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Lockups

N

nanaki333

Diamond Member
This is absolutely amazing. Every component has been replaced, down to the motherboard & ram. i STILL have random lockups. i'm at a loss.
 
Most lock-Ups are due to bogus software or drivers misbehaving. Although it could be a cooked CPU or just your system over temperature.

We need more information about the OS, patches ,and software installed. As well as steps you have already taken, as well as what you were doing when it started happening.
 
well.. i've already had a thread going about this, didn't feel like searching for it again.

basically, my systen as of right now is:

win xp pro
xp2800+
asus a7n8x-x
512 pc2700
1x 120GB seagate
1x 120GB WD
hercules fortismo 7 soundcard
IEEE 1394 PCI card
52x buslink cdrw
external pioneer 105
raidmax 500watt PSU
radeon7200 AIW

i've reinstalled the OS like 3 times. i just replaced the mobo from an a7v8x to my current one. i replaced my old ECC memory cause it wouldn't work with the nforce chipset. lets see.. i had an xp2400 in there, but it was doing the random lockup thing, although it'd wait after about 3 or 4 days uptime to lockup. as oppose to it locking up after a few hours now. ok, so, i had my yamaha 44x burner in there, but that was causing problems with my new board, so that came out and my new board went in. got a new cpu cooler, volcano11, it was a volcano9. i have a radeon9700pro, but i took it out to see if that was causing my problems, which it wasn't. besides, i had to do some video ripping so i just left it in now. i've done xp repairs, i've done over installs, i've done format and installs. i tried sp2, which i don't like very much. only thing i think it might be now is the PSU. even that i'm not too sure about, cause it was acting funny when i tried my buddy's 420watt PSU. it rebooted itself after a couple days.

oh, and my case is open and everything is quite cool
 
When the PC reboots do you get anything in the event logs? Normally if it's a software issue windows has time to write an event before rebooting.

Also when it reboots does it restart automatically or do you have to press the power button? If it restarts automatically then you need to go to system properties, click on the advanced tab, then click on advanced under startup and recovery at the bottom and remove the tick from automatically restart.

Then hopefully the next time it reboots you should get the old BSOD instead which might give you (or us) some more info...

Mnementh
 
that's the funny thing. before when i had the a7v8x in there, it would give me that every time. even if it locked up or just rebooted. now it just freezes. like i know it freezes cause i can't remote into it from work anymore, and AIM goes offline, i go home, turn on the monitor and it doesn't come on, move the mouse, mash the keys, nothing. i just hit reset. it turns back on and it used to give me 'system has recovered from a serious error' crap, now it doesn't. it just comes on, logs in, that's it. nothing in the system log.
 
Originally posted by: nanaki333
that's the funny thing. before when i had the a7v8x in there, it would give me that every time. even if it locked up or just rebooted. now it just freezes. like i know it freezes cause i can't remote into it from work anymore, and AIM goes offline, i go home, turn on the monitor and it doesn't come on, move the mouse, mash the keys, nothing. i just hit reset. it turns back on and it used to give me 'system has recovered from a serious error' crap, now it doesn't. it just comes on, logs in, that's it. nothing in the system log.
Click to expand...

To be perfectly honest that sounds like the power supply (or an unclean mains supply) when you come home after it's frozen are all the fans still running or do most of them appear to have shut off? If they've shut off it normally means your PSU has shut down to protect itself from overloading (although that shouldn't be a problem with that rig unless the PSU is really crap). I've never heard of Raidmax tbh, having just had a similar sort of problem myself I can only recommend going for a good quality brand name PSU even if that isn't your problem at the moment it will prevent any PSU problems in the future. I've just bought an Antec Truepower 550W and the difference between that and the cheap noname crap I was using before is nothing short of amazing. (I've had 5 PSU's blow within 18 Months).

