YAY!!!!
I finally got my system working.
After I wrote that blog post, I used nLite to set up a slipstream of XP 32-bit with the correct nVidia SATA drivers. I then reformatted the system, partitioned as I really wanted (3 partitions: C: 30GB for program files and Windows; D: 174GB for music and movies; E: 30GB for personal files.) I partition this way so I can always reformat without having to back up all my music and personal files.
Anyway, I got Windows installed and then realized I had neglected to slipstream either the nVidia video driver or the Ethernet driver. Hmm. I grabbed the SD card out of my Treo and dropped it into my laptop, then grabbed the latest nVidia drivers from this link (which is what I was following to slipstream the drivers in the first place.) I downloaded to the card, put the card in my desktop (yeah, every computer I own has a SD card reader) and installed the drivers. Then I rebooted…and promptly freaked out.
The system wasn’t booting. It just sat there and blinky-cursored at me (after I ignored the prompt to boot from CD.) “Fuck…another reformat!” I thought to myself. I popped in the Windows CD. It booted into the setup options and I realized it was seeing my SD card as a potential destination for my Windows install. “I wonder if it’s trying to boot off the SD card,” I mused. I popped the card out, rebooted, and sure enough, Windows came back up. Stupid computer! (Side note: When I have my backup drive plugged in via USB, it tries to boot off that, too. Sigh.)
Anyway, after installing 51 Windows updates (please note I had slipstreamed SP2 onto my CD, so this is 51 updates after SP2), some more drivers, and rebooting a few more times, I had a working system. So far, so good. I’m now copying all my music files off my backup drive. I had all my CDs ripped into MP3, but they don’t all fit on my iPod, so I had them stored on the backup drive. It’s been 6 months since I’ve been able to easily access my backed-up MP3s. They’re copying over to this system now. It’s nice to have them back!
Also, iTunes works now, so either it was a corrupt download problem or it didn’t work under Windows x64 with my system.
All good for now. If the system has any more problems, I will post annother update.
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18. June 2006 at 1:02 pm
My experience says; if you don’t genuinely need really large memory footprints, terrabyte partitions, or support for really really big numbers, don’t use 64-bit. The processor won’t clock any faster on anything that uses only 32-bit facilities.
If you haven’t already, make sure all the firmware is updated on everything, and the various bios/whatever menus are tweaked just enough to enable/disable anything in an unhelpful default state.
20. June 2006 at 7:06 am
Those noisy fans on the power supply, etc. can be replaced pretty easily if you can find a quieter one with similar air flow. Halted Specialties [HSC] has oodles of fans of different types. It could be surprisingly cheap and easy to replace a noisy one, though you’d have to identify the existing fan first. HSC is awesome!
20. June 2006 at 2:25 pm
HSC?
Are you kidding? You;ll probably be buying the broken fans that she “parted-out” from her original system.
Exactly where did you think they get all that junk at HSC so cheap?
18. January 2007 at 2:10 pm
Hi; I have an Nforce 3 w/fn85 mb, cannot find nvidia drivers that work audio. I use a wave editor to tranfer lp’s to wave files & clean them up but like you I am stymied by 64 bit that doesn’t work w/nothing and lack of driver support
21. January 2007 at 11:47 am
So you gave up on XP64?
XP may be my last MS product. I’m soooooo over troubleshooting and tweaking. It used to be fun, but after 15 years of Microsoft “fun” – I’m about over it.
I was thinking of getting one of these (maybe 2) now that NewEgg is offering them with the 7950 (barebones)for $500.
I’ve read lots of forums where the Linux/BSD folks love these things, smooth installs, few problems. My last experience with Linux (RedHat) left me with a lot of mental issues, post offices shot up, etc…
As to some of your other troubles – I’ve had similar issues.
Resetting the bios was the problem (in my case) – any detected USB device (after reset) became a potential “floppy” (bootable device) since I hadn’t specified things in bios again, like I did after purchase.
I just turned off “boot from other devices”, switched boot sequence, and was back in “reinstall” business.
I also just noted that Shuttle posted it’s Vista Premium capable PC’s – and only their latest models are listed there (DDR2 based boxes).
I suspect a lot of folks are going to be in for a shock when they think that the ‘Big Box Store’ that sold them their X64 capable PC way back when – you know, for ‘confidence in future-proofing’, is not going to happen… smoothly, lol…
Every OS forum I’ve visited tho, has something going on, rendering item x problematic with item y… The nature of the beast, I ‘spoze.