System Hangs

[RobertMcDonald]

Until recently, my computer, post-SATA hard drive install, had simply been tempermental. Occasionally (and particularly in World of Warcraft), it would lock up and nothing short of my reset button would fix it.

But today, matters got much worse.

Instead of crashing outright, it would just stop "working." In WoW, I could ALT+TAB, I could open menus on programs I had running in the background, I could even see my ASUS Probe utility tracking my processor's temperature (42ºC when I finally restarted), but I couldn't "move forward." I could close programs, but I couldn't open any of them. I couldn't get the Task Manager with CTRL+ALT+DEL either. And in WoW, I could sit down and do all of those things, but I just could say anything or log out or any of that. I believe Internet Explorer was open as well and would let me click on links but it wouldn't load them.

Anyone have any ideas? I think it's a hard drive issue, but I don't know for sure.

Thanks.

 

[spherrod]

Can you run a hard drive test? Should be able to get one from the manufacturer's website (or Google Ultimate Boot CD). Also, can you list what Power Supply you have?

 

[birdpup]

The problem could possibly be the RAM, PSU, or hard drive.

1. Test your RAM with Memtest to verify proper operation and tell us the result,
2. run the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic test utility to see if any errors result and tell us if any errors do occur,
3. provide more details on your PSU, and possibly
4. read through (Power Supply 101).

[*]Memory Tests

• memtest86
• memtest86+

[*]Hard Drive Manufacturer Diagnostic Utilities

• Seagate
• Western Digital
• Maxtor
• Fujitsu
• Hitachi
• Everest Diagnostic Software (not confined to any one hard drive manufacturer)

 

[RobertMcDonald]

Originally posted by: spherrod
Can you run a hard drive test? Should be able to get one from the manufacturer's website (or Google Ultimate Boot CD).

I tried one from Maxtor's web page, but it didn't detect my SATA hard drive. I'll try to find another one. EDIT: "Note: PowerMax v 4.21 will not detect ATA or SATA hard disks connected to embedded or add in RAID controllers, NVIDIA Force 3, Force 4, VIA KT 600 and KT800 chipsets. If the hard disk is connected to an unsupported controller, it will have to be moved to an alternate system, or controller for diagnosis." Great. Now what?

Also, can you list what Power Supply you have?

Yeah, sorry. I've edited my sig accordingly, but it's an Enlight ATX 420W Power Supply EN-8420934.

 

[birdpup]

It is still a good idea to run memtest for at least 12 hours (overnight) to see if any errors result.

I have two Enlight power supplies, a 250W and 350W. My 350W powers a socket 939 system with two Maxtor hard drives with no problems. The 250W is still powering a 733MHz PIII system. If you are unable to detect any errors in your memory or in your hard drive, it may be a good idea to put in a new/different PSU and see if that fixes your problem.

I just tried the Maxtor PowerMax diagnostic utility and it detected my Maxtor 250GB hard drive without any problems. I have the NForce4 chipset and my drives are not configured in a RAID array.

You have an 80GB and a 250GB drive, which does not allow any RAID configuration except for JBOD. If the Maxtor PowerMax does not recognize your drive, just take it out of the JBOD RAID configuration and set it up as a standard drive. There should be no problem with testing your drive with this PowerMax utility.

 

[RobertMcDonald]

Originally posted by: birdpup
It is still a good idea to run memtest for at least 12 hours (overnight) to see if any errors result.

Yikes. Okay, well, I'll put it on before I go to sleep.

Originally posted by: birdpup
If you are unable to detect any errors in your memory or in your hard drive, it may be a good idea to put in a new/different PSU and see if that fixes your problem.

I'd hate to go through all the hassle of installing a different power supply if it's not necessary, but if that's all I've got left after these checks... [shrug]

Originally posted by: birdpup
I just tried the Maxtor PowerMax diagnostic utility and it detected my Maxtor 250GB hard drive without any problems. I have the NForce4 chipset and my drives are not configured in a RAID array.

