MCE2005 will not clean install. Help!

[Fleabus]

Hi:

I'm stuck at the blue "Starting WindowsXP" screen.

I've just built an XP Pro SP2 system with the same motherboard, CPU, memory, HDDs, floppy drive, PSU,
video card and sound card. SATA HDDs not RAID.

The XP Pro SP2 install went without a hitch. BIOS and XP saw my drives, no SATA driver floppy needed, I formatted C:
during the install, installed XP and formatted/partitioned the rest later.

For the MCE2005 install the BIOS settings are identical.

If I skip the F6 3rd party driver option as before, the MCE2005 install loads its files but stops at the
blue "Starting WindowsXP" screen. No disk activity.

I tried every flavour of SATA drivers available from Asus' Make Disk utils.
When I F6, the drivers are taken, loaded but I still get to the same blue "Starting WindowsXP" screen.
No disk activity.

MCE2005 System:
Motherboard: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe nForce4 SLI X16
CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Dual Core S939 Toledo
HSF: Zalman CNPS9500 LED Copper CPU Heat Sink 92MM Fan
RAM: 2GB (Corsair XMS-3500LL PRO 2GB kit) PC3500 CL2/1T
CASE: Antec P180 mid-tower case w/4 120mm Antec TriCool fans
Drive Bay Fan Controller: Thermaltake Hardcano13 5.25in multi-function
PSU: Enermax Liberty EL620AWT 620W Modular PSU ATX12V v2.2
Video Card: ATI Radeon X1800XT 512MB PCI-E Dual DVI HDTV-OUT
(component & S-video OUT to 36” Sony Wega XBR-400 NTSC HD ready TV).
Tuner card: ATI TV Wonder Elite Theatre 550 PRO PCI
HDD: 2 x 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 500GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200RPM 16MB
Burner: BenQ DW1655 Lightscribe DL DVD+RW16X16X8 DVD-RW16X16X4
CDRW48X48X32 DVD Burner Black W/ SW
FDD: Mitsumi
Sound Card: Turtle Beach Montego DDL 7.1 S/PDIF optical OUT to
Denon AVR-3802 7x110W based HT System
Microsoft Remote Control w/USB receiver OEM for MCE2005.
Mouse/Keyboard: Microsoft Remote Keyboard for WindowsXP MCE
Etc

Note: The MS Remote and Remote keyboard aren't connected yet.
I'm temporarily using an old Logitech PS/2 cordless keyboard and a Logitech
PS/2 wired mouse until I have the system up and running.
The keyboard works ok. Haven't progressed to a level where a mouse can
be used so I don't yet know if it is ok.
BTW, I'm using component OUT from the ATI video card to the TV and
that works ok.

Also, my oem MCE2005 came as 3 discs. MCE2005 disc 1 and 2 plus a third
Updates for version 2005 disc.

Anyone offer some ideas on what may be going wrong?

Thanks in advance,

 

[Jimmy 2004]

1) How long are you leaving it to load?
2) Have you tried another Windows disk?

I don't ever have a problem installing XP on my system, this link gives basic info on how to install SATA drives but it sounds like you're already doing that.

http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp_on_a.htm

 

[Fleabus]

Hi Jimmy 2004:

I have MCE2005 up and running.
The ATI TV Wonder Elite Theatre 550 PRO PCI TV card
didn't work out.

Because of the point at which the install grounded to a halt, I
assumed it was an issue with the F6/floppy/SATA driver gambit
but although the drivers would be loaded ... no change.

I went at it the old fashioned way.
I disconnected the second HDD, sound card, tuner card, on-board firewire cable and
two USB hubs.

I tried again and MCE2005 installed without a glitch and no need to supply SATA
drivers ... just like the easy install I recently had with XP Pro SP2.

I added back the other HDD ... ok.
I added back the sound card ... ok.
I added back the tuner card ... nope. No boot into MCE2005.

The tuner card has to go back.

I've orderred this instead:
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2 MCE kit with Media Center remote control NTSC tuner
Model # 99016.

I end up with a spare remote but its made for MCE and I get a PCI slot back.

The ATI card is either defective or is asking for more power from the PCI slot
than the motherboard can safely furnish.

I could have tried connecting an extra 4pin molex to the on-board EZ-Plug connector
but Asus says not to use it unless you are using SLi.

This is a top notch motherboard and PSU. With a single PCI-e and only a sound card
using another PCI slot, I shouldn't have to play that close to the edge.
If this type of card needs that much juice, I'm better off letting it draw power from its
own brick and a powered hub.

BTW, that MS Remote keyboard's cursor movement button is practically unuseable.
I dragged out my old Logitech DiNovo Media bluetooth desktop. I'm hoping their
new bluetooth software doesn't wink out like the former.

All seems fine now.
Thanks for the help/tips.