I'm desperate! (ACPI & WinXP errors...)

MooHoo · Thu Jun 27, 2002 9:30 pm

I've got these errors since I reinstalled windows xp. The only thing that changed since the last time i installed winxp (and it worked ok then) is that now when I installed, I had an updated bios version, one that my motherboard manufacturer (GigaByte) declares that "solves winxp and ACPI problems".

I get random bluescreens and halts, whichafter a few "AMLI: ACPI BIOS is attempting to write to an illegal IO port address..." messages are waiting for me in the event log. I have reinstalled winxp, I tried playing with my bios's configuration (pnp os, acpi, etc...), and nothing helps.

I have a few questions regarding the subject:

1. What are the differences between ACPI and APM? I don't see an APM tab in power management, and I remember having one.
2. If I 'downgrade' my driver to a standard pc, will I have to manually assign irqs? If so, will I be able to make devices share irqs? (I currently have about 16 irqs and over 20 devices using ones.)
3. Can I use a bios version which wasn't made for my mobo? Are there 'GENERIC' bios's?
4. Is there a limited amount of times that I can flash my bios? I think I flashed it over 5 times already, and I wanna know if I can play with it more...

My system specs are:
AMD K-7 650Mhz (Not overclocked)
Gigabyte GA-7IXE, with an american megatrends bios, version FAA (Latest one released by GB)
Sparkle G-force 2 MX400 64mb (Had this problem also with a voodoo 3 3500 card)
Aureal vortex 2 8830 soundcard
Running Windows XP Professional

BTW: Gigabyte's support answered my email after a week, saying that I should try reflashing my bios to the latest version. I already tried that, and it didn't work.

Any ideas?

Thu Jul 04, 2002 4:08 pm

From the Gigabyte FAQ for GA-7IXE :

Q11. In device manager, Windows XP recognize my computer as standard PC, not ACPI PC.

A11. Reinstall Windows XP after update beta BIOS version FAa or above

Also, see the Collected Wisdom forum for ACPI & XP issues.

Thu Jul 04, 2002 5:11 pm

The FAA release has a visible "Power Management/APM" tab. The hidden tab is ACPI.
If you can't see the tabs this way, then you might need a "clear CMOS" to solve it.

What I do find weird is the BIOS message of the FAA release:
7IXE/7IXE4 FAa
Whereas the BIOS message of the latest non-Beta release is:
7IXE F7

This makes me think that the beta suits both boards (7IXE and 7IXE4).

Now, checking the 7IXE4's latest beta and official releases:
Official: 7IXE4 F9
Beta: 7IXE4/7IXE FAd

....this makes me think that your board can actually use the latest 7IXE4 beta BIOS, which is over 2 months newer than yours.

In fact, except the slot/socket difference, their features are practically identical:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/products/7ixe4.htm
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/products/ga7ixe.htm

If I were you, I wouldn't try to risk flashing it with the "wrong" BIOS. I'd try to reinstall as soupy pointed out, but do clear CMOS first, just in case.

Note: if you had a dual-BIOS board, I would have risked it.

jimmsta · Mon Oct 21, 2002 4:07 am

I've questioned whether the two boards are the same, but I'm pretty sure that because of the socket, that it will not work. I have the 7IXE too, and I use a FAA modified bios for the advanced stuff.. I'm currently working on replacing the beta FAA bios with the F7 and the ACPI patch. I'm also going to try and add support for multiplier tweaks, but this is probably somewhat impossible, being that the CPU is locked, but all the same, using the program WPFSB, I was able to get the FSB over 115MHz, so I'll try and find a way to integrate that sort of program into the new modified bios...

Oh yeah... just gonna post this in case I need it again...

62-1005-001199-00101111-071595-IRONGATE

jimmsta · Mon Oct 21, 2002 5:37 am

Alright... I looked into the 7ixe4 bios and, yes, it is 100% compatible with the 7ixe... I guess I've proven myself wrong. I'll post some more info as it becomes available...