Argh, computer crashing again, HELP! Update: Still crashing, help!!!

[Yobbo]

I don't know whats wrong with it, I must have formatted the damn HDD like 5 times and I don't think it is hardware...

I ran Prime95 w/o any errors for many hours on end. I did a complete stress test for my HDD (and replaced all the cables going to all my different drives) and the computer still messes up:

Sometimes when I boot into Windows 2k, the computer automatically restarts. Usually the mouse and keyboard don't work (and don't light up, neight the num lock key or the bottom of the mouse laser thing). Sometimes, when it does boot it will quickly restart before I can do anything.

If the computer stays stable for like 1 minute after boot, then it will stay stable for the rest of the time (I haven't had a mid-time OS crash since I formatted the last time 3 days ago...I ran stress tests and everything, kept it on for 24+ hours in a row, and it ran fine)

It seems that winmgmt.exe is screwing it up...it sometimes crashes, and at other times it finds it as a problem in the pre-boot chkdsk (because of the auto-restart).

I tried all the patches for Win2k (even SP3), but nothing seems to fix the problem.

My hardware: P4 2.26, Abit IT7-Max (Main HDD on primary master, CDRW as Secondary master, DVD-ROM as Secondary slave, Backup HDD on IDE3 master, other HDD on IDE5 master), MSI GF4 Ti4400, 2xPNY 256megs PC2100 (samsung on samsung).

The computer would reboot even with this minimal hardware, but right now (because its been semi-stable), I put in the following: dlink lan, sound blaster live!, ati tv wonder le.

Are there any stress tests for the RAM, I think that might be it, too....although it should also crash after boot if it acts funny.


I checked the seating on everything (I put this computer together myself recently), and everything seems fine:

PLEASE HELP!!

 

[winterlude]

Try docmemory for testing your RAM.

http://www.simmtester.com/PAGE/products/doc/docinfo.asp


disable winmgmt.exe in the systems info program. Also run the file checker. Maybe your win 2k disk has a scratch on it somewhere thereby not installing properly?

Run registry checker; try Dr. Watson; check your system.ini file to make sure the drivers are there for keyboard, mouse, etc. then create a backup copy of it i.e. save as system.bup (you'll probably already have a system.bak).

If your HDD has S.M.A.R.T., enable it and run some diagnostics. Run the thorough scandisk for bad sectors. You're harddrive is probably fine if the through scan checks out and the HD isn't cranking all the time like it's about to croak.

Hope some of this helps.
Good luck

 

[Fixxors]

Well, it could be a few things, and ya need to work on narrowing it down. This can be done by swaping out parts and also removing non imperative parts. Here's what I would do.

Start from scratch, take the mobo out and set it on a wood or otherwise non conductive surface, like the box it came in.

Take out, stroke gently, and replace the cpu, cpu fan, video card and ram. Leave everything else unplugged. Be 100% sure everything is seated perfectly.

Now pull out the power supply and hook it up to the mobo. Plug her in and short the on/off pins on the mobo. So far it should power up and post and give ya the god ole operating system not found junk. If so, good, then power it off and hook up the main hard drive and keyboard and mouse. If not, start swapping out what you can to see what the issue is.

Now reboot and let her start up. if she freezes during the boot up, try clearing the cmos. If it's still a nogo start swaping out what you can. I'd go in this order of ease and importance: IDE cable, RAM, video, powersupply, CPU. If its still freezes while booting and you havent found the villain yet, try underclocking what you can. If the ram is 133mhz, go 100, same for cpu. Peep around in the bios for any other performace related stuff you can lower. If she starts chuggin along fine at lower speeds, then the powersupply and ram are suspects.

If none of this has worked, see if reinstalling the OS helps, or using a different OS, maybe sumthin less robust, like windows 98.

If everythings fine after windows install but gets goofy after a certain driver install or a program install, make sure to visit their website and poke around before the install.

Lastly I'd go get out of the house, run away and hide from it for a bit. Go have a beer, visit an old friend, maybe give blood or sumthin and come back with a fresh perspective. You may fin a silly jumper setting or such was the problem all along, you were just to close to the problem ta see it

Good luck!

