Vista x64 K8T800 VT8237 chipset Problems on ASUS A8V

[RMWChaos]

System Specs:
M-B: ASUS A8V with VIA K8T800 / VT8237 chipset
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
MEM: 4x 2GB PC2700 DDR333 or 4x 1GB PC3200 DDR400
VID: BFG 7800GSOC 256MB nVidia GeForce
HDD: Maxtor 190GB SATA
LAN: Marvell Yukon 88E8001 onboard
SND: Realtek ALC850 onboard

This system works great running WinXP or Vista x86 (32-bit); no problems with the NIC, Video, Sound, system bus, or anything else. However, Vista x64 is another story altogether.

Vista x64 detects and installs all the drivers without any user intervention and no hardware alerts. However, the performance difference between Vista x86 and x64 is stunning, and the NIC does not work under x64 at all.

Problem 1:
NIC is detected and no hardware alerts, but never detects a cable connection "Network Cable Unplugged"...lights blink in discovery mode, router does not detect a connection. NIC works perfectly under XP or Vista x86. Updated the drivers with the most current from Marvell, no change. I installed an Intel PCI 10/100 NIC, and it works just fine.

Problem 2:
Performance is terrible. Vista x86 reports the video card at a 5.9 Gaming and Productivity experience; Vista x64 reports a 4.3 - 4.5. Loaded the most current nVidia drivers 165.25 and even the beta 169.28 drivers, but neither had any effect. The video card manufacturer, BFG, reports that no other users have had the same issues under x64, and suggested that the bus drivers are the likely cause (I agree). On other forums, users with the same video card but a different system board and chipset say their video performance is great under Vista x64.

I downloaded and installed the most current VIA hyperion, Rhine, and Vinyl drivers for Vista x64, but neither had any effect on the problems. I reinstalled Vista x64 multiple times, but the problems remained.

Has anyone else encountered similar issues? Is VIA working on an update to the Vista x64 drivers to correct these issues?

Thanks!

[cas]

Hi

since u're having no problem using WinXP or Vista x86 (32-bit) with ur rig, i would suggest just leave it as it is, like the old saying goes if it ain't broke, dun fix it

If the problem really lies with the 4 in 1 as u mention earlier then wait till they comes out with drivers or solution to counter the problem and for the time being u just carry on with either vista 32bit, tbh u wouldn't feel much difference between vista 32 or 64bit

[boyblue]

RMWChaos

I would try just 2gb of memory for testing purposes in 64-bit system.

What is the make and model of the memory used?

[boyblue]

Have you tried these drivers from Marvell?

Marvell: Download Drivers

[RMWChaos]

Let's see if I can answer everyone's questions at once. I ultimately dropped back down to WinXP Pro x86 because it runs much faster and there are no compatibility issues. Of course, this means that I am only using 3.25GB of the 4GB memory. Oh well. That was the primary reason I wanted to upgrade to x64 anyway.

I spoke directly to Marvell engineers, who responded that yes indeed, there does seem to be a problem with specifically this board, the ASUS A8V, and Vista x64. No other board using this chipset or running Vista x64. So I supplied them with what information that I could. Interestingly, the Yukon works fine in XP x64, so drivers *should* be able to work aroud this problem.

I am fairly confident that this is a combination issue with the board, specifically the way the BIOS is written, and the drivers on Vista x64. It's the only explanation that I can come up with for all the various bus issues.

In any case, what I have learned from my whirl wind tour of OSes this week is that Vista is not yeat ready for me...or I am not ready for Vista. Whatever.

I shall await patiently the release of later drivers, firmware, BIOS, etc. or when the time comes upgrade to more compatible hardware.

Thanks for your replies!

[tcsenter]

Well part of the problem may stem from some of your own errors.

The 4 x 2048MB PC2700 modules you have can only be registered DIMMs, as unbuffered DIMMs larger than 1GB don't exist in 184-pin DDR standard. Only AMD Opteron supports registered DIMMs. Athlon 64 supports unbuffered DIMMs only - 1GB MAX per module. Due to AMD64 memory controller limitations, four double-rank PC3200 modules will run at DDR333 and 2T CMD by default. This can be over-ridden manually in the BIOS, but not always with stable results. In any case, Command Rate should always be set to 2T with four double-rank modules.

I see you have tried to install VIA Rhine LAN and Vinyl audio drivers (from the other thread). Installing the correct drivers might help. The LAN is Marvell and requires Marvell drivers. The audio is REALTEK and requires REALTEK drivers. Both Marvell and Realtek have made Vista drivers available from their websites. The only VIA devices requiring drivers on this system are the AGP controller, IDE/SATA/RAID controller, and integrated USB2.0 controllers. Among those, only the IDE/SATA/RIAD controller drivers are still supported by VIA.

