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#1
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at the end of my rope/IDE cable :)
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 a 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 |
#2
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"Steve Rennick" wrote in message news:Er5Kb.958556$9l5.236667@pd7tw2no... 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 a 1) power supply is bad 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 |
#3
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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. "Steve Rennick" wrote in message news:Er5Kb.958556$9l5.236667@pd7tw2no... 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 a 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 |
#4
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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 |
#5
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"Steve Rennick" wrote in message news:Er5Kb.958556$9l5.236667@pd7tw2no... 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: \ 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. |
#6
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"Steve Rennick" wrote
in message news:Er5Kb.958556$9l5.236667@pd7tw2no... the only things i can think it would be now a 3) case is bad That's gotta be it - the motherboard doesn't like the colour of your paintwork. -- AZC |
#7
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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. |
#8
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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!!!! |
#9
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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! |
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