AARRGGHH! Please Help!

Hi there,

I'm really hoping someone can help me out with this because its driving me absolutely crazy!

There is definately something wrong with my machine, i'm not sure what it is but the main symptoms are as follows: 1) Hang on windows shut down screen, 2) Very slow/jerky windows loading bar, and whenever this occurs 3)freeze up of mouse and cursor when windows finally loads.

These problems don't occur all the time but are happening very often. At first i thought it was a harddrvie issue because problems began around the same time as my HD began making strange noises. However, i returned the drive and have been given a replacement and after comleting a totally fresh install on the new drive the same thing has started happening again. This is definately a hardwear or driver issue because there is simply nothing except the critical drivers so far so installed on this machine. I've uninstalled, reinstalled, and ensured i have the most up to date drivers for everything so this perhaps makes me think that it might be hardwear?

My setup is as follows:

580w Hiper TypeR PSU
Asus M2N32SLI Deluxe MoBo
Asus Nvidia 7900gs
AMD Athlon 64x2 4200+ psu
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music
320gb Seagate Barracuda

I hope some one has some idea of what might be up here, i'm desperate. If you think that actually it sounds more like a software issue then ill move the thread.

Thanks in advance

*edit* By the way, i had noticed a number of DCOM {BC866CF2-5486-41F7-B46B-9AA49CF3EBB1} errors in event viewer, but followed the fix listed here: http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t4126.html to solve. I have also diabled network access manager

 

All I can think of is it's either flakey RAM or a flakey MB. Run a RAM diagnostic to determine it's health. Personally, I've had fairly poor results with Asus motherboards, especially the SLI models. I work at a small independent PC store and we've had return tons of the newer Asus boards for extreme flakiness... BUT- this is just my personal experience. Maybe we have bad luck with Asus boards.
Anyway- if you have some extra RAM or are running 2+ sticks, try swapping around or running just one stick. Try reseting your BIOS to default settings...If you own or have access to another video card, try it. Remove your sound card and see how the PC responds... Run the RAM diag and post back.

hopperdave2000

 

Hi Dave, Thanks for the response.

I'm sorry, i should have mentioned, but before returning my other drive i ran MemTest over night and it found no problems. I have also already tried resetting the mother board back to default, also with no result. I am unable to swap out the graphics card as its the only one i own. I have also already tried pulling out the sound card but because the problems are intermittent its difficult to see if any action has an effect on it.

If you suspect the motherboard is the issue, is there any way (aside from swaping boards) of testing it?

Thanks again

 

Anyone have any suggestions on this please

 

I am leaning mobo too, but it couldn't hurt to try an sfc /scannow. I don't think that is your issue, though.

HOPPERDAVE.....You mentioned that you have been seeing a lot of problems with the SLI boards. Let me ask....What SLI boards have been proving to be pretty solid (I tried to PM you, but you have option off)?

 

Hi Walter,

i ran sfc scan and let it play through. As expected it didnt seem to fix anything. Since there's nothing really on this machine yet (new drive) i figured i'd go ahead and make a clean install from a different windows disk. Even after doing this the freezes after a jerky windows load bar still occur. This is really getting to me now, hopefully someone can help.

Thanks for the continued aid

 

System is not OC'd right? This is a fresh build or just the HDD is new?

You were asking how to know if it was the board specifically. The way I know is to rule out all of the other hardware. However, you could always do a physical inspection of the capacitors (somewhat likely if board is not new)....

A couple of long-shots.....
You could try to load optimal defaults in BIOS.
Are your temps good (system, cpu, gpu)?
Is HSF nice and secure?
Have you tried to go with on board graphics (if none, swap out vid card)?
Try booting with the minimum of hardware too.

 

I just re-read and realized that Hopperdave suggested some of the same things I told you already. What OS are you using? I will await further word from you before I try to think on this one again.

 

Hi again Walter,

My system is not Oc'd, it's a new HD with a clean install of XP Media Center. The HSF is fine (as fine as stock hsf can ever be!) and all temps are lovely and cool - under 25c. I dont have onboard graphics or sound so i cant remove the cards. Also this particular graphics card is the only PCI-e i have and so cant be swapped out either sorry. I've tried booting with different amounts of hardware too, but its hard to tell if its that which particularly solves the freezes because they happen intermitently.

I can predict when the freezes will happen on the basis of the windows load screen. If jerky i can bet that all will work until i press anything on the keyboard at which point it freezes. This has happened while transfering data to an external device, the transfer continued despite the freeze as did the progression of the clock. Perhaps this is something to do specifically with my wireless mouse and keyboard? Not sure though, i've got the newest drivers for them and also tried rolled back drivers to no effect.

This is really annoying because it being intermittent its so hard to pin down specifically whats causing it.

Thanks for you continuing help though

 

Is this a new build though? What OS are you using? With the freeze, mouse freezes and keyboard freezes right?

