2 rigs, similar issues

CDsDontBurn · Nov 25, 2006, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

CDs, take a close look at the motherboards with a flashlight.

Are any of the capacitors bulged and/or leaking?

My older daughter just has a mobo go bad and it was doing a lot of the same things you're describing. I noticed about 3 capacitors that were bulged. That's NEVER a good sign. If any of them are so, you either need to replace the mobo or, if you know how to solder very well, AND can get a hold of new capacitors, it's not that difficult to replace them. I salvaged an ABIT BE6-II about year ago doing that.

But, do make sure the capacitors are all in good shape and no leaking at all.

i know about bad caps and all, but it never crossed my mind to check them. I'll check both boards when i get the chance, the MSI board being the easier of the two seeing as it is in the same house as me

.

CDsDontBurn · Nov 29, 2006, 03:42 AM

So i cracked open the Biostar machine to check the MoBo for bubbled/exploded caps. Well, none were found. The machine seems to be getting progressively worse as well. The games that were once stable no longer are, except for Warcraft III. That one still seems to work fine. And the problem seems to be spreading away from only games to windows based applications like WMP and PowerDVD.

In games what happens now is that the a game will load up, but once you go load your saved game, the game crashes and you get a windows error and it asks to send the error report. That happens mainly in Doom 3, which was working fine before. Freelancer works ok, but after about 20 or 30min of game play, the game just locks up entirely and have to reset the computer manually.

In windows, what happens there is that the computer will just lock up when you're playing a movie using WMP or PowerDVD, and the same is true when listening to music.

When i opened up the machine, i found that it had a USB 2.0 card, so i took it out to see if that was causing the issue, but it wasn't because all these things continued to occur despite the card not being installed.

Judas · Nov 29, 2006, 04:09 PM

Try this.... set the CPU speed to a very low mhz (as low as it'll allow) but changing the multiplier to a low value, then also change the memory timings to as loose as possible. Even if you can, set the memory to a lower memory frequency as well.

Next, if you have a motherboard with an option named PEG Link or similare, disable it.

Give those a whirl, only other thing left is to swap out video cards and or parts to see what is causing it.

CDsDontBurn · Nov 29, 2006, 04:13 PM

hmm.....alright. i'll give that a shot. but AFAICR, the frequency settings on that biostar board blue chicken chunks. I don't think the board allows for AGP/PCI lock which in some situations is required to avoid system instability...but you already knew that i guess

Judas · Nov 29, 2006, 04:31 PM

yeah.... you'll have to play with it and find out.

If you can't adjust the FSB without screwing up other clocks, just change the multiplier or find something i guess.

Usually if there are no option in the bios, there will be on the board.

I've never owned or gotten my hands on a biostar yet. Guess they just aren't that popular here.

But in either case, try and limit the possible problems, be it heat, speed, timings... whatever.

And make sure you run a memtest86 test for at least 4 hours.

CDsDontBurn · Nov 29, 2006, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

yeah.... you'll have to play with it and find out.

If you can't adjust the FSB without screwing up other clocks, just change the multiplier or find something i guess.

Usually if there are no option in the bios, there will be on the board.

I've never owned or gotten my hands on a biostar yet. Guess they just aren't that popular here.

But in either case, try and limit the possible problems, be it heat, speed, timings... whatever.

And make sure you run a memtest86 test for at least 4 hours.

yea, i'll try all that. but at the default timings on everything (which is what it's set to right now), i already had memtest86 and prime95 run overnight and both did not fail.

Judas · Nov 30, 2006, 12:42 AM

ok.. wtf...

The only thing i'd then go for last is a full hardrive wipe and reinstall...

CDsDontBurn · Nov 30, 2006, 01:06 AM

lol, that machine has been reformatted so many times already. each time, the same things happen in games (and recently in windows like i said earlier in this thread), random crashes (to desktop or computer restarts), computer locks up, game keeps working but KB/mouse don't respond, etc.

I've already swapped out the ram like 3 different times, ran memtest86 overnight thinking it was the RAM but that came back w/o any errors. ran prime95 overnight, also no errors. looped PCmark04 for a few hours, also no errors.