Mnementh
 
all the fans are still going. everything seems to be on, i'd know if anything shutoff in my pc. the whole basement gets quiet and freaky when my machine is down. the raidmax one was like $90 for it. it was a 500watt with 550watt peak. i thought it was a good brand. guess i'm going to have to get a new one. can you recommend one that's over 400watt but still somewhat cheap? i just dropped money on a new mobo and memory, i don't wanna drop another 100 bux on a new PSU
 
Originally posted by: nanaki333
all the fans are still going. everything seems to be on, i'd know if anything shutoff in my pc. the whole basement gets quiet and freaky when my machine is down. the raidmax one was like $90 for it. it was a 500watt with 550watt peak. i thought it was a good brand. guess i'm going to have to get a new one. can you recommend one that's over 400watt but still somewhat cheap? i just dropped money on a new mobo and memory, i don't wanna drop another 100 bux on a new PSU
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I'm UK so would have no idea what prices you would pay for equipment. I would recommend either Antec, Enermax or Thermaltake though. I paid £109 for my PSU including P&P but I went for the one with a control panel for adjusting voltages and fan speed if necessary to spread the load (nice little feature actually) so I could have got it for less that a ton. There's normally a straight dollar to pound conversion when it comes to PC equipment (believe me we're not happy about that!!) so you shouldn't have to pay much more that $100. I would get some more opinions before shelling out some cash though just because I haven't heard of your PSU doesn't mean it isn't a good one we just might not be able to get it over here.

Mnementh
 
These 2 are both excellent power supplies with good prices:

Antec True430 Watt

Thermaltake Purepower 480Watt


I've built many high-end systems with both of these units and my own pc's and they've been rock solid. I use the Purepower in my own system and it has solved all my stability issues i had with my 350Watt Antec.

good luck 🙂
 
wow.. now my machine stays up for an average of 4 hours now. it has to be the PSU. i don't know what else to try to replace. unless both my xp2400 and xp2800 processors are both bad. i'm about out of options. only thing not being replaced was the PSU and my case. other than that, every component in that thing is new.
 
Originally posted by: nanaki333
wow.. now my machine stays up for an average of 4 hours now. it has to be the PSU. i don't know what else to try to replace. unless both my xp2400 and xp2800 processors are both bad. i'm about out of options. only thing not being replaced was the PSU and my case. other than that, every component in that thing is new.
Click to expand...

Whats the ambient temp like? It does sound like PSU or it could simply be brownouts (drops in the mains supply voltage). Whats the supply like to your house do your lights flicker and dim frequently or not?

If so you might want to invest in a UPS (surge protectors don't do anything for brownouts unlike a lot of people seem to think they do).

If the mains and ambient temp are good then yup looks like you've got a winner with the PSU 🙂

Mnementh
 
hmmmm.. well, my house is nice and chilli. sides of my case are off so the airflow is pretty sexy. now that you mention it though.. my lights do dim sometimes. like very briefly when i turn them up all the way, or most of the way. so should i bother snagging a PSU and testing it or try and find a UPS for real cheap? i never even though about brownouts causing it. thanks for the suggestion!
 
would this be good for my comp or should i invest a bit more? i just need something basic. the power grid in my area is really good when it comes to power outages, but i guess the little flickers are a big pain. i just need a UPS that'll protect me from those really, i doubt the power will fully go off. so yeah, you think this is an ok one to get just to keep it up from brownouts?

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=312016&pfp=SEARCH
 
Originally posted by: nanaki333
hmmmm.. well, my house is nice and chilli. sides of my case are off so the airflow is pretty sexy. now that you mention it though.. my lights do dim sometimes. like very briefly when i turn them up all the way, or most of the way. so should i bother snagging a PSU and testing it or try and find a UPS for real cheap? i never even though about brownouts causing it. thanks for the suggestion!
Click to expand...

Now you come to the crux of the matter heh. TBH imo I would say try the UPS first as they are always a good thing to have anyway so even if it does turn out to be the PSU you're gonna be better of as you'll have another layer of protection for all those expensive components. If you go the PSU way and it's a UPS you need then you'll have wasted the money for the PSU if you see what I mean.

I can't make the decision for you but thats the way I personally would do it.

