Computer about to be thrown out of the window

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Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

Bloody computers!

My colleague has mongrel PC with the following spec:
ECS P61WT-A+ board with a Celeron 766, 384MB RAM, onboard Intel i810
graphics, 10GB HDD and running Windows 98se. The BIOS is Award Modular v
6.00 PG; P61WT-A+ Ver. 1.0h 11/08/1999. Do you need any more information?

It's been hanging on a regular basis (3 or more times a day, often when
online - IE6), so I opted to install Windows XP this afternoon, and took the
opportunity to remover the slightly ancient Trident 9440 graphics card and
return to the onboard graphics. I also replaced the hard drive with a
spare, freshly formatted 15GB FAT32 Seagate drive, just in case it all went
pear-shaped. I also replaced the RAM, going from 128 to 384 with a pair of
fresh sticks which tested fine on two memory testers.

The installation went fine, but the computer hung during the installation of
SP2 (the very first thing I did after XP was on) and while SP2 took fine
once I'd rebooted, and Office 2000 went on fine, it's continued to hang,
most often when I'm in My Computer and mousing over an icon in Tiles view
format. And I didn't get a chance to go online before it hung, so I just
took out the new hard drive and shoved the old one back in before I lost it
completely.

This is driving me crazy - I'm using different graphics, new RAM, new hard
drive and new system and application software. The only common factors
which might have an influence are the PSU, motherboard and processor. There
are no heat issues going on and the two fans - PSU and CPU are spinning
efficiently. I can only think that there must be something fundamental
going on in the motherboard or processor, but if anyone else has any
brillinat ideas, I'd be very, very pleased to hear them!
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

Trent SC schrieb:
> Bloody computers!
>
> My colleague has mongrel PC with the following spec:
> ECS P61WT-A+ board with a Celeron 766, 384MB RAM, onboard Intel i810
> graphics, 10GB HDD and running Windows 98se. The BIOS is Award Modular v
> 6.00 PG; P61WT-A+ Ver. 1.0h 11/08/1999. Do you need any more information?
>
> It's been hanging on a regular basis (3 or more times a day, often when
> online - IE6), so I opted to install Windows XP this afternoon, and took the
> opportunity to remover the slightly ancient Trident 9440 graphics card and
> return to the onboard graphics. I also replaced the hard drive with a
> spare, freshly formatted 15GB FAT32 Seagate drive, just in case it all went
> pear-shaped. I also replaced the RAM, going from 128 to 384 with a pair of
> fresh sticks which tested fine on two memory testers.
>
> The installation went fine, but the computer hung during the installation of
> SP2 (the very first thing I did after XP was on) and while SP2 took fine
> once I'd rebooted, and Office 2000 went on fine, it's continued to hang,
> most often when I'm in My Computer and mousing over an icon in Tiles view
> format. And I didn't get a chance to go online before it hung, so I just
> took out the new hard drive and shoved the old one back in before I lost it
> completely.
>
> This is driving me crazy - I'm using different graphics, new RAM, new hard
> drive and new system and application software. The only common factors
> which might have an influence are the PSU, motherboard and processor. There
> are no heat issues going on and the two fans - PSU and CPU are spinning
> efficiently. I can only think that there must be something fundamental
> going on in the motherboard or processor, but if anyone else has any
> brillinat ideas, I'd be very, very pleased to hear them!
>
>
You should really try different memory or check if you bios can set
slower timings for the memory.
Also, if possible, disable some chacheing (video or system bios) and
check if it can help you.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

