Hi guys.

I have a wealth of experience in building systems as well as installing software & probably good at resolving basic to intermediate problems. however, the current problem is really really bugging me

Purchased an Asus M3N78 Pro mobo last month so that I could upgrade my home server & spent a considerable time in doing so only to find that it does not support Server 2003. Reverted server to orignal board & decided to keep the M3N & build a dedicated Home Theatre PC.

Popped onto Asus' Website to check out their boards to see which ones were suitable & that supports Server 2003. found that the M3A78 Pro does & that it was slighter better than the M3N.

Finished upgrading server at approx 22:30 last night - WHS booted up with only a slight problem. Pooped in the support CD & the same problem cropped up - Does not support Server 2003 - by now I'm really getting but managed to get the LAN & HD Audio drivers installed, but could not get the AMD 780G + SB700 Chipset drivers to install.

Spent all the time since then searching for the Chipset Drivers with no luck - It's like searching for the Loch Ness Monster
Have e-mailed Asus & hope I get a reply.

As I have internet access on the server & can access all drives etc, could someone more experienced explain why Chipset drivers are needed?

Chipset drivers are important for both speed and stability. Check out Wikipedia or just google Northbridge and Southbridge for examples of the importance of chipset drivers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northbridge_(computing)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southbridge_(computing)

Have you tried downloading the drivers and installing them in compatibility mode? Or, alternatively, you could try the drivers from a similar series motherboard that has chipset drivers that support your server (just check to ensure the chipsets are compatible) - I've done this "successfully" in the past with a different MB manufacturer (at least there were no BSODs!); however, just have a good ghost/acronis system image before proceeding.

Are you trying to install the drivers using the setup on the installation CD, or manually through device manager? When in doubt, installing them through device manager finding the inf files is generally preferrable as it avoids the installation of the "bloatware" that a lot of drivers come with (ATI Catalyst anyone?). I use ASUS exclusively for all my system builds and have never had any issues myself so can't really help much more than that. I also stick to Intel CPUs, so I have very little knowledge with AMD chipsets.

Thanks User312. Will try the device manager method. Asus website states that the M3A78 supports server 2003, but on checking there is no chipset drivers. If that fails, will try similar mobos.

edit: - Thanks again, User312, problems solved.

How did you end up resolving the issue?

Used your tip - The others didn't work so went to Gigabyte & searched their site for a compatiable board. Found one (GA-MA78GM-S2H) that has 780G+SB700, D/L'ed drivers & installed. Sor far, no problems or BSOD's (fingers crossed).