Vista Premium x64 installation hangs on Shuttle SN68PTG6

[IronMonkey]

Don't worry, I've sorted it!

I knew the drive wasn't faulty as it works perfectly in my gaming PC (geez, I've had my server, gaming PC & HTPC in bits to get this thing working!).

I sent an e-mail to Shuttle Support & they in turn contacted nVidia (Shuttle motherboard chipset makers). It turns out that there is a bug in the BIOS with regards to running the SATA in IDE mode in that, well, it doesn't work with optical drives!

Hopefully this will be fixed with a BIOS update.

Anyway, I switched SATA to AHCI in the BIOS, but when I tried to boot to Vista it just crashed out on me every time it tried to load, giving a BSOD that disappeared so quickly I couldn't read the error code.

So I did a bit of searching on Google for AHCI & what exactly it does & the problems it can cause & found a Microsoft Knowledge Base article on Vista not booting after SATA changed to AHCI mode.

It seems Vista needs to know which controller to boot from, so I had to change back to SATA IDE mode, change a setting in the registry so that Vista would load a SATA AHCI driver, then reboot.

All is working perfectly now.

Spider-Man Trilogy on Blu Ray look absolutely awesome in 720p on my Panasonic TH-37PX70!

Seems so simple now, but it was one hell of a headache when I couldn't figure out what was wrong!

P.S. Thanks for your input in this thread bradavon.

[bradavon]

giving a BSOD that disappeared so quickly I couldn't read the error code.

For some dumb reason on 2000/XP/Vista errors are set to reboot the PC. Go to:

System Properties
Advanced tab
Startup and Recovery option - Click the Settings button
Untick Automatically Restart

change a setting in the registry so that Vista would load a SATA AHCI driver, then reboot.

That's rubbish. You'd think there was a menu option.

Thanks for your input in this thread bradavon.

No worries, glad I could help. Even if you sorted it out yourself in the end

p.s - I presume your TV is HD Ready?

[IronMonkey]

Thanks for that tip, I'll set that up on all my PCs...

Yeah, of course my TV is HD Ready!

Are you meaning, why am I playing back at 720p instead of 1080p? Thats simple - because 1080p in real-world tests shows no discernible difference to 720p (definitely not over a million pixels worth!).

1080p sets are unnecessary & just another buzz-word to get people buying new TVs.

At work I've played 1080p sources back on a native 1080p set & a native 720p set at the same time & there is no difference!

We also put 2 XBox 360s via HDMI onto a 50" 720p native plasma & a 42" 1080p native plasma & the 50incher was FAR sharper than the 42" 1080p set. By all rights, even if both sets were the same resolution, the 50" should look worse simply because it is a bigger screen, but it FAR outshone the lackluster 42" 1080p set.

Trust me, I work with HDTVs all day, and 1080p sets are not worth the money at all.

[bradavon]

Thanks for that tip, I'll set that up on all my PCs...

I guess it's set that way to automatically retry an error but I just find it annoying. If an error appears at bootup I want to be able to read it. If I want to retry it I can always press the reset button.

I guess also on a Server the theory is you might like it to restart by itself instead of just sitting there but so few Boot Errors fix themselves anyway and the idea of a Server rebooting all night doesn't sound like a good one to me.

At work I've played 1080p sources back on a native 1080p set & a native 720p set at the same time & there is no difference!

None "at all"? Surely the resolution jump accounts for something.

Romero has waffled on about this (despite buying a FULL HD TV) but I don't tend to rely on his word alone . Yes I wondered why you're not using 1080p and assumed your TV isn't FULL HD.

Trust me, I work with HDTVs all day, and 1080p sets are not worth the money at all.

I do. I know you know what you're talking about.

[IronMonkey]

I guess it's set that way to automatically retry an error but I just find it annoying. If an error appears at bootup I want to be able to read it. If I want to retry it I can always press the reset button.

Yeah I guess thats ok for normal users but for advanced users like us its an annoyance. I wasn't aware that I could switch it off though, I thought it was a hardware feature that was making it kick into reboot so quickly...

None "at all"? Surely the resolution jump accounts for something.

You would think so wouldn't you? The truth is, its just not necessary. I watched some of the Wimbledon matches on BBC HD with 2 HDTVs side by side, one Full HD & the other HD Ready, both receiving a 1080i signal, and I could see a very slight shimmer on the court nets on the HD Ready set which wasn't there on the Full HD set, but this was only when I was stood 1 foot away from the TVs purposefully looking for differences.

An HD Ready TV with a decent scaler is more than adequate for playing back Full HD pictures (as long as it accepts 1080p signals, like mine does) with no real-world loss of image quality. I've done loads of tests on this, using XBox 360s, Blu Ray players & HD satellite feeds in a variety of resolutions. In fact SD resolutions actually look worse on Full HD sets because they are being scaled to such a ludicrous resolution!

Romero has waffled on about this (despite buying a FULL HD TV) but I don't tend to rely on his word alone . Yes I wondered why you're not using 1080p and assumed your TV isn't FULL HD.

