- Nov 22, 2007
- 818
- 4
- 76
I understand this is a lot of words, if you want the gist of things, just read the italicized portions.
A short apology: I created a thread a month or so back about the same issue but with the holidays, finals, and waiting for a new DVD drive from the egg, the thread kinda died. I decided to just take my time and run Memtest like suggested when I could after the drive arrived. Sorry to anyone who was totally offended by me disappearing from my own thread. :x
Long story short:
One afternoon I decided to removing the front case panel of my computer to inspect the fan I had placed behind the panel. It was making far too much noise for my liking and I'd had just about enough of it. I opened up the case, cleaned (read: removed) a dust-trapper from my the fan, then slammed the thing shut. After closing it I started receiving IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL errors just before the login screen. Yup, just like that. I thought maybe I messed up a wire or yanked a header but everything checks out okay. Three days prior to the event, I removed my processor. My computer ran fine three days until I decided to remove that damn fan. Tomorrow I'm gonna beat that thing with a hammer. I know it's impossible the fan played any part in this mess but I'm sure the experience will be... therapeutic.
Parts List: Everything marked with "New!" is added after I bought the original package.
New!_6600GT PCI-E
MS-7145 PCB rev.2.1
A64 3400+ (Newcastle)
2 x 512MB Samsung PC3200u
Seagate 7200.7 200GB IDE
New!_Antec Earthwatts 500
New!_Asus SATA DRW201L1T DVD Drive, SATA runs off IDE Channel in BIOS
New!_Sony OEM floppy drive
Windows Media Center, OEM on HD from old emachines.
Logitech USB Wireless KB/Mouse, use PS/2 Dongle
What I've tested
First and foremost: yes, I've checked the memory. I've checked it in every configuration I can think of. Memtest86+ clears both sticks. In case you're wondering, I tried: (A/B), (B/A), (A/0), (0/A), (B/0), and (0/B), A and B being my two memory sticks and 0 being absolutely nothing. (A/B), (B,A), (0/A), and (0/B) all can get 8 to 20 hours on Memtest Test 5. Through the weeks I've run a few hours of various tests for fun ending with no errors. I messed around with some sticks today and (A,0) and (B,0) get stuck in post. Oddly enough, one of my sticks previously couldn't even get the board to do much as that. If my monitor was in sleep mode, it wouldn't even wake up if I tried running it. The fans would spin up and things would get going but I'd be left without video. I can't remember which stick wouldn't run though... and I lost all my papers moving into my new place. If I loaded at least two sticks together my computer displays 1GB of memory and works just as well as having 512MB in DIMM2. I tried another pair in a few configurations as well, none yielded positive results. Something interesting I did with my sticks was load them into my brothers board with my HD to play StarCraft, WarCraft III, and another game, maybe Doom 3 or Oblivion. Either way, everything looked to work just fine.
Other parts I've tested or excluded:
I've played around with a few other parts, namely the GPU, ODD, FDD, HDD, and PSU (hurray for acronyms!). I've switched between my 6600GT and 7900GS but mainly use the 6600 while tinkering because of its size. The power supply is a spankin' new Earthwatts 500 to take over for my old Truepower 430 for future upgrades. My Seagate 7200.7 200GB has also been switched for my brother's, which doesn't perform any better in my computer. Seatools clears the HD as well. The floppy and DVD are new, obtained post-BSOD, sometimes I remove them or disable them in BIOS. Only parts I haven't gotten around to testing individually are my processor and motherboard and unfortunately I'm eyeing the board as the culprit, the slimey bastard. Onboard video doesn't seem to work either, that's two strikes for those keeping count. And before you ask, yes, I remembered to plug the monitor into the board. If I enter the onboard video as initial display in BIOS I get blackness (better than nothing, I guess) and have to navigate BIOS blind... or reset CMOS like anyone with two braincells to rub together would do.
Anything else...? <.<
Recently I've jotted down a number of potential solutions to the problem and tested a few. So far I've gotten around to a few...none worked.
Did a repair installation from (D) partition and proceeded to then remove some programs installed by default.
Tried updating logitech mouseware for my wireless mouse but didn't help. BSODs with no mouse in as well. Tried a PS/2 mouse with default and updated drivers.
Using an Nvidia graphics card, tried updating drivers on that, too.
I set all non-essential programs not run on startup in MSCONFIG.
Tried patching Windows up completely with no success.
Had a hell of a time uninstalling CD emulation software but I did (with the help of that reformat). It didn't help.
HD jumpers have been checked and double-checked for placement.
Checked the IDE cable on the drive as well. Has the notch so I know it's not reverse.
I've tried turning off hardware acceleration.
