It's gotta be a short...right?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fitz
  • Start date Start date
F

Fitz

I'll try to be concise, but it's not a simple problem.

System: Soyo Dragon + w/AMD 1800
GeForce 4 Ti4600
M-Audio Revolution 7.1 and Logitec Z680 speakers
Soyo PCI USB 2.0 card (4 internal ports)
USB 2.0 Flash card reader w/2 external USB 2 ports
Crystal Fontz 634 LCD connected to Comm 1
Unibrain Fireboard Red 1394 Card
Front X front panel connector w/headset, mic and line in, Firewire, and
gameport connections
Realtek 10/100 LAN
Cyberpower 825AV UPS

Problem:
Speakers will frequently (and suddenly) become loud and very distorted
regardless of the application (Winamp, Quicken, Windows event sounds, etc).
Occasionally, computer will reboot. It seems as though it often occurs when
you physically touch the computer, or something connected to it (like the
mouse).

I RMA'd the audio card, and the new one does exactly the same thing. I have
changed PCI slots. I have checked the motherboard and can find no evidence
of bad capacitors (bulged, discolored). All voltages are w/i 5% of nominal.
Temps are ok (system 32C, CPU never exceeds 48C under load). I have switched
from a USB to PS2 mouse (because touching the mouse seems to frequently
cause the event).

I have connected the speakers to the onboard sound, but since I long ago
discarded the additional connector for 5.1 sound, I was only using
left/right channels. I did not get the distortion, but I still got the
random reboots.

I have checked all the speaker connections.

Switching off the power amp and turning it back on does not clear the
problem. Turning off the speaker control box does not clear it. Restarting
the computer does.

I think that I have a short to ground somewhere in the system, or static
discharge is a possibility- but I don't really know. The computer is in a
Lian Li aluminum case. I have pushed, pulled, and shaken every component and
wire in the box, and can't force it duplicate the problem.

By frequently, I mean I can't make it more than 30 minutes without having to
restart the machine. If it reboots by itself, it often restarts with the
speaker problem already in effect.

Any ideas on how to track this thing down?

Thanx,
Fitz
 
Fitz said:
I'll try to be concise, but it's not a simple problem.

System: Soyo Dragon + w/AMD 1800
GeForce 4 Ti4600
M-Audio Revolution 7.1 and Logitec Z680 speakers
Soyo PCI USB 2.0 card (4 internal ports)
USB 2.0 Flash card reader w/2 external USB 2 ports
Crystal Fontz 634 LCD connected to Comm 1
Unibrain Fireboard Red 1394 Card
Front X front panel connector w/headset, mic and line in, Firewire, and
gameport connections
Realtek 10/100 LAN
Cyberpower 825AV UPS

Problem:
Speakers will frequently (and suddenly) become loud and very distorted
regardless of the application (Winamp, Quicken, Windows event sounds, etc).
Occasionally, computer will reboot. It seems as though it often occurs when
you physically touch the computer, or something connected to it (like the
mouse).

I RMA'd the audio card, and the new one does exactly the same thing. I have
changed PCI slots. I have checked the motherboard and can find no evidence
of bad capacitors (bulged, discolored). All voltages are w/i 5% of nominal.
Temps are ok (system 32C, CPU never exceeds 48C under load). I have switched
from a USB to PS2 mouse (because touching the mouse seems to frequently
cause the event).

I have connected the speakers to the onboard sound, but since I long ago
discarded the additional connector for 5.1 sound, I was only using
left/right channels. I did not get the distortion, but I still got the
random reboots.

I have checked all the speaker connections.

Switching off the power amp and turning it back on does not clear the
problem. Turning off the speaker control box does not clear it. Restarting
the computer does.

I think that I have a short to ground somewhere in the system, or static
discharge is a possibility- but I don't really know. The computer is in a
Lian Li aluminum case. I have pushed, pulled, and shaken every component and
wire in the box, and can't force it duplicate the problem.

By frequently, I mean I can't make it more than 30 minutes without having to
restart the machine. If it reboots by itself, it often restarts with the
speaker problem already in effect.

Any ideas on how to track this thing down?

Thanx,
Fitz
Click to expand...
QUOTED:(It seems as though it often occurs when
you physically touch the computer, or something connected to it (like the
mouse).)
Click to expand...

Having an adverse reaction when you touch the case is normally a
missing ground. Make sure the case and power supply is grounded to the
ground terminal of your AC plug. Also, I assume that the ground
terminal of the receptacle is also grounded and not floating.
 
Fitz wrote:
| I'll try to be concise, but it's not a simple problem.
|
| System: Soyo Dragon + w/AMD 1800
| GeForce 4 Ti4600
| M-Audio Revolution 7.1 and Logitec Z680 speakers
| Soyo PCI USB 2.0 card (4 internal ports)
| USB 2.0 Flash card reader w/2 external USB 2 ports
| Crystal Fontz 634 LCD connected to Comm 1
| Unibrain Fireboard Red 1394 Card
| Front X front panel connector w/headset, mic and line in, Firewire,
| and gameport connections
| Realtek 10/100 LAN
| Cyberpower 825AV UPS
|
| Problem:
| Speakers will frequently (and suddenly) become loud and very distorted
| regardless of the application (Winamp, Quicken, Windows event sounds,
| etc). Occasionally, computer will reboot. It seems as though it often
| occurs when you physically touch the computer, or something connected
| to it (like the mouse).
|
| I RMA'd the audio card, and the new one does exactly the same thing.
| I have changed PCI slots. I have checked the motherboard and can find
| no evidence of bad capacitors (bulged, discolored). All voltages are
| w/i 5% of nominal. Temps are ok (system 32C, CPU never exceeds 48C
| under load). I have switched from a USB to PS2 mouse (because
| touching the mouse seems to frequently cause the event).
|
| I have connected the speakers to the onboard sound, but since I long
| ago discarded the additional connector for 5.1 sound, I was only using
| left/right channels. I did not get the distortion, but I still got the
| random reboots.
|
| I have checked all the speaker connections.
|
| Switching off the power amp and turning it back on does not clear the
| problem. Turning off the speaker control box does not clear it.
| Restarting the computer does.
|
| I think that I have a short to ground somewhere in the system, or
| static discharge is a possibility- but I don't really know. The
| computer is in a Lian Li aluminum case. I have pushed, pulled, and
| shaken every component and wire in the box, and can't force it
| duplicate the problem.
|
| By frequently, I mean I can't make it more than 30 minutes without
| having to restart the machine. If it reboots by itself, it often
| restarts with the speaker problem already in effect.
|
| Any ideas on how to track this thing down?
|
| Thanx,
| Fitz

Have you tried the obvious, different speakers?
 
I'd have jumped all over that if I hadn't found the problem by way of
watching my motherboard fry. DIMM 3 was where the problem was. I removed the
RAM, hoping that by not using the slot, I would bypass the problem.
Wrong.....burning plastic smells bad, arcing is not a good thing inside a
computer, and we have a rule against smoking in the house. The computer
didn't abide by it.

The folks at Soyo also make Pentium boards....you think they don't go bad
occassionally because they have "Intel Inside"? Overpriced, over-rated, and
now outmatched by a processor with a clock speed a full GHz slower.

Fitz
 
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