No offence to romerojpg, but a lot of what he says on this subject is pure waffle. I am able to test these things in my job, & I know what the best TVs to get are right now - HD Ready sets.

My TV isn't Full HD, its HD Ready (1024x720 pixels) but it is capable of displaying 1080p images, which a lot of HD Ready TVs can't do.

I do. I know you know what you're talking about.

Thanks.

[bradavon]

I thought it was a hardware feature that was making it kick into reboot so quickly...

It's a dumb Microsoft feature.

An HD Ready TV with a decent scaler is more than adequate for playing back Full HD pictures (as long as it accepts 1080p signals, like mine does) with no real-world loss of image quality.

You can get HD Ready TVs which support 1080p? What's their native resolution? Are they much cheaper than Full HD TVs? I never knew such a thing existed.

Surely 1920x1080 on a HD Ready TV is being scaled down, no?

I watched some of the Wimbledon matches on BBC HD with 2 HDTVs side by side, one Full HD & the other HD Ready, both receiving a 1080i signal, and I could see a very slight shimmer on the court nets on the HD Ready set which wasn't there on the Full HD set, but this was only when I was stood 1 foot away from the TVs purposefully looking for differences.

Are there any differences (even minute) when displaying HD Discs in 1080p?

In fact SD resolutions actually look worse on Full HD sets because they are being scaled to such a ludicrous resolution!

I can well believe that. Considering most of my TV watching is SD (Freeview) and is likely to be for the foreseeable future that's a big one.

My TV isn't Full HD, its HD Ready (1024x720 pixels) but it is capable of displaying 1080p images, which a lot of HD Ready TVs can't do.

What TV do you have?

That TV has a lower native resolution than most HD Ready TVs. I guess that's a good thing as it doesn't need to rescale 720p up to 1368x768. It's not as if the two are hugely different.

I wonder why there is no real difference when a Full HD TV is showing the full 1920x1080 image but a HD Ready TV (even one capable of handling a 1080p image) has to down convert it, no?

[IronMonkey]

Surely 1920x1080 on a HD Ready TV is being scaled down, no?

Well yes, its 1920x1080 scaled down to the sets native resolution (in my case, 1024x720). Remember, scaling an image down will always give a better result than scaling an image up.

Are there any differences (even minute) when displaying HD Discs in 1080p?

Yes, but on very slight, & I mean minute details that from a normal viewing distance you would not notice. The only time I ever noticed was, like I said, when I was 1 foot away from the TVs in question.

I can well believe that. Considering most of my TV watching is SD (Freeview) and is likely to be for the foreseeable future that's a big one.

An HD Ready TV is for you.

What TV do you have?

Panasonic TH-37PX70. You can pick them up dirt cheap now (like £650ish!) and they're an amazing set. Great all-rounder which excells with both SD & HD material.

That TV has a lower native resolution than most HD Ready TVs. I guess that's a good thing as it doesn't need to rescale 720p up to 1368x768. It's not as if the two are hugely different.

What most people tend to do with HDTVs is get caught up in the specs - "oh, this TV has x more pixels so its a better picture" & all that... In reality, there is a LOT more to an image than the amount of pixels on display.

Contrast ratios, greyscales, RGB tones, motion, video pulldown techniques, etc, are all just as important (if not more so) than resolution.

I wonder why there is no real difference when a Full HD TV is showing the full 1920x1080 image but a HD Ready TV (even one capable of handling a 1080p image) has to down convert it, no?

I think its likely because the human eye can't actually see the difference from normal viewing distances. My eyesight is excellent & I'm usually very quick to spot image problems - I can spot horrible white flecks on fast moving images on of ALL Panasonic's current LCD range, but most customers & even my work colleagues can't see it! Its so bad, that I can't actually sit & watch one of those sets at all, yet they get rave reviews!

But seriously, from a normal viewing distance there just isn't the difference in image quality that these companies want you to believe.

Yes, the HD Ready set is scaling down the 1920x1080 signal to its native resolution, but like I said, downscaling always produces better results than upscaling.

[bradavon]

Thanks IM.

That Panasonic TV is a sweet price, Samsung charge the same as that and theirs don't offer Quasi-1080p.

Yes, the HD Ready set is scaling down the 1920x1080 signal to its native resolution, but like I said, downscaling always produces better results than upscaling.

But presumably 720p on your display will look better as there is no scaling period, no?

[IronMonkey]

Yeah, that is true. Although if you've got a 1080p source (such as a BD or HD DVD), then to view it in 720p it has to be scaled somewhere along the chain - either by scaling it in the player & sending the resulting 720p image to the TV (which simply displays the image instead of scaling it) OR by sending the 1080p image from the player to the TV & letting the TV scale down to 720p.

Either way is fine for me with the equipment I have. The Panasonics are renowned for having excellent scaling capabilities, & we all know PCs also have excellent scaling capabilites too, so I'm set with my Panasonic plasma & HTPC.