STOP (blue screen error) Win XP does not load

Ram test still running. Is there a CD Rom Drive Tester in boot out there?

 

Hmm, can't think of any - either it works 100% or it's faulty. Data transfer depends on 3 basic factors; source(CD/DVD drive, web server), connections/transport(phys. connex, internet connex., etc.) and destination(good hard drive).

If you use several CDs and hit the same errors, and you've checked and reseated the drives, given the dest. drive a full format, then it's likely to be the source drive at fault.

 

1.)The Mem test is on test 9.. So far its over 50 MILLION errors found... LOL
2.) It's a IDE HD
3.) No Floppy Drive

What does 7 passes mean? Do it 7 times?

 

To understand the drive simply reads and writes. It does boot, it does eject, it does run programs, it does NOT seem to copy well. So I can agree with you however, would bad ram support the reason there not copying files correctly or at all or is RAM a another issue alone?
BTW Thanks for all your help

 

50 million errors - STOP NOW!

Start at #6a here.

 

Hi, Superlost6.

I think you can safely assume that there may be a problem with your random access memory...how's that for the understatement of the year?

EDIT: I think satrow will most likely agree.

 

I stand corrected.. Its over 81 MILLION Now!

 

Ok as stated I stopped test... I open BIOS and it says...

System MEM 640KB
Exstended Mem 1013760 KB

is that correct for a 1 G ram

 

Ok, you say start at repair 6a.. 6a says run two more test starting in the AM tomorrow then a test 2hrs after its warm.. I have no problem doing that. At what point do I stop each test? after 100,000 errors?

Should I do anything between now and then?

I did reseat the ram just now.. So 1 slot is on motherbord and one is seated in a slot.. How do we tell what one is bad?

 

It ain't gonna count unless the Guiness people are there from the beginning to verify it

Ok, make it from 6b then?

At this point, all we're doing is trying to rule in or out 1 stick and 1 slot. To be usable the laptop needs 1 good stick in 1 good slot.

 

Ok, I took out ram from slot.. looks dust free, put it in nice and tight and started a new test. Test ran the address's fast (the errors came up FASTER) over 10 thousand errors in less then 1 min..

I then took out chip (the only one that can come out) leaving the one thats connected to motherboard. Same deal, finds errors QUICK and LOTS of them...

is this starting to sound like the Mother board?

 

Yes

Can you enter the BIOS (there should be a prompt with a key combo to press displayed briefly on boot up) and set the BIOS to defaults?

 

I just looked. Yes F9 set to defult then I F10 to save changes...

 

I have a stupid question.. :yum Why does PartedMagic run so good on system like there were no "Serious" hardware issues??

 

Ok, do that - sometimes the BIOS gets buggy and uses bad settings, then test the onboard RAM again.

 

ok, I cross my fingers:confused

 

Guess: it uses only a very restricted set of possible hardware settings, it only needs real, low-lvl access to a very few devices and needs to use a very small amount of RAM to do so.

 

Take your shoes off too

 

I took my shoes off 3 days ago... Started the MEM test.. I have both Ram chips in.. It's on test 5 with 60 thousand errors all ready...


btw, in Bios..

System MEM 640KB
Exstended Mem 1013760 KB

is that correct for a 1 G ram

 

That reads about right for 1GB of RAM.

 

32 Million errors found so far on test 8

 

Disconnect it from the power, remove the battery and hard drive, then take it out the back and shoot it.

EDIT: don't forget to remove the CD/DVD drive and contents first they might be useful on another machine.

 

Were do I download the file to shoot it?

 

I just ordered General Tos Chicken. I will rub this sauce on the motherboard. Mr Wang Wang's General Tos Chicken cleans out anything!

 

There used to be a little program that fired 'bullet holes' into the screen each time you clicked the mouse - if you could load Windows, it might relieve a little stress

As I read it now, your laptop motherboard has a 512MB of RAM fixed to it - this RAM (or a related 'board component) appears to be faulty = the 'board's a write off. If you could find the same machine that works but has (for example) a broken screen and you have the knowledge/confidence to do the equivalent of a heart/lung transplant (it's not really that difficult, a few tools and a good tear-down manual, magnifier and a steady hand) - you could do the swap inside an hour.

But - it's a Gateway, not really to a 'good' make - you might end up with similar problems inside a month or two.

Save the sauce to spread on your boyfriend/girlfriend/random volunteer

 

I'm still wondering how this machine might run from a live Linux environment - might be worth burning a distro, firing it up just to see if this is indeed a HD/RAM/mobo problem, or some seriously funky other weirdness going on.

 

I remember that game.. WOW that goes way back to 95 "Desk Top Toys" was the program.. Good stuff

 

I'm open, I will try anything. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.. What to do? :drool

 

Post #10.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showpost.php?p=1617036&postcount=10

 

what one should I do? Mint, Puppy or Ubuntu?

 

I'm a big Mint fan - it's probably more akin to the usual Windows GUI. You can pretty much segue into it as a viable OS alternative easier than you can with other distros.

Just wanting to see what kind of behavior it exhibits.

 

downloading now

 

Are there any benefits in running Mint? Such as an ability to load Win XP from Mint easy with no errors? LOL

 

Hi, I see it is non removable memory causing the problems. That is not good.

It is funny that Parted Magic runs so well but I guess you are not really taxing the system with the small programs you ran on it.