 

[Yobbo]

Thanks for the quick replies guys, I ran a few more tests:

I stress tested the hell outta my RAM: passed with flying colors
I stress tested the vid card with everything set to max and min and everything in between: also passed

I downloaded the newest drivers from the net and it seems semi-stable again, although I have a feeling it isn't. Last time I was able to restart like 10 times before a problem came up again...

I stress tested EVERY part of hardware in the system (and the PSU runs +12 at 12.00 +5 at 5.00, etc...so I don't think (420 watt psu) thats the problem).

It might be the damn software...win98 has problems installing (well not really problems, but finding all the damn drivers is a pain and will take too damn long).

I'm gonna try and see if I can get win XP to go on this machine normally, hopefully it is just a software problem (cheaper to fix that way).

 

[Yobbo]

Argh!

I ejected my DVD-ROM drive and as soon as I hit the button (the computer was stable for a long time before then), the drive started to eject and the computer insta-rebooted (and the drive went back in).


ARGH!! Any help?

 

[WarCon]

Power supply sounds like the issue. The 12v rail must be bottoming out. You could up your vcore to 1.6v and see if that makes it more stable.

 

[Yobbo]

Hmm, sounds like a good idea...maybe that IS the problem...

 

[ku]

Power supply seems to be the problem. MY friend had a similar problem. Most tests would run fine, but during installation (cd+hd usage) or games or even boot, the comp would shut off or reboot. After an hour or so of testing, we ran out of ideas of what could be wrong except the PSU. I went home and got my old one and voila... perfect.

 

[Yobbo]

Well then it looks like I found the culprit, damn POS PSU!

420 watts, I had CPU core set at 1.5 and it ran at 1.45 or so, I beefed it up to 1.575 for now (runs at 1.53) so I won't get crashes...seems like I found the problems.


God damn, I thought turbolink made decent PSUs....any suggestion on a new one, I need a stable computer for college

 

[Adul]

sparkle, pc power and cooling and antec. 330 watts should be more then plenty

antec true power 330 at newegg is 50 bucks, 300 watt sparkle is like 30 i think

 

[Legendary]

Hmm a computer I built is having the same problem with this case.

420W Turbolink PS? The same as yours? I may have to get a new one for that comp.

Edit: If upping the voltage fixes the problem for you, please let me know. Also, what are the downsides of upping voltage on the processor? I never knew. Whatever voltage you use to finally fix it, LMK. Thanks.

 

[LetsPlayGames]

a mate had a problem like that...it was a screw in the wrong place on the case mounting the Mobo to the case, we put one in the AT slot instead of the ATX and so every now and then it reset.
still once we fixed it we found that his chip, a 1400 thunderbird, would and still doesn't run at 1400mhz.
so he has to run the damn thing under or over clocked all the time now...but no more reset?

 

[Yobbo]

God damn it!!

Still restart by itself! I got an antec true 430 and it still reboots (even uped the voltage for a while)

It seems to only do it on boot...and I recently got a new (logitech) keyboard, could that be the problem? A USB keyboard that messes with the system enough so that sometimes when it boots it crashes?

I say this because my mouse and keyboard are plugged into the same USB controller on the mobo and the mouse works when the keyboard doesnt when the computer randomly reboots?

CRAP, I'm gonna go exchange this POS for a MS USB keyboard pro.

I've more or less swapped out every other piece of hardware in the system, so this is one of the last things to check.

If it still reboots, looks like I'm gonna have to format my HDD again and hope for the best

I really wanted a stable system for college, but I don't think I am going to get one.

 

[mchammer187]

95% of the time any system instability has been from the motherboard or memory

flash to a new bios otherwise it is probably the motherboard maybe an ASUS since you dont seem to have luck with abit

I have 3 abit boards running perfectly though Th7-II RAID, Th7-II, KA7

 

[Yobbo]

I don't think its hardware, though...

any stress test I run it is rock solid for many hours on end, and the system never reboots in the middle (except once, which I think was a freak occurance) of operation, only when it boots.