I tried updating ACPI drivers but apparently they're up to date.
Tried Enabling/Disabling USB Legacy Support.
In BIOS CPU idles at 20~24°, so it's not frying itself. And while I'm here... go winter! Now if only I could make it into Windows...
Things I still think need looking into: You guys might be able to give a quicker take on these.
**Safe Mode booting hangs on agpCPQ.sys, it could have something to do with that or what should be loading next, ACPI.
**Adjust IRQs. Looking at one of the screens on startup I can tell that these IRQs are being used when everything is turned on.
NA Smbus ctrl
03 Multimedia Device
04 USB 1.0/1.1 EHCI ctrl
04 USB 1.0/1.1 EHCI ctrl
04 USB 2.0 EHCI ctrl
05 Disp ctrl
09 ACPI
10 IDE
10 Network ctrl
11 IDE
11 Serial Bus ctrl
14 IDE
After disabling a few things, it looks like this:
NA Smbus ctrl
09 ACPI
11 Disp ctrl
14 IDE
My brother's computer will run my hard drive so I did a backup reformat on there. I'm not sure if that will cause any problems with the IRQs as he has a slightly different setup (2 IDE ODDs, a network card, and more). I'd have done it attached to my own motherboard but I BSOD before I can even get started. According to the internet, most BIOS allow a user to look at what IRQs are doing what and even disable some, if necessary. My BIOS doesn't. I suppose that's because it's from an old emachines so they stripped it. I don't know if that's the case but it's missing many options from the online documentation. The last thing on my laundry is flashing my board to a new set of BIOS but I'm a bit fuzzy on that. If I search on MSI's website for a RS480M or MS-7145 under their product listing, my board shows under their S939 lineup, which I find strange. Nevertheless, it states it supports S754 chips, fine. I run over to the BIOS page, where I can check CPU compatibility and I see my 3400+ Newcastle with an "OK" stamped to the right. Things are looking up until I go to download the BIOS themselves... AMI BIOS. Currently I'm running Pheonix BIOS so things are looking a bit cross-eyed. I wasn't planning on flashing anytime soon, especially not with so many flags being thrown, so I'm not torn apart, I just find the delay annoying. Are boards bought from prebuilts sold using modified bios and not retail BIOS?
Tomorrow I'll see what I can do to view my HDs event viewer and see if anything is logged in there. It loosk like I forgot it completely. Goodnight Anandtech... and goodluck. :3
Thanks.
A short apology: I created a thread a month or so back about the same issue but with the holidays, finals, and waiting for a new DVD drive from the egg, the thread kinda died. I decided to just take my time and run Memtest like suggested when I could after the drive arrived. Sorry to anyone who was totally offended by me disappearing from my own thread. :x
Long story short:
One afternoon I decided to removing the front case panel of my computer to inspect the fan I had placed behind the panel. It was making far too much noise for my liking and I'd had just about enough of it. I opened up the case, cleaned (read: removed) a dust-trapper from my the fan, then slammed the thing shut. After closing it I started receiving IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL errors just before the login screen. Yup, just like that. I thought maybe I messed up a wire or yanked a header but everything checks out okay. Three days prior to the event, I removed my processor. My computer ran fine three days until I decided to remove that damn fan. Tomorrow I'm gonna beat that thing with a hammer. I know it's impossible the fan played any part in this mess but I'm sure the experience will be... therapeutic.
Parts List: Everything marked with "New!" is added after I bought the original package.
New!_6600GT PCI-E
MS-7145 PCB rev.2.1
A64 3400+ (Newcastle)
2 x 512MB Samsung PC3200u
Seagate 7200.7 200GB IDE
New!_Antec Earthwatts 500
New!_Asus SATA DRW201L1T DVD Drive, SATA runs off IDE Channel in BIOS
New!_Sony OEM floppy drive
Windows Media Center, OEM on HD from old emachines.
Logitech USB Wireless KB/Mouse, use PS/2 Dongle
What I've tested
First and foremost: yes, I've checked the memory. I've checked it in every configuration I can think of. Memtest86+ clears both sticks. In case you're wondering, I tried: (A/B), (B/A), (A/0), (0/A), (B/0), and (0/B), A and B being my two memory sticks and 0 being absolutely nothing. (A/B), (B,A), (0/A), and (0/B) all can get 8 to 20 hours on Memtest Test 5. Through the weeks I've run a few hours of various tests for fun ending with no errors. I messed around with some sticks today and (A,0) and (B,0) get stuck in post. Oddly enough, one of my sticks previously couldn't even get the board to do much as that. If my monitor was in sleep mode, it wouldn't even wake up if I tried running it. The fans would spin up and things would get going but I'd be left without video. I can't remember which stick wouldn't run though... and I lost all my papers moving into my new place. If I loaded at least two sticks together my computer displays 1GB of memory and works just as well as having 512MB in DIMM2. I tried another pair in a few configurations as well, none yielded positive results. Something interesting I did with my sticks was load them into my brothers board with my HD to play StarCraft, WarCraft III, and another game, maybe Doom 3 or Oblivion. Either way, everything looked to work just fine.
