Is My Memory Or Motherboard Bad?

I'll strongly consider getting an alternate psu for my system other than the one I chose before. If you care to take a look at my closest and best retail store maybe you could recommend one from there. Newegg usually charges me way too much for shipping so I shy away from them. My local pc shop is here:

www.canadacomputers.com
[Check the psu section if you think you can recommend something from there under $90]

It's up to you... You don't have to... I could start a new thread on it.

I'm actually testing one of the new OVERPRICED sticks I purchased along with the two PATRIOT sdrams. I left the second new overpriced stick out because it's cl2, and that would mean I'd have to change all the timings and such. I wanted them all to match so I left all three in like so:

SLOT 1: 512MB PATRIOT DIMM
SLOT 2: 256MB OVERPRICED DIMM - LOL :-D
SLOT 3: 512MB PATRIOT DIMM

So far so good no errors. I'll be taking it back to the store tomorrow afternoon if I can for my refund, than ordering both 256mb sticks off ebay.


By the way here's the RESULTS of the second slot 1, and 3 test I had going with the two 512MB PATRIOT sticks:

http://i43.tinypic.com/x1zho6.jpg

Remember that one gave us a single error before? Well run for over 57 hours and no errors so yah I'd have to agree with you earlier about it possibly being a psu hiccup. Or my girlfriend using her blow dryer in the washroom next to where I left the pc testing in the basement below causing some sort of a drop in electricity creating the single error we saw. It seems you were right! [Hopefully you were]
Maybe it was a hiccup, or maybe the ram just got burned in now... I don't know. Your guess is better than mine. So well I'll be installing xp tomorrow evening or the following day as soon as I get a chance to see how it runs, if it restarts, which it shouldn't, and report back on those via 4-1 drivers if they don't appear to be the correct version you told me to have.

Thank you so much again!

 

Update:

Testing out the ram with the new stick generated errors... Lowering the timing from 6 to 5 did absolutely nothing but generate thousands of more errors. I'll be taking this ram back later today after work. Maybe it needs to be installed in pairs.

 

To be clear, the ram slots were populated as follows:

Slot 1 & 3 Patriot 512Mb and slot 2 256Mb ram you bought recently (CL3)

Well I am not surprised it failed memtest since you populated slot 2. You could have put a Patriot 256Mb CL3 module in slot 2 for this test and I strongly believe that it still would have failed also. You also tried to tighten the ram timings from 6 to 5 and this would not have helped. You should have loosened the timings to 7 or 8 but your board does not allow this.

You just have to accept that you will only be able to use 2 ram slots with the size of ram you are using. On that basis don't bother buying the ones on ebay, IMO they will fail with the Patriots. It has nothing to do with them being installed in pairs.

As regards PSU (which is another lenghty subject) in short an example will illustrate what I said earlier about the psu requirements for your system.

PSU 1 ATX v1.3 (i think)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194062

The dets are --> you will need to click on the pic with the psu stats

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Image...ENERMAX PEG365P-VE(FC)N 350W ATX Power Supply

The 3.3v is 32A, 5v is 32A, Combined 3.3 & 5v 185w max and 12v 26A. Max wattage 350w. This has a single 12v rail.

PSU 2 ATX v2.2 --> your Antec EA500

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007

The dets are --> you will need to click on the pic with the psu stats

The 3.3v is 24A, 5v is 24A, Combined 3.3 & 5v 130w max and the 12v has 2 rails of 22A. Max wattage 408w

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Image...Compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

Now as I explained to you earlier. Newer psu are designed with more 12v amperage since newer mobo use that more for cpu and vga.

Your board uses predominantly 3.3v & 5v to power cpu, ram, etc, even vga.
The vga does have a 12v connector to supplement the power requirements since the agp slot can only supply about 50w or so (from memory).

Other uses for 12v are fans, opticals and HDDs.

Now in my opinion the EA500 which has a combined 3.3v & 5v wattage of 130w is too low, but on paper it's a 500w (well 408w psu) and the Enermax is only 360w total.

However, the Enermax would be better suited to your older system as it has a higher combined 3.3 & 5v wattage. I hope that I have explained it well enough and here is a final example

PSU 3 ATX v2.01

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159044

The dets are --> you will need to click on the pic with the psu stats

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Image...OOLMAX CA-450 450W ATX v2.01 Power Supply

The 3.3v is 30A, 5v is 45A, Combined 3.3 & 5v 250w max and 12v 22A. Max wattage 423w. This has a single 12v rail.

It is a shame that Newegg do not have the slightly bigger brother of the Enermax 360w psu above (with a little more juice on the 3.3 & 5v combined) that would have fitted the bill to a T. Good make cheap as chips.

Good Luck

 

Very interting information... Thanks for enlightening me. That's too bad you could t find the Enermax with a bit more juice. I believe my video card manual states that it should be installed in a system with a minimum 400 watt psu installed.

As for the Coolmax model, I found one with more wattage locally. Would this suffice?

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_442&item_id=028789

on a side note I took back the ram and got a refund for it. When I took it back I set the biod to SPD for my two Patriot modules like I had it before I messed around with the timings on the new ram I took back. And out of curiousity I left my Patriot modules testing with Memtest while I went to work. I came back and noticed two errors on the ram during beginning tests. That was odd because I never got that many errors before. So I shut off the pc inhopes that maybe the CMOS didn't save the SPD setting adequately. Turned the pc back on, checked to see that SPD was indeed set, and left Memtest running. Woke up after eleven hours with no errors. It could have been the fact that i'm running the tests in the basement and someone used the blow dryer, washing machine or something. I dunno...

Does messing with memory timings ruin ram? I hope not! Lol!

 

Well the manufacturer's are setting an arbitrary level of 400w. In my book the Enermax 360w would likely work fine but it is a 70% efficient psu and after the 1 year or so would become even less efficient, hence why I said 420w psu or better 480w.

I could not see the complete specs of the psu to which you linked and that site does not provide the comprehensive info (psu sticker dets) that Newegg provide. However, I was using the Coolmax model as an illustration, I personally have never heard of that make and would consequently could not recommend them.

It is possible that the change may have confused the bios. Personally, I would (and always do) set ram timings manually (amongst other things ie cpu vcore, ram voltage, etc).

