at the end of my rope/IDE cable :)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steve Rennick
  • Start date Start date
S

Steve Rennick

hi all!

first-time poster, and really hoping i can get some help from the collective
wisdom here. my system is very unstable. it either hard-locks (have to
re-set or power right down, including the power switch at the back of the
case), or it randomly reboots (the hard lock usually happens either in the
middle of an app, or if i go away and let the computer go to "sleep"..i.e.
shut the display off...rebooting usually happens during a game...no, no
particular game, ANY game). before i go any further, here are my specs:

asus a7s333 mobo
amd xp 1600+ chip
512mb ddr ram
geforce 4 ti4200 vid card
audigy 1 soundcard
maxtor 40 gig hard drive
liteon burnproof cdrw
dlink network card
daytek 95p monitor
smc wireless router (i'm hardwired into it, as is another PC on my homelan,
with 2 other PCs using wireless network cards)
400 watt PS
OS-win98se w/all the latest updates incl. directx9.0b (or whatever the
latest is)
BIOS-updated to the latest for my mother board...have also updated to the
latest SIS AGP drivers for my mother board.

things i have already done (in no particular order...it's late and i feel
like i've been banging my head against a brick wall :) ):
-swapped memory with another system that has same mobo.
-ran memtest 86 on current memory and memory borrowed from other system
-reinstalled OS (win98se)
-fdisked and formatted hard drive (after running every imaginable maxtor
utility i could download to verify it WASN'T a hard drive problem)
-moved cards around in my pci slots to eliminate possible conflicts
-checked if it was a heat problem (all monitoring programs say no...to be on
the safe side, took out chip and cleaned and re-applied arctic silver)
-tried changing powerbars
-tried plugging into a different electrical outlet
-ran the system w/o cd-rw plugged in (ya never know)
-reinstalled video and soundcard drivers
-uninstalled most recent windows update updates (but left IE and OE 6)
-tried using different plug-ins off my power supply
-tried using different IDE cables..and configurations (master/slaved
HD/CDRW; configured both as masters in primary/secondary IDE channels; right
now, have the HD as primary master and CDRW as secondary slave)

that's all i can remember having done right now. the only things i can
think it would be now are:
1) power supply is bad
2) mobo is bad
3) case is bad
4) processor is bad

none of the things i've already done made a LICK of difference...system
crashes many times a day, and at, because murphy rules, the most inopportune
times. luckily, it's mostly a games machine, and not one i do much work
on...but i do do SOME work on it...and this is driving me nuts!!!! the
other machines on my LAN are ROCK-SOLID...so i'm, literally...at the end of
my IDE cable. any help would be HUGE!

thanks a million!
steve in canada
 
Steve Rennick said:
hi all!

first-time poster, and really hoping i can get some help from the collective
wisdom here. my system is very unstable. it either hard-locks (have to
re-set or power right down, including the power switch at the back of the
case), or it randomly reboots (the hard lock usually happens either in the
middle of an app, or if i go away and let the computer go to "sleep"..i.e.
shut the display off...rebooting usually happens during a game...no, no
particular game, ANY game). before i go any further, here are my specs:

asus a7s333 mobo
amd xp 1600+ chip
512mb ddr ram
geforce 4 ti4200 vid card
audigy 1 soundcard
maxtor 40 gig hard drive
liteon burnproof cdrw
dlink network card
daytek 95p monitor
smc wireless router (i'm hardwired into it, as is another PC on my homelan,
with 2 other PCs using wireless network cards)
400 watt PS
OS-win98se w/all the latest updates incl. directx9.0b (or whatever the
latest is)
BIOS-updated to the latest for my mother board...have also updated to the
latest SIS AGP drivers for my mother board.

things i have already done (in no particular order...it's late and i feel
like i've been banging my head against a brick wall :) ):
-swapped memory with another system that has same mobo.
-ran memtest 86 on current memory and memory borrowed from other system
-reinstalled OS (win98se)
-fdisked and formatted hard drive (after running every imaginable maxtor
utility i could download to verify it WASN'T a hard drive problem)
-moved cards around in my pci slots to eliminate possible conflicts
-checked if it was a heat problem (all monitoring programs say no...to be on
the safe side, took out chip and cleaned and re-applied arctic silver)
-tried changing powerbars
-tried plugging into a different electrical outlet
-ran the system w/o cd-rw plugged in (ya never know)
-reinstalled video and soundcard drivers
-uninstalled most recent windows update updates (but left IE and OE 6)
-tried using different plug-ins off my power supply
-tried using different IDE cables..and configurations (master/slaved
HD/CDRW; configured both as masters in primary/secondary IDE channels; right
now, have the HD as primary master and CDRW as secondary slave)

that's all i can remember having done right now. the only things i can
think it would be now are:
1) power supply is bad
Click to expand...

