controller - the Highpoint BIOS will successfully detect this.
If you want advice on how to go about the physical installation of your hard disk, I recommend you read the IDE Hard Drive Installation Guide at Sharky Extreme and the Hard Disk Installation Guide at Lost Circuits.
Note that your motherboard recognises the Cable Select option described in the guide. Almost all modern disk drives allow you to set the disk drive to "cable select" mode using a jumper on the back of the drive. This allows the drive to automatically determine whether it is the Master or Slave device by its position on the ribbon cable (Master if at the end, Slave if in the middle). Using cable select mode prevents one possible source of problems and is recommended (although a few users report better performance when selecting Master and Slave mode manually). If using cable select mode make sure that both disks on the IDE cable are set to Cable Select - failure to do so can result in corrupted partitions.
You should always use an 80-way cable with ATA/66, ATA/100 and ATA/133 drives. It is optional for ATA/33 drives, but may enhance reliability. Note that some people experience data corruption difficulties when using rounded IDE cables - this is usually due to the cable's length exceeding the IDE standard of 18". If you experience installation difficulties, try using a standard 18" ribbon cable.
See also the Highpoint HPT370 FAQ.
and also for FreeBSD. See the drivers section of their website for further information and the necessary downloads.