Ignorant wife needs help

[Ncogneto]

Do yo have DMA enabled on your hard drive and cd-rom ( sytem properties)

kernell32 errors could be heat or power related.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!

 

[Fataliya]

How do I get into system properties? I went into bios and didn't find it, and can't seem to find it in control panel either..

 

[camieabz]

Right click "My Computer"
Go to properties. Select Device manager tab.
Double click on the device to get the properties and select the settings tab.
There should be a check box for "DMA"


<b>
"Now drop your weapons or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby."
</b>

 

[Fataliya]

Thanks! Yes, I have DMA enabled on both hard drives and the cd-rom.

 

[Ncogneto]

Now that you have usb keyboard support enabled in bios try again to boot into safe mode, then go into device manager and see if there are more than one display adapter installed.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!

 

[Ncogneto]

Download this run the default test and report back with your scores.......when you say you are having troubles with the display being choppy is this only happening when playing online?

<A HREF="http://www.tweakfiles.com/cgi-bin/dl-http.cgi?ftp.computerchannel.de/shareware/utilities/analyse_reparatur_und_system/benchmark/3DMark2001.exe" target="_new">http://www.tweakfiles.com/cgi-bin/dl-http.cgi?ftp.computerchannel.de/shareware/utilities/analyse_reparatur_und_system/benchmark/3DMark2001.exe</A>

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!

 

[bw37]

phsstpok,

I thought her comment was funny too, and your response got another chuckle and I just thought, "That would make a great sig." so I had to comment !

To all,

This has been a great thread to follow! The patience and quality advice from everyone, and the tenacity of Fataliya have been remarkable. Kudo's all around!

BW

PS: I need to try a few changes to my bios as well. It's threads like this that might someday allow me to change MY sig.

the more I learn, the less I'm sure I know...

 

[Fataliya]

Ok, I'm downloading the 3D Mark now, but it won't be done for 2 1/2 hours (my kingdom for a cable modem!!!!) so it'll be awhile 'fore I can run the test. I ran NOLF and that wasn't choppy, so it's just when I'm gaming online, but it doesn't seem to be lag choppy (like when it's not choppy, I don't get flooded with late text or any of that stuff), but I dunno why it's doing it. 'Course, that's why I'm here. =)

 

[Ncogneto]

Well this test will tell us alot, it very well may be just lag and with a 56k modem you are stuck with it. I really would like you to boot into safe mode once and check for multiple display adapters. You are still running with the fan blowing into the case correct? Also I would like you to run the direct x diagnostic again as well. And look to see what version it is you have.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!

 

[Fataliya]

Ok, as soon as this 3d Mark is done downloading I'll attempt to get into safe mode again and check the display adapters. I am still running with the case open and the room fan blowing into it. I'm gonna try my best to find the time to get a new power supply tomorrow. Do you think I should spring for an additional fan also? I opened dxdiag, and I'm running Directx8.

 

[Ncogneto]

The power supply would be a good buy, as for the fan I dunno depends on what you already have....do you know?

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!

 

[Ncogneto]

I doubt you are going to find a good power supply locally, you might want to check this one out,it is a 350w supply in which I have used several and not had a problem.

<A HREF="http://www.800pc.com/product.asp?dept_id=103&sku=ps011#idProduct" target="_new">http://www.800pc.com/product.asp?dept_id=103&sku=ps011#idProduct</A>

Now bear in mind this is not AMD approved ( at least not yet) but the two most important things to consider is that you need to have 180w across the 5.0 volt and 3.3 volt lines.

this one has:
3.3V -> 14A......46.2w
5.0V -> 30A......150w

...........................
total 196.2 watts

Now I do not want to start an argument about other brands being better, but this one is hard to beat for the price. I have one in a 1.2 gig (bxia)( and no thats not a typo it is a bxia) running to quantum AS 40 gig Hdd's in raid 0, a dvd, a burner, two case fans, a wbk 38 with a delta fan, two case fans, and a radeon 64 meg vivo. If it will run all this hardware it should run what you have with ease.


A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!

 

[Fataliya]

K, ran the 3D Mark test. My result was 2314 3D Marks. I chose the test where it runs 16 of them. They all ran fine, except for two: Enviro. Bump Mapping, and Pixel Shading. On those two, it said "No hardware support-Skipping test". I did notice that they all ran like really smooth, except for the one with the carousel (the one with what looks like flying dragons attached to it instead of horses). The first of that test, with onluy 1 light ran smooth, but the one with 8 lights, I think it was, was reallllllllly choppy. Anyhow, if ya need any other info about that test, lemme know. I'm off ta see if I can get into safe mode.

