computer freezing randomly

[kalster]

ok this is my pc config
amd tbird 1.4 gig 266 fsb
epox 8kha (kt266)
512 mb pc2100 ram
sb live value!
gf2 gts
40 gig ibm 60 gxp
80 gig maxtor ata 133


i recently went from dialup to broadband (adsl)
since i installed the dsl thing (which includes a new nic ) my pc has been randomly crashing specially when using windows media player or winamp
i am running windows xp with sp1

i think there are some irq's being shard but that always happens in xp as far as i know
any ideas y
i have the latest drivers for all the devices, 4 in 1's, sb live xp drivers, dets



any hep wud be appreciated

 

[Viper96720]

Are you sure it's the nic causing the crashes? Try removing it for a while. Use your computer and see if you still get crashes.
Move it to a different PCI slot if possible

 

[AnAndAustin]

Yes removing the NIC is a good idea to see if that is the cause, and swapping to other slots is also very wise. I'd also be sure to use slow RAM timings and set any o/c's back to default while trouble-shooting. You could try resetting the BIOS 'PnP' settings, maybe even try manually allocating resources or even try setting 'PnP OS installed' to NO esp if you use WinXP. Other than that it could be that nasty VIA PCI bus, do ensure you have the VIA PCI Latency Patch installed which you may still need to get from alternate sources. Also try removing the SB Live which are notious CPU and PCI hogs and see how that goes. If you can isolate an indiv component then try it in diff slots or another PC to see if it is faulty or whether it's a mobo/compat/windows/driver fault. At the mo it seems you can dismiss faulty RAM, CPU etc, corrupt files, poor/failing HSFs, inadequate/failing PSU, heat etc so the next port of call would prob be some strange incompatability or poss virus. Good luck!

 

[Bovinicus]

I would suggest removing all surperfluous hardware and installing everything one at a time until all crashes are elminiated. It might not be one particular piece of hardware, there may be some kind of conflict. Start with just memory, video, CPU, and sound. Do some movie watching, or whatever it is that causes the computer to crash. Try your damndest to recreate the problem. If you are confident that it has been a lot longer than normal since a crash, then add another piece of hardware. Continue doing that until you get crashes. You will have isolated the piece of hardware that is the problem. If problems continue, then try using one stick of memory at a time, if you have the option. Also, what is the wattage rating on your PSU? That could potentially be the problem as well. A BIOS update might be necessary as well.

 

[kalster]

thanks guys
i know its not the nic now
i replaced the dlink nic with a us robotics one which i have used before for sometime without any crashes?

where can i get the via latecny patch and doesnt the latest 4 in1's have this already?

 

[kalster]

bump


applied the latency patch, ran fine for a while but after few hours of no crash again happened , i think its a sb live issue coz it only happens when i am playing music


any ideas?

 

[kalster]

bump


help!!!!!

 

[AnAndAustin]

I believe VIA still refuse to acknowledge the problem and therefore do not supply a fix, so you have to go 3rd party to get the VIA PCI Latency Patch. I'd say it is almost certainly the SB Live as it is very PCI and CPU hungry and known to be very problematic with most VIA chipset mobos. Be sure to disable any o/b functions you are not using, sound, LAN, modem, etc as these can often help tie up the PCI bus even if not in use. If you take out all other PCI cards and just run with the Live in (so it's the only thing on the PCI bus) and see if you can run stable, if not then try it in diff PCI slots. If you can get stable operation then you need to try the other PCI cards in there 1 at a time and again swap through diff slots if you get crashes. I'm afraid you may have to sell on the Live and buy a non-Creative soundcard which doesn't mean getting an inferior card, there are quite a few very high quality relatively low cost alternatives. Namely TB Santa Cruz, Fortissimo II (and III?) and Philips Acoustic Edge.

Tech Report soundcard roundup
TomsHW Hercules Fortissimo III 7.1 and Digifire 7.1
TomsHW Hercules Gamesurround Muse 5.1 DVD
Xbit Aureal SQ2500
Xbit comparing SB Live to nForce o/b sound

 

[kalster]

well the pci latency patch seems to have worked (touch wood), so far so good

thanks a lot


kal