I would suggest that you change the setting from SPD to Manual and enter 3-3-3-6, then reboot to bios twice. Then if you feel the need run memtest again.

If your mains power supply is dirty (fluctuations) this could conceivably create ram issues. Also, are you using a surge protector on the pc and if so is it a 2000 Joules model.

Perhaps you could start a new thread regarding the psu and maybe someone has a better idea (maybe a supplier that has the right psu for your set up).

Good Luck

 

Just installed Xp on the machine... Going ahead trying to test it out in a running environment!

Hey you know I never checked but my motherboard manual does state that it comes with a disc containing via 4-1 drivers. I didn't know that because I never saw that page. And since I bought the motherboard used and it didn't bring any discs, I thought it would work out the box. I never imagined motherboards needed extra software to run. My motherboard manual states these as being included on a disc:

- via 4-1 drivers
- via bus master pci IDE driver
- c-media pci audio driver and application
- intel ldcm 6.10.0.17 administrator setup
- intel ldcm 6.10.0.17 client setup
- asus bios flash utility for ldcm 6.10.0.17
- asus pc probe v2.14.04
- asus update v3.28.04
- Microsoft directx 8.0a driver
- pc chillin 2000 v7.0
- adobe acrobat reader v5.0
- install cyberpunk video and audio application
- asus screen saver
- show motherboard information
- browse support cd
- read me
- exit

like I said I went on vias site and downloaded the only old 4-1 via driver I could find which was v4.43. It installed a bunch of drivers all in one shot. I wasn't able to determine what was what since I don't know much about pcs at this level. I left them all at default and selected "normal" installation. It seemed to have installed some sort of agp driver among other things. You were telling me something about the agp driver being needed/not needed? I'm using windows xp home service pack 3 if you must know. I hope you could possibly go on the via site, download what they call the "retro" via 4-1 v4.43 driver and see what the driver notes are because they list them all when you launch the exe setup file. And I'd like to know if I messed up my new os install by installing uneeded portions of the 4-1 via drivers.

Thanks so much!



P.s
I know some of the applications and stuff listed as being on my motherboards cd are not needed at all. But would you happen to know if there's something there listed that is really important for me to install apart from the via 4-1 drivers I've already installed?

 

I think that v4.43 was the certified version of v4.42.

Well generally what I do is after installing the chipset driver (4-1) I install (upgrade) DirectX (9.0c the latest that will work on your board) and then upgrade the default XP video drivers. To check the DirectX version -->start-->run, then type dxdiag

This is what the 4-1 installs

http://downloads.viaarena.com/installguides/DriverInstallationGuide.htm

If you go to device manager and expand the HD section the 3rd entry will say Via Busmater.

From looking at the other stuff, most of it is self explanatory as regards what it relates to. The only thing I do not know about are the 2 intel entries. Search and see what they are for but I think they can be ignored.

Good Luck

 

Thanks a lot for the information...

The third entry was already there right after I installed Windows Xp. It said it was a "Microsoft" driver when I checked the properties information. But there was no Via entry in my registry when I checked out the HKLM>Software section. Now that I have installed the Via 4-1 drivers I can see a Via section in my registry. The third entry in the HDD section of device manager still says it's a "Microsoft" driver even after the Via 4-1 driver install. I would have thought it would change the driver info to "Via".

Well I installed Xp, the Via 4-1 drivers on recommended settings, and went right ahead with my ATI AIW X800XT video card drivers install. I did not stop and check my Direct X version before installing my video card drivers like you just recommended. I hope that wasn't a critical mistake...

Other than that I've just been going ahead installing various software I need. Hoping that my system stays stable.

 

I think it may not have changed because you are using SP3. I have never gone above SP2 (saw no need as I found SP3 breaks things, SP1 still my preferred choice) and on the one pc I have with it, it shows. The Via 4-1 will upgrade were required or necessary. Also remember that this info is years out of date and my grey cells just do not remember all the ins and outs, if you see what I mean.

Well some progs require a minimum version of Dx to run. I have just checked on XP Pro SP3 which is installed on my Virtual Machine and it shows the DirectX version as 9.0c, am guessing XP SP3 Home (if that is what your are using) would also be similar.

Good Luck

 

Hey Risk how are you doing? Hope your weekends going well...

I've been running this machine for a couple of days now off, and on because of my work schedule. & I've got bad news... My pc seems to still be freezing, and the root cause my memory. Or at least that's what I used to think before I started this thread! It turns out you and I may have solved an issue that was totally unrelated to my pc freezing experiences on this new build. Well it could have been related in a small way, but nevertheless we figured out that errors wouldn't occur with ram modules placed in a specific slot order. So than what is the problem now you ask?

Well I was using my pc as usual, and than bam the screen froze when I accepted a file on Windows Live Messenger. The graphics for the incoming file [2D Moving Graphics Icon] in my conversation window went a little blurry. & a few seconds later the screen went BLANK/BLACK. I used to have this problem before I started this thread. Every time I'd accept a file on Windows Live Messenger the screen would freeze in what seemed to be an attempt to reboot. But I shouldn't have ever used the term "reboot" because the pc never actually "restarted". It would just freeze, or the screen would go blank.

So I figured hell no this couldn't be my memory anymore since you and I fixed the slot position issues that caused errors in the past. & I thought to myself how could it be that this apparent freezing happens right when I accept a file in messenger? Strange huh? Well it than occurred to me that this didn't just happen in the past while accepting files in messenger but also during normal pc use. Sure the ram slot positions could have been the cause of more freezes and such before. But with that problem now solved it left something else as the root cause.

So I decided to manually reboot, and try to cause this issue again. I took out the second ram stick for the sake of knowing that the pc NEVER has Memtest errors EVER with one ram module installed [This I'm sure with hundreds of passes, and weeks of testing]. I than went on messenger and told a friend to send me a file so I could cause the freezing again quickly. Instead of waiting on the pc to do so by itself during normal use, or some other time on messenger. Sure enough when he did the pc froze,a and the screen went blank. Now maybe because I had just one stick of ram installed the pc was slow enough for me to see an ERROR message that flashed before the freezing occurred. This indeed was an error message I saw last year when trouble shooting but I totally forgot about it.

The error came from my video card's Catalyst Control Center and read:

"VPU Recover has reset your graphics accelerator as it was no longer responding to graphics driver commands", which then asks me if I want to send an error report to ATI.

