a7n8x unusual lockups

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alan Wright
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A

Alan Wright

I have a new A7N8X-X which is having unusual lockups. It runs
fine for up to a day or more, and then when doing random mild
things (like mousing around in internet explorer) I will here a faint
click sound from the machine. At that point the HDD light is usually
on continuously, but the mouse and/or keyboard still works
for a few seconds. After about 5-10 seconds, the system fully
locks up all the way and requires a reset.

Does this ring any bells or suggest anything?

thanks,
Alan
 
Hmm. Alan, I don't want to be an alarmist. Indeed I could be 'way off the
mark. But you asked if this suggests anything...

If it were me, I would be ensuring that my backup was in pristine shape.
This little 'click' could be the HDD [ailing]. OTOH, this could also be the
sound made when a cooling fan stops. Admittedly it's a long shot, but if
a/the fan in the PSU was dying, then it (the fan) might overheat and
quit...which would lead to overheating of the PSU...which could produce the
symptoms to which you are referring.

As I said, this could be a mile off, but you DID ask for ideas!

Let us know, OK?
Ron
 
Ron said:
Hmm. Alan, I don't want to be an alarmist. Indeed I could be 'way off the
mark. But you asked if this suggests anything...

If it were me, I would be ensuring that my backup was in pristine shape.
This little 'click' could be the HDD [ailing]. OTOH, this could also be the
sound made when a cooling fan stops. Admittedly it's a long shot, but if
a/the fan in the PSU was dying, then it (the fan) might overheat and
quit...which would lead to overheating of the PSU...which could produce the
symptoms to which you are referring.

As I said, this could be a mile off, but you DID ask for ideas!

Let us know, OK?
Ron
Click to expand...

I hoped to get some other peoples ideas before offering my own.

I don't see any sign of the power supply having trouble, and the
fan does not stop. However, the sound I hear might be some
arcing or similar within the PSU, which is a bit dirty after a year
of use. Still, a power glitch will normally lock up the whole system
right away, and not allow some things to work for a few seconds
until the fault propagates.

As for the disk, perhaps it could be making this sound (sudden
head retraction?), and with the history of the flaky IDE controllers
on this board, it could be either the disk or the controller. If there
was a sudden disk access failure, then it might well take a few
seconds before caches fill and the whole system quits.

I'm well backed up in any case. Thanks for the reply.

Alan
 
Is the faint clicking sound emanating from the internal speaker or
another source? If it's the speaker, it could be an IRQ
conflict/problem of some sort and the last few interrupts sometimes
are heard thru the internal speaker.

--
Best regards,
Kyle
"Alan Wright" <alanatyahoodotcom> wrote in message
| I have a new A7N8X-X which is having unusual lockups. It runs
| fine for up to a day or more, and then when doing random mild
| things (like mousing around in internet explorer) I will here a
faint
| click sound from the machine. At that point the HDD light is usually
| on continuously, but the mouse and/or keyboard still works
| for a few seconds. After about 5-10 seconds, the system fully
| locks up all the way and requires a reset.
|
| Does this ring any bells or suggest anything?
|
| thanks,
| Alan
|
|
 
Doesn't seem like its coming from a speaker.
Also it's a single click, followed a few seconds
later with the inevitable lockup. Thanks, though.

Alan
 
Alan said:
As for the disk, perhaps it could be making this sound (sudden
head retraction?), and with the history of the flaky IDE controllers
on this board,
Click to expand...

What history? First I've heard of it.

The SW IDE drivers have been glitchy, but since they offer no performance
advantages (throughput, latency, CPU overhead - on Win2KSP4, at least),
don't use them.

They work fine for me, and I like the properties in device manager.
it could be either the disk or the controller. If there
was a sudden disk access failure, then it might well take a few
seconds before caches fill and the whole system quits.
Click to expand...

Misbehaving ATA devices can cause the problems you describe.