Mint is a full service version of Linux. It will work much the same as the Parted Magic CD but will have many more programs available. Since you know it is a memory problem I guess anytime you tax the machine you will have issues. When you get Mint started up try playing a high resolution video and see if you have issues.

It might be interesting to try installing Mint on the HD if you decide you like it enough. (You can always reformat the drive if you still want to play with Windows installation again.) See if the stress of installing the OS causes the same problems you had with installing Windows.

 

I downloaded Mint & Ubuntu tried to burn to CD and got 90% done and there was errors and copy stopped. Retried 2 times. Downloaded from designers site..

 

It could be your burner doesn't like your new discs. I find when burning a disc to near capacity there is a much better chance of a bad burn. (a 699mb download to a 700mb disc is very near capacity) I've never had problems with burning CDs but have had problems with DVDs.

You could try infrarecorder see if it works better for you. Looks like the same basic guide for burning as imgburn. (You would be using the Mint ISO not pmagic)

****
Does that laptop give the option of booting from USB thumb drive? That could be an option if you have continued trouble with the CD burning.

 

I agree the 699 program on a 700 CD as anything else I burn is fine. In all fairness to the problem, I feel it's obvious that the motherboard RAM stick is bad (via the RAM test).

As far as I know, I can't unsolder the ram from the board and replace it can I? If the RAM is bad on the MB then need to replace the entire MB correct?

It's my brothers unit, he says fix it or keep it. I think I'll buy a mb as I can get one new for $65 I have nothing in it so $65 it works and I give it back to him on Fathers day or $65 and it don't work and I'll eat $65 of his food on Fathers day.. Its win win

Thanks to all who helped out. I had fun,
thanks
Superlost

 

Ok, here is something I looked into however I don't trust sales people..

I asked a RAM sales Co. if I could buy the Motherboard w/512 chip of Ram in it.. They said "We only Sell Ram" They asked why I need the MB, I tell them the 512 chip is bad.. They say no need to replace the Motherboard as I could simply buy the 1 Gig chip and put it in the "Removable" slot.. They said it would bypass the (unremoveable) BAD Ram chip.

I asked him would he bundle that for me in writing w/ a money back guarantee.. He simply laughed. I was serious. He said "trust me putting a 1 gig chip in will work" He said simply disregard the MB 512 chip...

Any thoughts??? :confused

 

I can't say from experience but that sounds wrong. Think about it, the reason you are stuck is that no matter how you configure the RAM in the laptop you are having problems. It is because it is always using the onboard RAM whether you have a module in the extra slot or not. (I seriously doubt that both the onboard and slotted chip are bad. RAM doesn't go bad that easily. It is the onboard RAM that is always testing bad.)

Perhaps there is some way that a connection on the board can become damaged and all onboard RAM does not receive power and isn't recognized; but that is the only way it could be disregarded. My non-electrician point of view.

Edit: By his logic there would be no reason to have an expansion slot. If putting memory in the slot turns off the onboard memory, why even have onboard memory?

 

I think if the RAM went bad on the MB it's not only the Ram, I'll bet a chocolate covered Krispy Kream the Mothernboard went bad with it..

 

But would you bet a raspberry filled? :drool

 

Sorry, daddy aint givin up on da raspberry filled:wave

 

I'm simply going to give this back to him.. However, there is one little issue that is bugging me. If the Moutherboard is bad, then nothing would work correct? Much less run partitionmagic as well as it does

 

It is true the motherboard is not bad IMO. The onboard RAM is bad and there just aren't any good options other than replace the board, and on an older laptop it may not be worth the time and trouble.

I'm not familiar with memtest86 but both Caliban and satrow both use it and are familiar with the results. It seems the number of errors you are seeing is off the charts. So I don't think there is any point in looking for a different software to test the RAM. I don't even know if having onboard RAM replaced is an option but it is most likely cost prohibitive.

I just don't see any good options. It is frustrating that bad RAM can trash a laptop but I suppose that is why they don't do onboard RAM anymore.

****
You might still be able to burn a Linux ISO. Give infrarecorder a shot, it only costs the price of a CD.

Parted Magic has firefox. You could use the laptop to surf the web if nothing else.

 

This is true, It's not dead it's simply disabled and possibly eligible for 64% disability. So not all is a loss!

 

I found this in another Forum.. Thought you would get a kick out of it..

Glitch Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:20 pm
I used an exacto knife to carefully cut the memory chip legs on one side then just bent the chip over till the other side broke off. I then used the exacto knife to finish breaking off the legs I cut. Did all 8 chips this way and put the computer back together. Runs fine. Just ordered a 1 GB memory chip to replace the 256 MB in the expansion slot. Didnt desolder a thing. Works great.

 

Ha ha! :-D

When I was ready to cut my losses that sounds exactly like something I would try. I'm copying and pasting that to my save folder for future reference. You never know 'til you try it yourself--then I'll be able to say--Naw, tried that and it didn't work or worked a treat!

Now, let me google Glitch--he sounds like an innovative guy--maybe he has some more tips...

 

I knew you would like that.. I actually found several people who did it in different fourms..

 

That reads like a real hack - saves money too

 

Might even use the old Freon trick before doing the cutting. Spray Freon (or any modern freezing medium) on the suspect chips - if the symptoms change, you know you've found the culprit(s).