Need Your Expert Opinion... Please read

[azncoffeeboi]

Greetings everybody!

The last month or so has been computer hell.

I've been hving many BSODs (IRQ NOT LESS OR EQUAL, PAGE FAULT IN NON PAGED AREA, KMOD EXCPETION NOT HANDLED, BAD POOL HEADER, NTFS FILE SYSTEM).... pretty much every one... =(

Most of the BSODs had ntoskrnl.exe or win32k.sys in them.

Ive also been having a hard time booting up; my computer wouldnt evem post if i had my CD-ROM drive connected.

Oh yeah, did I mention random lock-ups? =(

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Well, I reformatted, and im still getting the exact same problems!! ack!!!
I know for sure that my mobo is one part at fault (freezes in BIOS, during bootup, random reboots)....
Sometimes my video will just go out without any warning, and my computer will be frozen.

However, can anybody tell me if my hard drive (or any other component) can be at fault too judging from the problems I mentioned above?


Heres my system Rig:

CPU: AMD Athlon T-Bird 1400MHz @ 1400MHz

Motherboard: Soyo SY-K7V Dragon

Memory: 256 MB of Crucial PC 2100

Video Card: (Nvidia GeForce2 Ultra 64 MB DDR)

Hard Drive: Maxtor 20.0 GB @ 7200 RPMS

Monitor: 17inch

CDROM Manufacturer & Model: 50x CD-ROM

Storage Interface: IDE

Sound Card: Using Mobo Intergrated Sound

Operating System: Windows 2000 Professional


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Thanks for taking the time to read this..



Oh, BTW: Please post any information dealing with Soyo and getting a replacement Mobo.... or can I?

 

[WarCon]

Have you checked your heatsink/fan? I mean gone the full route and cleaned it out (air or more thorough method) and checked your thermal compound? If your using the pad, you will need to decide to switch to thermal compound anyway if you pull the heatsink off. Pads are one-time use. You could also be dealing with memory or any other component that can affect the data path to the processor. Thats typically the processor (itself), motherboard, memory, even the drives to a limited extend can bring this kind of error state. Or it can even be something that can affect all of the above - the powersupply. It kinda has to be hardware since your locking up in bios.

If your heatsink is fine and your cpu temps are decent. Then you may want to start swapping components like memory, processor, hard drive one at a time (if you can) and see if it makes any difference.

If you can, post your temps (ambient ~, system, cpu) and your voltages in bios or if your running MBM or some other monitoring software, preferably under full load condition.

 

[optimistic]

<< CPU: AMD Athlon T-Bird 1400MHz @ 1400MHz >>



These guys run really HOT! And requires a really good Power Supply. Try upping the PSU to 340watt +. And make sure you have really good cooling.

Other than that, I might say you Hard Drive is failing. Run Scandisk using a boot disk, and check if you're getting any errors.

 

[optimistic]

If you can't afford a new PSU right now. Try swapping CPU's and see if your problems go away. There could be a slight chance memory is bad run mem tester on your memory. And at the end of the list the motherboard might be giving you the instabilities. (DAMN, I listed almost every component😉😱)

From what I think is the most likely culprit to the least: (And assuming your running the latest drivers on everything, with a bare minimum configuration [i.e. hdd/video/ram/cdrom/cpu])
1. Heat (Common problem with 1.4s)
2. Power (Common problem with 1.4s, & your CDrom problem)
3. Hard Drive (Based on your symptoms) <~~ ALSO IF YOU'VE been running this setup FINE for a while now, this could be MOST LIKELY.
4. Memory <~~~ Or this
5. Motherboard (If all else checks out OK, then this is your culprit)


edit: HEY! IF YOUR MOTHERBOARD allows, try underclocking that 1.4GHz to 1.1GHz. My friend was able to resolve his problems by running at lower speeds. Thus proving it was a power/ heat problem.

 

[pamf]

In addition to what others have said, have you installed any new hardware recently? After I installed a crappy daytek/daewoo internal dsl modem my isp sold us, i started getting frequent bsod's with the irql_not_less_or_equal crap..

 

[Rhi]

Well it's definately a hardware problem. Do as someone said, start swapping components. Start with RAM first.

-Rhi

 

[azncoffeeboi]

Thanks guys... Oh yeah, i fogot to update my system specs... im using a 400 W power supply.


I know its not a heat problem (CPU temps never go higher than 63 (C) on MBM) and im pretty sure its now memory (ran mem tester with no errors)


I've added no new hardware recently.... so im guessing HD failure and a bad mobo.


Anybody ever dealt with soyo?

PS. Yeah, I cant even boot now. Computer freezes in the exact same spot of Win2k booting..... Hooray... 🙁 Now im almost positive its my HD.

 

[WarCon]

63C is considered pretty high (Probably too high, but not sure for that mobo).

