Although the nForce 4 chipset supports 4GB of memory, Windows and the BIOS will usually see 2.75-3GB when 4GB is installed. This is due to limitations in memory addressing by the BIOS. ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe drivers: This page presents multiple files for the ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe device. Select the relevant version and file type for your operating system.
Aug 19, 2006 Chipset Drivers For A8N-SLI Deluxe. I posted this over at the driverheaven forums but have been unable to get an answer. Just a quick question, which chipset drivers should be used for an Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe from the Nvidia website? Nforce 4 AMD - 6.69 Nforce 4 AMD/Intel X16 - 6.83. View full ASUS A8N-SLI specs on CNET. AMD Cool 'n' Quiet Technology, ASUS Ai Proactive, ASUS Instant Music, ASUS Q-Fan, CrashFree BIOS 2, EZ Plug, NVIDIA Firewall.
Check BIOS Boot settings, cables, F-disk active
BIOS - check that the BIOS Boot setting order is correct and you have the DVD as first and the SATA drive as second.
---------
IDE Cables - most DVDs and CDs work off a 40 pin IDE cable, while IDE hard drives use a 80 pin cable. Usually you can work a 40 pin device off a 80 pin cable.
Check you have the number one pin connected right at each connector on the cable. This is the wire with the red stripe in it. If the cable is turned around with this at the wrong end on any connection it will often register the device but not allow you access to it.
--------
Many systems require the boot drive to be set as 'Active' - this is usually done during the initial format of the drive, or can be done with F-disk.
A8n Sli Drivers
So many things to check
Start with the BIOS to be sure it sees the drives and they are active. Next check that the data cables for all drives are orientated correctly. I like to set the first hard drive as master on the primary circuit. I also like to have the DVD drive as the master on the secondary circuit. The CD can be set as slave on either circuit. Most drives have a small jumper to designate whether it is master or slave, or you can use the older 'cable select' option which determines whether it is master or slave for that circuit by whether it is first or second in line on the cable. As a general rule, I don't like to have a CD and DVD drive on the same circuit, split them up, one on primary and the other on secondary. The boot drive must be the master on the primary circuit.
Hardrive not read as IDE
HARDRIVE:
Currently, I have my hardrive hooked up to 1 of 4 SATA ports on my motherboard. I thought that my system was supposed to boot from there, but everytime it tries to boot, it quits on me and resets. Eventually, it comes to the screen that asks me if I would like to boot in safe mode and such. It usually works to do so. Is there anything I can do from safe mode that would help me?
Is my BIOS trying to boot from an IDE hardrive and not my SATA hardrive? Is that the problem? If so, how in the world do I change that. It seems to recongnize my hardrive as SATA and I have the boot priority of my BIOS set to Hardrive - 1 CDROM - 2 and then the last two are disabled.
Optical Drives:
Because my hardrive is hooked up to SATA and not IDE, should I still split my drives making my DVD primary master, and my CDRW secondary master? Or Visa Versa?
Both optical on the one IDE is no problem - you need to
set the BIOS boot drive options to show the SATA as the Hard drive to use, and the DVD as the optical drive to use, and set the boot order as
1. floppy 2. optical (DVD) 3. hard drive (SATA) or
1. optical (DVD) 2. hard drive (SATA)
make sure you have the jumper pins set properly on the opticals, one master - one slave.
ALWAYS have the optical set as first as this allows you to put the OS dvd in a boot from that to format the system and load the OS.
Asus A8n Sli Drivers
Asus Chipset Driver
OK you only have 1 IDE Cable so both Optical Drives will need to be on that
You'll need to set them to Master & Slave and place the Master on the end of the IDE Lead. As others have said make sure that the IDE Lead is plugged in the right way round on the M'Board and the Red Stripe goes to the Number 1 Pin as shown on the M'Board and in the Manual. When it comes to connecting the Optical Drives the red strips goes closest to the power connectors on both drives.
You have the SATA drive set to the correct socket and you can boot directly off the SATA but first you'll need to go into BIOS and make sure that you have Disabled the RAID Controller as that sounds like your problem. Reset the Boot Process to the following Floppy if you have one as First Boot Device CD or DVD as Second Boot Device and HDD 0 as third Boot Device then drop in the Windows XP Install CD and reinstall Windows. It should then work properly and as you have an NVidia Chip Set M'Board you shouldn't need to install any drivers for the M'Board except the sound drivers. And OEM Windows Install CD will support NVidia M'Boards and SATA Controllers without a problem, though there may be some other devices on this particular M'Board that you need to install Drivers for but the Optical drives are not one of them.
If you are using the XP 32 Bit version everything should be an easy install but if you are using the 64 Bit version of XP you may run into some driver problems the most obvious will be printers but there is the possibility that some of the other drivers that you need to install may not work or install on the 64 Bit platform. This depends solely on the hardware involved.
But either way it should be an easy install with no problems once you have disabled the RAID Controller in BIOS.
Provided that you don't have anything special all you should need to install in the way of drivers is the Sound and Video Drivers the sound will come off the M'Board CD and the Video will come off the Video Cards CD everything else should work but I would still check in Computer Management for any unknown devices.
If you are using additional Plug In Cards you'll need to install the drivers for these as well and I would do that before you even go near the Computer Management as un-installed Devices are not listed as what they are they are just shown as Unknown Device. It makes things easier if you have already installed every driver first and then you only need to rely on the M'Board CD and allow the system to Auto Detect the necessary drivers after you Right Click on the Unknown Item and chose to install New Drivers.
Col