Use something like MBM5 to confirm that voltages remain good over a period
of time. I tend to set the sampling rate as fast as possible and then vary
my activities, (spinning up both opticals together etc) and then check that
the min/max voltages are sane (±5%).

Ben
 
Ben Pope said:
What history? First I've heard of it.

The SW IDE drivers have been glitchy, but since they offer no performance
advantages (throughput, latency, CPU overhead - on Win2KSP4, at least),
don't use them.
Click to expand...

Both hardware and driver problems are widely claimed by people
who may or may not know what they are talking about. I just read
the various internet discussions, and I have no first hand knowledge
since mine have always worked (with either driver) on this and previous
ASUS boards.
They work fine for me, and I like the properties in device manager.


Misbehaving ATA devices can cause the problems you describe.

Use something like MBM5 to confirm that voltages remain good over a period
of time. I tend to set the sampling rate as fast as possible and then vary
my activities, (spinning up both opticals together etc) and then check that
the min/max voltages are sane (±5%).
Click to expand...

Voltages look fine. There is no unusual load on the power supply when the
problem occurs. I've stress tested the system extensively, and have never
had a
failure during those tests. If it is in the power supply, it is probably a
random
electrical glitch. I will swap it out if I get no other clues.

thanks,
Alan
 
Hi Alan,
Among lotta problems, I've a "failing" (??) 40 GB Maxtor ATA 100 Diamond Max
plus 60 (5T040H4). Our problems looks similar.

- Sometimes, it freezes at boot when "detecting IDE drives". No way to run
the setup. I turn the PSU OFF (not the front switch but the PSU's one) then
I unplug the IDE 80-wire ribbon then PSU ON and everything is correct for
some days / weeks.

- Sometimes, it freezes in the middle of a session, same symptoms as yours,
when I make an access to this disk. The "click" is very difficult to know
where it's coming from. It sounds like the noise emitted by a small pot of
marmelade for babies when you open it, but pretty much lower, almost covered
by the fan noise when the puter's case is closed. I don't think so it's
produced by the HD. It could come from the speaker or more likely from the
little buzzer located on the MoBo close to the input switches & LED
connector. BTW what's its function, anybody knows ?

- Most of the time, when I attempt to read or write to the "failed" disk,
after a lonh period of inactivity, the "click" is produced but no crash
happens. Just a 3 or 4-second delay before the command is executed.

To come back to the HD, I dunno if it's failing or not because the testing
software Maxtor proposes isn't compatible with nVidia chipset. I can't check
the HD on another computer because of the BIOS limitation. Maxtor may accept
it for RMA only if fully tested. For the moment, I'm extending my storage
capacity in order to save the disk's contents.

Should I add it's mounted as a slave on the primary IDE bus. The Master is
an ATA133 Maxtor Diamond Max plus 8 (6E040L0) working fine. This "failing"
disk has been heating may be too much prior to I monitored its temperature
with MBM5 and cooled it down with a fan. Now it runs around 35°C. Before I
was barely able to keep the hand over it. That's could be a clue.

The problem could come from a bad cable or connector because of the
temporary fix I described above, or from a bad disk / connector soldering or
finally by the disk itself. Not yet fully investigated.

Did you try to unplug the HE10 connector, inspect it and reconnect it ? If
yes, is there any improvement ?
 
Aldo,

another term for my computer dictionary:

"It sounds like the noise emitted by a small pot of marmelade for babies
when you open it"

brilliant!

Describes a disc fault I had a while back perfectly.

- Tim
 
.... And what has been the issue ? Trash can, RMA, fixing ?
We'd be glad to know about your experience
 
Aldo Larrabiata said -

This might be similar to what i had.

While setting up the system i had asus probe (from the setup disc)
running and i heard clicks coming fro the hdd/mb speaker area.
By the time id got it running several cluster blocks on
a reliable 10gb maxtor had gone bad.
While transferring my data to a replacement drive the
10gb failed in a burst of clicks (i couldnt even format it).
(powermax got it working but it has since failed in another
system).

