Advice Required Before i cry !

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jaz
  • Start date Start date
J

Jaz

Hello again !!

Well i toddles off armed with all my new information and things to try from
you loverly people ... now im very near to taking a hammer to the whole
thing (my visa bill is the only thing that reminds me not too !)

The system

P4P800 E Deluxe
P4 2.8e (Prescott)
450w Power
1 x 512mb Kingmax pc3200
Auriga Radeon 9200 OR Gigabyte GeForce 5200
Liteon DVD ROM
Liteon DVD RW
Windows 98 SE


The problems i am having are system hangs (entirley random) and REALLLLLY
slow ripping/burning .

Now i know it is not the o/s as it will hang even running the MS memory test
(no errors - just hangs)

I know its not the RAM as i have tried different sticks with the same
problem.

I can reasonably safley say it is not the video card - i originally thought
it might be an asus/ati thing buit i even went and bought a new nvidia card
and still have the same results (thank god i can take it back!!)

This leaves me assuming its either a motherboard or processor problem ...

I really need help .. i want my puter back !!!
I also vow to never build again .. first and last

Thankyou for all suggestions

JAZ
 
Jaz said:
Hello again !!

Well i toddles off armed with all my new information and things to try from
you loverly people ... now im very near to taking a hammer to the whole
thing (my visa bill is the only thing that reminds me not too !)

The system

P4P800 E Deluxe
P4 2.8e (Prescott)
450w Power
1 x 512mb Kingmax pc3200
Auriga Radeon 9200 OR Gigabyte GeForce 5200
Liteon DVD ROM
Liteon DVD RW
Windows 98 SE


The problems i am having are system hangs (entirley random) and REALLLLLY
slow ripping/burning .

Now i know it is not the o/s as it will hang even running the MS memory test
(no errors - just hangs)

I know its not the RAM as i have tried different sticks with the same
problem.

I can reasonably safley say it is not the video card - i originally thought
it might be an asus/ati thing buit i even went and bought a new nvidia card
and still have the same results (thank god i can take it back!!)

This leaves me assuming its either a motherboard or processor problem ...

I really need help .. i want my puter back !!!
I also vow to never build again .. first and last

Thankyou for all suggestions

JAZ
Click to expand...
Firstly have you got any information on the temps of the CPU, Motherboard
and harddrives. You can use a tool called 'speedfan' to get this information
if you dont have any other way.
Is your bios set to default? No overclocking.
Could try playing with the voltages for the CPU, Memory and AGP, but be very
careful to only increase slightly to test the stability.
Without knowing your full software suite cannot dismiss software as the
issue and not hardware. For example I was having lockups with a Digital TV
card software whilst using the catalyst 4.9 drivers, but when I decided to
go back to the 4.8 (went Omega 4.8 equivalent) lockups disappeared.
 
Jaz said:
Hello again !!

Well i toddles off armed with all my new information and things to try from
you loverly people ... now im very near to taking a hammer to the whole
thing (my visa bill is the only thing that reminds me not too !)

The system

P4P800 E Deluxe
P4 2.8e (Prescott)
450w Power
1 x 512mb Kingmax pc3200
Auriga Radeon 9200 OR Gigabyte GeForce 5200
Liteon DVD ROM
Liteon DVD RW
Windows 98 SE

The problems i am having are system hangs (entirley random) and REALLLLLY
slow ripping/burning .

Now i know it is not the o/s as it will hang even running the MS memory test
(no errors - just hangs)

I know its not the RAM as i have tried different sticks with the same
problem.

I can reasonably safley say it is not the video card - i originally thought
it might be an asus/ati thing buit i even went and bought a new nvidia card
and still have the same results (thank god i can take it back!!)

This leaves me assuming its either a motherboard or processor problem ...

I really need help .. i want my puter back !!!
I also vow to never build again .. first and last

Thankyou for all suggestions

JAZ
Click to expand...

After I added a new DVD-+RW it was very slow buring. Would fill then empty the buffer.
Issue was that it was running in PIO mode instead of DMA.
Check properties in Device manager for the Primary and Secondary IDE channels.
Set to DMA if available.
HTH
J
 
MB sits on 30 .. processor at 45 ..
Bios is all default
I have tried manually setting the ram settings according to what is
specified on the kingmax website bit the same thing occours either way.

Is software still a possibility in a DOS environment ??
i.e. MS Memory Test coz it will freeze in that too ..

Thanks
JAZ
 
Jaz said:
Hello again !!

