video card replaced, machine will only boot to safe mode

  • Thread starter Thread starter hiphop
  • Start date Start date
H

hiphop

I was experiencing some video card issues earlier this week and posted a
question about a modern video card working on an older system. The basic
problems were

black vertical lines all over the screen and then windows 98 hangs
during posting the bios text was alternating colors blue grey blue grey and
shimmering
pc would sometimes boot to normal mode but then the black lines and it hung.
in safe mode it would get blue vertical lines about 1/2" apart but worked.
Even the screen saver came on.

The system is
ALI Aladdin V is the chipset.
MS6261 socket7 mainboard 100mhz made by Matsonic
AMD K6III +3d 400mhz
Asound sound card
voodoo 3000 agp with tvout
17.5 gig WD 5200rpm ata33
10/100 nic (provided by my isp not sure what it is)

So today I pulled out the voodoo thinking it was my problem and switched it
with a gf2 pro that my friend gave me. I got it booted up into normal mode
and downloaded and installed the gf drivers. Then rebooted and started to
clean up my desk top by moving around some icons when the pc hung. I
unpluged my monitor (referb sony 17in trinitron) and switched it for my mums
15in daytek just to see what would happen at which time the pc booted into
normal mode and hung. So I was depressed and hooked up my sony again and
went to boot up again but this time computer wouldn't boot. Its going
through the posting process fine but when its about to load windows I get an
error that says "Windows Protection Error" and something about needing to
reboot press any key.

So I did some research and found a MS page that explains alot of things to
try in safe mode.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;188867
i've tried about 3/4 of the page and frustration set in so i'm taking a
break to post this huge long question.

Earlier this month my HD was lagging after downloading larger files.
Programs would lag and eventually things would freez up. After all that
happened for a few weeks I started to get the video card issues. So now my
question.

Whats wrong with my mahcine... could it be the HD is finally gone ? I'm
just about ready to replace it but before I send a few bucks on a new drive
I wanted some opinions. I'm trying to salvage this pc until the spring when
I can afford an upgrade. Any help on this issue would be greatly
appreciated.

thanks for reading
-hh
 
I was experiencing some video card issues earlier this week and posted a
question about a modern video card working on an older system. The basic
problems were

black vertical lines all over the screen and then windows 98 hangs
Click to expand...

If it weren't for what you wrote below about the BIOS text, I would've
suggested reinstalling the OS, or at least the video drivers,
particularly since you had suspicions about the HDD, but that doesn't
seem to be the problem based on further info...
during posting the bios text was alternating colors blue grey blue grey and
shimmering
pc would sometimes boot to normal mode but then the black lines and it hung.
in safe mode it would get blue vertical lines about 1/2" apart but worked.
Even the screen saver came on.
Click to expand...

So to the best of your knowledge, there were no changes to the system
between the time it worked properly, and started this problem
behavior? Does it seem pretty consistent or progressively getting
worse?

Do you have a voltage meter (or at least a motherboard monitoring
utility) you could use to check the power supply and motherboard
voltages?
The system is
ALI Aladdin V is the chipset.
MS6261 socket7 mainboard 100mhz made by Matsonic
AMD K6III +3d 400mhz
Asound sound card
voodoo 3000 agp with tvout
17.5 gig WD 5200rpm ata33
10/100 nic (provided by my isp not sure what it is)
Click to expand...

You wouldn't have moved the system recently, right before the onset of
these problems? I vaguely recall that Matsonic boards during this era
had HORRIBLE memory slots, that the memory practically had to be
hammered in, and/or it was necessary to put something behind the board
to get the memory in, or keep from damaging the board while pushing
hard enough to get memory fully inserted in the slots. MIght your
memory not be fully seated in the slots?

So today I pulled out the voodoo thinking it was my problem and switched it
with a gf2 pro that my friend gave me. I got it booted up into normal mode
and downloaded and installed the gf drivers. Then rebooted and started to
clean up my desk top by moving around some icons when the pc hung. I
unpluged my monitor (referb sony 17in trinitron) and switched it for my mums
15in daytek just to see what would happen at which time the pc booted into
normal mode and hung. So I was depressed and hooked up my sony again and
went to boot up again but this time computer wouldn't boot. Its going
through the posting process fine but when its about to load windows I get an
error that says "Windows Protection Error" and something about needing to
reboot press any key.

So I did some research and found a MS page that explains alot of things to
try in safe mode.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;188867
i've tried about 3/4 of the page and frustration set in so i'm taking a
break to post this huge long question.
Click to expand...

Unlike while sitting at the desktop idling, while booting the system
is under relatively heavier load. Considering also the BIOS oddities,
I don't think Windows and/or it's booting is actually the problem,
rather it's just when you SEE the problem surface. Failing loose
components I think either your motherboard or power supply are dying,
and considering the age of the system and relative quality level, you
may be lucky that it lasted as long as it has.
Earlier this month my HD was lagging after downloading larger files.
Programs would lag and eventually things would freez up. After all that
happened for a few weeks I started to get the video card issues. So now my
question.
Click to expand...

That could be related or a completely different issue like a bad IDE
cable, or if the HDD is as old as the rest of the system, it too could
be failing, but that doesn't explain the video lines or BIOS issues.