I had exact same problem with a P4 system a while back (Willamette core). Very, very hard to trace the problem (yes, I know, very, very, very frustrating too), but it was the cpu. It is more rare that the cpu is the culprit unless it has some good mileage on it. Another thing with a failing cpu is a tendency to fail to boot intermittently with amber light remaining on monitor. Also, you could see wild fluctuations intermittently with the reported FSB and MHz of cpu, if you have software to detect it (I used Intel CPU ID at that time....I know you have AMD...) It would be far more likely that it is the motherboard. They typically can fail at any point including a fair amount of DOA's. The only thing I would say is to limit the hardware as best you can (maybe borrow from a friend or coworker a pci-e or pci vid card even). Maybe even swapping out anything you could including PSU. Double check drivers....sometimes it is a bit more tricky if you are using Vista or XP64. You could also try another OS such as Linux....Maybe a bootable cd like Knoppix and run it for a while. If problem never happens with Linux, then it may be said to be a Windows/driver/software/ect, issue.

 

No, no. Not a new build, just a new HD and install - the operating system is Xp media center.

Ill try a ps/2 keyboard for a while and see how it goes.

Any more suggestions?

Thanks again

 

Yeah....read my last post again please....I edited it and deleted the PS/2 part before you responded to it. That's not the problem.

 

As I said above our posts corssed, but you may not be alerted that there is a new post so I will add this one to be sure. Please re-read post 314...like I say, I changed it.

If you can't get another vid card, I don't think that is a big deal. My opinion is that it is not the vid card. Since this is not a new build, what triggered this problem? In other words, what did you do differently up until the point of the problem? From what you say I gather all you did was change the HDD.

Just my opinion, but I think the things to be looking out for are:
1. Mobo
2. PSU
3. Depending on what you say to post 314, cpu is a possibility

I want to lean against Windows/drivers/software issues at the moment because the system was working well for some time. If it was a new build, then I would lean towards that a bit. I think for now you may want to swap a PSU if you can. See if you can check the status of your reported cpu's fsb and MHz from time to time to see if there are any wild fluctuations of reported frequency. Maybe try loading the cpu and then checking it shortly after time to time. Like I say, though, mobo failure is pretty common and can cause those symptoms and is more likely the culprit.

 

Hi again, sorry about the confusion

Nothing in particular seemed to trigger the problem. The system was built in Nov and then at start of Feb i start getting failed shutdowns and freezes. These errors coincided with increased noise from the HD and for this reason i returned it.

I have already changed operating sytems. Originally i used XP home, and as i suspected my copy of windows as a possible cause i have recently changed on this install to a new copy of media center (32bit).

With regard to monitoring the cpu, can you recommend any particular software? The stock software that came with the board is Pc Probe II, do you think this will suffice?

I'll take your advice and keep an eye on things. Swapping hardware is going to be tricky though, i dont know anyone with spares that will fit my sytem. All of my components are well within warranty (having only been bought last year) and so it may actually be easier to simply return them. Still a pain though, but if i can narrow it down then that will take the sting out of it a bit.

Thanks again, really appreciate it

 

Yeah, no problem. CPU-z is a great program to monitor cpu. I think MG has it, but to get the most updated version try this.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

In my opinion, I think if you can rule out the PSU, then it would be a good bet that the mobo could be bad....

 

Okay, i've got that installed and i'll keep an eye on it. Meanwhile i'll see what i can do about a PSU and look into getting the arrangements for getting an RMA from Asus.

 

I would say to do your best in narrowing it down and then if nothing else, the board seems pretty logical. It may be good to give it a bit more time to see what develops and maybe someone else may have a thought or two. Keep us apprised as to any developments. I would hate for you to do an RMA only for it to not solve issue. Sometimes that is the way it goes I guess....

 

Thanks Walter,

something interesting to note: since changing to a wired keyboard last night, the problem hasnt occurred again (YET!). I googled and found a couple of threads where people have had exactly the same problem with freeze after key press. Unfortunately none of them seemed to have come to a resolution (or establish the keyboard as the cause for that matter)

I've contacted microsoft and am waiting for a response. I'm going to start a new thread to see if anyone else on MG has come across this problem with wireless MS keyboards. If anything just to try and rule out the keyboard as the cause. I'd hate to go sending back some major piece of hardware when actually it was being caused by the keyboard!

 

MOBO. Have exactly the same problems when I upgrade a cpu on one of my mobo. Dont know what the exact cause is, might be bios, but probably MB/CPU conflict. My solution to buy a new and better MOBO when i can.

 

Interesting.....When I suggested it I thought about it for about 2 minutes and then I thought there is no way a keyboard would cause those symptoms so I deleted it. I hope you got it solved, but I am thinking how the keyboard could cause those symptoms. I hope it works well for you though. Keep us posted please.

 

I had the same thing recommended to me, but it was not the keybaord, see previous. However, c'est le vie, cant fault the logic.