Computer lock ups...

[dccool879]

My computer is in my signature. I actually have an Opteron 165 in it now, but w/ the venice it would randomly lock up. The lock up's are becoming more and more frequent. I replaced the power supply and still got lock ups. the video card is not overclocked, the cpu is not over clocked. i did memtest all night. and it's not just a windows software issue because i tried to compile a linux kernel and it locked up. when it locks up the screen doesnt go black, it just pauses at what it was at, and it plays like the last 1/2 second of sound over and over, and if no sound was on a hear a repeating click click click in the headphones. i'm guessing it is the motherboard? i've also gotten the newest ati drivers, and nvidia nforce drivers :cry:

[dccool879]

and the weirdest thing is no programs or stress test trigger the lock up. prime95 wont, 3dmark06 wont, it seems like it occurs more during games, but not sure. but even when i leave my computer idle on desktop w/ just aim on, it has locked up.

[cdawall]

virus?

[Jimmy 2004]

virus?

But it happens in Linux too. If it's only happening on one CPU, could you try it in another PC?

Edit: have you modded the graphics card in any way?

[cdawall]

yeah but it could be one that screws with the ram or HDD and that would carry over from Windows to Linux

[dccool879]

But it happens in Linux too. If it's only happening on one CPU, could you try it in another PC?

Edit: have you modded the graphics card in any way?

happens on both cpu's, the venice and opty 165. and my gcard is comp stock, used to be overclocked like 20 mhz (b/c x800xl's can't oc too high) but now it's at stock speeds.

[cdawall]

have you tried to roll back your drivers?

[Verikon]

I'm assuming the Linux install was on one of your hard drives and not a live CD? If so, I'd test whichever hard drive Windows is installed on. My brother had strange lock ups when his hard drive was failing. Worth a shot, and then you'll be able to rule another component off the suspect list.

[Jimmy 2004]

Like Verikon says, it could well be the hard drive. If it was the CPU or RAM you would expect errors in Prime95, and if it was the motherboard I wouldn't be surprised if you got errors. Back up any important data and try swapping out individual components if you can.

[dccool879]

how would i test my hard drive? by error checking?

[Jimmy 2004]

how would i test my hard drive? by error checking?

You might be able to get a tool from the hard drive mannufacturer that will let you check it. Look on their website.

[Taz100420]

(b/c x800xl's can't oc too high)


yea i blew my PSU OC'ing my X800XL.....:shadedshu

[Ketxxx]

disable your onboard sound, remove all drivers\folders to do with it and do a registry cleanup. let us know if that works.

[Verikon]

how would i test my hard drive? by error checking?

You would use the manufacturer's diagnostic tool. If you can burn a CD from your computer, or any computer, download and burn the Ultimate Boot CD. It contains every HDD diagnostic tool out there, plus tons of other tools for diagnosing hardware.

http://ultimatebootcd.com/

Go under Hard drive tests, then press right, then select whichever manufacturer your hard drive is. I would also suggest running the Hitachi HDD Test, as it's the only diagnostic test out there that will test ANY brand of hard drives and it's a good second opinion. All the other diagnostic tests will only test their specific brand. And if you have a Toshiba drive (and maybe Samsung, I can't remember), there isn't a specific test for that brand so just use the Hitachi test.

PS. Make sure you run advanced tests on all the drives.

[Jimmy 2004]

You would use the manufacturer's diagnostic tool. If you can burn a CD from your computer, or any computer, download and burn the Ultimate Boot CD. It contains every HDD diagnostic tool out there, plus tons of other tools for diagnosing hardware.

http://ultimatebootcd.com/

Go under Hard drive tests, then press right, then select whichever manufacturer your hard drive is. I would also suggest running the Hitachi HDD Test, as it's the only diagnostic test out there that will test ANY brand of hard drives and it's a good second opinion. All the other diagnostic tests will only test their specific brand. And if you have a Toshiba drive (and maybe Samsung, I can't remember), there isn't a specific test for that brand so just use the Hitachi test.