After doing some research on the web I've noticed that quite a lot of people have this same issue, but I haven't even been close to finding a solution to this problem. Would you happen to know what I can do to solve this issue Risk? As the only issue left now with this pc is this video card problem. Everyone else on the web seems to agree the problem isn't with the cards, yet something else. As I said before the memory positioning was probably the cause of other errors in the past. But this video card problem is now the only lying issue.


Thanks


:wave


P.s.
I've tried the latest drivers for my vid card on a fresh install of XP Home SP3, and it still generates the same problem. I also don't know if my graphics aperture size in my Bios would be the problem, but just for the record it's set at 128MB. If you must look at my other Bios settings check this video again:

http://www.youtube.com/v/UqcHPJPnSWI&hl
[Note: Ignore the ram timings as that was solved long ago and set to 3.3.3.6 manually]

 

Unfortunately, I have never used ATI vga cards.

I did briefly search for this issue and as you say seems a common enough problem.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=e...ogle+Search&meta=&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

The thread below seems to offer some possible routes to try

http://www.hardware-one.com/forum/read_msg.php?forumid=video&tid=1154

Skivvywaver, in the post below, says to disable VPU recover. Which is a solution offered in the thread above also and which worked.

http://forums.techguy.org/games/371693-reset-graphics-accelerator.html

Is the fan on the ATI spinning correctly? If so try disabling the VPU recover and test again with Messenger to see if it freezes.

The AGP Aperture in the bios would not be it, since too many people are / were having this problem on different set ups (+no one mentioned this as a solution). However, you could try AGP Aperture down to 64Mb.

I could not see AGP Fastwrites in your bios otherwise I would have suggested disabling that.

From what I can gather, there does not appear to be a general uniform solution to this problem apart from using another make of vga (as this card appears to have problems / conflict with many mobo chipsets).

The only other thing that springs to mind (as a longer shot) is some form of IRQ conflict between you NIC and the vga. To this end I note that you have PCI slots 1, 2 & 3 filled (with 4 & 5 blank).

I do not know what you have in those slots but usually the vga shares and IRQ with slot 1 (slot 1 should never be used). If the NIC is in slot 1 then move it to slot 4 and see whether this solves the problem.

Prior to moving pci cards look in device manager and select the irq view to see whether anything is sharing the vga IRQ (will usually be on IRQ 10 or 11).

I have nothing further to suggest as regards the ATI seizes I am afraid.

Good Luck

 

I tried that earlier myself and that didn't work for me. It actually made the pc screen go blank without the odd chance of seeing the "VPU Recover" error message from Catalyst Control Center.

I cleaned the video card heat sink with isopropyl alcohol, wiped the fan with Windex on a Q-Tip, and sprayed the heat sink with a can of compressed air the moment I bought the second hand video card. & it still looks clean as a whistle like the day I first popped it in the AGP slot. The fan spins like a charm no issues whatsoever.

I'm sorry I forgot to mention the "VPU Recover" error message when I started this thread. Though I'm sure the ram slot positioning had a lot to do with other freezes, and crashes. Since we of course saw for ourselves that I encountered hundreds of Memtest errors when the ram was in slot 1/2 position, and none [odd one/two possibly caused by psu hiccups] when ram was in slot 1/3 position. So correcting the ram slot order did eliminate part of the issue.

But like I said before it's odd but it happens RIGHT AWAY when I accept a file on Windows Live Messenger. I think it has something to do with the 2-Dimensional graphic icon messenger shows when you receive a file. Because the "progress" bar obviously uses the video card graphics, even though it's the smallest thing. The funny thing is I can watch Youtube videos without a problem. But don't quote me on that because it probably has happened here an there during my tests in the past year... I just don't remember since I've been testing this rig out off an on, and I've only written down certain notes on problems I've had during my build. So like I said before the screen won't just go blank, and the pc won't just freeze when I receive files. But it'll also do so at the odd time. I can't pinpoint what exactly I have done at the exact moment in the past that causes the issue to occur. Possible things I can recall consist of 3D gaming, accepting files on messenger, and just random web surfing. It just seems to happen when it wants to.

I believe i initially tried that out when I first built the rig last year, since 64MB was the default setting in the bios. & I can remember running the pc without touching the aperture size back than because I didn't know what it was used for. I only changed it to 128MB recently when I optimized my bios as seen in the video I made in this thread.

Ya, it's not there.

http://user.img.todaoferta.uol.com.br/E/T/2W/8L7GE9/bigPhoto_0.jpg

My AGP, and Pci slot order is actually this:

1. AIW X800 XT [AGP]
2. Empty Slot [Pci]
3. Creative Soundblaster Sound Card [Pci]
4. D-Link NIC [Pci]
5. 4 Port Usb [Pci]
6. Empty Slot [Pci]

I never place anything in Pci slot 1 so the video card fan gets adequate air room to function properly.

I should have checked that but didn't I actually went along with another solution you gave me. You told me to read one of those thread links and go through what was posted. I did my own research before and tried a lot of things that didn't work. But there was a specific post on that link [thank heavens for you RISK] that caught my attention. & it read like this:

Ok now first let me start by saying thank you Risk for showing me that thread. Your one hell of a guy I don't know how to ever repay you for your time, generosity, and good samaritan like way of life. Secondly, thank you Lanselot, whomever you are! This actually worked Risk!!!!!! After a year of off and on building/trouble shooting this pc build I've got this puppy running like a champ. I can accept files by the plenty without having the pc freeze, or the screen go blank. I can bet that it won't happen at the odd time either since it's not happening with Windows Messenger, which was always the case right away! The thing I'd like to know now is what the hell did Lanselot tell everyone to do? I really don't understand why I had to take those steps in order to avoid the freezing/blank screen/vpu recover issue. Please let me know what all of those steps were for and what they mean Risk.

For the record he said to update the "VIA CPU to AGP2.0/3.0Controller" driver in Device Manager. Mine didn't say that but said "VIA CPU to AGP Controller" instead... & it doesn't even appear in the Device Manager/System Devices list anymore. This was the outcome:

http://i44.tinypic.com/2hxsf9d.jpg

I don't know what his steps did, why they were necessary, but would like to know because they worked. & I'd like to know if those steps are ones I could have done without risking some sort of instability in other areas. I thank you once again Risk for your effortless mind. You sir are a hero in my book, and own a chapter I'll always remember with this rig. Now I'm off to use this pc for a full week before I post in here again with the end results. If I get no system freezes, reboots, crashes, vpu recover errors, and the like than I'm in the clear and all problems would be solved. Because I myself am sure that if a problem is to occur it will in a short time like it has in the past. I'm on the pc right now without problems and I'm so happy!