"Trent SC" <trent@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:36nenjF4p9m8hU1@individual.net...
> Bloody computers!
>
> My colleague has mongrel PC with the following spec:
> ECS P61WT-A+ board with a Celeron 766, 384MB RAM, onboard Intel i810
> graphics, 10GB HDD and running Windows 98se. The BIOS is Award Modular v
> 6.00 PG; P61WT-A+ Ver. 1.0h 11/08/1999. Do you need any more information?
>
> It's been hanging on a regular basis (3 or more times a day, often when
> online - IE6), so I opted to install Windows XP this afternoon, and took
> the opportunity to remover the slightly ancient Trident 9440 graphics card
> and return to the onboard graphics. I also replaced the hard drive with a
> spare, freshly formatted 15GB FAT32 Seagate drive, just in case it all
> went pear-shaped. I also replaced the RAM, going from 128 to 384 with a
> pair of fresh sticks which tested fine on two memory testers.
>
> The installation went fine, but the computer hung during the installation
> of SP2 (the very first thing I did after XP was on) and while SP2 took
> fine once I'd rebooted, and Office 2000 went on fine, it's continued to
> hang, most often when I'm in My Computer and mousing over an icon in Tiles
> view format. And I didn't get a chance to go online before it hung, so I
> just took out the new hard drive and shoved the old one back in before I
> lost it completely.
>
> This is driving me crazy - I'm using different graphics, new RAM, new hard
> drive and new system and application software. The only common factors
> which might have an influence are the PSU, motherboard and processor.

try underclocking the machine slightly
i'd also use the original (or another video card) rather than on-board
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

>> Bloody computers!
>>
>> My colleague has mongrel PC with the following spec:
>> ECS P61WT-A+ board with a Celeron 766, 384MB RAM, onboard Intel i810
>> graphics, 10GB HDD and running Windows 98se. The BIOS is Award Modular v
>> 6.00 PG; P61WT-A+ Ver. 1.0h 11/08/1999. Do you need any more
>> information?
>>
>> It's been hanging on a regular basis (3 or more times a day, often when
>> online - IE6), so I opted to install Windows XP this afternoon, and took
>> the opportunity to remover the slightly ancient Trident 9440 graphics
>> card and return to the onboard graphics. I also replaced the hard drive
>> with a spare, freshly formatted 15GB FAT32 Seagate drive, just in case it
>> all went pear-shaped. I also replaced the RAM, going from 128 to 384
>> with a pair of fresh sticks which tested fine on two memory testers.
>>
>> The installation went fine, but the computer hung during the installation
>> of SP2 (the very first thing I did after XP was on) and while SP2 took
>> fine once I'd rebooted, and Office 2000 went on fine, it's continued to
>> hang, most often when I'm in My Computer and mousing over an icon in
>> Tiles view format. And I didn't get a chance to go online before it
>> hung, so I just took out the new hard drive and shoved the old one back
>> in before I lost it completely.
>>
>> This is driving me crazy - I'm using different graphics, new RAM, new
>> hard drive and new system and application software. The only common
>> factors which might have an influence are the PSU, motherboard and
>> processor. There are no heat issues going on and the two fans - PSU and
>> CPU are spinning efficiently. I can only think that there must be
>> something fundamental going on in the motherboard or processor, but if
>> anyone else has any brillinat ideas, I'd be very, very pleased to hear
>> them!
> You should really try different memory or check if you bios can set slower
> timings for the memory.
> Also, if possible, disable some chacheing (video or system bios) and check
> if it can help you.

Thanks for the reply. As I said, the memory is different, I'm now using the
on-board graphics instead of a graphics card, the hard drives are different
and the operating system is new, and yet the symptoms are the same as
before, so I'm not sure how your suggestions apply in this situation.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

In agreeement with Michael do try different RAM, or try installation with
the old stick (128 ?) or just the new chip. The hang is probably from a bad
memory address in one of the chips.

