From: troop on
Hello,

When idle for some time, this system freezes--no ability to move the cursor, no input at
all, the screen is frozen. Everything works well otherwise and a reboot works well.
There is a standard intel i7 cpu, 3 x 1MB 1333 Patriot memory, a 550W power supply, 2
optical drives, 2 HDD, a sound card, wireless mouse and 8800 GTX gpu.

I have run memtest over 2 passes with no errors.

Perhaps the problem is the PS ? How do I test that ?

Might moving the memory sticks around accomplish anything ?

Can someone suggest another option ?

Thx,
From: mikea on
troop <troop(a)sas.com> wrote in <MPG.26cb6d8caf888cff98a5fc(a)news20.forteinc.com>:
> Hello,
>
> When idle for some time, this system freezes--no ability to move the cursor, no input at
> all, the screen is frozen. Everything works well otherwise and a reboot works well.
> There is a standard intel i7 cpu, 3 x 1MB 1333 Patriot memory, a 550W power supply, 2
> optical drives, 2 HDD, a sound card, wireless mouse and 8800 GTX gpu.
>
> I have run memtest over 2 passes with no errors.
>
> Perhaps the problem is the PS ? How do I test that ?
>
> Might moving the memory sticks around accomplish anything ?
>
> Can someone suggest another option ?

Check your BIOS and your Windows power settings. Is your system set up
to go into suspend, to power down the discs, or to otherwise reduce
power consumption after some period of inactivity? That *might* be at
least part of it.

--
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
mikea(a)mikea.ath.cx
Tired old sysadmin
From: troop on
In article <bql8j7-q8h1.ln1(a)mikea.ath.cx>, mikea(a)mikea.ath.cx says...
> troop <troop(a)sas.com> wrote in <MPG.26cb6d8caf888cff98a5fc(a)news20.forteinc.com>:
> > Hello,
> >
> > When idle for some time, this system freezes--no ability to move the cursor, no input at
> > all, the screen is frozen. Everything works well otherwise and a reboot works well.
> > There is a standard intel i7 cpu, 3 x 1MB 1333 Patriot memory, a 550W power supply, 2
> > optical drives, 2 HDD, a sound card, wireless mouse and 8800 GTX gpu.
> >
> > I have run memtest over 2 passes with no errors.
> >
> > Perhaps the problem is the PS ? How do I test that ?
> >
> > Might moving the memory sticks around accomplish anything ?
> >
> > Can someone suggest another option ?
>
> Check your BIOS and your Windows power settings. Is your system set up
> to go into suspend, to power down the discs, or to otherwise reduce
> power consumption after some period of inactivity? That *might* be at
> least part of it.
>
>
Power setting is "allways on". Bios speedstep and cstate are disabled .
From: Paul on
troop wrote:
> Hello,
>
> When idle for some time, this system freezes--no ability to move the cursor, no input at
> all, the screen is frozen. Everything works well otherwise and a reboot works well.
> There is a standard intel i7 cpu, 3 x 1MB 1333 Patriot memory, a 550W power supply, 2
> optical drives, 2 HDD, a sound card, wireless mouse and 8800 GTX gpu.
>
> I have run memtest over 2 passes with no errors.
>
> Perhaps the problem is the PS ? How do I test that ?
>
> Might moving the memory sticks around accomplish anything ?
>
> Can someone suggest another option ?
>
> Thx,

Have you tried testing with a second computer on your home network ?

Sometimes, OSes "die on the GUI", but remain running in other parts.
For example, using a second computer, use the "ping" command to send
test packets to the frozen computer.

192.168.1.1 192.168.1.2
Computer #1 Computer #2
"ping 192.168.1.2" (the frozen computer)

If the computer on the right, responds to the ping, then it could
be that just the display subsystem is frozen. I've had a Windows
system here, where the screen stopped responding, but it would
answer a "ping", and that means it isn't actually frozen.

You might want to check any logs on the computer afterwards, such
as Event Viewer, and see if anything significant was logged.

You can also try booting a Linux LiveCD, like Ubuntu (click the
"Try" button, rather than the "Install" button, when it boots).
If there are no signs of instability with Linux running, you
might assume there is a software problem with your WinXP install.

You can use a multimeter to test power supply output voltages.
But it is just as easy to take a spare power supply and swap it
in, and see if the symptoms change. (You have to be careful,
when using a multimeter, not to short the tips together while
making voltage measurements. I clip one test lead, onto an I/O
screw on the back of the computer, as my ground, and then use
the red test lead to probe for voltages. That way, the tips
of the probes can't short together.)