 

[Matisaro]

If her computer did 2001 without crashing, maybe she only crashes when shes online, my wife had the a problem where her cheap ass winmodem was causing her to freeze whenever she was online for a while.(but since we were gaming playing music it took some time to diagnose) does the computer crash when playing games NOT online. (eq and the other one she mentioned are all net games as far as I know, so perhaps it is not the graphics/power system.)



~Matisaro~
"Friends don't let friends buy Pentiums"
~Tbird1.3@1.55~

 

[Fataliya]

Finally got into safe mode! Yay me! I do not have multiple display adapters listed, just the one. So far, yes, the only time I freeze is playing online games. We have a Motorola SM56 Speakerphone Modem.

 

[Ncogneto]

Ok your system is starting to look ok, with the possible exception of the modem, this is for someone else I am afraid, as I have been on cable for quite some time. Try the test agian, but first go into bios and load optimal defaults, make sure your agp is at agp 4x and onboard sound off ( check these after loading the optimal defaults.) Run the test again and post your results. ( should see slight improvement) Do you have any mp3's? Do you have the winamp player? If so, lets stress the sytem a little more, on the third test ( assuming the second goes well) and play a mp3 in a continuous loop while running 3dmark at the same time. This usually will bring a weaker system crashing. If we pass these three test, there maybe not much else you can do other than to try another modem. It may even be your phone lines.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!

 

[phsstpok]

the only time I freeze is playing online games

This is a huge clue! You are almost certainly having a problem with your modem. Recheck to see if your modem is no longer sharing an IRQ with you video after you moved it to another slot. If it is sharing with with anything else let us know with what. Also, you may need to upgrade you modem drivers. Read through the information at the link below and try to determine if the listed drivers are newer than your modem driver. (There have been about a dozen update in 2001, alone).

Looking through some of the revision notes I see something interesting. In February a "low throughput fix" was added but in March this fix was removed. The fix might have been causing problems. Anyway, here is the link.

<A HREF="http://e-www.motorola.com/products/softmodem/support/software.html" target="_new">http://e-www.motorola.com/products/softmodem/support/software.html</A>

Before you install modem drivers make sure you have the installer disks for your ISP. Write down the dial-up phone numbers. This is just as a precaution. It should not be necessary but Windows may recognize a modem driver update as an entirely new modem in which case your dial-up software won't be able to access it unless you adjust settings or reinstall the software. (Better safe than sorry).

 

[ge0]

hi, i've been following this thread the whole way...cause i have the same problem when it comes to the freezing of the games, although it happens offline for me. I have some slightly different hardware, but a similar card and mobo. Mobo: AZ11EA from FIC and a 3d prophet 4500 64meg card. my power supply is 300 watts. 256 ram, 1.4ghz athlon running win2k prof edition. i noticed that when i set the games to run using directdraw it stopped freezing, it only freezes under d3d. i ran the directx diagnostics and it says that it is not agp supported. I passed both the tests tho. i have directx 7.
This is what it lists under my irqs int he hardware profile thing:
IRQ Number Device
11 Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System
11 3D Prophet 4500
11 VIA USB Universal Host Controller
11 VIA USB Universal Host Controller
11 VIA AC'97 Audio Controller (WDM)
11 Generic SoftK56 Data,Fax,Voice PCI Modem
11 CNet PRO200 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter
14 Primary IDE Channel
15 Secondary IDE Channel
8 System CMOS/real time clock
13 Numeric data processor
6 Standard floppy disk controller
4 Communications Port (COM1)
3 Communications Port (COM2)
12 PS/2 Compatible Mouse
1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard

My comp is only a few days old, i got it on friday, if that matters. i haven't tryed any of the new motherboard drivers or anything like that, but i do have the newest vid card drivers. i'm calling up the company that built it for me tomorrow in hopes of help of this, and other issues, (dvd-rom drive). the company is nexgen technologies, at www.systemquote.com, if anyone cares.
i don't want to interupt the original problem, but maybe i can offer alternate info to help narrow it down. and get some help along the way.

<i>I'm gonna go eat a granola bar now.</i>

 

[Matisaro]

Another diagnosis by Dr Matisaro.

heh, my wifes modem problem required a new one, a cheapo winmodem can be found for <20 bucks, or if you want a good modem, get a hayes accura .v92 modem, smoking and .v92 support for the future.(dialups have a future??)

plus its hardware, so no cpu cycles stolen.