As of Vista, the AGP and USB2.0 drivers are fully Microsoft's responsiblity. Actually, VIA AGP drivers became Microsoft's responsibility as of Service Pack 2 for XP, and USB2.0 drivers have always been Microsoft's responsibility (though it allowed hardware vendors to release their own for a limited time to solve vendor-specific compatibility issues).

You might want to start over and do it right next time. Use a supported memory configuration, preferrably 2GB max until you have Vista installed with all patches and updates. Disable AMD Cool-N-Quiet in BIOS as it was often 'glitchy' under Windows XP and is even worse under Vista. Make sure any SATA II 3Gbps hard drives are jumpered to SATA 1.5Gbps compatibility mode, since the VT8237 Southbridge has a bug with automatically negotiating the correct SATA mode when a SATA II 3Gbps drive is attached.

Install Vista, then install the latest Realtek, Marvell, and NVIDIA drivers. Do not install any VIA drivers from the Hyperion package except for the "Chipset INF", even that is optional. Then obtain the latest updates by going to the Windows Update website, and selecting "Custom" option instead of "Express". If you use the Express method or the automatic updates feature built-in to Vista, it will not check for driver updates. Install whatever VIA driver updates are offered by Windows Update, if any. Presto - you're done.

Do not install the VIA PATA/SATA/RAID drivers from the Hyperion package unless you have some specific reason to other than "just curious". VIA's driver development is not good enough to permit casually installing the latest drivers under the general rule that latest is always best. And its not as though you have cutting edge chipset from VIA. Its four years old now and fully supported by Vista "in-box" drivers or via Windows Update.

[RMWChaos]

Cool'N'Quiet? BAH! I'm an overclocker. C'N'Q is a waste of my time.

Thank you for your in-depth reply. Very helpful and informative. I did realize my mistake with the vinyl and rhine drivers (especially after the panic) and ultimately used only the drivers direct from Marvell and Realtek. So thank you for clarifying that piece.

The 2GB DIMMS are ECC registered, HP Part Number: 331563-051. Functionally, they work just fine, but there are numerous posts in different forums about the ASUS A8V board with 4x DIMMS (512, 1GB, or 2GB) causing the USB OVER CURRENT error. This started as of BIOS rev. 0219. Prior to that, there was no USB OVER CURRENT code, and the error did not occur.

I was not aware of the AGP and USB2.0 drivers being MS's responsibility now, nor of any issues regarding VIA's Hyperion drivers. So I appreciate your info on that. My reason for installing the most current Hyperion drivers including SATA was purely looking for performance boosts. In WinXP, I have to load the VIA SATA bus drivers via disk during the install process; so I have no choice there AFAIK.

My HDD is a Maxtor 6 V200E0 SATA II, and the SATA driver is VIA 3149 ver. 5.1.6000.562. I do not have the drive jumpered for 1.5Gbps, but have not encountered any problems in WinXP. This might be one of the issues I was having with Vista, however.

At this point, I will use a spare ATA/133 IDE 50GB HDD I have and install Vista x64 on it following your recommendations (all very good ones, thank you).

One last question...considering your comments about memory, I am a bit confused regarding only supporting 1GB max per module because 2GB per module works physically in my system. Perhaps you mean as a stable standard and 2GB/module could work, but results are unpredictable?

Thank you again!

[tcsenter]

One last question...considering your comments about memory, I am a bit confused regarding only supporting 1GB max per module because 2GB per module works physically in my system. Perhaps you mean as a stable standard and 2GB/module could work, but results are unpredictable?

I mean that out of all AMD technical documents for Athlon 64 that describe memory support, only unbuffered modules are discussed. That is because registered DIMMs are only approved for use with Opteron processors.

The fact that these modules do work owes to the shared design between the Opteron and Athlon 64 integrated memory controllers, but the memory controller is not identical. There are several register programming and 'tuning' differences between Athlon 64 and Opteron related to memory handling. The ASUS A8V supports Opteron models, so it is not a surprise to learn that registered DIMMs are not entirely foreign to the BIOS.

But the fact remains that registered DIMMs are not approved for Athlon 64 and you are attempting to troubleshoot an unapproved configuration that also happens to be highly unusual. We don't know what contribution, if any, this may be making to any problems you are experiencing.

As for the 1024MB module limit, its not that Athlon 64 could not support modules larger than 1024MB. Its that JEDEC defined 1024MB as the limit for unbuffered DIMMs. DIMMs larger than 1024MB must be registered in order to be JEDEC compliant. Since Athlon 64 is only approved for unbuffered DIMMs, that defines the Athlon 64's maximum module support.

[RMWChaos]

Okay, I understand. Thank you again. I will follow your advice to install with 2x 1GB (2GB total) unregistered in the supported configuration and make sure that it is not contributing to any of the problems.