Shuttle XPC crashing problems -- need help

[godlytoys]

Hello, I bought a new shuttle "toaster" about 2 weeks ago and I am having some issues I can not resolve. Any suggests would be much welcomed! Here is what I have (I think):

Shuttle SN45v2 XPC barebone
2x 512mb Dimm Crucial mem
120 WD hard drive
Athlon XP 3000+
ATI Radeon 9600 128mb
Windows XP SP2

I can use the machine all day with no issues, the problem is when I try to play video games. I usually play battlefield 1942: desert combat, but have the same issues with Warcraft III frozen throne...

It used to reboot spontaneously or hard lock (not respond) and I would have to hard reboot. I found a thread about turning off the "reboot on error" so it doesnt do that any more. It will crash to desktop with an error such as VPC error not able to recover. But most of the time the game is still in the task bar and I can get back in with little or no performance difference and then next time it will hard lock. The frequency can be 2 minutes after I have been gaming or 20 minutes...

Here is what I have tried to do to resolve the problem:

1) downloaded and ran memtest86 for an hour -- no errors reported
2) swapped out video card (ATI Radeon 9800 pro) with current one I know to be working in previous machine
3) reseated cpu with more thermal grease
4) now running with case off and an external case fan blowing inside
5) updated to latest ATI drivers (and 3 different previous releases to no avail)

Above I say I think this is what I have because I downloaded SANDRA and the manual and box say I have a SN45G but Sandra is reporting it as a FN41SP. ? ? ?

I was going to try and upgrade the bios, but not sure on the motherboard...

Any suggestions? The cpu temp when running normal looks to be about 53 degrees C. Not sure what it goes to when I am pushing a game...

 

[KGB]

Toys,

Welcome to the Forums!

Is anything getting logged into Event Viewer?

 

[godlytoys]

Hello, yes I see the following error a lot (looks like it occurs around when the system is crashing):


Error!
Category: none
event id:4
source: nvatabus

description:
Device slot returned an invalid status value. See data for detailed information.

Dont see anywhere with detailed info... any ideas?

 

[montag451]

download EVEREST - will tell you what your chipset is, and maybe the model no of mobo.

I wouldnt do bios upgrades unless all else fails.

All else has failed, has it?

 

[KGB]

Toys,

It sounds like the nVidia IDE drivers are causing the problems.
Try changing them to the standard ones in Windows and see if the problem goes away.