Windows 7 RC -64 bit build on an ASUS Rampage Extreme - issues

[Ghastly]

Has anyone done a Windows 7 RC -64 bit buildout on an ASUS Rampage Extreme based system?  I'm experiencing problems (the Windows Installation Extremely Slow Expanding files issue) now that I'm at the point of the installation of the OS, and have done most of the "simple" troubleshooting already.

So far, I've written 2 new DVD's (3 total - two on my other system with IMGBurn, and one on a system at work with Nero 8, all of which verify properly during the write process, and do the same thing during installation. I've confirmed that ISO hash matches that listed on the MSDN site where I downloaded the RC from, so I don't think I have a corrupt ISO file. The machine itself runs memtest86 flawlessly and my Fedora 9 installation DVD has no problems with the media check, so I don't see any obvious hardware flaws relating to the DVD.  I've also tried an older DVD ROM drive without success.  Otherwise, I've not had much time to try to address the issue, and it's annoying me that not only do I not have time to play much, now I don't even have the time I need to fix the machine that I need to not play much!  While I don't have an OS on it so that I can monitor, a reboot into BIOS shows temperatures of the chipset, processor and motherboard to be in the range you'd expect (ie 100' F, 85' F, 80' F) 

Other people who've reported a similar issue with a Win 7 or Vista installation have also reported an apparently "random" series of solutions, such that I just can't seem to find any  consensus to latch onto.  Mostly it seems as though the solution is to just let it run until it finishes - except in my case, after about 6 to 8 hours it simply ends the install with a generic "The installation could not be completed." message.

The next step if something doesn't "pop out at me" is to grab a Linux Live DVD/CD, and make sure that the machine will run off of one - and then pull one of the drives and install to a single hard drive solution (currently, the drives are mirrored via the Intel chipset raid controller.)

But if someone else has done a similar build out of Win 7 Professional RC (64 bit) on the same motherboard, it would help eliminate one variable and my biggest concern - which is that having finished the hardware build out that the motherboard has compatibility problems with Win 7 RC. If I could eliminate that possibility, I'd be grateful...

Thanks in advance - the hardware for the new system is listed below, with the exception of an existing Coolermaster Praetorian case and Koolance Exos-2 watercooling unit.  (Not because I feel this system needs the watercooling, but because I had it, and the board ships water ready, meaning that it felt "stoopid" to not use it.)

Grue


2 Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM
    Item #: N82E16822136284

1   BYTECC Black 1.44MB Internal Floppy Drive Mac OS 8.6/9.0/9.0.2/9.0.4/9.1 Win 98/2000/ME/XP/Vista - Retail
    Item #: N82E16821121001

1   ASUS Rampage Extreme LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
    Item #: N82E16813131334

1   Pioneer CD/DVD Burner Black IDE Model DVR-118LBK LabelFlash Support - OEM
    Item #: N82E16827129043

1   PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
    Item #: N82E16817341011

1   SAPPHIRE 279L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
    Item #: N82E16814102850

4   Crucial Ballistix 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model BL25664BA1336 - Retail
    Item #: N82E16820148226

1    Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail
    Item #: N82E16819115036

[Reschke]

Had a similar issue when I was trying to install Win7 from a disc that MS sent me. I ended up installing Win Vista 64 bit and then put the Win 7 disk in to do as an upgrade. It was on a different motherboard though.

[Ghastly]

So.... if I understand you correctly, the same system with no hardware changes installed Vista 64 normally, and then upgraded to Win 7 normally, from the same media that it wouldn't install Win 7 from directly?  

Thanks!  That's actually a relief, even if it doesn't actually solve my problem ... (edit -> I mean "directly solve the problem" - I have a Vista 64 copy that I can try to perform the installation via that method as well.)

<S>

[Reschke]

You are correct in what you said.

[Ghastly]

Thanks Reschke - I'll plan to try that method.

<S>!