Please let me know any info on those steps Lanselot posted Risk, I'm very interested in what that did.


Thanks

:wave

 

My understanding is that Lanselot got you to change the AGP controller driver from the one that was installed to the default/stock one ie PCI standard PCI to PCI bridge. It seems this is a generic AGP controller driver.

I am not sure if XP SP3 is the culprit (i suspect it is) but SP3 does some funny things with Via chipset mobos hence my preference for using SP1 only. I do not know whether this was the case with you and unfortunately, I cannot tell you any more than I have above.

One things for sure you did solve a small puzzle for me & which did not strike me when I first read Lanselot's post prior to linking it in this thread.

I had been looking to replace my mother's motherboard but did not want to go for a full re-install & avoid using XP's repair utility.

This interesting article Making the Windows install platform-agnostic referred to changing the AGP controller driver. In it you will see the change to the AGP controller driver but I looked to find it and could not do what the article said. Of course they had omitted to say look in Device Manager>System Devices.

I can seem to be able to link to that article but if you search in Google for

Making the Windows install platform-agnostic the first entry that you see. (MG is even blanking out the name, not sure why)

Well looks like it's all sorted for now from what you are saying.

Good Luck

 

EDIT: sorry the Google search should be for

How to install a new motherboard without reinstalling Windows

which the article is also entitled and then it's the 1st entry

 

Interesting article, I read it... I didn't know you could go as far as changing the entire motherboard in a system and still not having to reformat. That's good information to know Risk.

For the record I remember you mentioning something about IRQ's. & that a video card should never share an IRQ, or something to that extent. I'm not familiar with IRQ's but will do some research on what they are right now. I'm assuming it's the order in which a motherboard transfers communications with any device in an onboard agp/pci slot.

Nevertheless I took a snapshot of my IRQ list for you to review. Let me know if you notice anything funny here:

http://i42.tinypic.com/295btk6.jpg

Look at my bios video on youtube IF the case arises where something needs to be changed there. Because there are IRQ options in my bios, which I believe I left at default.

I haven't noticed any issues recently on this pc. Just some odd things I could probably ignore. Such as:

- One system lockup while viewing memory SPD information in EVEREST. That was probably caused by some extensive pc use I was doing before that. & the fact that I'm not even using SPD detect in the bios anymore. Could have been a psu hiccup in the ram. Whatever the case could have been it hasn't happened again. & I'll still be testing this pc out for the following week or more to make sure everything runs well.

- Flash videos look a bit wavy if you know what I mean... Like some sort of slowing down. I don't recall if it was like that before but can bet it wasn't. Could just be that I need to update my flash version. Because videos I download to my pc in mpeg, flv, or other formats play fine with no form of slowdown.

- Heard a buzz twice while watching youtube videos on my headphones. Tried to rewind to the same part/time where it caused the buzz but it didn't happen again. Could have just been some sort of isolated issue. I've had other soundcards do similar things before. But I just can't remember this one doing that which is weird.

Other than that those seem to be the smallest issues that I've encountered so far. Let me know how it goes when you change her motherboard. I've never known anyone that did that and would like to know if you succeed.




Thanks

 

UPDATE:

Forgot to mention that buzz, and that one freeze could really have just been this generic psu. I've used this psu to build another pc before and did notice that any rare/infrequent lockup went away when replacing the psu with a better one. I'm using this psu to test the system out right now. I'm still looking for a good one as per your previous advice. So I think I'll ignore the ODD freeze if it happens once a week or every two weeks. Than that would really probably be the psu. & I bet it'd go away when changing it. Because when I had real issues with this pc it was locking up various times a day, especially accepting files on msn, and gaming.

 

I think you got too many devices sharing the same IRQ (9) and this will lead to issues in the long run as they are/will be sharing the same resources at the same time.

There is a thumbnail of my IRQs below and as you will note they are more spaced out. My system has VGA, wifi card, SB Audigy and I have enabled both the SATA raid (onboard) controllers (although I am only using the Promise controller).

Usually the SB Audigy (which I see you have) sits on either IRQ 3 or 5. SB cards like an IRQ all of their own or else they do funny things.

My wifi card, Ralink Turbo wireless, shares an IRQ with the Via SATA Raid controller but the latter is not used.

Question first: What is the Via VT6421 Raid Controller. I am guessing that it is onboard or is that a PCI add-on card?

In the first instance, I would suggest that you go into the bios and disable COM ports 1 & 2. These are for serial devices and I am sure that you will not miss them. Also when in the bios disable the parallel port also.

Reboot the system and see how the IRQs look. If no change then remove all the pci cards from the system leaving only vga card. Reboot system and see how it looks (take screenshots).

Then insert the SB Audigy and see if it uses a different IRQ. As I said above it's natural home is 3 or 5 (although it can sit on 9 also sometimes).

See how you fare with that and we can look at it again.

Was the cpu. I replaced all the original parts and the system runs as before with no issues.

Good Luck

 

Yes it's a pci add-on card I use to update the firmware on one of my electronic devices at home. None of my computers have sata connectors so I purchased it mainly to use the sata cable connection capability.

http://www.bernstein.spacequadrat.de/via/130322008254_2.jpg

I'll try this right now and post back... I knew it was a strange thing to have so many components using IRQ 9. Thanks! :major

 

I disabled com ports 1, 2, and the parallel port. But when I got back into XP the IRQ is still the same for all components using IRQ 9. The disabled ports I are no longer listed in the IRQ list at all, and those IRQ numbers haven't been reassigned to anything. They simply don't appear in the list.

Can't I just reinstall XP instead now that I've disabled all of those ports in my bios? It would take me 20 mins or so to reinstall XP, versus the time disconnecting/reconnecting pci devices on my motherboard. Or is it vital to physically install each hardware one at at time for it to be assigned to a proper IRQ? I'll do what you said if I absolutely have to. I just thought that might be a shortcut.