Mnementh
 
Originally posted by: nanaki333
would this be good for my comp or should i invest a bit more? i just need something basic. the power grid in my area is really good when it comes to power outages, but i guess the little flickers are a big pain. i just need a UPS that'll protect me from those really, i doubt the power will fully go off. so yeah, you think this is an ok one to get just to keep it up from brownouts?

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=312016&pfp=SEARCH
Click to expand...

It's the integrity and cleanliness of the signal that you're interested in rather than how often it goes off completely (which should be very rare less than twice a year). Again this is a difficult one to answer because it's not my money I'm spending, if it was me I'd rather spend a bit more and get something I know for sure is gonna be able to power my PC's for at least long enough to cleanly shut down if there is a power outage, however if you're not to worried about that then I can only say for the sake of $30 then it's probably worth giving that a try. Ask around see if there's any reports from people who've used those and see what they think. I'm a firm believer of "You pays your money you makes your choice" so to me $30 would appear to be too cheap for a UPS (though strictly speaking thats not a UPS) but if it solves your problem it'll be priceless.

Mnementh
 
someone just told me to try plugging directly into the wall before getting a UPS if my lights are flickering like that. any truth to this solving my problem?

i'm going to gank my buddy's PSU tonight and take that home if the UPS doesn't work. i'm going to get a UPS first and try it, if that doesn't work, i'll try the PSU, if that doesn't work, i'm going to cry. cause as of that point, every component has been replaced and i still have issues.
 
Originally posted by: nanaki333
someone just told me to try plugging directly into the wall before getting a UPS if my lights are flickering like that. any truth to this solving my problem?

i'm going to gank my buddy's PSU tonight and take that home if the UPS doesn't work. i'm going to get a UPS first and try it, if that doesn't work, i'll try the PSU, if that doesn't work, i'm going to cry. cause as of that point, every component has been replaced and i still have issues.
Click to expand...

Err in a word No. It doesn't matter whether you go through a surge protector/power brick or not a brownout or dodgy mains supply will not be any better just because you're plugged directly into the wall (unless you've possibly got a faulty power brick though thats unlikely)

what does gank mean? Is this some other piece of american slang I'm not too up on heh 😉

What rating/make PSU is your mates? I've just thought of something actually have you ran Motherboard Monitor or the like to see if your output voltages from the PSU are within tolerances? I know they're not 100% accurate but it should give you some idea. Actually just noticed you have an Asus board so I assume you've checked the voltages with Asusprobe? Are they fluctuating a lot? If so I'd say definitely PSU

Mnementh
 
i haven't installed asus probe. i have motherboard monitor installed though. what should my voltages be reading? what range? i'll check that tonight
 
Originally posted by: nanaki333
i haven't installed asus probe. i have motherboard monitor installed though. what should my voltages be reading? what range? i'll check that tonight
Click to expand...

Basically you want to be within the correct voltage by +/-5% overvoltage is normally better than undervoltage, what you're looking for really is if one of the rails is reading quite a lot low as this would be indicative of either a bad PSU or too high a current drain on that rail either scenario means a new PSU.

Mnementh
 
hmmm.. seems like it was my PSU. pc was at the point where it'd lockup after a few hours. it's been up for about 11 hours now without rebooting or anything. just threw my buddy's 420watt PSU in there. are enermax PSUs ok? guess i won't be getting another raidmax ever again.

would constant brownouts cause a PSU to start going bad or was it just the fact it was a sh!tty PSU?
 
Originally posted by: nanaki333
hmmm.. seems like it was my PSU. pc was at the point where it'd lockup after a few hours. it's been up for about 11 hours now without rebooting or anything. just threw my buddy's 420watt PSU in there. are enermax PSUs ok? guess i won't be getting another raidmax ever again.

would constant brownouts cause a PSU to start going bad or was it just the fact it was a sh!tty PSU?
Click to expand...

Enermax PSU's are top notch they're one of the better brands. Constant Brownouts and spikes can cause a PSU to go bad yes although sh!tty PSU's will have a harder time than decent ones obviously.

Mnementh
 
nevermind, looks like it looked up again. it waited like 12 hours this time though. guess it's off to compusa for a UPS
 
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