I think it might be having trouble init.'ing my stuff or something, or having driver problems or something, but it doesnt give me a damn blue screen, just reboots.

Either way, I'm gonna get a new keyboard, this thing kicks major ass, but if thats what the problem is I might have to try something new.

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: Yobbo
I don't think its hardware, though...

any stress test I run it is rock solid for many hours on end, and the system never reboots in the middle (except once, which I think was a freak occurance) of operation, only when it boots.


I think it might be having trouble init.'ing my stuff or something, or having driver problems or something, but it doesnt give me a damn blue screen, just reboots.

Either way, I'm gonna get a new keyboard, this thing kicks major ass, but if thats what the problem is I might have to try something new.

if the new keyboard doesnt work

try running with the bare minimum

cpu
1 stick of memory
Video card
and IDE devices

do your install and see if it is stable with that

then add ur hardware one by one
do you get any BSOD's?
if not that I would try taking the motherboard out and remounting it

there could be a short somewhere between the mobo and case and that would definitely explain the symptoms you are having

 

[Yobbo]

I think I'm gonna borrow a friend's USB keyboard, since stores in NJ arent open sundays

Anyway, I've already tried running with the bare minimum, tonight I'm gonna flash the bios to the newest one and try re-installing win XP, hopefully that will be the end of my woes.


Btw, this antec truepower 430 is DAMN quiet, I am happy I got it (even though it cost freaking $90)

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Win 2k or XP? either way the reboot without a bluescreen...there is a way to turn that off and get the old style bluescreen with error message to show..might be of some use..Disabling Blue Screen Of Death Auto-Reboot ..nice site..

 

[Bovinicus]

Perhaps some information on your installation CD is simply corrupted. This would explain why formatting got you nowhere, yet the problem is very inconsistent and once it passes a certain point it is extremely stable.

 

[Yobbo]

I was also thinking thats what it could be, but updating to SP3 doesn't seem to fix the problems....

right now I set the keyboard and mouse over to OS control instead of BIOS control and it seems to be stable (also re-installed a couple of drivers).

I'm trying to get Abit's newest bios, I think that could fix the problem.

Some USB 1.1 ports have been showing up as 2.0 ports (thats what the bios fix fixes) and I think thats what might be making my system unstable...trying to get 2.0 speeds out of a 1.1 port.

Hopefully once their FTP is back up I will get the newest bios and be running wild with the horses.

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: Yobbo
I was also thinking thats what it could be, but updating to SP3 doesn't seem to fix the problems....

right now I set the keyboard and mouse over to OS control instead of BIOS control and it seems to be stable (also re-installed a couple of drivers).

I'm trying to get Abit's newest bios, I think that could fix the problem.

Some USB 1.1 ports have been showing up as 2.0 ports (thats what the bios fix fixes) and I think thats what might be making my system unstable...trying to get 2.0 speeds out of a 1.1 port.

Hopefully once their FTP is back up I will get the newest bios and be running wild with the horses.

have you eliminated the possibility of a short between the motherboard and the case

my abit KA7 did that when I took it out of the case and put it back in

after i remounted it than it was fine

if you are not getting a BSOD prior to rebooting than a short would be the #1 cause of what you are experiencing

 

[Yobbo]

Update again, I am still crashing and this time got the BSOD (I removed the damn auto reboot thing):

***STOP 0x0000000A (0XFF54C530,0X00000002,0X00000000.0X0804201C2)
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

***Address 804201C2 base at 80400000, DateStamp 3d366b8b - btoskrnl.exe

Dumping memory, etc


When I rebooted and the chkdsk ran, the following 2 files were corrupt (and "fixed"):
..../Intenet Explorer/Desktop.htt
and winnt/tasks/sa.dat -- Thats odd, I searched for it now and it doesn't exist? I will try and reseat my motherboard right now, but I doubt thats the problem...it looks like all the screws fit in perfectly with my sx1030

 

[Yobbo]

Argh, I installed XP on my computer and it seemed stable as all hell, until I booted this morning, with a BSOD that said:
Atapi.sys
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA


ARGH, anyong know this one?