If it was my computer, I might also try a different video card.
Alternatives would be a PCI video card or a PCI Express video card,
the cheaper the better. I keep a PCI FX5200 here, when I suspect
there is a problem with my video slot, but using a too-old card
can mean there are no drivers for it. This card might still have
drivers for the latest OSes.

(A card for $30 - there is even a rebate offered, but it is Gigabyte
offering the rebate...)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125251

The symptoms here don't match yours, and these symptoms are more
obviously graphical in nature. But note that the 8800GTX is known
for contact problems between the GPU silicon die and the
rest of the video card. "Baking" was a way to solve the problem.
Of course, baking is unforgivably crude, as the people doing the
baking of their cards, have no temperature control to speak of
at all. At the factory, the solder profile is precisely controlled,
and "baking" is for when the video card no longer has a warranty
and you don't want to throw the card away. I've even heard of this
technique, being used on a laptop motherboard with a defective GPU.

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=185789&mpage=1

*******

Freezing problems are very hard to debug, so if you aren't successful
fixing it, don't feel bad. Many before you have tried and failed.

Paul
From: troop on
In article <i3sji5$1em$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, nospam(a)needed.com says...
> troop wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > When idle for some time, this system freezes--no ability to move the cursor, no input at
> > all, the screen is frozen. Everything works well otherwise and a reboot works well.
> > There is a standard intel i7 cpu, 3 x 1MB 1333 Patriot memory, a 550W power supply, 2
> > optical drives, 2 HDD, a sound card, wireless mouse and 8800 GTX gpu.
> >
> > I have run memtest over 2 passes with no errors.
> >
> > Perhaps the problem is the PS ? How do I test that ?
> >
> > Might moving the memory sticks around accomplish anything ?
> >
> > Can someone suggest another option ?
> >
> > Thx,
>
> Have you tried testing with a second computer on your home network ?
>
> Sometimes, OSes "die on the GUI", but remain running in other parts.
> For example, using a second computer, use the "ping" command to send
> test packets to the frozen computer.
>
> 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.2
> Computer #1 Computer #2
> "ping 192.168.1.2" (the frozen computer)
>
> If the computer on the right, responds to the ping, then it could
> be that just the display subsystem is frozen. I've had a Windows
> system here, where the screen stopped responding, but it would
> answer a "ping", and that means it isn't actually frozen.
>
> You might want to check any logs on the computer afterwards, such
> as Event Viewer, and see if anything significant was logged.
>
> You can also try booting a Linux LiveCD, like Ubuntu (click the
> "Try" button, rather than the "Install" button, when it boots).
> If there are no signs of instability with Linux running, you
> might assume there is a software problem with your WinXP install.
>
> You can use a multimeter to test power supply output voltages.
> But it is just as easy to take a spare power supply and swap it
> in, and see if the symptoms change. (You have to be careful,
> when using a multimeter, not to short the tips together while
> making voltage measurements. I clip one test lead, onto an I/O
> screw on the back of the computer, as my ground, and then use
> the red test lead to probe for voltages. That way, the tips
> of the probes can't short together.)
>
> If it was my computer, I might also try a different video card.
> Alternatives would be a PCI video card or a PCI Express video card,
> the cheaper the better. I keep a PCI FX5200 here, when I suspect
> there is a problem with my video slot, but using a too-old card
> can mean there are no drivers for it. This card might still have
> drivers for the latest OSes.
>
> (A card for $30 - there is even a rebate offered, but it is Gigabyte
> offering the rebate...)
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125251
>
> The symptoms here don't match yours, and these symptoms are more
> obviously graphical in nature. But note that the 8800GTX is known
> for contact problems between the GPU silicon die and the
> rest of the video card. "Baking" was a way to solve the problem.
> Of course, baking is unforgivably crude, as the people doing the
> baking of their cards, have no temperature control to speak of
> at all. At the factory, the solder profile is precisely controlled,
> and "baking" is for when the video card no longer has a warranty
> and you don't want to throw the card away. I've even heard of this
> technique, being used on a laptop motherboard with a defective GPU.
>
> http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=185789&mpage=1
>
> *******
>
> Freezing problems are very hard to debug, so if you aren't successful
> fixing it, don't feel bad. Many before you have tried and failed.
>
> Paul

Thank you.

I do not have a network, the windows logs do not issue a report for this symptom and I
will keep the Linux option in mind as well as the alternative ps and gpu.I had no power
saving selected in windows but had not disable speedstep; and I have reinstalled the
mouse drivers.I hope something there was the issue. Also the dramm voltage is a notch
above spec due to the mb not having the exact voltage available. I may try underclocking
it as well.
>