[TequilaChaser]

If you have not started/completed your vista 64/then win7 RC 64 bit upgrade..............why you want to install the 7100 Win 7 RC version now?  ( this is the 1st release candidate that went public download last May )

the final RTM ( in other words "finished Master build or Master copy" ) version 7600.16385.090713-1255_x64fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate

is out now...........if you subscribe to TechNet ( MSDN ) you can even get a Copy of the Enterprise ( Corporate ) version legally......it is a 90 day trial version, but you can buy a license for it when they become available........

I myself have already switched over from the Win 7 RC 64 bit to the final Win 7 version 7600... final copy.......


just incase you didn't know

Win 7 goes live publically on Oct 22 for the masses........

hope this helps

[MrRiplEy[H]]

If you have not started/completed your vista 64/then win7 RC 64 bit upgrade..............why you want to install the 7100 Win 7 RC version now?  ( this is the 1st release candidate that went public download last May )

the final RTM ( in other words "finished Master build or Master copy" ) version 7600.16385.090713-1255_x64fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate

is out now...........if you subscribe to TechNet ( MSDN ) you can even get a Copy of the Enterprise ( Corporate ) version legally......it is a 90 day trial version, but you can buy a license for it when they become available........

I myself have already switched over from the Win 7 RC 64 bit to the final Win 7 version 7600... final copy.......


just incase you didn't know

Win 7 goes live publically on Oct 22 for the masses........

hope this helps

The RC is valid untill june 2010 at which time you have to reformat to 'upgrade'. So it beats having to do it in 90 days I guess.

[Ghastly]

I chose to trial the Professional version on the new game system because when my trial of it ends, that's the version I'll purchase for it. 

(As it's a gaming system and not a development system, it won't qualify under my MSDN license agreement once I'm done trialing it.)

Given that it took me the better part of a month to get time to assemble it after the parts got here - and it's sat for another 2 weeks with this issue - my intent at this point is to just get as far as I have time for and resolve as many issues as I reasonably can with the RC, and then as soon as the retail version is released, reformat and install the retail version, taking advantage of however far I made it up the learning curve up to that point.   We trialed the earlier 32 bit version at work on a much older Pentium D based system with very good results - so I was surprised to run into difficulties with the RC and state of the art hardware.  But such is the world of computers....

<S>

[Ghastly]

The solution (at least in my case). 

The Windows 7 setup program appears to utilize UDMA to access the CD/DVD drive.  This requires the use of the 80 pin ribbon cable (usually used for hard disks) to connect the DVD drive to the motherboard.  Every motherboard I've ever purchased comes with only one of the 80 pin cables and a second 40 pin cable that's marked for CD-ROM.  Generally, CD/DVD access is limited to standard PIO modes, which would explain why everything else I tried worked fine except the Windows 7 setup.  And since I've actually had problems in the past with certain CD-ROM drives not working correctly all the time on the 80 pin cable....

You might be able to circumvent this issue if you don't have a spare 80 pin cable by changing BIOS settings that control whether UDMA is allowed to the device - I didn't investigate further than determining that the cable fixed the problem. I suspect that the full Windows drivers (loaded during setup) are smart enough to detect whether UDMA is usable, while the setup routine isn't - which would explain nicely why once people get through the setup, everything seems to work properly.  It's also remotely possible that I have a bad cable, although it seems unlikely that everything else would work fine if that were the case. (I didn't dig out a second 40 pin cable to test with after determining that the 80 pin cable resolved the problem, either.)

Hopefully, this helps someone else out if they have a similar issue.

<S>

[Vulcan]

I had a similar problem on a notebook, ended up using UltraISO to burn the image to a 4Gb flash drive, enabled USB legacy mode and booted off that.

[Ghastly]

I may have to look onto UltraISO - the tools I've tried to date to attempt to create bootable USB flash drives have all left somewhat to be desired....

Thanks for the tip!

<S>