Your symptoms point to a bad power supply, and that is the only thing you
haven't tried yet, apparently. If you can find one, look for Seasonic
brand. You will like it. :) -Dave
 
Do you have 'fast writes' enabled in the bios? odd memory timings(bios)?

<latest SIS AGP drivers for my mother board>

<geforce 4 ti4200 vid card>

Confusing...a little...your saying you have updated the chipset drivers of your board..and you have integrated graphics? Integrated
is disabled in the bios right?(if in fact this is true).

PSU could be the factor as it has been left out of the troubleshooting sequence.
 
My son's computer was acting similarly and it turned out the PS fan was not
working. The PS got hot and was next to CPU causing it to get too hot. That
being said, I have solved this type of problem with other systems with RAM
beion most likely and motherboard second. Sometomes you just get a bad
motherboard and nothing can be done to get it stable.

-Kent
 
Steve Rennick said:
hi all!

first-time poster, and really hoping i can get some help from the collective
wisdom here. my system is very unstable. it either hard-locks (have to
re-set or power right down, including the power switch at the back of the
case), or it randomly reboots (the hard lock usually happens either in the
middle of an app, or if i go away and let the computer go to "sleep"..i.e.
shut the display off...rebooting usually happens during a game...no, no
particular game, ANY game). before i go any further, here are my specs:
Click to expand...
\


<snip>
if that was my machine, the first thing i;d do is clock it down to see what
happens.
if it still had a problem...
i'd remove *all* the boards
and pop in a different video card and run it for a few days...

if it still had the problem i'd try another motherboard...

otherwise, just start adding components one at a time
to see which one causes the problem.
 
Steve Rennick said:
in message
the only things i can think it would be now are:

3) case is bad
Click to expand...


That's gotta be it - the motherboard doesn't like the
colour of your paintwork.
 
A buddy had a similar problem with his Asus board. Turned out the mobo had
auto-detected the wrong memory timing for his DIMMs. Had the memory set to
CLS 2.0, should have been 2.5 per Kinston web site. Dropped it to 2.5, and
it was fine.

Anyway, my point is. Make sure the memory timings match what the memory
manufacturer say they should be.
 
and the drama continues :)
so, after swapping out my 400w psu for the 300w psu in another system in my
homeLAN that is stable I (when i took it out of this other machine, i was
amazed at how much stuff i have plugged into that 750mhz duron system [3hds
for example], that i should probably have the 400 in it:), i was still
getting reboots (the game i'm using to make it crash right now is diablo 2).
what typically happens is right after i start the game (as soon as i load up
a character and start running around, within about 30 seconds) the computer
reboots. and it happened even after swapping out my PSU. so on philo's
advice, i went into the bios after the system had rebooted, and throttled
back my cpu from 1400 mhz to 1050 (which knocked by FSB from 133 down to
100). now, usually, when it reboots, and i try to go back in and play
diablo2, it'll just keep rebooting until i power every thing down (including
switching off the PSU itself), and leave the machine off for awhile. BUT
NOT THIS TIME!?! i was able to get back in and play for a good 15 minuters.
i'm gonna to leave the computer on overnight, and see if it's still running
in the morning. good night... :)
btw the voltage readings on the 400psu and the 300psu, according to
MotherBoardMonitor are exactly the same...for whatever THAT'S
worth...hehehehe AND i did, as per HeadHunter's advice, check out my memory
timing settings..which are already at 2.5.
so, if it's still running tomorrow morning, am i looking at a CPU problem
possibly? or mobo?
thanks all!!!!
 
