Can a motherboard chipset go bad? Is it a rare event?

[Archman]

Hello,

I am looking at a friend's system, a:

Abit KT7 mobo
AMD Duron 1000MHz Socket A
512 MB PC 133 SDRAM
ATI Radeon 32MB DDR LE (Light Edition)

Now, what I gather is one day he was downloading/installing a MS update, and his system had to reboot. Upon rebooting it would only get to Windows XP's loading screen, and shutdown and reboot continuously. I recall an issue with a Windows system setting creating this issue.

I have also pulled the PSU and installed a new one, no change. Pulled each memory stick and tested the system with each one individually, and in different slots, and no change. I have uninstalled the video card, and plugged a newer one in... no change. The cpu seems to be working fine.

I pulled out the hard drive, and plugged it into another machine... no issues there, and even after running the latest antivirus programs and spyware programs... it was clean. I even replaced the IDE cable to the hard drive.. no help. I even unplugged the CD-RW drive, and it did not help the issue.

I've tried going into MS Safe mode, and the same thing happens with the system rebooting before it loads Windows.

I looked at the motherboard, and it was covered in some heavy construction dust... blew most of it off, and still no change. I know he lives near the ocean, and the air has a higher content of saltiness in the moisture... another suspect.

I have been thorough in my logic, but I am a little lost. Any ideas, or is it a possibility that the motherboard has kicked it? The mobo chipset may have gone flakey?

Thank you

 

[Archman]

Actually one thing I notice is that when the Windows XP screen shows the taskbar loading, when it is done the screen goes blank and I see some ghost artifacts flash for a nano-second and then the system reboots... could it be that stupid setting under Startup and Recovery that Automatically restarts the system upon an error?

 

[carl0ski]

i wouldnt stress as to blame the northbridge chipset

I'm assuming you've also tried booting another copy of windows, Linux or installer on the same machine?

I had a bad Windows install that crashed and never rebooted in a similar cycle
another similar issue once was caused by Faulty IDE Controller (i needed to disable Primary Channel COmpletely in BIOS)

 

[Archman]

Would a linux live-cd work, or BartPE CD work? I have one kicking around the office, and I'll try it tomorrow a.m. if I get a green light.

Thank you

 

[imported_nocturne]

Seeing as this happened after a M$ update, the culprit seems obvious to me...

 

[Kalmah]

Originally posted by: nocturne
Seeing as this happened after a M$ update, the culprit seems obvious to me...

He put the HD in a different computer without any problems.

To completely remove the HD off the culprit list, you should take a HD from another computer and plug it up to the faulty computer. (I'm expecting the same results.. but at least it will take one more thing out of the equation)

Can you get the machine to run memtest86? That's before windows loads. I'd give that a shot as well. If not, see if you can swap memory from another machine that you know works, or put that memory in another machine and run memtest from there.

Make sure that it isn't a combination of 2 or more components. (you tried a different psu, but did you try a different psu and check the ram at the same time?)

Installing an update may have had nothng to do with it. It could have just been waiting for that reboot for it to go bad. (something before the update messed it up possibly?)

Have you looked around the BIOS and found anything out of place? Turn the fast-boot function off to see if you can catch anything in the boot sequence. Has your friend been messing around in the BIOS lately trying to overclock or anything? If any kind of turbo mode is set or anything set it back to normal or 'safe'..(depending on your options) While you are in the BIOS have a look at the voltages and temperatures.

Make sure everything is set right. (video card, pci cards..)

Double check and make sure you have all the dust off the mobo. Clean the cpu heatsink. Sniff around the board and see if you can smell anything gnarly. (or notice anything wrong visually) Check the jumpers for problems. Make sure all ide cables are plugged in tight.

 

[Slikkster]

Have you tried running the XP Recovery Console from the XP disk? It's the first choice for "Repair" when you load the disc and boot to it.

Once in Recovery Console, you can use System Restore to set the pc back to the time before this suspect update. It will rule in/out the update as the real problem.

How to use System Restore from the Recovery Console? A little cumbersome, but can be a life saver. Should also be able to do much of this with BartPe, I would think.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

You can also try "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" to bypass GUI/Video issues in Safe Mode and try to get to System Restore:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449

 

[Archman]

Kalmah, I did the mem testing with the new PSU already installed. I pulled out all the sdram, and tried each one individaully, and in different slots with the same results for all of them one by one. I tried installing another HD that worked and it crashed (mind you I forgot it had windows installed from another system and mobo). I have to get a blank HD and see what happens.

I did try memory from another machine as well that works, and the same issue happened. I reset the BIOS to its original defaults, and made sure nothing out of the ordinary was there.

I am going to try and use Windows recovery console, or BartPE CD later this afternoon. I'll keep you all posted on what the culprit is.

Slikkster, thank you for the help and suggestions

 

[imported_nocturne]

The problem to me still seems to be the M$ update. I know for a fact that my kt7a is very tempermental using XP with anything but standard HAL (after all, it came out before XP did, and isn't 'officially' xp certified). Even if you put the HD in another system and it works, unless the specs are exactly the same with all the same revision numbers this doesn't solve anything. As kalmah stated, it would be best to see if you can boot to another HD installation (preferably win98) or a live cd (like knoppix).

Remember, XP often changes memory addresses for security/bugfixes, which can wreak havoc on older boards.