Thanks

 

UPDATE:

Geez I just had two darn reboots on this pc today! One in the morning before I even messed with the IRQ settings for those ports in my bios, and the other just about ten minutes ago. With that and the pc freeze I had last night when I was checking system info in Everest makes me believe that I'm still having some sort of hardware problems. I solved the mysterious VPU RECOVER issue that caused my screen to go blank, and seem like a pc freeze. Which was an age old problem I had... But these reboots are getting out of hand and it's something else.

During my Memtest trials I can remember that I would get single/couple errors while having my Patriot sdram modules in slots 1, and 3 [Which is the way I have them positioned right now]. & I did one test for over 60 hours in slot 2, and 4 position where I never once got an error. I'm going to switch the ram over to 2, and 4 position and see if this rebooting continues. AND I THOUGHT I WAS IN THE CLEAR! I didn't leave them in 2, and 4 position because of all the stuff I read on how the further you keep your ram from the cpu can cause issues. Maybe those are just rumours. :cry

 

Lets see if we can get to the bottom of this somehow.

The IRQ bunching would certainly be at the top of my (very short) list in respect of freezes.

What I would suggest is as follows

Re install XP but prior to doing so do the following.

1. Ensure that the board jumpers as regards CPU speed / Multiplier are correct (P.17 of manual)

2. In bios make sure serial port 1 & 2 are disabled. Also parallel port.

3. P.55 Multi-sectors Transfer --> set to disabled

4. P55 SMART Monitoring --> set to disabled

5. P64. Onboard PCI audio Enable --> set to disabled

6. P66 Onboard AC97 Modem Controller & Audio Controller--> set to disabled

7. P77 Boot Virus Detection --> set to disabled

When you reinstall XP after the above, do so with only the vga card ONLY. Leave the rest of the pci cards out (you can use both ram modules)

Once XP installs then make a note of IRQs and then install only the SB Audigy card and put that in slot 3.

Take a snapshot of the IRQs at that point and post back.

OTHER POINTS TO NOTE.

1. Look at P28 in your manual and it will give you an idea of standard IRQ (interrupt requests). Lower down on that page you will see what pci slots share irq with other pci slots or onboard devices.

2. One thing that I missed in your bios video the first time around was the 3.3v rail. It was showing as 3.68v. Ram for your set up runs on 3.3v. I would consider this voltage (3.68v) to be too high personally (>10%). Perhaps this high voltage rail is adding difficulty to the problem and causing some memtest errors. [EDIT] come to think of it your pci slots and agp also run on 3.3v.

I think that your rig may have several concurrent problems and that we have only ironed out some. Bios setting and psu being the final 2 that I can see.

Let me know as regards the re-install.

Good Luck

 

I'll do everything you said tonight as soon as I get home from work. I hope you accept my apologies for these problems taking so long to solve. I really wish my rig wasn't so troublesome. Worst case scenario I'll have to disassemble the entire pc and try to auction it off on eBay. Which is something I really DON'T want to do. I've never been defeated by a machine in my life.

Hmm where did you see this exactly? I'm not home right now but I can guess it's something you saw on the hardware temps section of the bios? In any case is there anyway for me to alter the incoming voltage or would that be a permanent flow that can cannot be changed coming from the power supply?

Keep in mind I only use this psu to build computers. It's actually four years old, and I don't have a spare one to test with. But I'd be willing to buy one if we can't air these problems out soon.


Thanks Risk!

 

Manual P.75, then go to your bios and check (and also look on bios video, I am pretty sure it read 3.68v). On your psu it's a permanent flow as you say and cannot be changed.

I would not rush out for a new psu as yet. Lets try and get the IRQ bunching resolved first.

Also make sure that the HD is formatted as Digitalocksmith said. I would also zero fill the drive and run a diagnostics scan prior to the format just to be on the safe side. Its a small size drive and should not take long at all.

Let us know

Good Luck

 

PS. After you have re-installed XP do not change the vga controller driver as suggested by Lanselot.

One last thing, I note that your board has 6 pci slots below the agp slot. The description given above of what was (or not) in each slot is missing something. Can you fill in the blank as you only have detailed 5 pci slots.

Should be an extra entry excluding the small AMR slot at the bottom.

Good Luck

 

I've done a scan on the drive before using Maxtor diagnostics tools with a boot cd when I started this thread and everything Checked out fine... I also wrote zeros to the drive about 5 times with another tool I can't remember the name of that same day.

My mistake... Sorry... My AGP, and Pci slot order is actually this:

1. AIW X800 XT [AGP]
2. Empty Slot [Pci]
3. Creative Soundblaster Sound Card [Pci]
4. D-Link NIC [Pci]
5. 4 Port Usb [Pci]
6. Sata card [Pci]
7. Empty Slot [Pci]

Sorry about that I didn't see the sata card on the back of my Pc when I looked before. The connector on the card is so small I didn't notice it. That's the real list. I'm on my way home now and will do everything you asked me to today.


Thanks

 

Ok quick question... I've been home for a while now doing everything you asked me to. So far I've moved my two sdram modules into slots 2 & 4 [which was known to have never given me any errors/although that was based off one 60 hour Memtest], took all cards out except for VGA, tweaked the bios as per your instructions, and am now writing zeros to my hdd even though I had done that before long ago. And well that's where the question lies. You told mr to do the following in my bios:

Well in order to disable both my manual said I had to change the "Type" setting for my hdd from "Auto" to "User Type HDD". When I did that a new option popped up on the same hdd bios section called "Translation Method". The method it was set to was "LBA". I left it like that... Was that ok? Because you can also choose from "LBA, Large, Normal, Match Partition Table, and Manual". See page 54 of my manual for more details.


My hdd just finished writing zeros... I'm installing Xp now and will report back with an IRQ screenshot shortly.

 

Alright well I managed to do everything you said.

1. Disconnect all pci cards and only leave my VGA connected
2. Write zeros to my hdd
3. Install Windows XP SP3
4. Install Via 4-1 Drivers
5. Install VGA drivers
6. Take a photo of my IRQ list:

http://i44.tinypic.com/e0pfa1.jpg

7. Connect my sound card to a pci slot [I left the first pci slot empty as usual, and connected the sound card to the second pci slot]
8. Install sound card drivers
9. Take a photo of my IRQ list yet again:

http://i40.tinypic.com/2ccni85.jpg

I hope this helps, and can get us somewhere... I'm off to bed, back to work tomorrow.


