MSI motherboards for Intel CPUs | MSI HQ User-to-User FAQ

VIA VT8237/R issues with SATA-II drives

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 17:22:31 +0100

Symptom: SATA-II drive is not detected in BIOS.

Basically ANY Via chipset mainboard which uses the VIA VT8237 or VT8237R southbridge chipset, does NOT support SATA-II (3.0gb/s) drives.

You may have some success if you are able to jumper the drive to SATA-I (1.5gb/s) operation mode, but in the majority of situations this is not guaranteed to work either.

This is a known unfixable issue; there is no BIOS or driver update that can resolve this.

Solution:

Use a SATA-I drive instead (hard to find now)
Use a PATA (IDE) drive instead (still plenty available)
If you deperately need your SATA-II drive to work, use an add-in PCI SATA controller card (that natively supports these drives)
Or upgrade your mainboard to one that does not use this southbridge chipset.

See: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1012674/via-warns-hard-drive-chipset-incompatibility

And for plenty more on this:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=via+vt8237+sata+2

Intel Smart Connect

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 02:03:24 +0200

Intel Smart Connect Technology

Function Explained:

Intel Smart Connect Technology allows user to be able to receive mails using Microsoft Outlook or social media such as facebook and/or Twitter to receive updates with the latest status even under Sleep mode.

System will automatically wakes up after a specified period of time to access the internet to retrieve updates and then will automatically goes back to sleep mode thus allowing user to always see the latest status once he/she returns.

Supported Table:

*Z68 chipset on Cougar Point

How to test Smart Connect：

Bios Setup

1. Go to Settings à Advanced à Intel® Smart Connect Configuration à

Intel Smart Connect Technology = Enabled

Windows Setup:

1. Install Intel® Smart Connect Technology 2.0 x86(x64) driver and restart the system.

1. Click start and enter “Regedit”

1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Intel\Intel Smart Connect Technology\Always Updated

4、Add the name [WhiteList] using Multi-String Value。

Value data need to input Outlook.exe and iexplore.exe

5、Add [LoggingEnabled] using DWORD(32-bit) Value，Value data input 2

6、Add [LoggingLevel] using DWORD(32-bit) Value，Value data input 10

And restart system.

7、Execute the Intel Smart Connect Technology

Enable Updating，set the time to 5 minutes to auto update the system every 5 minutes。

8、Open Outlook and set the “Send and Receive” to 1 minute.

9、Go to S3 mode。

10、After system enters S3 mode, send E-Mails to your Outlook。

Note: When system wake up every 5 minutes, it will automatically refresh and update your

System to the latest status, You will see that the CPU fan will rotate upon system auto wakeup but monitor display will still stays in blank screen and then the system will automatically goes to sleep mode again.

。

11、Manually wake up system and check your Mail should already been downloaded

to your Inbox Email.

12、Under Intel Smart Connect Technology Configuration, selecting Advanced mode allow

You to configure when want to use the Intel Smart connect function，when the time sets is outside of the setting configuration, system will only update the system status every 2 hours。

13、You could find the log file under C:\ProgramData\Intel\iSC (which records info like

When the system enters S3 mode, when did the system wakeup etc.。)

Fix for no HD Audio in Windows XP SP3

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:10:02 +0100

I came across this problem today, and thought I'd share my solution with you all, in case someone encounters the same problem...

Basically, I figured it was time for a fresh install of Windows XP, and so to save some time, I decided to slipstream in the RC Beta of Service Pack 3, as well as all the drivers I was likely to need.

After Windows finished installing, all my devices were installed, but there was no sound... Device Manager showed a (?) PCI Device under Unknown Devices, but no driver I tried would work with it.

I tried installing the HD Audio Bus driver hotfix (KB888111) in case that was the problem, but it reported that my service pack version was newer and so this fix wasn't needed...

After much head scratching and fiddling around, I came across the answer thanks to Googling.

Seems the HD Audio Bus driver wasn't actually installed, and the KB installer was just confused.

1) I have attached the HD Audio bus driver from the KB888111 hotfix to this article (see below).
2) Download and extract the files to a handy location (eg C:\HDAudioBus)
3) Open Device Manager, search for the Unknown PCI device
4) Right click on the Unknown PCI device to update the driver
5) Point the driver path to this C:\HDAudioBus folder, or wherever you may have extracted the files
6) The UAA audio bus driver will be installed
7) If you have already installed the Realtek HD Audio drivers, then they will then be installed automatically and your audio hardware will be ready to use. Otherwise, you may now install the Realtek drivers as normal!

Hope this saves someone else a couple of hours headache, you may also find it useful to add this driver to your slipstreamed installation to avoid any future hassle!

