DMA 1 Error - Fatal Error

[bh0687]

Hi all!!
I understand a bit about assembling pc's but what i do know is what ive taught myself through trial and error so however simple this problem is, Hey we've all gotta start somewhere!!!

ive just bought a PCI card to add 4 xtra usb ports and a 3.5" bay fan control with esata + audio out/mic in ports and also a 80mm fan. When i booted up i got this error msg?? DMA 1 Error

ive already got two HDD's (1sata, 1 IDE. OS is on the IDE drive), 1 dvd drive and case fan and suspect this error could be down to the PSU not being powerful enough with all this + my new stuff hooked up. its 400w and not very old. Ive got it running with the bare essentials (1 hdd, dvd, cpu fan) so i think it must be PSU underpowered, but i just want a bit of clarification before i go out spending £30-£50 on one.

Thanx in advance of any answers.

[qazwsx]

What brand is your PSU? If you make a signiture containing your system specs it will make it alot easier to help. 400w's is normaly fine, but it depends on the rest of the system.

EDIT: Also, Welcome to HardwareLogic!

[bh0687]

DMA 1 Error - Fatal Error
Hi all!!
I understand a bit about assembling pc's but what i do know is what ive taught myself through trial and error so however simple this problem is, Hey we've all gotta start somewhere!!!

ive just bought a PCI card to add 4 xtra usb ports and a 3.5" bay fan control with esata + audio out/mic in ports and also a 80mm fan. When i booted up i got this error msg?? DMA 1 Error

ive already got two HDD's (1sata, 1 IDE. OS is on the IDE drive), 1 dvd drive and case fan and suspect this error could be down to the PSU not being powerful enough with all this + my new stuff hooked up. its 400w and not very old. Ive got it running with the bare essentials (1 hdd, dvd, cpu fan) so i think it must be PSU underpowered, but i just want a bit of clarification before i go out spending £30-£50 on one.

Thanx in advance of any answers.

[Reloadron]

A DMA error is a Direct Memory Access error and what is happening is during boot the BIOS is starting and running into a big problem when it hits the first DMA channel.

While installing these things was there any chance you bumped a memory stick? Make absolutely sure your memory is firmly seated. I would start there.

Next I would disconnect what you installed and try for a good boot. If the system boots then one by one reinstall what you have. Physically remove the PCI card and just disconnect power from the remaining things.

I am not overly quick to look towards the PSU, only because what you added really isn't much as to using power. I wouldn't rule it out but based on your error there are other things to look at first.

Ron

[bh0687]

Thanx Reloadron, i knew DMA was direct memory access but wasn't sure whether it was specific to the RAM or something with the HDD, i suspected that the hdd was not gettin enough power.

But i found out what the problem was this morning when i had another bash at it.
I didnt mention i had bought a round ide cable to replace the old ribbon i was using and the problem seems to be with that (im sure i checked it earlier). It must of been that because im sending this on the system with everything hooked up and working.

[Reloadron]

Originally Posted by bh0687

Thanx Reloadron, i knew DMA was direct memory access but wasn't sure whether it was specific to the RAM or something with the HDD, i suspected that the hdd was not gettin enough power.

But i found out what the problem was this morning when i had another bash at it.
I didnt mention i had bought a round ide cable to replace the old ribbon i was using and the problem seems to be with that (im sure i checked it earlier). It must of been that because im sending this on the system with everything hooked up and working.

Good deal! Sometimes when we get in there we tend to knock things loose or sometimes something as simple as a cable can stick it to us. Glad things are back to normal for you.

Ron