Does your system use an AT or ATX power supply? Maybe it doesn't
matter, but I suspect you have a 5V issue, your 5V rail on the
motherboard isn't sufficient, but whether the cause is the motherboard
or power supply can't be determined without more testing, or perhaps
only with replacement parts since they do still "somewhat" work.


Whats wrong with my mahcine... could it be the HD is finally gone ? I'm
just about ready to replace it but before I send a few bucks on a new drive
I wanted some opinions. I'm trying to salvage this pc until the spring when
I can afford an upgrade. Any help on this issue would be greatly
appreciated.

thanks for reading
-hh
Click to expand...

The hard drive should have no effect on the BIOS problem, either you
have two problems, it's not the HDD, or the HDD is shorting and
dragging the power down to where the rest of the system is instable.
If you haven't done anything to the system prior to the problem it
would seem to be merely a progressive aging to the point where it's
time for replacement.

If you're looking for the absolute lowest cost to get the PC going
again, I may have some old super 7 boards and low-end power supplies
lying around, will never be used, if you're willing to pay postage
I'll send you one of each, providing I have something that'll fit in
your case, I don't remember if I have only ATX-form factor super 7
boards or an AT or two.


Dave
 
So to the best of your knowledge, there were no changes to the system
between the time it worked properly, and started this problem
behavior? Does it seem pretty consistent or progressively getting
worse?
Click to expand...

There have been no system changes. It was progressively getting worse and
now it won't boot up to normal mode at all.

Do you have a voltage meter (or at least a motherboard monitoring
utility) you could use to check the power supply and motherboard
voltages?
Click to expand...

No voltage meters at all, although my monitor does support readout the
motherboard does not.
You wouldn't have moved the system recently, right before the onset of
these problems? I vaguely recall that Matsonic boards during this era
had HORRIBLE memory slots, that the memory practically had to be
hammered in, and/or it was necessary to put something behind the board
to get the memory in, or keep from damaging the board while pushing
hard enough to get memory fully inserted in the slots. MIght your
memory not be fully seated in the slots?
Click to expand...

I never move the system and dust around it. I checked the RAM its in all
the way and locked in.
Unlike while sitting at the desktop idling, while booting the system
is under relatively heavier load. Considering also the BIOS oddities,
I don't think Windows and/or it's booting is actually the problem,
rather it's just when you SEE the problem surface. Failing loose
components I think either your motherboard or power supply are dying,
and considering the age of the system and relative quality level, you
may be lucky that it lasted as long as it has.
Click to expand...

I had a psu go about a year and a half ago and it caused some hard drive
damage.
I had to get some help with the format because normal ways weren't working.
I'm not really sure what the guy did but he got it recognized as a MS_DOS
boot partition once again
and I was able to get windows back on. Since then i've replace the psu with
a cheepie compUSA brand because
I have no good computer stores in my area except for the chains and at the
time compUSA was the only one that
had any type of psu in stock. I was in the middle of college work and
needed the pc back up as soon as possible.
I could replace it, but i'm not really sure its causing the problem and the
money spent replacing it might better be spent
upgrading to a new system. I just wish I could keep two running.
That could be related or a completely different issue like a bad IDE
cable, or if the HDD is as old as the rest of the system, it too could
be failing, but that doesn't explain the video lines or BIOS issues.
Click to expand...

Again lots of starange HDD issues over the past 2years.
Does your system use an AT or ATX power supply? Maybe it doesn't
matter, but I suspect you have a 5V issue, your 5V rail on the
motherboard isn't sufficient, but whether the cause is the motherboard
or power supply can't be determined without more testing, or perhaps
only with replacement parts since they do still "somewhat" work.

ATX

The hard drive should have no effect on the BIOS problem, either you
have two problems, it's not the HDD, or the HDD is shorting and
dragging the power down to where the rest of the system is instable.
If you haven't done anything to the system prior to the problem it
would seem to be merely a progressive aging to the point where it's
time for replacement.
Click to expand...

I figured that since I got the new (older) gf2 pro installed and got the
drivers intalled that the problem might have been
dual related. Both the vid card was going and the HDD. Since the boot up
shimmering is now gone, but now the hang has turned into a no boot
situation. The system as been under alot of stress, power going out, short
in some speakers that caused the surge protector to kick in...the psu that
failed. I have been holding onto an extra WD HD thats brand new in
anticipation for a new pc but I might put it in this pc to see if thats the
problem. Again I would love to have a second pc around to do some audio
recording away from the normal pc room.
If you're looking for the absolute lowest cost to get the PC going
again, I may have some old super 7 boards and low-end power supplies
lying around, will never be used, if you're willing to pay postage
I'll send you one of each, providing I have something that'll fit in
your case, I don't remember if I have only ATX-form factor super 7
boards or an AT or two.


Dave
Click to expand...

I would love to take you up on that Dave but I want to exhaust all
posibilities on my end first. I'm considering a format of the current
drive, as everything is backed up so I have nothing to lose. If that
doesn't fix my problem and get me through until the spring then I would be
interested in trying a different board and psu. The case is a mid atx
tower.

you can email me at (e-mail address removed) if you come up with any old parts
that your interested in dumping towards my cause =)

thanks. -hiphop
 
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