Other parts I've tested or excluded:
I've played around with a few other parts, namely the GPU, ODD, FDD, HDD, and PSU (hurray for acronyms!). I've switched between my 6600GT and 7900GS but mainly use the 6600 while tinkering because of its size. The power supply is a spankin' new Earthwatts 500 to take over for my old Truepower 430 for future upgrades. My Seagate 7200.7 200GB has also been switched for my brother's, which doesn't perform any better in my computer. Seatools clears the HD as well. The floppy and DVD are new, obtained post-BSOD, sometimes I remove them or disable them in BIOS. Only parts I haven't gotten around to testing individually are my processor and motherboard and unfortunately I'm eyeing the board as the culprit, the slimey bastard. Onboard video doesn't seem to work either, that's two strikes for those keeping count. And before you ask, yes, I remembered to plug the monitor into the board. If I enter the onboard video as initial display in BIOS I get blackness (better than nothing, I guess) and have to navigate BIOS blind... or reset CMOS like anyone with two braincells to rub together would do.
Anything else...? <.<
Recently I've jotted down a number of potential solutions to the problem and tested a few. So far I've gotten around to a few...none worked.
Did a repair installation from (D) partition and proceeded to then remove some programs installed by default.
Tried updating logitech mouseware for my wireless mouse but didn't help. BSODs with no mouse in as well. Tried a PS/2 mouse with default and updated drivers.
Using an Nvidia graphics card, tried updating drivers on that, too.
I set all non-essential programs not run on startup in MSCONFIG.
Tried patching Windows up completely with no success.
Had a hell of a time uninstalling CD emulation software but I did (with the help of that reformat). It didn't help.
HD jumpers have been checked and double-checked for placement.
Checked the IDE cable on the drive as well. Has the notch so I know it's not reverse.
I've tried turning off hardware acceleration.
I tried updating ACPI drivers but apparently they're up to date.
Tried Enabling/Disabling USB Legacy Support.
In BIOS CPU idles at 20~24°, so it's not frying itself. And while I'm here... go winter! Now if only I could make it into Windows...
Things I still think need looking into: You guys might be able to give a quicker take on these.
**Safe Mode booting hangs on agpCPQ.sys, it could have something to do with that or what should be loading next, ACPI.
**Adjust IRQs. Looking at one of the screens on startup I can tell that these IRQs are being used when everything is turned on.
NA Smbus ctrl
03 Multimedia Device
04 USB 1.0/1.1 EHCI ctrl
04 USB 1.0/1.1 EHCI ctrl
04 USB 2.0 EHCI ctrl
05 Disp ctrl
09 ACPI
10 IDE
10 Network ctrl
11 IDE
11 Serial Bus ctrl
14 IDE
After disabling a few things, it looks like this:
NA Smbus ctrl
09 ACPI
11 Disp ctrl
14 IDE
My brother's computer will run my hard drive so I did a backup reformat on there. I'm not sure if that will cause any problems with the IRQs as he has a slightly different setup (2 IDE ODDs, a network card, and more). I'd have done it attached to my own motherboard but I BSOD before I can even get started. According to the internet, most BIOS allow a user to look at what IRQs are doing what and even disable some, if necessary. My BIOS doesn't. I suppose that's because it's from an old emachines so they stripped it. I don't know if that's the case but it's missing many options from the online documentation. The last thing on my laundry is flashing my board to a new set of BIOS but I'm a bit fuzzy on that. If I search on MSI's website for a RS480M or MS-7145 under their product listing, my board shows under their S939 lineup, which I find strange. Nevertheless, it states it supports S754 chips, fine. I run over to the BIOS page, where I can check CPU compatibility and I see my 3400+ Newcastle with an "OK" stamped to the right. Things are looking up until I go to download the BIOS themselves... AMI BIOS. Currently I'm running Pheonix BIOS so things are looking a bit cross-eyed. I wasn't planning on flashing anytime soon, especially not with so many flags being thrown, so I'm not torn apart, I just find the delay annoying. Are boards bought from prebuilts sold using modified bios and not retail BIOS?
Tomorrow I'll see what I can do to view my HDs event viewer and see if anything is logged in there. It loosk like I forgot it completely. Goodnight Anandtech... and goodluck. :3
Thanks.
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