PS. Make sure you run advanced tests on all the drives.

Nice find, I'll have to keep that in mind if I ever need to run diagnostics.

[Verikon]

Nice find, I'll have to keep that in mind if I ever need to run diagnostics.

At the computer repair store I work at, it's our number one diagnostic tool for hardware issues. I can't even count how many times a day I use that thing.

[dccool879]

disable your onboard sound, remove all drivers\folders to do with it and do a registry cleanup. let us know if that works.

weird, i did what you said, and instead of locking up w/ the screen frozen and the sound clicking, it now would go black, or go black and reboot automatically. i found out a place that always makes my computer freeze, and that is refreshing the server list in battlefield 2

[Ketxxx]

very strange...

clear your cmos (remove battery and power cord for 2-3 mins) leave everything stock and update your bios (via dos or with a built in eeprom programmer the bios may have) i wouldnt advise using a windows flasher with your comp in its current state.

[dccool879]

i've already tried all the bios's, and this one seems the most stable. ill set the clear cmos jumper and reflash the bios just to make sure

[Ketxxx]

when flashing use the following commands after you put the bios name in (assuming your doing it from dos) /F/QI/CC/Sn/Py

[dccool879]

with dfi bios it does it all automatically

[Ketxxx]

im not one for trusting "automatic" stuff ;) at least doin it yourself you know the commands are getting executed and it cant feck anything up :p

[dccool879]

sweet. bios flash sucessful, reboot, nothing on the screen. tried a different video card, still nothing. i'm so dumb i wonder what i did wrong......... anyone want to trade a 939 mobo for like my NES console? it has the duck hunt gun :] i have like no money........ i hated my old motherboard anyways. i remember with my venice that only the original bios was stable, and anything newer wasnt, and that the original only supported single core, and all the other ones which would freeze the venice supported dual core. that's probably it, it was incredibly unstable with the newer bios

[Ketxxx]

you should be able to rma the board. or you can hotflash the bios chip on a working board

[dccool879]

man idk who else has this board. will dfi send me a new pre programmed chip? that'd be really good because i'd like to get a new motherboard anyways and use this current dead one w/ my venice

[dccool879]

unless some nice fellow has a nf4 dagf and i could mail em my chip to hotflash :]

[dccool879]

if someone has a different motherboard but same bios chip, would hot flashing still worK?

[tkpenalty]

...Guys lockups aren't caused by the motherboard's bios screwing up. They are caused by a failing power supply usually, if it is becoming more and more frequent, with the HDD shutting down because of a power loss (even for 1 second). Dccool, before you do anything else replace the power supply.

[Verikon]

...Guys lockups aren't caused by the motherboard's bios screwing up. They are caused by a failing power supply usually, if it is becoming more and more frequent, with the HDD shutting down because of a power loss (even for 1 second). Dccool, before you do anything else replace the power supply.

He already replaced the power supply with another one and had the same problems. It's in his original post.

dccool879, did you ever get a chance to check your hard drives? I see so many bad hard drives everyday, it's my first instinct when something goes wrong with a computer.

[tkpenalty]

He already replaced the power supply with another one and had the same problems. It's in his original post.

dccool879, did you ever get a chance to check your hard drives? I see so many bad hard drives everyday, it's my first instinct when something goes wrong with a computer.

My bad... didnt read :( . Hard drive with faulty molex/SATA connector?

[Verikon]

No worries. I think it's probably just a failing hard drive. My brother had the same symptoms, and it was the hard drive mechanically failing. But only dccool879 will be able to give us the answer to this puzzle.