I tried it and it couldn't detect my SATA hard drive, only my 80GB IDE. Any alternatives?

Originally posted by: birdpup
If the Maxtor PowerMax does not recognize your drive, just take it out of the JBOD RAID configuration and set it up as a standard drive. There should be no problem with testing your drive with this PowerMax utility.

The what? It's not in any kind of RAID as far as I know.

 

[RobertMcDonald]

Oh, and playing WoW tonight it "hanged" crashed three times in an hour and "hardlocked" once. (The two problems may not be related, though.)

 

[birdpup]

Originally posted by: RobertMcDonald

Originally posted by: birdpup
If you are unable to detect any errors in your memory or in your hard drive, it may be a good idea to put in a new/different PSU and see if that fixes your problem.

I'd hate to go through all the hassle of installing a different power supply if it's not necessary, but if that's all I've got left after these checks... [shrug]

Save changing the power supply for the last option. You still need to perform a test on the drive and memtest.

Originally posted by: RobertMcDonald

Originally posted by: birdpup
I just tried the Maxtor PowerMax diagnostic utility and it detected my Maxtor 250GB hard drive without any problems. I have the NForce4 chipset and my drives are not configured in a RAID array.

I tried it and it couldn't detect my SATA hard drive, only my 80GB IDE. Any alternatives?

I forgot to mention that my Maxtor is a SATA hard drive. I do not understand why PowerMax is unable to detect your SATA Maxtor while it is able to detect mine.

You could still test the drive with the Everest utility, provided above. However, it would still be a good idea to see if you can get PowerMax to recognize your drive.

Maybe your bios settings are not set to properly recognize the hard drive. I have an Asus A8N-E motherboard with a Phoenix bios and this is how my drive settings are.

Main tab
First SATA Master ..........................[Maxtor 6B250S0]

First SATA Master
Extended IDE Drive .......................[Auto]
Access Mode .................................[Auto]
Capacity .......................................251 GB
Cylinder .......................................65535
Head ............................................16
Precomp .......................................0
Landing Zone ................................65534
Sector ..........................................255

Originally posted by: RobertMcDonald

Originally posted by: birdpup
If the Maxtor PowerMax does not recognize your drive, just take it out of the JBOD RAID configuration and set it up as a standard drive. There should be no problem with testing your drive with this PowerMax utility.

The what? It's not in any kind of RAID as far as I know.

A JBOD RAID configuration is mixed group of hard drives in a "Just a Bunch Of Disks" configuration.
Raid Tutorial

There is a recent thread where the system was hanging and it turned out to be a defective hard drive. The drive received errors after testing with the manufacturer's diagnostic utility.
Computer Dies a Lot

EDIT: It may help to update the motherboard chipset drivers. I wonder if you installed the SATA drivers by using the F6 button before installing Windows.

 

[RobertMcDonald]

Originally posted by: birdpup
EDIT: It may help to update the motherboard chipset drivers. I wonder if you installed the SATA drivers by using the F6 button before installing Windows.

Oh, I had a giant problem just getting Windows to install and recognize the existence of my SATA hard drive (which you can see here, if you'd like, to know how that was finally fixed). In fact, this whole SATA hard drive thing has basically been a nightmare altogether.

I'll try those utilities out when I get a chance. Thanks again!

 

[birdpup]

Upon further review, it seems that either MaxBlast 4 or MaxBlast 4 For Windows needs to be installed. If I remember right, I used the MaxBlast 4 before or during WinXP installation to load the appropriate drivers.

 

[RobertMcDonald]

Originally posted by: birdpup
Upon further review, it seems that either MaxBlast 4 or MaxBlast 4 For Windows needs to be installed. If I remember right, I used the MaxBlast 4 before or during WinXP installation to load the appropriate drivers.

I must be missing something. MaxBlast 4 for Windows had a bunch of setup utilities but nothing for diagnostics. I assume the bootable one is the same because, as I recall, I used them to reformat my SATA hard drive when I screwed something up during its installation. So what do I need these programs for, again? I'm confused.