rajamsa Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 I'm having some trouble with WinXP SP2 sliptreamed CD.The WinXP SP2 was created with XPCREATE.WinXP SP2 will not install in to a cluster size > 4 kB formated partition.Installation goes normally, until the fist reboot (automatic).After the first boot I get a message:'a disc read errorpress CTRL+ALT+DEL'The same thing happens if I install to cluster size = 4 kB formated partitionand after installation I try change cluster size from 4 kB -> 16 kBusing PartitionMagic.The problem described above does not present itself whenWinXP SP1 slipstreamed is used.Xelgadis mentions 'custom cluster size fix for sp2 to prevent the NTLDR error'.see: Having issues with perfectdisk and nlite'd sp1a..Has anyone heard about this fix?Could this be a problem with DEP (Data Execution Prevention)?My HW:EPoX EP-8RDA3+CPU AMD Athlon XP 2600 Barton (166x11,5=1917 MHz)2x 512 MB DDR400Club 3D 9600 PRO2x WD Raptor 36.7 GB (using onboard Sil3112 in RAID0)Overclocked to 200x11=2200 MHzAny help help is greatly appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horsecharles Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Sorry i don't have an answer, but you've got me thinking:I thought anything but a 4k cluster size for ntfs was not advisable for optimal performance?I wish you a prompt solution...and I'd be grateful to hear your take on cluster size once your dilemma is solved.Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajamsa Posted February 14, 2005 Author Share Posted February 14, 2005 --> horsecharlesI had cluster size 16 kB, when we were living XP SP1a service Pack times.My experience: -significant performance boost -partition fragmantation tendancy reduced drastically -XP cannot compress old files (cluster > 4 kB) -size of wasted disk space: 4 kB = 1 % 16 kB = 4 %The performance boost on a single ATA / SATA drive system mightnot be so great (this is just my educated guess) as it is inmy machine (RAID0/2xSATA:stripe size = 16 kB). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 I would think about a driver problem. SP2 isn’t handling clusters differently then SP1.Try to get a non SP1ed CD and slipstream SP2 in that one, it could help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajamsa Posted February 15, 2005 Author Share Posted February 15, 2005 ---> CybercafeMy drivers are all the latest version.I've used XPCREATE to meke my own slipstreamed XP SPx CDs.It requires that you have XP original CD to start with andadds SPs and HotFixies to create a slipstreamed CD.With SP1a it works like a charm.SP2 ... everything works ... except installing to partitionwith cluster size > 4 kB :-(((Are you using non 4 kB cluster size?What method did you use to create your slipstreamed XP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Using NTFS the cluster size will be 4kB for partitions from 256MB - 2TB normally. I use only 4kB clusters over here, drives from 80-160GB...This is a nice guide for some information:http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/perf/perf/e...eCluster-c.htmlWhy use 16kB clusters, to keep the FAT smaller? Or faster reading/writing of the drives?Strange that M$ isn’t supporting >4kB cluster drives (with or without RAID (x)).I always slipstream service packs first and test it, then I do some unattended install later with a personalized CD (with nLite/RyanVM Pack for example). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajamsa Posted February 16, 2005 Author Share Posted February 16, 2005 ---> puntoMXSorry ... I didn't mention that I was talking about NTFS file system.Default NTFS cluster size in WinXp is 4 kB.If changed greater than 4 kB: -WinXp will not compress old files (for example disk cleanup) ---> this is good -file and directory fragmentation will be much lesser than in cluster size set to 4 kB ----> this is good -because of greater cluster size file read and write is faster because files took less allocation units in the physical disk ----> this is good -the wasted disk space will increase because the smallest disk unit will increase ---- > this is bad, but exceptableMy problem is that WinXP SP2 does not except cluster size > 4 kBon system drive (C:)... :-((I've used XPCREATE to slipstream SPs ... maybe that is the problem.Which do you prefer nLite or RyanVM? I've no experience of them.Please anyone ... if you have any info to my problem ... let me here from you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 nLite from Nuhi, also on this forum, to mak a custume install CD; You must try it, coolest program EVER made for XP I think :http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showforum=89RyanVM Pack 1.05; a collection of HotFixes and more:http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/“WinXp will not compress old files (for example disk cleanup) ---> this is good”You could turn that off.“-file and directory fragmentation will be much lesserthan in cluster size set to 4 kB ----> this is good”Only file fragmentation will be less, directory will be the same (only a smaller FAT)“-because of greater cluster size file read and write is fasterbecause files took less allocation units in the physical disk ----> this is good”True…-the wasted disk space will increase because the smallestdisk unit will increase ---- > this is bad, but exceptableTrue…Any way, try to slipstream it by hand first or try it with nLite (works the same) also I woud slipstream RyanVM Pack in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horsecharles Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 One possible other drawback: ram uses 4k clusters-- vis a vis pagefile(s) is what i'm thinking.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Didn´t know that, cool to know, thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeve Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 I have the same problem...Still trying to figure out why it's not working like it should. I've manually slipstreamed SP2 and I get pretty much the same failure.HD setup:2x80GB 8MB RAID-0 (32k stripe)After formatting with Partition Magic v8.05 to NTFS w/32k clusters I get a consistant bluscreen for ntfs.sys right when windows starts to copy over all the files for install to the HD. It looks like it's crashing right when it's either copying or loading the drivers for my raid chipset. But whatever it is, it crashes as soon as the drives start to have some heavy activity with copying the files.So I tried lowering the cluster size down step by step and doing a fresh install seeing if it would get passed the file copying part of the installation. With 16k it got half way through copying the files and errors out with a file error. With 8k it gets passed the copying and the first reboot, then it has the same Ctl-Alt-Del error that you're seeing. And of course with 4k the install goes just fine...So yeah, still trying to find the solution on this. Pretty p***ed that I can't get it working properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeve Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 hmmm.actually just found a thread on the abit forums that looks like it fixes this issue.http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?t...15&pagenumber=1going to try it out tomorrow and find out if it worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsden Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 Is it any wonder why you get BSODs...? Don't use 3rd party tools! Every 3rd party utility just adds another layer of complexity to an already complex system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 They did it before with SP1, SP2 isn´t working any more and they are wondering why. Also M$ is not giving them an other option then to use 4k clusters so they have to use 3rd party tools to make 8, 16, 32, 64 bit clusters . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajamsa Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 Sorry I've been away ....To PuntoMX and SleeveThanks for your replies.The Abit linkhttp://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?t...15&pagenumber=1does not give a final description or fix for the problem.Although I think it's a good start.I guess I'll have to roll up my sleaves start testing ...Does anybody know a good program to view/retreive the content of MBR?Possibly A DOS program that could be used from a bootable diskette. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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