--
Jan Alter
bearpuf@verizon.net
or
jalter@phila.k12.pa.us
"Michael Mauel" <smartiboy@arcor.de> wrote in message
news:420686ce$0$18560$9b4e6d93@newsread4.arcor-online.net...
> Trent SC schrieb:
>> Bloody computers!
>>
>> My colleague has mongrel PC with the following spec:
>> ECS P61WT-A+ board with a Celeron 766, 384MB RAM, onboard Intel i810
>> graphics, 10GB HDD and running Windows 98se. The BIOS is Award Modular v
>> 6.00 PG; P61WT-A+ Ver. 1.0h 11/08/1999. Do you need any more
>> information?
>>
>> It's been hanging on a regular basis (3 or more times a day, often when
>> online - IE6), so I opted to install Windows XP this afternoon, and took
>> the opportunity to remover the slightly ancient Trident 9440 graphics
>> card and return to the onboard graphics. I also replaced the hard drive
>> with a spare, freshly formatted 15GB FAT32 Seagate drive, just in case it
>> all went pear-shaped. I also replaced the RAM, going from 128 to 384
>> with a pair of fresh sticks which tested fine on two memory testers.
>>
>> The installation went fine, but the computer hung during the installation
>> of SP2 (the very first thing I did after XP was on) and while SP2 took
>> fine once I'd rebooted, and Office 2000 went on fine, it's continued to
>> hang, most often when I'm in My Computer and mousing over an icon in
>> Tiles view format. And I didn't get a chance to go online before it
>> hung, so I just took out the new hard drive and shoved the old one back
>> in before I lost it completely.
>>
>> This is driving me crazy - I'm using different graphics, new RAM, new
>> hard drive and new system and application software. The only common
>> factors which might have an influence are the PSU, motherboard and
>> processor. There are no heat issues going on and the two fans - PSU and
>> CPU are spinning efficiently. I can only think that there must be
>> something fundamental going on in the motherboard or processor, but if
>> anyone else has any brillinat ideas, I'd be very, very pleased to hear
>> them!
> You should really try different memory or check if you bios can set slower
> timings for the memory.
> Also, if possible, disable some chacheing (video or system bios) and check
> if it can help you.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

>>> Bloody computers!
>>>
>>> My colleague has mongrel PC with the following spec:
>>> ECS P61WT-A+ board with a Celeron 766, 384MB RAM, onboard Intel i810
>>> graphics, 10GB HDD and running Windows 98se. The BIOS is Award Modular
>>> v 6.00 PG; P61WT-A+ Ver. 1.0h 11/08/1999. Do you need any more
>>> information?
>>>
>>> It's been hanging on a regular basis (3 or more times a day, often when
>>> online - IE6), so I opted to install Windows XP this afternoon, and took
>>> the opportunity to remover the slightly ancient Trident 9440 graphics
>>> card and return to the onboard graphics. I also replaced the hard drive
>>> with a spare, freshly formatted 15GB FAT32 Seagate drive, just in case
>>> it all went pear-shaped. I also replaced the RAM, going from 128 to 384
>>> with a pair of fresh sticks which tested fine on two memory testers.
>>>
>>> The installation went fine, but the computer hung during the
>>> installation of SP2 (the very first thing I did after XP was on) and
>>> while SP2 took fine once I'd rebooted, and Office 2000 went on fine,
>>> it's continued to hang, most often when I'm in My Computer and mousing
>>> over an icon in Tiles view format. And I didn't get a chance to go
>>> online before it hung, so I just took out the new hard drive and shoved
>>> the old one back in before I lost it completely.
>>>
>>> This is driving me crazy - I'm using different graphics, new RAM, new
>>> hard drive and new system and application software. The only common
>>> factors which might have an influence are the PSU, motherboard and
>>> processor. There are no heat issues going on and the two fans - PSU and
>>> CPU are spinning efficiently. I can only think that there must be
>>> something fundamental going on in the motherboard or processor, but if
>>> anyone else has any brillinat ideas, I'd be very, very pleased to hear
>>> them!
>> You should really try different memory or check if you bios can set
>> slower timings for the memory.
>> Also, if possible, disable some chacheing (video or system bios) and
>> check if it can help you.
>
> In agreeement with Michael do try different RAM, or try installation with
> the old stick (128 ?) or just the new chip. The hang is probably from a
> bad memory address in one of the chips.

I'll give it a go, although the problem was occurring with the old memory,
and that's now in a drawer - the computer has a new 256 and 128 stick, so
we're talking about completely different memory.

Thanks also to the other post - how do I disable L2 cache, please?

