P5KC--Use manufacturer's CD-ROM or just load OS?

[BobaFettK]

OK, my replacement motherboard works (hallelujah!), and I've got all hardware hooked up. I've gone into the BIOS, but since everything is so different from the examples Rob used in his walkthrough, I didn't really change any of the settings from how they already were. I just fixed the date/time and changed the order of boot devices. Here are my questions about what to do next:

1. Should I change any BIOS settings before continuing?

2. Should I run the driver installation from the ASUS CD-ROM, or just try to install Windows and see if it works?

3. I need to format the hard drive before installing Windows...how do I do this?

3. I just got a free Ubuntu CD in the mail. Is it worth installing for dual-boot? If so, do I install it before or after I install WinXP? Does it matter? How do I partition the HD to make it work?

4. Should I update the BIOS before installing an OS, or see if Windows installs, and then just go the the ASUS website on my new SuperPC and download/install BIOS updates through Windows?

Thanks for all the advice and support so far. I'm getting close, and I'm really excited!

[iiiprimeiii]

did u already clear cmos and then load failsafe defaults??? i did those first. once computer was all hooked up as in everything. then i loaded the os. after the os was loaded THEN i changed the boot orders. once i got all that done i booted up to windows and then installed all drivers and updates for my mobo, cpu, gpu, etc. hope this helps im no expert but i just got my superpc done a week ago and havent had a single problem so far. u think ur excited now wait till u get that fresh os up and running without all that bloatware u would get from a manufactured desktop. :D :D good luck hope all goes well!!!

[Jamie Nixx]

Set the boot order to boot from the Optical drive, then install windows.

Then when installation has completed, restart the computer, go into the Bios and set to boot from the HDD.

If you have a spare computer i would advise downloading the latest motherboard and graphics drivers and then putting them on a USB pen drive if you have one, and use them instead of installing old ones.

Oh and glad its working :D

[BobaFettK]

Is there any reason to reset the CMOS if everything seems to be working properly? I haven't done that yet because I thought it was more of a troubleshooting strategy than a necessity.

What about my Ubuntu question? Any thoughts?


Thanks again guys!

I'll be back in about 12 hours with more updates. Stupid job!

:rolleyes:

[The Wise Monkey]

Nah, you don't really need to clear the CMOS, but its just good to know that the settings are default as opposed to something small being incorrect.

As for Ubuntu, here is a good tutorial for dual-booting:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot

[iiiprimeiii]

i only reset the cmos to make sure i didnt run into a problem later like it says in robs guide. u set the cmos and loade failsafe defaults and start all fresh.

[BobaFettK]

OK, I'll be sure to do that when I get home tonight. Thanks again, everyone. More updates to come...

[JasonG]

Congrats on the success so far...

[shyster]

So, I am in a similar place as Boba, I got everything working, but only to the first boot. Which means I do not have the hard drive or optical drive in yet, but I was wondering if I should reset the CMOS now, and if I should just do it buy flipping the jumpers or should I do it by taking out the battery?

As for Jamie, or if somebody else can answer this question. Should I download the drivers for the GPU and motherboard and load them prior to installation of windows or should I do it upon loading windows? By the way I know you can flash the motherboard to update the drivers, but can you do the same thing for a GPU, I thought there drivers were all software.

By the way does the p5kc have a connector for the 1394 wire? I could not find one for the front mounted wire that is part of the antec 900.

[Lerxt]

I think you need to distinguish between drivers and BIOS updates. Drivers can only be installed after the OS has been (or is being installed). BIOS updates could be done before OS installation.

[chunkylover53]

I have this board and I think things would have gone more smoothly had I updated the BIOS prior to loading windows, but I didn't install a floppy. There was a way to do it with a flash drive, but I would have had to run a program to make it bootable.

Anyway, I was able to load windows first and then update the BIOS using the ASUS BIOS windows utility, but I did have some trouble with instability until it was done. I updated all drivers after windows was loaded, and I started with the motherboard drivers so that the LAN port would work and I could download drivers right onto my new machine.

The 1394 connector is at the bottom of the board, to the left of the two USB connectors.

[BobaFettK]

By the way does the p5kc have a connector for the 1394 wire? I could not find one for the front mounted wire that is part of the antec 900.

Yes, it connects to a dark red connector on the "bottom" area of the motherboard (near the blue USB connectors and the audio connectors).

[shyster]

Yeah but that is for a rear port connector, I ment for the small pin connector that comes as part of the antec 900 case.

If you do not get what I mean, look at the p5kc. It has two connectors for the usb, the ones near the bottom that you mentioned a for use with a rear connector (a.k.a. a pci expansion slot) and then a connector with smaller pins closer together near the upper middle of the board, right above the blue PCI express slot.

So getting back to my question is there a small pin slot for the 1394 like there is for the usb?

And Lerxt you are totally correct. It did not even register in my mind that a motherboard would need drivers, for some reason I thought updating the bios would replace the need for drivers. Of course I am really focused on trying to flash my bios so that probably messed with my thinking.

So in regards to that if I was to flash my bios prior to loading windows, I would have to use a usb. So how would I configure bios, as in boot from usb drive (is that even possible) or would I set it to boot from optical drive?

[chunkylover53]

These are decent directions for the USB method.

http://www.gamebeat.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1057

I remember trying to use the ASUS EZ Flash 2 utility with a USB drive, but the motherboard wouldn't recognize the drive. I realized later it was because I never formatted it to FAT and select "MSDOS startup disk".