[dccool879]

ok, i didnt have a bad flash! :] just computer didnt decide to work after flash, so i took out cmos battery in the morn and then tonight i popped it back and my computer worked and i pissed myself.

and ya i just replaced the powersupply, it's a blast to replace something and have the problem still happen. but that's my fault cause i never tested the powersupply. and it's always good to have a backup b/c my server which is on 24/7 just burned through a powmax one and now has a kingwin psu LOL so ya i give that like a week more.

anyways, im still waiting on the blank cd's, :[. but ever since my computer came back to life tonight, ive had no lock ups :)

[dccool879]

ok it just crashed. let's say it is my hard drive, does this mean data loss? :eek:

[Verikon]

If you're getting into Windows, you probably have a 95% chance of getting everything off, but the longer you wait, the lower your chances get. I'd suggest backing everything up right now. Once you start getting "unmountable boot volume" errors on start up, or it just doesn't recognize the hard drive in the BIOS anymore, then you have to start worrying. But luckily your machine isn't at that point yet.

Then again the hard drive might be in fine condition. Either way, it's good to have a back up of your data.

[Ketxxx]

...Guys lockups aren't caused by the motherboard's bios screwing up.[/B]

please, dont make such n00bish statements, evil n00b. BIOS = Basic Input Output System, do you know what that means, or what it does?

[Ketxxx]

ok it just crashed. let's say it is my hard drive, does this mean data loss? :eek:

Dont panic so much. Just because there is a possibility your HDD is faulty or dying, doesn't mean it actually is. The most common problem is the MBR (Master Boot Record) screwing up, or, if for some reason your using FAT32 (File Allocation Table) that. Bottom line is before rushing out and buying a new HDD you should backup your data, delete the primary DOS partition, recreate it, and then do an unconditional format on your HDD (in the case of using FAT32)

In the case of using the NTFS file system, let the Win XP setup do a full format of your HDD (NOT the "quick format")

[Verikon]

Dont panic so much. Just because there is a possibility your HDD is faulty or dying, doesn't mean it actually is. The most common problem is the MBR (Master Boot Record) screwing up, or, if for some reason your using FAT32 (File Allocation Table) that. Bottom line is before rushing out and buying a new HDD you should backup your data, delete the primary DOS partition, recreate it, and then do an unconditional format on your HDD (in the case of using FAT32)

In the case of using the NTFS file system, let the Win XP setup do a full format of your HDD (NOT the "quick format")

Why would the master boot record be causing crashes while Windows is running? Generally MBR issues cause NTDLR to go missing, or other start up issues, not crashing during Windows. I really think it could be a failing drive or corrupted sectors, as he said it crashed consistently when he was playing BF2, which makes me think there is a certain area of the disc the drive can't read, whether because of corruption or the drive mechanically can't reach it.

Plus he said he had issues when compiling his Linux kernel, which has nothing to do with his DOS partition.

How old is your hard drive anyway dccool879?

[dccool879]

ordered it 10/5/2005, samsung spinpoint P, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152020
and then from 8/4/2004 i bought a WD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144122
^(didnt i buy that HD for that much 2 yrs ago??? lol)

the os is on the SATA samsung

[Ketxxx]

Why would the master boot record be causing crashes while Windows is running? Generally MBR issues cause NTDLR to go missing, or other start up issues, not crashing during Windows. I really think it could be a failing drive or corrupted sectors, as he said it crashed consistently when he was playing BF2, which makes me think there is a certain area of the disc the drive can't read, whether because of corruption or the drive mechanically can't reach it.

Plus he said he had issues when compiling his Linux kernel, which has nothing to do with his DOS partition.

How old is your hard drive anyway dccool879?

I cant be arsed with details, so i'll summarise with its all in the ballpark, and until you have experienced many anomalous odd behaviors, its not something thats easy to put in terms for folk to understand.

[AshenSugar]

if hes under 2k/xp/2k3 he can use a command line to convert fat32 to ntfs, this also tends to fix problems with file table in my exp, and for the love of god DONT USE FAT its trash!!!

[dccool879]

who said i was using fat?? lol. i have 3 ntfs partitions, and 1 ext 2 partitions that i can access in windows. i have tried "unmounting" the ext2 from windows, but i still got a crash.

[Verikon]

I cant be arsed with details, so i'll summarise with its all in the ballpark, and until you have experienced many anomalous odd behaviors, its not something thats easy to put in terms for folk to understand.