TIA
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

On Sun, 6 Feb 2005 12:58:12 -0800 , "Trent SC" <trent@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

>Bloody computers!
>
>My colleague has mongrel PC with the following spec:
>ECS P61WT-A+ board with a Celeron 766, 384MB RAM, onboard Intel i810
>graphics, 10GB HDD and running Windows 98se. The BIOS is Award Modular v
>6.00 PG; P61WT-A+ Ver. 1.0h 11/08/1999. Do you need any more information?
>
>It's been hanging on a regular basis (3 or more times a day, often when
>online - IE6), so I opted to install Windows XP this afternoon, and took the
>opportunity to remover the slightly ancient Trident 9440 graphics card and
>return to the onboard graphics. I also replaced the hard drive with a
>spare, freshly formatted 15GB FAT32 Seagate drive, just in case it all went
>pear-shaped. I also replaced the RAM, going from 128 to 384 with a pair of
>fresh sticks which tested fine on two memory testers.
>
>The installation went fine, but the computer hung during the installation of
>SP2 (the very first thing I did after XP was on) and while SP2 took fine
>once I'd rebooted, and Office 2000 went on fine, it's continued to hang,
>most often when I'm in My Computer and mousing over an icon in Tiles view
>format. And I didn't get a chance to go online before it hung, so I just
>took out the new hard drive and shoved the old one back in before I lost it
>completely.
>
>This is driving me crazy - I'm using different graphics, new RAM, new hard
>drive and new system and application software. The only common factors
>which might have an influence are the PSU, motherboard and processor. There
>are no heat issues going on and the two fans - PSU and CPU are spinning
>efficiently. I can only think that there must be something fundamental
>going on in the motherboard or processor, but if anyone else has any
>brillinat ideas, I'd be very, very pleased to hear them!


I'll almost guarantee it's the PSU. They flake out more than most
people realize, and can cause all sorts of weird problems - hanging,
spontaneous reboots, etc , non of which are ever reproducible on
demand. Very frustrating.

See if you can't swap it out on at least a temporary test basis.

M
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

["Followup-To:" header set to 24hoursupport.helpdesk.]
Trent SC wrote:

> My colleague has mongrel PC with the following spec:
> ECS P61WT-A+ board with a Celeron 766, 384MB RAM, onboard Intel i810
^^^

> graphics, 10GB HDD and running Windows 98se. The BIOS is Award Modular v
> 6.00 PG; P61WT-A+ Ver. 1.0h 11/08/1999. Do you need any more information?

Having read (and snipped) your tribulations, my money's on the mobo. I
don't think ECS stands very high on the confidence chart, from what
I've heard here and there. (No, I've not used an ECS board myself.)

--
Blinky Linux Registered User 297263

Who has implemented Usenet Solution #45933:
Now killing all posts made with User-Agent G2
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

Hi There,

I Sympathise with you
I've had mine almost 8 years, I keep updating it at a helluva cost
and it's getting slower and slower and confusing
I have the monitor on the window sill
and my good lady has to stop me several times per day from pushing it out of
the window

Alf






"Trent SC" <trent@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:36nenjF4p9m8hU1@individual.net...
> Bloody computers!
>
> My colleague has mongrel PC with the following spec:
> ECS P61WT-A+ board with a Celeron 766, 384MB RAM, onboard Intel i810
> graphics, 10GB HDD and running Windows 98se. The BIOS is Award Modular v
> 6.00 PG; P61WT-A+ Ver. 1.0h 11/08/1999. Do you need any more information?
>
> It's been hanging on a regular basis (3 or more times a day, often when
> online - IE6), so I opted to install Windows XP this afternoon, and took
> the opportunity to remover the slightly ancient Trident 9440 graphics card
> and return to the onboard graphics. I also replaced the hard drive with a
> spare, freshly formatted 15GB FAT32 Seagate drive, just in case it all
> went pear-shaped. I also replaced the RAM, going from 128 to 384 with a
> pair of fresh sticks which tested fine on two memory testers.
>
> The installation went fine, but the computer hung during the installation
> of SP2 (the very first thing I did after XP was on) and while SP2 took
> fine once I'd rebooted, and Office 2000 went on fine, it's continued to
> hang, most often when I'm in My Computer and mousing over an icon in Tiles
> view format. And I didn't get a chance to go online before it hung, so I
> just took out the new hard drive and shoved the old one back in before I
> lost it completely.
>
> This is driving me crazy - I'm using different graphics, new RAM, new hard
> drive and new system and application software. The only common factors
> which might have an influence are the PSU, motherboard and processor.
> There are no heat issues going on and the two fans - PSU and CPU are
> spinning efficiently. I can only think that there must be something
> fundamental going on in the motherboard or processor, but if anyone else
> has any brillinat ideas, I'd be very, very pleased to hear them!
>
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