Intel Rapid Start

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 03:11:35 +0200

Intel® Rapid Start Technology User Guide

Intel® Rapid Start Technology enables your system to get up and running faster from even the deepest sleep, saving time and power consumption. Feel secure knowing that your system will resume to working condition in the event of unexpected power loss while in sleep mode.
System Requirements:
For a system to support Intel Smart Response Technology it must have the following:
• Intel® Z77/H77/Q77 Express Chipset-based desktop board
• Intel® Core™ Processor in the LGA1155 package
• Solid State Drive (SSD)
• Hard Disk Drive (optional for Intel Smart Response Technology)
• Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7* (32- or 64-bit edition)
• Intel Rapid Start Technology software

Setup Guide

Operating System Installation

Note: If installing the operating system (OS) on the solid state drive (SSD), ensure that there’s enough partition space left on the SSD to create a Hibernation Partition. Size of the Hibernation Partition must be equal or larger than the amount of system memory.
1. Install Windows 7 on the SSD. If you plan to implement Intel Smart Response Technology, then install the operating system on the hard disk drive (HDD) instead.
Note: Instructions for enabling Intel Smart Response Technology will not be covered here. Please complete the setup for Intel Smart Response Technology before proceeding with Intel Rapid Start Technology.

2. Install all required device drivers. Do not install the Intel Rapid Start Technology software yet.

Configure Intel Rapid Start Technology in BIOS Setup (Visual BIOS)

3. Press the F2 key during boot to enter the Visual BIOS.

4. Click the button for Advanced Setup, and then click Power.

5. Locate the setting for Intel Rapid Start Technology, and click the check box to enable it.

6. Set the option for Hibernation Timer to Immediately.

7. Press the F10 key to save settings, exit BIOS, and restart the computer.

Alternate Steps to Configure Intel Rapid Start Technology in BIOS Setup (non-Visual BIOS or Classic Mode)

8. Press the F2 key during boot to enter the BIOS setup.

9. Scroll to the Power menu.

10. Set the option for Intel Rapid Start Technology to Enabled.

11. Set the option for Hibernation Timer to Immediately.

12. Press the F10 key to save settings, exit BIOS, and restart the computer.

Create a Hibernation Partition on the SSD

13. In the operating system, click the Windows Start button.

14. In the Search box, type in cmd.exe.

15. Right-click on the cmd tool and select Run as administrator.

16. A command line utility will open. Type in diskpart.exe and press Enter.

17. At the DISKPART> prompt, type the following commands, in the order shown:
DISKPART>list disk

DISKPART>select disk X
(X is the disk number where you want to create the store partition. Refer to results from “list disk” for exact disk number. Disk must be an SSD)

DISKPART>create partition primary size=Y000
(Y is the size in GB for the partition. For example, for 8 GB, the value should be 8000. The value of Y should be equal or larger than the amount of memory in the system)

DISKPART>detail disk

DISKPART> select Volume Z
(Z is Volume of your store partition. Refer to results from “detail disk” for exact volume number)

DISKPART>set id=84 override
(The id must be set to 84)

DISKPART>exit

18. Go to Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management.

19. Confirm in Disk Management that there is now a Hibernation Partition on the SSD with the correct size specified earlier.

20. Close Disk Management and restart the system for the BIOS to identify the existence of the newly created hibernation partition for Intel Rapid Start Technology.

Installing the Intel Rapid Start Technology software

21. Run the setup.exe file from the Intel Rapid Start Technology software package.

22. Complete the installation process.

23. Once installation is done, click the Task Bar on the bottom right of the desktop and look for the icon for Intel Rapid Start Technology Manager. Click to launch the tool.

24. Check that the status for Intel Rapid Start Technology is On.

25. Ensure that the Timer is set to On and the slider bar is at position 0. This ensures the system will immediately begin utilizing Intel Rapid Start Technology once the system is put into sleep (S3) mode.

Testing the Intel Rapid Start Technology

26. Click the Windows Start button, and then click Sleep. This will put the system into S3 state.

27. Observe that the system will go into sleep mode, and then quickly wake up again before going into sleep state again. This is normal behavior as the system first transitions into the S3 state (per the OS), and then Intel Rapid Start will wake the system up and move it into the S4 state.

28. The system is now in the S4 state as it cannot be woken up using USB devices such as USB keyboard or mouse.

29. Press the Power Button to resume the system.

30. Observe that the system resume time is as fast as a wake from S3.

* Other names, brands, and logos may be claimed as the property of others.
Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Core, and Core Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Copyright © 2012 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

Source:
http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/rapid_start_technology_user_guide.pdf