XP Pro hangs on Mup.sys EVERY time!
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Thread: XP Pro hangs on Mup.sys EVERY time!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Posts
    5

    Angry XP Pro hangs on Mup.sys EVERY time!

    I have the barebones essentials installed and am trying to install windows xp or 2000, but neither will run. I ran the boot floppies and installed both operating systems on different partitions on the same WD drive, and setup went fine until I restarted. Then whenever i booted into the OS it would hang at the starting windows screen. Upon starting it in safe mode, it stops at MUP.sys in BOTH cases (xp and 2000 installations) and the computer locks up. I tried installing just XP on ANOTHER freshly formatted and NTFS partitioned hard drive and got the same result. So I updated my motherboards bios to the latest version but to no avail as I still get the same problem. I swapped out the memory with new memory, hoping that would be the culprit but still a no go. The memory is good because it works on another computer fine. I even replaced the video card with a PCI based Number Nine Revolution 3D card but still get the same error. .I even used the fail safe bios configuration settings but that didn't help any. It won't get past MUP.sys Do I need this file? Is this one file causing the problems or is it just a red herring and just happens to stop loading at that file? I'm at a loss right now. I have no idea what to do. The only thing I haven't replaced or swapped out is the motherboard and the processor, and I really don't want to do that since thats the $600.00 heart of the system and the only reason I'm still on the P3 bandwagon. I hope there is a software solution/configuration that would remedy the problem but all signs point to a hardware glitch, don't you think? Any suggestions on what I can try to get the comp to boot into the OS? I'm about to throw the entire box out the window in frustration.


    Specs:

    Supermicro PIIIDM3 Motherboard Bios Revision 1.5
    Pentium III 500Mhz
    Western Digital 80gb HD
    Plextor UltraPlex 40x max scsi cd-rom
    1 GB PC133 Memory (2) 512mb simms
    Diamond Viper Ultra Video Card

    Onboard Ethernet, USB Controller and VGA Slot all share IRQ 11 it seems. Onboard Mutlimedia Dev and Onboared Serial Bus Ctrl share IRQ 9, Onboard SCSI IRQ 10. I disabled the onboard ethernet but that didnt do anything either. Argh!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2000
    Location
    Armadillo Country
    Posts
    3,996
    Hi Jackol,

    Welcome to VirtualDr! This is a great place to hang out... to learn from others... and to offer help along the way.

    Have a look at this document and see if there is any help in it for what you have run into.

    Limerick

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Posts
    5
    Thanks for the link, but it didn't help me out much. I've researched the mup.sys problem on the web and ive found that quite a few people have had a problem with this file but could not find any answers or possible solutions to even try other than swapping out hardware, renaming the file or disabling it.

    I have swapped out and replaced the following:

    Memory
    Hard drive (clean install on brand new hard drive)
    Video Card

    Not swapped out:

    Motherboard
    Processor
    Cd-Rom

    Disabled:

    Onboard SCSI
    Onboard Sound
    Onboard NIC

    Still I have the same problem with everything enabled, disabled. Could it be a problem with the motherboard? I will try to install windows 98 and see if that boots up fine, but win2000 and xp both hang at the mup.sys file.

    I've heard that not loading the mup.sys might lend something to a solution, but I do not see any options on the xp boot mode menu when i press F8 or Shift+ F5 to load files one by one. Should there be one?! I'm running out of things to do, check or replace!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Posts
    5
    Someone suggested that I disable all the PNP and power management features on my motherboard but whenever i access the power management menu on my supermicro board, the computer locks up. I can access and change other areas in the bios, but always get problems in the power management section. Maybe that might shed a little light to my problem?


    How do you load each file under safe mode in XP? I don't see an option for this under safe mode. I want to NOT load mup.sys to see if that is the problem file but i dont see how to do this.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Posts
    5
    I still don't know how to load each file one by one like you can on windows 98's safe mode boot menu. Is there a way to do this on XP and 2000?

    Im thinking since the mobo locks up when i go to configure settings in its bios (in particular the power management options) that this is the problem? I am using compatible memory modules that have worked for me in the past. Is there any reason why a computer crashed when you change bios settings, other than a faulty component (in the case the mobo i'm thinking).

    Has anybody else ran into this problem(s)?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Posts
    5

    Anybody here have any advice for me?

    I installed windows 98 and it loaded fine and i have no problems booting into the OS and installing/running programs on it. I installed it on a FAT partition.

    I tried installing XP on a newly partitioned 8gb fat32 partition next but it still hangs on the mup.sys file when i go to boot it up.

    I swapped out that hard drive and put in a brand new WD 80gb drive and partitioned a 5gb NTFS file and tried installing NT Workstation 4 but it hangs on the blue kernel screen where it shows the processor and memory at the very top on 2 lines. Does this every time. I don't want NT 4 but i figured what the hell might as well try it. Forget it.

    Next I tried Windows 2000 again on another partition (fat32 this time) and still a problem with Mup.sys or the file after it.

    What gives? How come windows98 is the only OS that will install? Does it have something to do with the Western Digital Hard drive and onboard IDE controller? I don't need to hit F6 to install drivers as i set it up fine without a disk b efore. Should i buy a PCI based IDE controller and try installing the OS's using that? I'm going to contact the Motherboard manufacturer (supermicro) and pose the problem to them. I will post the results of that if i ever get a response. Does anybody have any other suggestions on things to try in the meantime? I think i tried what you guys suggested so far. Does this sound like a faulty IDE controller or mobo problem or what. This is hurting my brain arrgh.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Central Alberta, Canada
    Posts
    114
    Hey Jackol;

    I was having the EXACT same issue... I have another post on this board (Actually, it was a copernic search on "mup.sys" that brought me here to your post) I was having issues with my machine, and when I needed to get into safe mode in Win2K, it hung on mup.sys EVERY time...

    I have your fix, but it'll take about 30 mins, and about half a dozen reboots...

    The trick is, take the time to install EVERY service pack and critical update. ALL of them.

    Hit the Start menu, then go to "Windows Update" at the very top... Update until there's nothing left to update, and when the message comes back "there are no updates at this time", boot into safe mode... It'll take about 60 seconds after first seeing the mup.sys command line thingie, but it'll boot into safe mode, I swear it.

    Give it a shot, if it doesn't work... I'll eat my Ram.

    Robb

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    1

    Smile

    After 2 frustrating days of experiencing the hangs at mup.sys, I am finally back up and running. In the end, I booted from the installation CD and selected the repair option at the setup screen (worth noting that to even get the installation CD to complete booting, I had to hit F6 to specify my own devices, whereby it would tell me that my cpu couldn't be recognized and I had to select on from the list - I chose ACPI PC).

    The repair worked!! Not sure what caused my system to get corrupted like this, so I'm taking the safe route and updating my antivirus files and doing a system virus scan. Don't forget to reinstall any microsoft OS updates, since the repair takes you back to the CD image.

    I spent 4 hours on the phone with Microsoft support and tried a whole lot of things before the final repair step...I have the notes, if anyone cares.


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