ATM, what i'm thinking it could be is the MoBo, but that has no busted caps so i'm not sure. I'm not so sure it's a heat issue anymore because it has been cooler lately and it still happens (stuff started happening during summer, i thought it may have been heat related as the room the computer was in had no A/C). The only thing i can think of is the gfx card, but it was working fine in the last machine i had it in.

i'm going to upgrade the machine for sure, but it'll be a while before i can get to it. i have too much other stuff to take care of first before i can get the machine upgraded.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Nov 30, 2006, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

lol, that machine has been reformatted so many times already. each time, the same things happen in games (and recently in windows like i said earlier in this thread), random crashes (to desktop or computer restarts), computer locks up, game keeps working but KB/mouse don't respond, etc.

I've already swapped out the ram like 3 different times, ran memtest86 overnight thinking it was the RAM but that came back w/o any errors. ran prime95 overnight, also no errors. looped PCmark04 for a few hours, also no errors.

ATM, what i'm thinking it could be is the MoBo, but that has no busted caps so i'm not sure. I'm not so sure it's a heat issue anymore because it has been cooler lately and it still happens (stuff started happening during summer, i thought it may have been heat related as the room the computer was in had no A/C). The only thing i can think of is the gfx card, but it was working fine in the last machine i had it in.

i'm going to upgrade the machine for sure, but it'll be a while before i can get to it. i have too much other stuff to take care of first before i can get the machine upgraded.

Sometimes mobos just get tired and stressed out and don't work y'know. This may be one of those mysterious times

CDsDontBurn · Dec 1, 2006, 06:07 AM

yea, i'm starting to give up on this machine. I can still test out the gfx card, but that won't be until later when i have the extra parts available for it. until then, that machine has to be dealt with.

my sister's machine, i'm sure it just needs to be formatted. she doesn't want it formatted until i upgrade it for her, so until then, she'll have to deal w/her machine as well.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Dec 4, 2006, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

my sister's machine, i'm sure it just needs to be formatted. she doesn't want it formatted until i upgrade it for her, so until then, she'll have to deal w/her machine as well.

Exactly, can't help those who won't help themselves or who don't want to be helped

CDsDontBurn · Dec 6, 2006, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H3X4D3C1M4L

Exactly, can't help those who won't help themselves or who don't want to be helped

yea, so i'm not going to bother w/her until after i get her machine built anymore

but the other machine is getting progressively worse, and i still can't find what the issue is

. that machine will be much longer before i can get to upgrade that one.

ftd86 · Dec 10, 2006, 10:32 PM

I'm a little too lazy to look through everyone's replies, but have you checked for popped transistors on either of the MOBOs or GPUs? I had a few customers come into my shop with similiar problems.

CDsDontBurn · Dec 11, 2006, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ftd86

I'm a little too lazy to look through everyone's replies, but have you checked for popped transistors on either of the MOBOs or GPUs? I had a few customers come into my shop with similiar problems.

if you wouldn't be too lazy, you'd find the answer

CDsDontBurn · Jan 4, 2007, 08:33 PM

alright, i know it's been a while since i posted in this thread, but i've got an update.

the other day i took my sister's old video card (Radeon 8500) and put it in my friend's computer for testing purposes. I wanted to see if the machine would reboot or anything while playing a game or anything. Instead, what ended up happening is that after windows would detect that a different card has been installed in the machine, it would just restart. I found that really odd. Especially since the 8500 was working perfectly fine before.

Would that signify that it's something to do with the motherboard specifically?

Judas · Jan 4, 2007, 09:04 PM

sounds like something to do with the video card.....

CDsDontBurn · Jan 4, 2007, 10:20 PM

i'm thinking more along the lines of a faulty AGP slot. the 8500 i put in there was working perfectly fine in the previous machine. the 9200 that is presently in there locks up in games, when playing music, or when watching movies from the computer.

also, from time to time, the KB ps2 port is non-responsive forcing the computer to be manually restarted.

Judas · Jan 4, 2007, 10:46 PM

ok. yes then.. i 'd have to agree...