I think its asus probe that caused the damage.
Ive now got v2.21.09 and although the enermax power fan is
connected correctly probe shows "power monitor paused".
If i select "power fan" the hdd makes the same clicking noises
that i heard when setting up.

Has anyone else had serious hdd trouble like this?

aa
 
aahaa said:
Aldo Larrabiata said -

This might be similar to what i had.

While setting up the system i had asus probe (from the setup disc)
running and i heard clicks coming fro the hdd/mb speaker area.
By the time id got it running several cluster blocks on
a reliable 10gb maxtor had gone bad.
While transferring my data to a replacement drive the
10gb failed in a burst of clicks (i couldnt even format it).
(powermax got it working but it has since failed in another
system).

I think its asus probe that caused the damage.
Ive now got v2.21.09 and although the enermax power fan is
connected correctly probe shows "power monitor paused".
If i select "power fan" the hdd makes the same clicking noises
that i heard when setting up.

Has anyone else had serious hdd trouble like this?

aa
Click to expand...
To Ben Pope

Why do you advise against using asus probe?
aa
 
aahaa said:
To Ben Pope

Why do you advise against using asus probe?
Click to expand...

No particular reason against it, MBM5 is much better. My main gripe is that
on the A7N8X, at least, probe measures socket temp as "CPU Temp" which, in
my opinion is misleading for those that do not know, MBM will give you both
the socket and the diode.

Ben
 
I've been using speedfan with my a7n8x-dlx, and tho the fan speeds are
not properly scaled, I like the ability to vary fan speed based on MY
preferred set temp for the CPU. Plus, speedfan will monitor the CPU
die temp also, which is worthwhile info as Ben noted.

--
Best regards,
Kyle
| aahaa wrote:
| > To Ben Pope
| >
| > Why do you advise against using asus probe?
|
| No particular reason against it, MBM5 is much better. My main gripe
is that
| on the A7N8X, at least, probe measures socket temp as "CPU Temp"
which, in
| my opinion is misleading for those that do not know, MBM will give
you both
| the socket and the diode.
|
| Ben
| --
| A7N8X FAQ: www.ben.pope.name/a7n8x_faq.html
| Questions by email will likely be ignored, please use the
newsgroups.
| I'm not just a number. To many, I'm known as a String...
|
|
 
I appear to have found the cause of this problem.
I had upgraded an older A7N8X to this newer v2
board, without reinstalling the OS or anything.
I forgot that for the old board, I had been using
wpcredit to turn on the "stop grant disconnect"
feature during bootup.

In short, disabling this feature has apprently gotten
rid of this very occasional lockup.

I don't believe anything about my new board or
processor (3200+) fits the usual cases in which
this feature (or vcool or cpuidle) have problems.
However, the new board is running at 200 fsb
while the old one ran at 180, and the new cpu
is a bit faster than the old one (2800+). Maybe
just running a little faster creates timing problems
for this feature.

Alan
 
Alan Wright said:
I appear to have found the cause of this problem.
I had upgraded an older A7N8X to this newer v2
board, without reinstalling the OS or anything.
I forgot that for the old board, I had been using
wpcredit to turn on the "stop grant disconnect"
feature during bootup.

In short, disabling this feature has apprently gotten
rid of this very occasional lockup.

I don't believe anything about my new board or
processor (3200+) fits the usual cases in which
this feature (or vcool or cpuidle) have problems.
However, the new board is running at 200 fsb
while the old one ran at 180, and the new cpu
is a bit faster than the old one (2800+). Maybe
just running a little faster creates timing problems
for this feature.
Click to expand...
Oho - I had almost given up trying to overclock this recalcitrant
unlocked XP2800+ on my A7N8X-X v2.00 but I'm going to have another bash
with wpcredit - never fiddled with it before.
(I will also be monitoring various voltages with MBM5 as Ben Pope
mentioned)

Thanks for the potentially valuable info!
 
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