P4T-E lockup w/ 1.8 Ghz P4

[Jeffery Partridge]

I'm running a P4T-E w/ P4 1.8Ghz, XP Pro, latest BIOS. Lately, the system
will lock up and not restart. When power is applied, everything powers up,
but the m/b doesn't post. Sometimes it takes 2 days of powing on and off
before it restarts, but then the motherboard reports a clock speed issue
with the processor and says it's in safe mode. When I first received the
system, it did this and I though it was defective. However, after several
minutes of it being turned on, it finally startup and I didn't have any more
trouble like that until recently. I've been through several BIOS upgrades
as they came out in hopes of trying to keep it stable, but it still happens.
Could it be a bad processor? Or is it a motherboard issue? The temperature
never reports very high. I've even tried pulling the memory and all other
cards to see if it would post any alarms, but nothing.
Any suggestions?

 

[Stephan Grossklass]

I'm running a P4T-E w/ P4 1.8Ghz, XP Pro, latest BIOS. Lately, the system
will lock up and not restart. When power is applied, everything powers up,
but the m/b doesn't post. Sometimes it takes 2 days of powing on and off
before it restarts, but then the motherboard reports a clock speed issue
with the processor and says it's in safe mode. When I first received the
system, it did this and I though it was defective. However, after several
minutes of it being turned on, it finally startup and I didn't have any more
trouble like that until recently. I've been through several BIOS upgrades
as they came out in hopes of trying to keep it stable, but it still happens.
Could it be a bad processor? Or is it a motherboard issue? The temperature
never reports very high. I've even tried pulling the memory and all other
cards to see if it would post any alarms, but nothing.
Any suggestions?

Check for mounting issues like shorts due to standoffs in the wrong
places under the board.
Give the capacitors of the voltage regulator a close look - none of them
swollen or even showing signs of electrolyte on zop?
Try another (known good) power supply.

Stephan

 

[DaveW]

The symptoms sound like a motherboard with an intermitent fault.

 

[Jeffery Partridge]

Thanks. I had pulled the processor last night when it happened again, and
it never beeped to complain about it. I know it's time for a new
motherboard.

 

[Jeffery Partridge]

That's what I was thinking too.

The symptoms sound like a motherboard with an intermitent fault.