CDsDontBurn · Jan 4, 2007, 10:48 PM

it'll be a while before i can get to that machine in terms of upgrading it.

Nov 29, 2006, 03:42 AM	Thread Starter #32
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	Update So i cracked open the Biostar machine to check the MoBo for bubbled/exploded caps. Well, none were found. The machine seems to be getting progressively worse as well. The games that were once stable no longer are, except for Warcraft III. That one still seems to work fine. And the problem seems to be spreading away from only games to windows based applications like WMP and PowerDVD. In games what happens now is that the a game will load up, but once you go load your saved game, the game crashes and you get a windows error and it asks to send the error report. That happens mainly in Doom 3, which was working fine before. Freelancer works ok, but after about 20 or 30min of game play, the game just locks up entirely and have to reset the computer manually. In windows, what happens there is that the computer will just lock up when you're playing a movie using WMP or PowerDVD, and the same is true when listening to music. When i opened up the machine, i found that it had a USB 2.0 card, so i took it out to see if that was causing the issue, but it wasn't because all these things continued to occur despite the card not being installed. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Nov 29, 2006, 04:13 PM	Thread Starter #34
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	hmm.....alright. i'll give that a shot. but AFAICR, the frequency settings on that biostar board blue chicken chunks. I don't think the board allows for AGP/PCI lock which in some situations is required to avoid system instability...but you already knew that i guess __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Nov 30, 2006, 01:06 AM	Thread Starter #38
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	lol, that machine has been reformatted so many times already. each time, the same things happen in games (and recently in windows like i said earlier in this thread), random crashes (to desktop or computer restarts), computer locks up, game keeps working but KB/mouse don't respond, etc. I've already swapped out the ram like 3 different times, ran memtest86 overnight thinking it was the RAM but that came back w/o any errors. ran prime95 overnight, also no errors. looped PCmark04 for a few hours, also no errors. ATM, what i'm thinking it could be is the MoBo, but that has no busted caps so i'm not sure. I'm not so sure it's a heat issue anymore because it has been cooler lately and it still happens (stuff started happening during summer, i thought it may have been heat related as the room the computer was in had no A/C). The only thing i can think of is the gfx card, but it was working fine in the last machine i had it in. i'm going to upgrade the machine for sure, but it'll be a while before i can get to it. i have too much other stuff to take care of first before i can get the machine upgraded. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Dec 1, 2006, 06:07 AM	Thread Starter #40
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	yea, i'm starting to give up on this machine. I can still test out the gfx card, but that won't be until later when i have the extra parts available for it. until then, that machine has to be dealt with. my sister's machine, i'm sure it just needs to be formatted. she doesn't want it formatted until i upgrade it for her, so until then, she'll have to deal w/her machine as well. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Dec 10, 2006, 10:32 PM	#43
ftd86 HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 60 Rep Power: 0	I'm a little too lazy... I'm a little too lazy to look through everyone's replies, but have you checked for popped transistors on either of the MOBOs or GPUs? I had a few customers come into my shop with similiar problems.

Jan 4, 2007, 08:33 PM	Thread Starter #45
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	alright, i know it's been a while since i posted in this thread, but i've got an update. the other day i took my sister's old video card (Radeon 8500) and put it in my friend's computer for testing purposes. I wanted to see if the machine would reboot or anything while playing a game or anything. Instead, what ended up happening is that after windows would detect that a different card has been installed in the machine, it would just restart. I found that really odd. Especially since the 8500 was working perfectly fine before. Would that signify that it's something to do with the motherboard specifically? __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Jan 4, 2007, 10:20 PM	Thread Starter #47
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	i'm thinking more along the lines of a faulty AGP slot. the 8500 i put in there was working perfectly fine in the previous machine. the 9200 that is presently in there locks up in games, when playing music, or when watching movies from the computer. also, from time to time, the KB ps2 port is non-responsive forcing the computer to be manually restarted. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Jan 4, 2007, 10:48 PM	Thread Starter #49
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	it'll be a while before i can get to that machine in terms of upgrading it. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later