"Alf Keiles" <alf.keiles@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:XnwNd.850$Er2.816@newsfe4-gui.ntli.net...
| Hi There,
|
| I Sympathise with you
| I've had mine almost 8 years, I keep updating it at a helluva cost
| and it's getting slower and slower and confusing
| I have the monitor on the window sill
| and my good lady has to stop me several times per day from pushing it out
of
| the window
|
| Alf
|
Yeah - I upgraded over and over and eventually had such a mixed up batch of
parts, I finally started over. But thankfully it wasn't quite bad enough to
throw out the window - I gave it away.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

Trent SC writes:

> Thanks for the reply. As I said, the memory is different, I'm now using the
> on-board graphics instead of a graphics card, the hard drives are different
> and the operating system is new, and yet the symptoms are the same as
> before, so I'm not sure how your suggestions apply in this situation.

You can probably safely exclude everything that has changed: graphics
card, disk, RAM, OS and applications. So ... what has _not_ changed?
The source of the problem must reside in some part of the system that
has not changed. Motherboard, network card, other PCI or similar
extension cards, BIOS settings, etc. It's probably something that is
not continuously used, since the machine hangs almost at random.
Something that hasn't changed has a problem and hangs the machine when
it is used. I'd say extension cards should be looked at first, hardware
and software. With those ruled out, there's not much else left besides
tne motherboard, and the processor itself.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

>> Thanks for the reply. As I said, the memory is different, I'm now using
>> the
>> on-board graphics instead of a graphics card, the hard drives are
>> different
>> and the operating system is new, and yet the symptoms are the same as
>> before, so I'm not sure how your suggestions apply in this situation.
>
> You can probably safely exclude everything that has changed: graphics
> card, disk, RAM, OS and applications. So ... what has _not_ changed?
> The source of the problem must reside in some part of the system that
> has not changed. Motherboard, network card, other PCI or similar
> extension cards, BIOS settings, etc. It's probably something that is
> not continuously used, since the machine hangs almost at random.
> Something that hasn't changed has a problem and hangs the machine when
> it is used. I'd say extension cards should be looked at first, hardware
> and software. With those ruled out, there's not much else left besides
> tne motherboard, and the processor itself.

There's only an HSP56 modem on the machine (no NIC) and the machine has
frozen with that both enabled and disabled in the BIOS. So it MUST be
either PSU, CPU or motherboard.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

> This is driving me crazy - I'm using different graphics, new RAM, new hard
> drive and new system and application software. The only common factors
> which might have an influence are the PSU, motherboard and processor. There
> are no heat issues going on and the two fans - PSU and CPU are spinning
> efficiently. I can only think that there must be something fundamental
> going on in the motherboard or processor, but if anyone else has any
> brillinat ideas, I'd be very, very pleased to hear them!

I had a computer that would give intermittent problems. An Acer
P2. Nothing I could do would fix the problem. It was obviously
hardware, as is true of your situation, but I couldn't find the
defect. I always figured it must be the power supply or the
motherboard.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

Trent SC writes:

> There's only an HSP56 modem on the machine (no NIC) and the machine has
> frozen with that both enabled and disabled in the BIOS. So it MUST be
> either PSU, CPU or motherboard.