~Matisaro~
"Friends don't let friends buy Pentiums"
~Tbird1.3@1.55~

 

[camieabz]

It may be just your internet settings are asking too much of the modem. Take a look in the advanced tab of the properties here, and see if there is anything you can tweak.

<b>
"Now drop your weapons or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby."
</b>

 

[noko]

I wouldn't recommend Optimum Bios settings selection since she is pretty much there except for AGP 4x mode and Fast Writes. If she does choose Optimum she will need to reset the memory timing values and maybe memory speed as well because it may default to 100mhz. Plus again disable system bios cache, video card cache and a number of other settings that don't add for speed but makes the system unstable. I had a speaker phone modem with the Motorola SM 56 chip and I thought it was junk and I gave it away. I only paid $19 for it, never used the speaker output or voice in on the modem. I could never get a good fast connection with it.

 

[phsstpok]

Since I have no experience with your motherboard, Win2K, or a Kyro II I can only offer general advice.

1. Make sure you have an adequate power supply. If you own one that is more than sufficient then you have spent a little extra money. On the other hand, you will never have to worry about power related problems. The only specific manufacturer advice I have seen came from Visiontek regarding a Geforce card. 20 amps sustainable for 3.3 volts and 30 amps for 5 volts is recommended (and I feel this should be considered the minimum). I'm sure requirements are different for your Kyro but since the Geforce was one of the most power consuming cards the recommendation might be a good guideline. Specifications for your power supply should be printed on the side or top of the unit.

2. Rule out heat as the source of the problem. Open the case and use a room fan to cool the interior. If the problem clears up or reduces substantially then heat is definitely a factor.

3. Like I said, I don't know Win2K but I would say always install the latest "official" motherboard drivers.

4. I don't know what chipset your motherboard has but I find ACPI increases instability on motherboards with VIA chipsets. I disable this function when it is feasible.

5. Keep video drivers current. (I see you have already updated your drivers).

6. I recommend DirectX 7.0a not 7.0 if you are going to use DirectX 7. If you are going to use DirectX 8 I think you need to wait for the "official" 8.1 rev (although I heard the latest 648 beta build works well with Kyro II).

I find it often helps to reinstall DirectX after I have updated my video drivers. Try it. I won't hurt anything.

7. Rule out I/O conflicts. If necessary tear down the system so that it has only the necessary components to test your video problems. Take out things like sound cards, NIC's, unneeded drives, modems. Temporarily disable USB and Com ports that aren't used. If 3D works after doing this then find out what was causing the conflicts.

8. Update your motherboard BIOS. I list this last because in a working system I don't recommend updating the BIOS. I would say you should not update the BIOS unless the BIOS notes specifically address problems that you are having or if the manufacturer recommends the update for all users.

Still, sometimes we update our BIOSes as a last resort.

If I think of anything else I will update.

I just remembered that AMD has posted a bug patch for a Win2K AGP problem. It's not chipset specific. Here's the link.

<A HREF="http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/athlon-duron/amd_win2k_patch.html" target="_new">http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/athlon-duron/amd_win2k_patch.html</A>

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 07/16/01 02:53 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Ncogneto]

Optimal settings will set the memory timings asn bus speed at 133, as well as agp 4x. it may enable video caching and bios caching however these are very very minor. The whole point of the matter is to check for instabilities not to avoid them. It is really looking like it is the modem that is giving here problems now and not the cpu>memory>vid card. Here respectable score at defaults shows this. Now if she crashes at optimal it is easy to go back to defaults and work her way up from there. If she can loop an mp3 and run 3dark 2001 without locking up she should be able to conclude that it is her internet connection ( lag) that is the root of most of here problems.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!

 

[noko]

Looked like there was multiple problem, the memory was bad or incompatiable with each other, bios was not set at the best either. Agree the modem or the modem drivers are causing the problem when on line. A better PowerSupply may or may not help. I don't think it would hurt. Now we just have to convince her to get DSL or a Cable modem, HEHE. Then we will be able to play on line QuakeIII or something.

 

[noko]

Does anyone have a suggestion for a good modem. I have a Supra Express modem in the box, another WinModem not worth the paper it was shipped in. The best modem I've ever used was from an ASound Gold connect sound card. It would routinely connect at 50K plus and download much faster then the Mortorola S&M 56 or Supra Express(o) junks. Only problem was there was no drivers for W2K. I am pretty sure the company has gone out of business but the modem worked flawless. The Supra Express would routinely take 3-5 trys to connect and break connection during the sessions over 50% of the time. Anyone???

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by noko on 07/16/01 08:51 PM.</EM></FONT></P>