ACER M5640 0x0000007b BSOD Error

Date Fixed : 03.28.10

Owner : Fritz

Processor : Intel E2460 Dual Core 2.4 Ghz

Motherboard : ACER M5640

Memory : 1 GB

Hard Disk Drive : WD SATA 160 GB

Technician : Drokz

URL : http://tirabyte.blogspot.com

PROBLEM :

Upon intallation attempt, a BSOD 0x0000007b error appears as ; HDD could not be detected

CLIENT REQUESTS:

Data Backup

Antivirus Installation

INTERVENING FACTORS:

ACER M5640 Motherboard Support CD lost

OBSERVATION :

-Everything seems ok upon turning on the computer. So I proceeded with the O.S. Installation.

-Before trying to install an Operating System, I visited ACER's site to see if there are available

drivers for the motherboard model (M5640) and downloaded it. I found out that the drivers were for either win 7 or win vista only, so I asked Sir Fritz which O.S. am I to install and he agreed to stick to Win Vista but should try to setup XP if it is possible to use the said available drivers..

-So the Win XP installer was inserted in the optical drive and retarted the System Unit, and accessed BIOS environment after POST to re-order the boot sequence. The CD-ROM or DVD ROM should be the first boot priority.

-On the course of the XP Setup specifically on the disk partitioning part, the BSOD appears with the error 0x0000007b. I suspected that the RAM was defective so I checked it for defect but found it running just fine. So I then suspected another thing that caused the BSOD error ... the SATA Driver Controller perhaps.

-So I copied the RAID Driver ( for VISTA ) in a floppy drive and followed the XP installation instruction to press F6 upon loading third party drive controller and so on...

-But then... Win XP still doesn't continue to install.

-So i swithced to installing VISTA instead.

-On some point of the Vista Setup, it seeks for a Drive Controller. So I rushed to see the RAID Driver downloaded earlier and copied it to my stick drive. As I browsed for the RAID controller driver to be used for the installation, I copied the RAID files into a stickdrive and plugged it to the ACER M5640 but upon browsing for the RAID driver, VISTA wont continue to install. I began to get worried of such problem.

-Why can't VISTA find the RAID Driver in a USB Stickdrive where boot from USB was enabled in the BIOS. I then looked at the motherboard and surprised to see a floppy drive header! So I used the diskette copied earlier with the RAID driver on the XP installation attempt. A floppy drive was installed and restarted the VISTA installation.

-And when VISTA tried to search for the RAID driver, the diskette (copied with RAID Driver) was inserted and then browsed for the file associated with the drive controller. And yes indeed! The diskette worked and the VISTA Installation continued. The floppy drive seemed to be the answer for all the confusion.

- After a successful VISTA Installation, the ACER M5640 drivers were loaded but it seemed that the Coprocessor, Ethernet Controller and SM Bus Controller could not be installed. So I googled then found out that it must be installed with an Nvidia Chipset Update Driver. And after downloading and run the Nvidia chipset Update Driver then restarted the system, the Coprocessor, SM Bus Controller, and the Ethernet Controller no longer had a yellow exclamation point in the Device Manager.

-MS Office 2007 was then installed then a Kaspersky Antivirus.

-Backup files were then scanned for virus infection and copied back to the ACER M5640 hard drive.

REPORT:

- ACER M5640 System Model needs a RAID driver to install VISTA using a Floppy Drive to resolve the 0x0000007b BSOD Error.

- ACER M5640 needs an Nvidia Chipset Update Driver to install the Coprocessor, SM Bus Controller, and Ethernet Controller.