an update.
so i get up this morning, and, yes, computer had crashed. i turned off
power-saving features like monitor and hard-drive shutdown days ago,
just on the off-chance that was what was giving me my grief. but i did
power off the monitor physically before going to bed last night. when
i turned the monitor on this morning, the green light came on
briefly..then it went to a solid amber light, with no display. hit the
reset button, got a post-code (damn, just realized i should have
listened to the post-code..ooops..next time...i THINK it might have
been 2 beeps), and the hard drive light came on, but still no display.
so i powered it down, swapped the power supplies again (my 10 year old
will be VERY happy :), and powered her back up. went to the bios
immediately (whenever i have one of these hard crashes, it ALWAYS does
that, telling me PC had hung on boot-up because of an improper CPU
setting). i set it back to 1400/133fsb (amd recommended settings btw)
from 1050/100fsb (which obviously didn't make the system any more
stable). i'm now posting this while the computer's still running.
funny thing is, i seem to be able to work in windows mostly fine
(altho i have had the odd reboot while running IE6), but the soft
reboot crash happens primarily in games. the either complete freeze
(where i can see the desktop, but nothing responds, including the
mouse and keyboard), or the display refuses to come on, usually only
happens after i leave the PC on for several hours (i say several
because this is what seems to happen each time i leave it on
overnight...i WOULD stay up all night if it wasn't for that damn thing
called a job :)
anyway, all the advice i've recieved so far has been VERY helpful..plz
keep advising...i'll listen ;->
thx again!
 
On 6 Jan 2004 09:11:05 -0800 In this world we created
an update.
so i get up this morning, and, yes, computer had crashed. i turned off
power-saving features like monitor and hard-drive shutdown days ago,
just on the off-chance that was what was giving me my grief. but i did
power off the monitor physically before going to bed last night. when
i turned the monitor on this morning, the green light came on
briefly..then it went to a solid amber light, with no display. hit the
reset button, got a post-code (damn, just realized i should have
listened to the post-code..ooops..next time...i THINK it might have
been 2 beeps), and the hard drive light came on, but still no display.
so i powered it down, swapped the power supplies again (my 10 year old
will be VERY happy :), and powered her back up. went to the bios
immediately (whenever i have one of these hard crashes, it ALWAYS does
that, telling me PC had hung on boot-up because of an improper CPU
setting). i set it back to 1400/133fsb (amd recommended settings btw)
from 1050/100fsb (which obviously didn't make the system any more
stable). i'm now posting this while the computer's still running.
funny thing is, i seem to be able to work in windows mostly fine
(altho i have had the odd reboot while running IE6), but the soft
reboot crash happens primarily in games. the either complete freeze
(where i can see the desktop, but nothing responds, including the
mouse and keyboard), or the display refuses to come on, usually only
happens after i leave the PC on for several hours (i say several
because this is what seems to happen each time i leave it on
overnight...i WOULD stay up all night if it wasn't for that damn thing
called a job :)
anyway, all the advice i've recieved so far has been VERY helpful..plz
keep advising...i'll listen ;->
thx again!
Click to expand...

Try here,
http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.php

HTH :)

PS
If this is winXP switch of the useless,"Restart on Errors" option.
My computer/Right click/Properties/Advanced/Error reporting or
somewhere around there as I'm in win98 as I type this(dual boot).



--
Free Windows/PC help,
http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/trouble.html
email shepATpartyheld.de
Free songs download,
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/nomessiahsmusic.htm
 
thanks shep but i'm running win98se...what i did today was leave the
computer running in "safe"mode all day. got home to a beautiful looking
desktop...minus any functionality (i.e. mouse nor keyboard responds). so i
hit reset, scandisk does it's thing, and i'm back into windows. about 10
minutes later i've got IE6 running, an explorer window open, in addition to
OE6. i click on this newsgroup to open it up and BLAM, reboot. so i shut
her down, switch my amd xp1600+ processor for a 1.2 duron in another machine
with the same mobo which is rock-solid stable, and put it in. i'm pretty
much down to either mobo or chip...guy at local computer shop thinks it's
the chip, since they've had similar sounding experiences with amd's that go
bad. anyone know how to tell if a chip's damaged? i pull my xp1600+, flip
it over, an in the central area...y'know where there aren't any prongs, i've
got these little silver marks that almost look like carbon-scoring on one of
the star wars ships...can't tell if it's a mark or arctic silver that got in
the wrong place...could that be a sign of damage? anyway, keep
advising...i promise to keep listening and posting :)
tia,
steve
 
i'm pretty
much down to either mobo or chip...guy at local computer shop thinks it's
the chip, since they've had similar sounding experiences with amd's that go
bad.
Click to expand...

so i wake up this morning...and for the first time in a LONG time,
computer's still running. looks like it's the chip boys and girls <sigh> at
least now i know...
 
Back
Top