Thank You
:wave



P.s.
I noticed that I have "Plug & Play O/S" set to "NO" when I was tweaking my bios earlier on with your instructions. I also noticed that my motherboard manual seems to refer to interrupts of some sort on page 77. That's the page that carries information about "Plug & Play O/S". I hope that has nothing to do with my IRQ... Please read that page for more info if you think that's a possibility.

 

Odd.

Manual P.67 refers to manual IRQ assignment. So try the following as a test.

1. Pull out the SB Audigy and reboot to bios go. Go to the above page 'PCI Configuration' and change slot 3 IRQ from Auto to 5.

2. Shut down the system, replace the SB Audigy in the third pci slot.

Power up the system and check the IRQs again.

Well I have had no such IRQ issues with Via based chipset boards using "Plug & Play O/S" set to "NO" in the bios. IRQ are assigned properly.

Maybe worthwhile testing this later but you would need to do a re-install, so that is why I say to change the IRQ settings in bios first which would not have this requirement.

Good Luck

PS. I did some quick searching as regards IRQ bunching but I found nothing meaningful.

There was, however, one post in the thread below by Mr Steveo that suggests it might be normal. Unfortunately, I do not know enough about it to comment either way. BTW, the only reason I have noted Mr Steveo's post is because he wrote a detailed bios set up for one of my boards.

http://www.abxzone.com/forums/f172/irq_not_less_equal-65112.html

If setting the IRQs manually or changing Plug & Play O/S to Yes in the bios does not work, it may be worthwhile starting a new thread.

 

Thanks for the continued support Risk. I'll try that when I get home from work and post the results. I've got some good news though... A coworker brought me his spare power supply today, so we can eliminate the psu. I'm also going to keep the Patriot ram in slots 2, & 4 as I placed them last night. I'll keep them this way as I do some more testing since that ram placement never created errors on a 60 hour Memtest. But I will ultimately pull them off completely and insert the two old sticks of sdram I have. The couple I used during my Memtest's (one 64mb stick, and one 128mb stick). If problems persist after that, than I guess we can rule out psu and ram issues.

That'll also signify the time I give up, take the Pc apart and sell components on eBay to make my money back. I may consider taking it to a well known Pc shop if I can get a good deal.


Thanks

 

Well I tried that out and all of the irqs stayed the SAME. I'm going to try reinstalling windows with "plug and play os" set to enabled in my bios. I think I tried that before though and think it probably won't solve anything but we'll see. After that I'll install this psu my coworker lent me, and just give it a round of a try.

 

Update:

Before reinstalling xp I went ahead and installed my nic and than installed messenger. It turns out that I the Pc screen still goes blank (vpu recover style), so I guess we can ultimately rule that out as a driver issue. And the only fix is what Lanselot posted about changing the "via CPU to agp controller" driver, to the "standard pci to pci bridge". I mention this because the ram is also in a new slot order (eg: slots 2, and 4 which never gave memtest errors). Well I'm going to use the Pc for a bit to see if a freeze occurs now that the driver issue is fixed. If it does than we can rule out ram slot position. And well i will than test reinstalling xp with "plug and play os" enabled in my bios as I mentioned before. After that if I get more problems the new psu will go in.

 

Well give the new psu a try and see what happens.

My preference initially would be to try and re-install XP with Plug & Play O/S set to YES in bios and see whether this alleviates the IRQ bunching (I don't think you can just that change that field after the os has been installed).

I am not sure about this IRQ bunching issue. Usually, when several devices bunch on an IRQ conflicts can and do occur which would lead to freezes. So just testing out the old set up with the new might just be a waste of time, if you see what I mean.

Good Luck

PS. I am not even sure that enabling plug and play in the bios may work (perhaps Mr Steveo was right)

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...m&id=20100412202052906&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

 

Whislt on a quiet lunch break, I decided to run a quick search on acpi sets irqs.

An interesting post emerged which talks about ACPI and IRQ allocation and is entitled XP won't let me change IRQ numbers!

http://www.techspot.com/vb/all/windows/t-4116-XP-wont-let-me-change-IRQ-numbers.html

This thread confirms Mr Steveo's original comment but possibly offers a solution.

In essence as you will discover, the bulk of the thread deals with IRQ bunching. The 3rd post by Phantasm66 (on page 1) is the relevant one. Later on in the same thread on page 2 read the post by metalbass who equally had all his PCI cards on IRQ9 and whose problem was solved by Phantasm66's solution.

I followed Phantasm66's instructions and looked for the Standard PC driver on my XP set up but I had to tweak his parameters slightly, as follows

step 10. Check button > Install from a specific location --> NEXT
step 11. Check button > Don't Search, I will choose the driver to install --> NEXT

and then you will see Standard PC listed

This does look like promising info and worth a test.

What I would suggest you do is as follows.

1. Change the psu to new one
2. Check in bios that all the voltages are up to spec.
3. In the bios I guess change the Slot 3 PCI IRQ back to Auto (from 5)
4. Install XP, then follow Phantasm66's instructions

Do not bother with the 4-1 driver or the vga driver. Also don't bother applying Lanselot's solution as the object at this stage is to confirm whether or not the IRQ bunching remains.

Prior to installing any PCI cards check the ATI's IRQ.

5. Then install the SB Audigy and see whether it has been allocated a different IRQ to 9. I would still recommend PCI slot 3 for the Audigy.

If the sound card has been allocated a different IRQ to 9, then try to install the NIC and place that in PCI slot 5.

I have not chosen the above PCI slots at random but on the basis that they will not conflict. So if you have success with the Audigy install ensure that the NIC in slot 5 (for clarity I am counting down the PCI slots from the agp slot and exclude the agp slot).