Hmm, well I'll have to keep that in the back of my head. Next time I run into issues like this I'll have to remember it could be the MBR.

Well that Samsung is only a year old, but it still could be failing. My Maxtor 200GB SATA died after 6 months, so you can just get lemon drives. Or like Ketxxx said, it might just be a partition table issue or an issue with the MBR.

[AshenSugar]

boot from windows cd, use recover consol, run 2 commands
fixmbr
fixboot

after you run a full chkdsk ofcorse!!!! this should take care of mbr errors;)

[Taz100420]

ordered it 10/5/2005, samsung spinpoint P, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152020
and then from 8/4/2004 i bought a WD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144122
^(didnt i buy that HD for that much 2 yrs ago??? lol)

the os is on the SATA samsung



I had a samsung spinpoint 160GB HDD and it went out within 3 months of having it, imo they are junk

[dccool879]

The type of the file system is NTFS.

WARNING! F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
Deleting index entry upd0C32.ver in index $I30 of file 19476.
Index verification completed.

Errors found. CHKDSK cannot continue in read-only mode.

hmmm. i'm not nearly as knowledgable about windows as i am about linux so i'm going to ask first, should i allow write with chdsk and see what happens?

[Verikon]

CHKDSK will try to restore data that's been corrupted or has had its index messed up. If the data is in really rough shape, you do run the chance of losing it. I'd recommend backing up your data before running it in read/write mode. This could be a sign that you have bad sector/failing hard drive. Or just a really messed up file system.

When I upgraded to SLI, Windows didn't like the second card being in there and started to get really flaky, so I ran a repair install thinking my install had been corrupted which just made it worse, since Windows refused to boot after that point. I ran CHKDSK and it had to reset file permissions on 70,000 files. It was kind of nerve racking.

[Ketxxx]

if bad sectors are found and your given the option, dont "flag" them as a messed up file table can give bogus reports like that. so revert to the windows cd and doing a full (not quick) hdd format, as the full format sets your drive back to all zeros.

[dccool879]

i only have my music backed up though, that's all the stuff that i can back up. would formatting just one partition (windows os) fix the problem? no right? because linux has the problem too...

[Ketxxx]

you could format just your os partition, but its a tricky situation, theoretically it should fix your os partition if its a naff file system. as that partition is treated as another drive, but because physically it is still just one drive, sharing the same platters and so forth, it may not.

[dccool879]

i just ran http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/hutil.htm because i had a blank floppy, still don't have any blank cd's. anyways, after the full diagnostic it found nothing wrong with my drive. is this to trust, and maybe look at other hardware/software to blame?

[Verikon]

Hmm, well I'd back up everything, do a full format like Ketxxx suggested, and then see what happens. If you can get a blank disk I'd still suggest running the Hitachi HDD diagnostic test, just for good measure. The Hitachi test is also good at repairing bad sectors too, if any are present.

[dccool879]

ok got some blankers. i'm going to run stuff off the ult boot cd. I don't know where that hitachi thing is can you give me a link? i found utilities but they seemed to be specific to different kind of HD's

[Verikon]

You want this image: http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Ultimate-Boot-CD-Download-5992.html

Burn that to CD, then when you boot press F2 to access Hard Disk Tools. Then you'll press right arrow to scroll to he next page, the Hitachi diagnostic is the first test on that page. I think you press F2 to access it, but it will tell you on screen.

Once that starts loading, just follow the on screen instructions. You'll select "just ATA support" when it asks if you want to load SCSI drivers. Then select the drive you want to scan and select "advanced test." It will do a full surface/media scan.

Hope that all makes sense.

[dccool879]

yeh makes sense...
too bad both cd's i burnt give me Disk Error 80
Ax=4212, drive 9f
boot failed

[dccool879]

md5 sum is correct
burned it twice, once on 52x other time at 16x
both cd's do the same error
two different cd rom drives
w/ and w/o the other drive on the other ide channel

still the error

i just put the program u were talking about on a floppy, it's running right now (i'm on another computer)