Well i toddles off armed with all my new information and things to
try from you loverly people ... now im very near to taking a hammer
to the whole thing (my visa bill is the only thing that reminds me
not too !)

The system

P4P800 E Deluxe
P4 2.8e (Prescott)
450w Power
1 x 512mb Kingmax pc3200
Auriga Radeon 9200 OR Gigabyte GeForce 5200
Liteon DVD ROM
Liteon DVD RW
Windows 98 SE


The problems i am having are system hangs (entirley random) and
REALLLLLY slow ripping/burning .

Now i know it is not the o/s as it will hang even running the MS
memory test (no errors - just hangs)

I know its not the RAM as i have tried different sticks with the same
problem.

I can reasonably safley say it is not the video card - i originally
thought it might be an asus/ati thing buit i even went and bought a
new nvidia card and still have the same results (thank god i can take
it back!!)

This leaves me assuming its either a motherboard or processor problem
...

I really need help .. i want my puter back !!!
I also vow to never build again .. first and last

Thankyou for all suggestions

JAZ
Click to expand...

Jaz,

I may be blowing smoke, but did you check to make sure the memory is
compatible with that board? Is it on the "approved" list from Asus? You
may have flakey memory and it is not playing nicely with the board. Even if
you changed the ram, was it approved? Playing with small voltage increases
can usually solve many issues. Are you running it at 2.5, 2.6v,etc?

Shannon
 
Jaz said:
MB sits on 30 .. processor at 45 ..
Bios is all default
I have tried manually setting the ram settings according to what is
specified on the kingmax website bit the same thing occours either way.

Is software still a possibility in a DOS environment ??
i.e. MS Memory Test coz it will freeze in that too ..
Click to expand...

Jaz,

I usually use Memtest86 to be sure that my memory is working
correctly. It's definitely worth twenty minutes of your time :-)

http://www.memtest86.com
 
Yes it is listed in the manual under the qualified vendor list.
The component number is correct
 
Memtest and i dont get along
i must create the disk incorectly or somthing (seeing as how the
instructions are for linux)

All i get using it is 'loading' for a second or 2 a blue flash then the pc
resets and loops over and over till i pop the disk ...

And as far as im aware the MS one does just about the same thing anyhow
 
"Jaz" said:
Hello again !!

Well i toddles off armed with all my new information and things to try from
you loverly people ... now im very near to taking a hammer to the whole
thing (my visa bill is the only thing that reminds me not too !)

The system

P4P800 E Deluxe
P4 2.8e (Prescott)
450w Power
1 x 512mb Kingmax pc3200
Auriga Radeon 9200 OR Gigabyte GeForce 5200
Liteon DVD ROM
Liteon DVD RW
Windows 98 SE


The problems i am having are system hangs (entirley random) and REALLLLLY
slow ripping/burning .

Now i know it is not the o/s as it will hang even running the MS memory test
(no errors - just hangs)

I know its not the RAM as i have tried different sticks with the same
problem.

I can reasonably safley say it is not the video card - i originally thought
it might be an asus/ati thing buit i even went and bought a new nvidia card
and still have the same results (thank god i can take it back!!)

This leaves me assuming its either a motherboard or processor problem ...

I really need help .. i want my puter back !!!
I also vow to never build again .. first and last

Thankyou for all suggestions

JAZ
Click to expand...

You could try simplifying your system configuration, and then
testing with memtest86+ from memtest.org. At one time, memtest86
had an issue with the USB Legacy setting in the BIOS, and disabling
legacy support would allow memtest86 to run properly.

Set up processor, ram, video card, mouse/keyboard, floppy cable and
floppy disk drive. No need for any hard drives or CD/DVD drives, as
booting an OS before the base system is tested is a mistake. Make up
a memtest86 disk (the program you download from the web site is a
floppy disk formatter, and makes the disk image for you). Insert the
disk, boot the machine (making sure the floppy is in the boot order),
and it should start to boot. If you are an anti-floppy advocate, then
do the same thing with the .ISO image on the web site, and make a
CD to boot up with instead.

Memtest86 can never guarantee to detect all possibly faults. I am
fighting with a board right now that loves to pass memtest, but
doesn't like Prime95 too much. So, memtest86 doesn't tell the whole
story, but it should be pretty good at recognizing hard faults in
the memory stick itself. If you cannot pass memtest86 with the basic
motherboard configuration, there isn't much point in booting or
installing Windows. Memtest86 is better than your average memory
test program, because it tests every byte of the memory, lifting
the program up and sweeping underneath. Many other memory test
schemes cannot test the ram area where an OS lives or where the
program code lives.