I can't think of a PSU problem that would abruptly cause the machine to
freeze. If the fans are running and the disks are turning, the PSU is
okay. That leaves CPU or motherboard.

Has the machine ever been subject to power surges or overheating?

The last time I had a CPU get sick, it produced exactly this kind of
mystery freeze-up, along with mysterious segment violations in programs
that had never shown the slightest trace of bugs before. For a long
time I thought it was an OS problem or a peripheral problem. But the
CPU got worse and worse and finally it became obvious that the
microprocessor had failed. This happened originally because it had
overheated for an extended period (12 hours at a stretch on multiple
occasions) because of a CPU fan failure. In the beginning it was a real
mystery.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

>> There's only an HSP56 modem on the machine (no NIC) and the machine has
>> frozen with that both enabled and disabled in the BIOS. So it MUST be
>> either PSU, CPU or motherboard.
>
> I can't think of a PSU problem that would abruptly cause the machine to
> freeze. If the fans are running and the disks are turning, the PSU is
> okay. That leaves CPU or motherboard.
>
> Has the machine ever been subject to power surges or overheating?
>
> The last time I had a CPU get sick, it produced exactly this kind of
> mystery freeze-up, along with mysterious segment violations in programs
> that had never shown the slightest trace of bugs before. For a long
> time I thought it was an OS problem or a peripheral problem. But the
> CPU got worse and worse and finally it became obvious that the
> microprocessor had failed. This happened originally because it had
> overheated for an extended period (12 hours at a stretch on multiple
> occasions) because of a CPU fan failure. In the beginning it was a real
> mystery.

The computer gets very light usage, although that doesn't mean the CPU isn't
failing, just that it might be taking longer to finally give up the ghost.
It sounds from the general opinion that I need to get a new board &
processor.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 23:07:10 +0100, Mxsmanic <mxsmanic@hotmail.com>
wrote:


>I can't think of a PSU problem that would abruptly cause the machine to
>freeze. If the fans are running and the disks are turning, the PSU is
>okay.

I've had that happen with an Enermax 365P PSU. Everything would seem
fine for a bit then I would get random freezes. It was an a bad PSU. I
put in a 400w Antec and the problem was solved.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

>>>There's only an HSP56 modem on the machine (no NIC) and the machine has
>>>frozen with that both enabled and disabled in the BIOS. So it MUST be
>>>either PSU, CPU or motherboard.
>>
>> I can't think of a PSU problem that would abruptly cause the machine to
>> freeze. If the fans are running and the disks are turning, the PSU is
>> okay. That leaves CPU or motherboard.
>
> How do you say the PSU can't cause lockups?
>>
>> Has the machine ever been subject to power surges or overheating?
>>
>> The last time I had a CPU get sick, it produced exactly this kind of
>> mystery freeze-up, along with mysterious segment violations in programs
>> that had never shown the slightest trace of bugs before. For a long
>> time I thought it was an OS problem or a peripheral problem. But the
>> CPU got worse and worse and finally it became obvious that the
>> microprocessor had failed. This happened originally because it had
>> overheated for an extended period (12 hours at a stretch on multiple
>> occasions) because of a CPU fan failure. In the beginning it was a real
>> mystery.
>
> I'm having symptoms similar to those of the OP, and have reason to suspect
> past CPU overheating and/or past power problems. Am leaning toward the P4
> CPU as the cause.

I don't think it's a CPU issue in my situation, as the problem can sometimes
happen almost as soon as I've booted up, and I've checked the heatsink
immediately after a crash and it's been v cool.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