Good Luck

 

OK thanks, I'll try that out... But before doing so I have [and still am] testing out the system with ram in slots 2 and 4 [which never gave me Memtest errors]. I'm trying to finally eliminate ram slot positioning as the problem cause of my pc freezes/reboots. So far I haven't experienced any at ALL. By the way I can confirm that using LANSELOT's method of changing the "VIA CPU To AGP Controller" driver to "Pci To Pci Bridge, does create slow fps rates while watching streaming videos online. I tested that theory before and after updating the driver. I can clearly see that the video playing when the driver isn't updated shows flickering to some extent as if the internet is slow delivering the video feed, but I know it isn't the internet. Sure using his method to update the driver does stop "VPU Recover" errors from occurring [which makes the monitor screen blank out as if the pc turned off but the monitor was still on]. But in the end I'm thinking that I just need the correct video card driver. I have an "All In Wonder X800 XT" video card. & the drivers I have are the second latest. As you know sometimes the latest drivers aren't exactly the best to use. I bought this video card used, so it unfortunately came without the original driver disc. If I can somehow get my hands on the original drivers at the time of it's release that would be nice to test them. I think I'll google around on some old driver sites.


Thanks

 

EDIT:

Oh and I did the wrong thing a few posts back when you asked me to fiddle around with my sound card by taking it out and changing some IRQ settings in the bios. You told me to put it in the third pci slot, and I thought I did. I counted the agp as a slot by accident sorry. I now see what you mean as per your descriptive post above. Thanks for the clarification and sorry about that. :wave

BTW is there a need to reset any of the following settings back to what they were when I try your new steps of settings "PLUG AND PLAY OS" to YES?

[These were the settings you asked me to play around with before]

 

I am purely guessing that by changing as per Lanselot suggestion, it is moving the data feed from the agp bus (northbridge) to the pci bus (southbridge) the latter running slower.

From what I have read it does not make a difference. pesonally, I would set it to NO.

You can leave those as is (apart from item 3 which you said was problematic). The rest of them are just disabling some of the onboard stuff which you do not need (eg Audio controller). Boot virus detection and Smart Monitoring can be re-enabled later if you should so wish. I do not enable those 2 myself on my bioses.

Let me know whether that solution leads to a different allocation of IRQs.

The other reason to try the solution suggested by Phantasm66 is that if a more even IRQ distribution can be achieved then perhaps the ATI can be made to work properly as regards the frame rate (ie not applying Lanselot). If you see what I mean.

Good Luck

 

Hi Superstar

Forgive me.. I jumped to the end of the thread after the first page, so I may be totally off track but I'm short on time and just wanted to quickly share something with you in case it will help.

My husband had the same issue when he tried to install two new sticks of ram (also to perfect specifications). After a lot of headache and trial and error... we figured it out. It was related to his graphic card.

Here's what we did:
take out the graphics card
boot with one ram stick
if this works, install the second ram stick and boot again
if this works, reinstall the graphics card and boot again.

That did the trick for us.

I hope this helps. Good Luck!

~MG~

 

Quick question you didn't answer... I guess you missed it.... Well in order to disable both of the hdd options you asked me to in my bios as per the list in the previous post which you said not to change back, my manual said I had to change the "Type" setting for my hdd from "Auto" to "User Type HDD". When I did that a new option popped up on the same hdd bios section called "Translation Method". The method it was set to was "LBA". I left it like that... Was that ok? Because you can also choose from "LBA, Large, Normal, Match Partition Table, and Manual". See page 54 of my manual for more details.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is what's the best translation method for ide drives? "LBA, Large, Normal, Match Partition Table, and Manual"? I currently have a test 20Gb drive, which I will later on be replacing with a 500GB Western Digital drive once I get this pc working. Oh and funny thing no reboots yet... May have been the slot ram positions. Let's hope so! & yes the 500GB should work as the newer hdd's have their own onboard bios, and win xp sp1 corrects the low grade motherboard bios limitation on larger drives. I want to set the translation method in a way where I never need to change it to anything else when changing drives.


Thanks

 

Ok so I was limited on time and did the following. I did not change the psu... But I did take out all pci cards except for vga, and enabled "PLUG AND PLAY O/S", than I reinstalled XP. It turns out that the IRQ bunching still persisted after that with all agp/pci cards on IRQ 9 still.

I than decided to try something else this time as well. After installing the Via 4-1 drivers I looked up the release date of my "AIW X800 XT" vga card on wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-in-Wonder#Lineup

My vga card was released in Sep of 2004. So I went on oldapps.com, and found the closest ATI Catalyst driver around that date. I downloaded version 5.6 which was released on the 10 June, 2005. I tried to see if using an older driver would correct the "VPU Recover" blank screen error, instead of using LANSELOTS suggestion to use the "Pci to Pci Bridge" driver. The result was bad as it did the same thing as the latest up to date driver! Instead of making the screen go blank when I accept files on msn, and on random moments, it made the screen go fuzzy with colors.

Anyways in the end I had also messed with the bios settings and set everything back prior to you telling me to mess with these settings:

Though I did leave serial ports 1, 2, and parellel port disabled. I also left onboard Pci audio/modem to disabled as per your instrustions, added YES to PLUG AND PLAY O/S as I mentioned before, and decided to select YES to
SHADOW VIDEO BIOS. I tried a COMBINATION of all of those settings and it doesn't seem to change/make a difference.

As far as I'm concerned I havent experienced any freezes or reboots like I did before for almost half a year since I've been building this pc. The pc has run steady. THE only freezing is the blanking of my video card when I don't do LANSELOTS method to change the AGP driver. Once that's updated to LANSELOTS method I never get those type of blank screens.

The good news is as you know I've also had the ram in slots 2, and 4 while my live system is up for the first time and I haven't experienced any REBOOTS at all!!!! :-D

I'm starting to think that my REBOOTING issue is now solved. I'll know within a few days now that ram is in these positions, and that LANSELOTS method is taking care of the VPU RECOVER screen disappearing act. So if I don't get a system reboot by the end of the week my system should be fine and the ram positions would have fixed that mess. That would than leave the only lying issue which is the VPU RECOVER error. & that means it's a driver issue!!! I can also confirm that after trying out all of these new methods and still having IRQ bunching my fps is still bad during online video usage when I use the PCI TO PCI BRIDGE method that LANSELOT noted. If I use the Via 4-1 before changing to PCI TO PCI my fps is FINE with no lags.


I'm a few days away from throwing in the towel. I can't take it past the end of this week. This is too much trouble to go through. Hopefully I solved the reboots with the new ram positions, and all that's left is finding the correct driver, or the issue as to why my video card causes specific hangs. Seriously if I fixed the ram issue there will be no errors by the end of the week. That's if I'm lucky!