The only other thing that comes to mind, is try swapping for another
PSU. It doesn't have to be the worlds most powerful PSU to qualify,
just a 350W P4 ready PSU can be used to verify it isn't the PSU you
are using now which is at fault. Your video card draws current from
the lower voltage rails, so in a test configuration, the processor
will be the only appreciable load.

HTH,
Paul
 
Hello again !!

Well i toddles off armed with all my new information and things to try from
you loverly people ... now im very near to taking a hammer to the whole
thing (my visa bill is the only thing that reminds me not too !)

The system

P4P800 E Deluxe
P4 2.8e (Prescott)
450w Power
1 x 512mb Kingmax pc3200
Auriga Radeon 9200 OR Gigabyte GeForce 5200
Liteon DVD ROM
Liteon DVD RW
Windows 98 SE


The problems i am having are system hangs (entirley random) and REALLLLLY
slow ripping/burning .

Now i know it is not the o/s as it will hang even running the MS memory test
(no errors - just hangs)

I know its not the RAM as i have tried different sticks with the same
problem.

I can reasonably safley say it is not the video card - i originally thought
it might be an asus/ati thing buit i even went and bought a new nvidia card
and still have the same results (thank god i can take it back!!)

This leaves me assuming its either a motherboard or processor problem ...

I really need help .. i want my puter back !!!
I also vow to never build again .. first and last

Thankyou for all suggestions

JAZ
Click to expand...

Can you give any more information on the PSU? Brand? Have you tried
swapping it for a different one?
(As you're probably aware, a high-quality 300W PSU may give stability
better than a no-name 450W.)

You tried different sticks of RAM, but have you tried running with
just one stick (and then the other singly if the freezes still occur)
or with the two sticks in different slots?
Ron
 
It could be Windows 98. Have you thought about upgrading to XP? I know Win98
is "suppose" to support 512 ram, but i have worked on many systems where 98
did not like the 512 and did some crazy stuff. I basically have the same
setup. Try putting 1 dvd drive on the primary ide and 1 on the secondary
ide. So they can read and write at the same time. It all depends if you are
running a SATA hard drive or if it is an IDE drive put it on the Promise 133
controller and make sure the BIOS is set to boot the Promise controller
first. Also try different IDE cables. What is virtual memory set to? Try
increasing it. Do the DVD drives slow on reads? In your burning software
make sure it is set to use the fastest possible speed and make sure you are
using the correct speed media. Try using a diffent burner. Just a couple of
ideas. hope things work out.
 
Only ever testes single sticks at a time ...

Im not doubting you but i dont understand how a power supply could cause
freezing and system hangs ???
 
Yes i have considered upgrading to xp i wont because its a little too pricy
... but i do think that may fix my rip problems - however the freezing before
the os is even instigated is a more pertinant issue .. no use having it
ripping if it will only freeze half way through !!!

JAZ (Somone elses pc if you had not guessed)
 
Have you tried reinstalling 98? Have you tried booting from a 98 startup
disk and running a full surface scan with scandisk to check for bad clusters
on the hard drive?
 
Seton30 said:
Only ever testes single sticks at a time ...

Im not doubting you but i dont understand how a power supply could
cause freezing and system hangs ???
Click to expand...

Low voltage or voltage running wild will cause hangs because the power
fluctuates too much out of spec. Also, if you are asking a cheap power
supply to provide the proper amperage on a steady basis it is not going to
do it. This is why some are more expensive than others. But the specs of
your system show a medium load, so a good quality 400w would run it fine and
have a bit to spare since you are not using a ton of drives or a high end
video card.

Also, I have to agree with the others since Win98 is flakey at best on a lot
of boards. I would run at least Win2000 if not XP. I ran an older Asus p4b
on 98 for all of a week and had nothing but hell. I changed to XP and it
was rock solid until the day it went away.

Shannon
 
Seton30 said:
Yes i have considered upgrading to xp i wont because its a little too pricy
.. but i do think that may fix my rip problems - however the freezing before
the os is even instigated is a more pertinant issue .. no use having it
ripping if it will only freeze half way through !!!

JAZ (Somone elses pc if you had not guessed)
Click to expand...

This also could be a bad IDE cable. If you can put the hard-drive(s) on
its own cable and the DVD/CD on their own cable.

If you want to test, boot dos (aka safe mode win98 with cdrom) and see
if you can do an xcopy of something big from DVD -> DISK.
 
Back
Top