Awful BSOD on Win XP setup, please help?

[aL3k]

Here is the deal:

When I try to install Win XP Pro here is what happens: I boot fine from the CD, but after the initial "Windows Setup" screen everytime it gives me the same BSOD stating:


"Plug and Play detected an error likely caused by faulty driver"
...
STOP: 0x000000CA (...)


Please give me some ideas what's this all about. I'm running one HDD in IDE mode, so I don't need any SATA\RAID\SCSI drivers (F6 method). Is it software or hardware related??

I tried two different Win XP installations and it gives me the same BSOD!
Everything same as before (when I had no problems), only the motherboard is changed now for the same model?


System specs:

ASUS P5K Premium
Q6600 G0
2x1 GB Crucial Ballistix
WD SATA2 500GB AAKS
G80TS 320
CFT-14C 750W

[twilyth]

That's pretty bizarre. I did a quick search on the error and found this

Open your BIOS setup program to select the "non-Plug and Play operating system"
option. This advice may seem counterintuitive-after all, Windows XP is indeed
a Plug and Play operating system. However, this setting was intended for use with
earlier Windows versions, and if it's set incorrectly it can prevent the Windows XP
boot loader from accessing devices at startup.

see http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-621168.php

Is anything else connected - for example, via usb ports?

[cirthix]

try another cd

[aL3k]

Thank you for the replies.

I must say, I tried two different CDs with two different installations a few times and always the same error BSOD.

Also PnP OS in BIOS is [NO] on default. Should I try it on [YES] or there is no point?

Any other ideas?
Thanks.

[twilyth]

If I had to guess, and at this point that's what I'm doing, I'd say that there is peripheral that is malfunctioning or is incompatible with the default windows drivers - probably usb. But if you've disconnected everything that's not essential, then I don't know. It might be time to give MS tech support a jingle - as much as it pains me to say that.

[Jazz_Data]

plug n play os should be at yes, give it a try

[adamsleath]

plug n play os should be at yes, give it a try
i would.

[Truckchase!]

I've as a standard practice never enabled "plug and play OS" on any board I've ever owned because I don't want the OS re-assigning resources I've manually mapped out. I've never had a problem of this nature, so I'd venture to say that the PnPOS setting has nothing to do with the problem.

As stated earlier, unplug all perips and disable all unused devices in the BIOS. If problem persists, look to BIOS update or memory failure.

[aL3k]

The only option under the PNP\PCI Menu in BIOS was "Plug and Play system" which was set to NO. I tried with YES too, but it gives me the same error.

My last hope was the keyboard (USB), I changed it for PS2 one, but again same error. Nothing more is connected. PS2 keyboard, monitor and I wrote what the other parts are. So I think I can't disconnect\disable one of them, they all are necessery...

Any other thoughts? :(

PS: I just can't figure out how exact this error is and how I still can't find out where the problem is. Always "Plug and Play detected an error..." and always at the same time after the initial screen on Win Setup..
And I still can't find anything on the net about that! How ridiculous!

[twilyth]

I'm just guessing again. Here are a couple thoughts.

1. In your PCI menu there should be an option to set IDE to run as IDE or RAID. That should be set on IDE. There should also be an option for running IDE or ACHI. That should also be IDE.

2. maybe there's a corrupt sector on the drive or something was corrupted during the install. but if you've installed several times and only get the bsod on reboot, then it's probably nothing to do with the hdd.

3. this will require a reformat of the hdd, but you could dl a linux distro like ubuntu and see if that installs properly. If it doesn't, maybe it will give you a more detailed error message. If it does, then maybe there is a hardware compatibility issue with windows. SP3 is available as a release candidate if you want to try that - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=75ed934c-8423-4386-ad98-36b124a720aa&DisplayLang=en

[momoceio]

What voltage does your RAM require? I know my G.Skill runs at 2.2 - 2.4v so I had to increase the voltage before I could do anything.

[adamsleath]

try 1 stick ram in the correct slot of course...try 1 stick then the other stick if necessary.

i also dont have much luck with ram at <2.0v

updating the bios may or may not help.

[aL3k]

The strangest thing is that previously I installed Windows fine on the absolutely same machine and from the same XP CD! After then i only RMAd my board for the same model and now it doesnt install anymore!
I say this to emphasize that I don't need to increase RAM voltages or whatever, cause I never did it before and it used to install fine!
That's why I'm so confused.

However, I want to ask you something. I just tried a Linux Ubuntu CD and booted from it so after it loaded it gave me the normal screen (I think its called Live CD environment). Does this mean that there is nothing wrong with the hardware, but only some kind of incompatibility between XP and the PC, or I must install Linux to actually check?

I just didn't install it because I have never done it before and don't know how to uninstall it after that, as I can't reach the recovery console on my XP CD, like I said (for to format the HDD for example).

So how does Linux check the hardware and can I do sth. to find out why Windows gives me that BSOD or I can't?