8RDA+, windows not seeing firewire.

I installed XP and had to reinstall, first time around I used the drivers off the EPoX disc and firewire was installed a'OK. then I messed about reinstalling trying the newer mobo drivers, then noticed it wasnt there at all, not in network connections and not in device manager, and it WAS on in the BIOS, options were "disabled" or "auto" it was on "auto". so i reinstalled and resorted back to drivers that came with EPoX disc, now it isnt there AGAIN. so I tried disabling it in BIOS and re enabling it, still no joy, can anyone give me an explaination and cure to this? regards.

I installed the 8RDA+ in Oct. In the course of 2 1/2 months it slowly quit recognizing all my ports, USB, firewire and plug and play.Finally I just had to pull and return board. Distributer had discontinued it (possibly for these probs)and I replaced it with a DFI nForce2 Ultra 400. I had been warned off it and I wishI had listened. Like you I tried to fix to no avail and it just got worse.
Good luck but don't be suprised if you lose more.

would a BIOS update be likely to help?

I tried a complete OS reinstall, had BIOS reinstalled, but even with onsite help had to replace MOBO. Epox has no support other than replacement or redownload of drivers, and as I said my seller dropped thatb board. I would say I was worst case but as I said it just got worse no matter what I did, and as soon as my tech guy checked he said replacement was only option. Luck

When I first got my 8RDA+ Windows saw the firewaire just fine. Wasn't happy with the install, and re-formatted and it disappeared. Never could explain it but it just eventually came back. Every format since then it's shown up. I haven't used it to date... so it isn't a huge deal. If it helps, this is the order I do a format and reinstall:

Format
Re-Install Windows
Motherboard Drivers (nForce 2 Drives)
Video Drivers
other misc drivers
windows update

As far as I know... there isn't any solution that I've seen.

if I went to add hardware and manually selected it, would that stimulate it? or would I risk installing a device which wasnt there, taking down other devices or even windows?

Doing that shouldn't cause any problems... but I'm pretty sure it won't do any good.

It's picky with my firewire too. If I turn my external firwire drive on while windows is already loaded, it sees and reads the drive fine. But if I already have the drive on and then boot my comp, windows won't see it, even if I switch the drive off and then back on or unplug and replug it in. It only works if I turn it on after windows is already up. Wierd.