Computer about to be thrown out of the window
in [Hardware]
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From: Matt on 6 Feb 2005 19:11 Mxsmanic wrote: > Trent SC writes: > > >>There's only an HSP56 modem on the machine (no NIC) and the machine has >>frozen with that both enabled and disabled in the BIOS. So it MUST be >>either PSU, CPU or motherboard. > > > I can't think of a PSU problem that would abruptly cause the machine to > freeze. If the fans are running and the disks are turning, the PSU is > okay. That leaves CPU or motherboard. How do you say the PSU can't cause lockups? > > Has the machine ever been subject to power surges or overheating? > > The last time I had a CPU get sick, it produced exactly this kind of > mystery freeze-up, along with mysterious segment violations in programs > that had never shown the slightest trace of bugs before. For a long > time I thought it was an OS problem or a peripheral problem. But the > CPU got worse and worse and finally it became obvious that the > microprocessor had failed. This happened originally because it had > overheated for an extended period (12 hours at a stretch on multiple > occasions) because of a CPU fan failure. In the beginning it was a real > mystery. > I'm having symptoms similar to those of the OP, and have reason to suspect past CPU overheating and/or past power problems. Am leaning toward the P4 CPU as the cause.
From: Trent SC on 6 Feb 2005 19:16 >>>There's only an HSP56 modem on the machine (no NIC) and the machine has >>>frozen with that both enabled and disabled in the BIOS. So it MUST be >>>either PSU, CPU or motherboard. >> >> I can't think of a PSU problem that would abruptly cause the machine to >> freeze. If the fans are running and the disks are turning, the PSU is >> okay. That leaves CPU or motherboard. > > How do you say the PSU can't cause lockups? >> >> Has the machine ever been subject to power surges or overheating? >> >> The last time I had a CPU get sick, it produced exactly this kind of >> mystery freeze-up, along with mysterious segment violations in programs >> that had never shown the slightest trace of bugs before. For a long >> time I thought it was an OS problem or a peripheral problem. But the >> CPU got worse and worse and finally it became obvious that the >> microprocessor had failed. This happened originally because it had >> overheated for an extended period (12 hours at a stretch on multiple >> occasions) because of a CPU fan failure. In the beginning it was a real >> mystery. > > I'm having symptoms similar to those of the OP, and have reason to suspect > past CPU overheating and/or past power problems. Am leaning toward the P4 > CPU as the cause. I don't think it's a CPU issue in my situation, as the problem can sometimes happen almost as soon as I've booted up, and I've checked the heatsink immediately after a crash and it's been v cool.
From: Matt on 6 Feb 2005 19:20 Trent SC wrote: > The installation went fine, but the computer hung during the installation of > SP2 (the very first thing I did after XP was on) and while SP2 took fine > once I'd rebooted, and Office 2000 went on fine, it's continued to hang, > most often when I'm in My Computer and mousing over an icon in Tiles view > format. And I didn't get a chance to go online before it hung, so I just > took out the new hard drive and shoved the old one back in before I lost it > completely. When it hangs, does it freeze completely, or does the pointer respond to mouse movements? What happens when you run memtes86 (see www.memtest86.com)? My Dell is acting very similar to your computer, and it causes memtest86 to hang withing 10 seconds.
From: Trent SC on 6 Feb 2005 19:22 >> The installation went fine, but the computer hung during the installation >> of SP2 (the very first thing I did after XP was on) and while SP2 took >> fine once I'd rebooted, and Office 2000 went on fine, it's continued to >> hang, most often when I'm in My Computer and mousing over an icon in >> Tiles view format. And I didn't get a chance to go online before it >> hung, so I just took out the new hard drive and shoved the old one back >> in before I lost it completely. > > When it hangs, does it freeze completely, or does the pointer respond to > mouse movements? > > What happens when you run memtes86 (see www.memtest86.com)? > > My Dell is acting very similar to your computer, and it causes memtest86 > to hang withing 10 seconds. No, when it hangs it's utterly dead. The reset switch is the only way to get any response at all. I haven't run Memtest, but I have tried several others and they've all run clear.
From: Matt on 6 Feb 2005 19:26
Trent SC wrote: >>>>There's only an HSP56 modem on the machine (no NIC) and the machine has >>>>frozen with that both enabled and disabled in the BIOS. So it MUST be >>>>either PSU, CPU or motherboard. >>> >>>I can't think of a PSU problem that would abruptly cause the machine to >>>freeze. If the fans are running and the disks are turning, the PSU is >>>okay. That leaves CPU or motherboard. >> >>How do you say the PSU can't cause lockups? >> >>>Has the machine ever been subject to power surges or overheating? >>> >>>The last time I had a CPU get sick, it produced exactly this kind of >>>mystery freeze-up, along with mysterious segment violations in programs >>>that had never shown the slightest trace of bugs before. For a long >>>time I thought it was an OS problem or a peripheral problem. But the >>>CPU got worse and worse and finally it became obvious that the >>>microprocessor had failed. This happened originally because it had >>>overheated for an extended period (12 hours at a stretch on multiple >>>occasions) because of a CPU fan failure. In the beginning it was a real >>>mystery. >> >>I'm having symptoms similar to those of the OP, and have reason to suspect >>past CPU overheating and/or past power problems. Am leaning toward the P4 >>CPU as the cause. > > > I don't think it's a CPU issue in my situation, as the problem can sometimes > happen almost as soon as I've booted up, and I've checked the heatsink > immediately after a crash and it's been v cool. Note my use of the word "past". Can you test your CPU in another machine or swap in a good CPU? Also swap PSUs or at least check voltages with a digital voltmeter. ECS mobos are pretty junky. Check onboard capacitors for leaks or bulges. |