"Trent SC" <trent@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:4206b369$0$47473$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...
| >>>There's only an HSP56 modem on the machine (no NIC) and the machine has
| >>>frozen with that both enabled and disabled in the BIOS. So it MUST be
| >>>either PSU, CPU or motherboard.
| >>
| >> I can't think of a PSU problem that would abruptly cause the machine to
| >> freeze. If the fans are running and the disks are turning, the PSU is
| >> okay. That leaves CPU or motherboard.
| >
| > How do you say the PSU can't cause lockups?
| >>
| >> Has the machine ever been subject to power surges or overheating?
| >>
| >> The last time I had a CPU get sick, it produced exactly this kind of
| >> mystery freeze-up, along with mysterious segment violations in programs
| >> that had never shown the slightest trace of bugs before. For a long
| >> time I thought it was an OS problem or a peripheral problem. But the
| >> CPU got worse and worse and finally it became obvious that the
| >> microprocessor had failed. This happened originally because it had
| >> overheated for an extended period (12 hours at a stretch on multiple
| >> occasions) because of a CPU fan failure. In the beginning it was a
real
| >> mystery.
| >
| > I'm having symptoms similar to those of the OP, and have reason to
suspect
| > past CPU overheating and/or past power problems. Am leaning toward the
P4
| > CPU as the cause.
|
| I don't think it's a CPU issue in my situation, as the problem can
sometimes
| happen almost as soon as I've booted up, and I've checked the heatsink
| immediately after a crash and it's been v cool.
|
A 'bad' CPU doesn't have to get hot to hang.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

>> The installation went fine, but the computer hung during the installation
>> of SP2 (the very first thing I did after XP was on) and while SP2 took
>> fine once I'd rebooted, and Office 2000 went on fine, it's continued to
>> hang, most often when I'm in My Computer and mousing over an icon in
>> Tiles view format. And I didn't get a chance to go online before it
>> hung, so I just took out the new hard drive and shoved the old one back
>> in before I lost it completely.
>
> When it hangs, does it freeze completely, or does the pointer respond to
> mouse movements?
>
> What happens when you run memtes86 (see www.memtest86.com)?
>
> My Dell is acting very similar to your computer, and it causes memtest86
> to hang withing 10 seconds.

No, when it hangs it's utterly dead. The reset switch is the only way to
get any response at all. I haven't run Memtest, but I have tried several
others and they've all run clear.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 16:21:46 -0500, Dr. Harvie Wahl-Banghor
<harvie_wahl-bangor@mindless.com> wrote:


>Try disabling the L2 cache in the BIOS, also. I've seen that go bad
>before.
>
>

L2 is on the CPU in this case, not likely to have gone bad
and if it did the CPU should be tossed out.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

"kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
news:mjed01psvgpthcq64t2j2ose60lfvbft72@4ax.com...
| On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 16:21:46 -0500, Dr. Harvie Wahl-Banghor
| <harvie_wahl-bangor@mindless.com> wrote:
|
|
| >Try disabling the L2 cache in the BIOS, also. I've seen that go bad
| >before.
| >
| >
|
| L2 is on the CPU in this case, not likely to have gone bad
| and if it did the CPU should be tossed out.

At the cost of that CPU, I'd say get another one and try...
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=CEL76617&cat=CPU
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

kony:

> Spending $100 on XP (or pirating it) for an old ECS board
> that should be in the dumpster, strike 3. Goodbye.

You've been uncharacteristically pissy lately. Bad times come your way?
--
Mac Cool
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

Matt writes:

> How do you say the PSU can't cause lockups?

By what mechanism would it cause them? In general, a PSU either
provides power or it doesn't.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

"Mxsmanic" <mxsmanic@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:fugd01p233qv58nd6cmosd5p6ovj4mr2f0@4ax.com...
| Matt writes:
|
| > How do you say the PSU can't cause lockups?
|
| By what mechanism would it cause them? In general, a PSU either
| provides power or it doesn't.
|
'Dirty' power - clipping, fluctuation, etc., of the standard voltages can be
sufficent to cause problems, especially if the hardware isn't the 'best'
quality to start with (low tolerances).
 
Archived from groups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup (More info?)

Trent SC writes:

> I don't think it's a CPU issue in my situation, as the problem can sometimes
> happen almost as soon as I've booted up, and I've checked the heatsink
> immediately after a crash and it's been v cool.

A previous episode of overheating could permanently damage the CPU,
causing it to fail intermittently even at normal temperatures.

I think Intel CPUs might have protection against this, though (the AMD
processor on my late server certainly didn't).

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.
 
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