Thanks

 

LBA

Well XP SP1 and above meets the criteria for 48bit LBA but the motherboard bios must also have that requirement (ie be 48bit enabled) otherwise drives greater >137GB will not be fully detected. Unless, of course, you were to use a pci ATA / SATA add-on card.

For clarity (as you do not state), you applied the Standard PC tweak as per Phantasm66's directions?

Unclear. So you apply the Via 4-1 then change to pci to pci and fps is fine. Does that mean that the low fps were evident when you changed to pci to pci without having 1st applied the Via 4-1?

Must admit I am suffering pc diagnosis fatigue too. Sometimes it does get like that. I had a laptop which drove me nuts once ...but that as they say is another story.

Fingers crossed that it will work. I have exhausted any useful info that I could personally contribute.

Good Luck

 

I'm sorry, but I didn't apply Phantasm66's method. I was a tually tying some other stuff out as I mentioned. Though I will attempt to leave all bios settings as you recommended, and try his method out this afternoon if you suggest I do so. Though I have yet to experience a Pc freeze/reboot. It seems to me as if the adequate ram positioning fixed that issue. If I can go a couple days or more without encountering a problem, I'll know for sure.

When I install Xp and I don't use any 4-1 drivers or Lanselots method video fps is fine. When I go ahead and install the Via 4-1 drivers thereafter the fps is still fine. But when I use Lanselots method of using the "Pci to pci bridge" driver, my fps goes very slow with lags, and flickering on videos [normal screen use is fine]. This slow fps occurs regardless if I've installed the Via 4-1 drivers before updating to "Pci to pci bridge" or not.

And I truely appriciate your help. As you've noticed I've done most everything you've asked me to do including my own small experiments. Though I never strayed away from this thread and changed hardware/settings without letting you know. Because something like that can throw us way off. I'm just hoping as I said before, that the new ram positions solved the freezes/reboots once and for all. Than I can go ahead and worry about the VGA card working properly. I really don't want to give up believe me. I've been tackling this Pc for a year off and on since I first bought the parts. I never really went into it hardcore like now because I was busy months ago. But nows a different story I'm giving everything I've got. You went above and beyond the call of duty. I owe you more than just a thank you.

P.s.
Here's an image of the generic psu label my coworker lent me:
[Let me know if it's that bad]
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/7475/1337powerge2.jpg

 

I don't know. I proposed that as a solution to unbunching the IRQs. But if you can get stability now, then later on when you install more pci cards and you start to get issues, at least you will know at what point the problems begin. If you see what I mean.

I take it that you are testing the vga card with just the NIC, or do you have other pci cards installed.

Much the same specs as your current psu. I personally have never heard of Safe Power, so cannot recommend.

If you try it out have a look at the voltage rails in the bios. Come to think of it did you check the voltages in the bios for the psu you are currently using and was the 3.3v rail ok.

Good Luck

 

I'm testing with just the VGA, Soundcard, and NIC. The pc will experience the vpu recover issues, and other reboot/freezing related issues with even just the simplest thing as the Soundcard and VGA only. [I'm speaking about the vpu issue/freezes/reboots in the past... So far I haven't experienced a freeze or reboot. The ram positioning seems to have fixed that but I'm still testing to be sure.

3.3v is still as you saw it in the youtube video on my psu. Haven't tried my coworkers psu yet.

 

Good news Risk... It's been days without a reboot/freeze! The ram positioning seems to have ultimately fixed that!!!! I would have never known to try slots 2 and 4 Risk thanks!

Now all I have left is this vpu recover error/screen goes blank or freezes the pc when I don't use the standard pci to pci bridge driver. I can't use that standard driver anyways because even though it remedies the video card freezes/blank screens, it slows the fps down on videos/and streamed videos...

Now that I'm on a role I can't give up now. So I guess we can also rule out the psu since the ram positioning seems to be working now?

 

To an extent perhaps. If the current psu is putting out 3.68v or so on the 3.3v rail then to me personally that is unsatisfactory. If I am not mistaken, ram on your system runs at 3.3v.

The only 2 possible solutions I can think of are:
1. Change the vga to another one eg Nvidia (Geforce 4, 4200 perhaps)
2. Try to unbunch the IRQs and see if that alleviates the conflict / freeze. Perhaps it may be worth trying out Phantasm66's solution.

Good Luck

 

It could just be the video card. A lot of people seem to be having issues with the X800 XT.

http://www.tech-forums.net/computer/topic/show/21039

I would try another card but the only spare I have is in one of my custom cased computers. It would take HOURS [11 or more], just to take it out and put it back in. The case is so custom built it's a mission to go in there to take anything out. I may consider buying a different card if I can't find a solution soon.

 

Still going strong almost a week now without a freeze/reboot due to ram positioning. Slot 2, and 4 work like a charm!!

But boy do I need a spare agp card!!b & not just anyone... I need a good one.

 

I am guessing that you are looking for a cheapy and not a new card.

For your system I would go for a GF4 Ti4200 (64 or 128Mb), or perhaps an MX400. Otherwise, if you want a better card then 6600 or 6800. Of the two latter models, some will require a 12v molex connection and then psu specs come into play (which would not be the case with the Ti4200). ebay would seem the best place to start.

I am not sure if your ATI is just a video card or whether it has capture facililties if the latter is required then you have a harder job finding something appropriate.

Good Luck

 

That's why I'm trying so hard to get the right drivers for this X800 XT I have. It has capture capabilities and that's something I need badly. Still no system freezes or reboots due to ram. I'm going to insert all of my other pci cards now and see if that makes any difference. Hopefully not... I'm sure it won't freeze after this. Hey after doing some research I found a section in my bios called "escd". Doesn't that have to do with irqs too? I was thinking of inserting all of my pci cards at once, setting escd to yes, and than rebooting. Do you think irq bunching would be corrected with that? Because I would than reinstall xp right after selecting escd.

 

I had a look through the bios but could not locate that item. I am not sure I know enough about it to comment but I do not think escd has to do with IRQs.

Makes things more difficult. What you would have needed is a Leadtek A250 MyVivo (GF4 Ti4200) with video in/out ie capture. Good card I have one.

The only test I would be tempted to do is to insert all the pci cards, apply Lanselot and then test the system out to see if it's stable with no freezes or conflicts. No point in looking for an ATI solution otherwise.

Good Luck