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Can you decypher this?

ubersam

Member
My friend gets this error message when he tries to open certain MP3 files. Since it doesn't happen on all MP3s, I'm suspecting that the files that generate the error message are corrupted. Here's the message, can anyone decypher it? Could it be a hardware problem? Problem with Windows? Or is my original suspicion correct?

Error message:
3CMLNKW caused an exception 01H in module KERNEL32.DLL at 017f:bff99af1.
Registers:
EAX=00000000 CS=017f EIP=bff99af1 EFLGS=00000246
EBX=020dfef0 SS=0187 ESP=020dfd50 EBP=020dfd54
ECX=020dfd80 DS=0187 ESI=00000000 FS=3897
EDX=00000001 ES=0187 EDI=ffffffff GS=3a2e
Bytes at CS:EIP:
3d c0 00 00 00 8b f0 75 05 e8 2d b5 fe ff 8b c6
Stack dump:
00000002 020dfe7c bff7c742 00000002 020dfd7c ffffffff
00000000 00000000 81727f0c 00761c00 8171f888 cf34ff40
cf346330 00008dc0 020dffbc bff7186d
 
It looks like it could be a memory problem. Try installing a different stick of mem by itself. If necessary, put it in different slots to determine if there is a bad mem slot.
 
I was also getting kernel errors on my daughters computer...it turned out to be a $1 fan on the heatsink had quit...so the CPU was overheating....replaced the fan...and everthing works great again...NO more Kernel errors.
 
Thanks HappyPuppy & StockJock, I'll see if I can get him to try that. He doesn't really want to touch anything in the box himself, I even had to install his CD-RW for him.

StockJock, I just remembered that his box doesn't have neither intake nor exhaust fans, closest thing he has is the psu exhaust fan. whoever built it for him flaked. I'll try to talk him into having some fans installed.

Anyone else?
 
Depending on how fast or slow the computer is, not having an intake fan isn't a necessity and shouldn't be a cooling problem. A K6 or P2 series box should be OK with just the PSU exhaust fan as long as the box isn't suffocated by covering any major case holes.

But if it isn't a heat issue, then is the sound card a combo with the modem? When did this start happening, and can you repeat the problem with the same MP3 file at anytime? Do these same MP3 files play fine on other systems?
 
That file that caused the kernel exception fault is from his 3com sportster winmodem.

It might be a slight instability in his processor due to heat, what are his temps. (Ambient, System, and CPU)

You might also try disabling the resident program for the winmodem and see if it causes another resident program to cause exception errors.

 
tenchim, WarCon,
He has a slot-a athlon box. The soundcard and the modem are 2 seperate cards. According to him, the same MP3s generate that error message. The other MP3s play fine. I'll check with him and see if he can try to play the files on another machine. I'll try to get more details from him.
 
Went to Google and enterred 3CMLNKW. This IS the modem driver. Found a couple of links (below) that indicate the same type of problem. Check 'em out ... see if this doesn't help. The second one is in Spanish, but the message is basically the same as the first one... disable it in msconfig. Something about this is hosed and is messing with the sound card...

Good luck

Link 1

Hope you can read Spanish!
 
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