Board or RAM Problem?

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E11

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Nov 9, 2004
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Hi all,

My PC Specs are as follows:
Gigabyte 81845PE-RZ Motherboard
Pentium 4 2.4A CPU
Kingston 512MB 333 mHz RAM

I encountered the following problems/symptoms:

1. Upon start up, message comes up saying "Can't start kernel service", and "Service database is locked". This doesn't happen all the time, I would say about 50% - 75% of the times I start up.

2. When running memory and computationally heavy programmes, computer sometimes either reboots itself or hangs. E.g. when rendering in Premiere.

3. When running memtest86+ ver 1.27, sometimes it runs for 4-5 passes without any problems. Sometimes it hangs, or reboots itself, or hangs after some errors.

Initially, I suspected a RAM problem, so I took the stick back for exchange. The guy ran memtest (can't remember which ver) on his comp, and it went through 1 pass without errors. Nevertheless, he exchanged the RAM for me, but the above problems/symptoms persisted with the new RAM stick.

My feeling is that the 3 problems are related. Anyone has any advice, please?

EDIT: Just to add a bit of info, the board temperature is normal and constant, below 60C.


Thanks in Advance,

Edwin

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by E11 on 11/08/04 08:07 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 
Check your line voltages under load (3.3v, 5v and 12v). Check the board for capacitors with domed tops or leaking bottoms. Try running your RAM at PC2100 speed (133MHz clock, DDR266, or 3:4 CPU:RAM ratio, as defined in your BIOS).

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>
 
Hi,

Line Voltages Under Load (3.3V, 5V, 12V):
Pardon me, but I'm not sure how to check this. But here's some information gathered from the PSU and BIOS:
From PSU:
Output 400W
+5V, +3.3V Combined Load 220W
+5V, +3.3V, +12V Combined Load 380W
From BIOS:
VCore 1.384V
DD25V 2.544V
+3.3V 3.348V
+12V 11.858V
(Seems to be no way of changing these BIOS settings...)

Capacitors:
Seem ok to me.

Running RAM at PC2100 Speed:
Yup, I've tried that before out of desperation, but the problems persisted.

Other things I've tried include loading BIOS fail-safe defaults, loading BIOS optimized defaults, putting the RAM module in another slot, taking out the CMOS batt and putting it back.

Any advice?


Thanks and Regards,

Edwin
 
Have you tried updating your BIOS with a new flash ROM?

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>
 
Are you certain your board properly supports Prescott processors?

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>
 
Yes, I have a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS card in there.

How do I check for conflicts with the onboard Sound or Ethernet card?


Regards,

Edwin
 
I removed the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS card, and ran the memtest86+ test... it still flunked...

system hanged on the very first pass, test #4, 42%


Regards,

Edwin
 
runs ok at first but after a couple intensive tests fails and begins to act funny in general... i would strongly consider heat and airflow of the case. do you have any heat solution on your RAM? are there lots of ribbon cable and power cables obstructing airflow right around the CPU and RAM? does he air around that area feel really warm? given that you are runing a prescott which is very hot compared to lots of other CPUs i would strongly consider heat before jumping the gun and junking anything. a couple simple solutions to heat are to get an air can and spray out the heat-sink of the CPU (outside... trust me), pull all the cables together and zip tie them into an open 5.25" bay if available or in some way pull them away from the heat sources. you can try running with the side of the case off for a while and see what that does... be creative. additional fans and heat spreaders for the ram may be enough if you want to spend $20 - $30
 
Hi cheepgeek,

Thanks, that does sound like a logical and highly probable cause, and I've thought of this as a possibility before, but does the fact that the system temperature reading on the BIOS stays at between 50C and 60C, even after a crash, explain away the likelihood of this cause?


Thanks and Regards,

Edwin
 
That temps sounds about right for a CPU....but the <b>system temp</b>, which would normally be monitoring the ambient temp in you case should be in the mid to low 30C range! You're running real hot!
 
Sorry, i meant to say that my CPU temperature is between 50C and 60C, not my system temperature.


Regards,

Edwin
 
Hi,

I cleaned up the AGP, PCI and RAM slots, sprayed away the dust from the fans, and the CPU heat sink, applied a layer of thermal grease between the CPU and the heat sink. Now running memtest86+. It has been running for about 10 hours (14 passes) without problem. Is it safe to say that its looking good? :)

BTW, should I apply the thermal grease to the RAM chips as well?


Thanks and Regards,

Edwin
 
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