Want to hear a possibility? Your processor is running unstable. During boot it causes a minor instability as your reading your hard drive and it in turn causes a bad file. Now you have a bad install that crashes at the same place from corrupt data.

It could still be many things, I wouldn't focus so much on the mobo with temps like your showing. Try to get them down to the mid 50's and then reload from backup if you have one. Otherwise the hard way.

I know your not overclocking, but if I remember correctly it is pretty easy to trash a Win2000 load with an unstable processor (AMD's seem to be pretty unstable after a certain temp).

Anyway, you could try RMAing the mobo, but it may not be the problem. The hard drive probably is not be the problem either. (Usually doesn't crash in bios with a bad hard drive, since it isn't reading data from it yet). It does sound like you trashed your install of Win2000 though.......🙁

Good luck man.

(If you have ASII or III, you should try the simplest of things first and remount your heatsink).

 

[tbalon]

Make sure that you are working the Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional operating system with all required patches and service packs installed in the following order. Windows 2000 Pro with the Promise FastTrak drivers, Win2K Service Pack 2, Microsoft Windows 2000 AGP patch for the AMD Athlon, VIA 4in1 drivers version 4.32, DirectX 8.0a, NVIDIA 12.41 WHQL video drivers.

 

[optimistic]

<< I know its not a heat problem (CPU temps never go higher than 63 (C) >>


Yeah, 63C is pretty high...might be causing your instabilities, and that bad install of win2k... so just to be sure it's not the CPU....Try SWAPPING for a slower one or UNDERCLOCK that 1.4ghz to 1.1ghz via lowering the multiplier.


<< PS. Yeah, I cant even boot now. Computer freezes in the exact same spot of Win2k booting..... Hooray... 🙁 Now im almost positive its my HD. >>


RUN scandisk or some sort of hard drive fitness test just to be sure.

When my hard drive failed, I got this at boot up under WIN XP.

"Windows cannot start because the following file is missing or corrupt: /windows/system32/config/system"

Frequent lock ups in desktop, 52 badclusters in Scandisk, and eventually I wans't able to format or install an OS anymore.

Good luck and I hope everything works out!

 

[DaiShan]

that really sounds like RAM related to me, RAM is one of the causes for that BSOD you were getting, and freezing booting up is also a good sign of bad RAM, I would try it with a known good stick, unless your hdd has been making aweful clicking/grinding noises, then it may be the hdd.

 

[azncoffeeboi]

Im getting a lot of those "windows is missing a file blah blah".... very similar to your problem. (Now that I think about it, its almost identical to your error optimistic.) Ive had to use the bootdisks and repair win windows 2000 installation SEVERAL times. I plan on running scan disk soon... and im pretty sure my CPU temps are lower then 60 now. I took those temps in a case with bad ventilation. Now I have a fan blowing right on to my heatsink, so im guessing my temps SHOULD be lower than that. I plan on underclocking my CPU soon just to be sure also.


Ill post again once I run scandisk and find out my results, thanks.

I just noticed this... it seems that my system is a litle more unstable with my CD-ROM plugged in... maybe just my imagination though.
If my CD-ROM is in IDE 2, i have the HARDEST time getting my mobo to post (had to turn computer off and on, cant restet anymore, broke the button from using it so many times. So, I had to put my CD-ROm drive on IDE 1 and my HD on IDE 2. The computer freezes with both configurations so eh.

Just a side note: Arent the promise fast track drivers only important if im using a RAID config? I donno.


How long would it take to get a new mobo from soyo, anyways? Just curious, ive called soyo several times and ive tried to contact their tech support but i get nothing but waiting for a long time waiting for a representitive... and they never pick up. Ack. Oh wel, will call them tomorrow again.



Oh, BTW everybody, i REALLY REALLY REALLY appreciate your time spent on helping me on this problem.


Jason

 

[optimistic]

About IDE configuration: Hard drive always on IDE channel 1 ALONE or with another hard drive. CDROM /DVD/CDRW on IDE channel 2.



<< How long would it take to get a new mobo from soyo, anyways? Just curious, ive called soyo several times and ive tried to contact their tech support but i get nothing but waiting for a long time waiting for a representitive... and they never pick up. Ack. Oh wel, will call them tomorrow again. >>



I had to RMA a board to ECS in Fremont and I live in Los Angeles. It took 3 days. They told me a week (I brought it to the vendor I bought it from. They have 1 year on their boards, so they paid for shipping). Looks like Soyo is in Fremont also, but you gotta ask them for their own turn around time on RMAs.

 

[azncoffeeboi]

<< About IDE configuration: Hard drive always on IDE channel 1 ALONE or with another hard drive. CDROM /DVD/CDRW on IDE channel

<<

Like I mentioned before my computer had a hard time booting, this was my temporary soultion.



Oh, thanks for the information on RMA.