A7N8x Deluxe random freeze problem

[Hans Kuhn]

Hi,

My computer freezes at random times, no response from computer and
video display goes off. It happens a few seconds to a few minutes from
boot, or it can happen after using the computer for hours. It happens
while in Windows, DOS (boot floppy) or even while I'm in the BIOS...
It can happen 4-5 times in a row and then work fine for hours...
really annoying!

specs:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon 2800+
1 Gig Crucial PC2700 (2x512 in dual channel)
Nvidia 4200
120 Gig WD SATA HD
CD writer and DVD drive on secondary IDE
Qtec 400watt PSU

already checked:
Heat - not heat related, I've monitored the temps and everything is
fine, plus it sometimes happens just a few seconds from boot.

Any ideas?

TIA
Hans

 

[Ben Pope]

Hi,

My computer freezes at random times, no response from computer and
video display goes off. It happens a few seconds to a few minutes from
boot, or it can happen after using the computer for hours. It happens
while in Windows, DOS (boot floppy) or even while I'm in the BIOS...
It can happen 4-5 times in a row and then work fine for hours...
really annoying!

specs:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon 2800+
1 Gig Crucial PC2700 (2x512 in dual channel)
Nvidia 4200
120 Gig WD SATA HD
CD writer and DVD drive on secondary IDE
Qtec 400watt PSU

already checked:
Heat - not heat related, I've monitored the temps and everything is
fine, plus it sometimes happens just a few seconds from boot.

Any ideas?

Have you confirmed RAM stability using memtest86?

What OS and chipset drivers are you using?

Ben

 

[Gino Zantafio]

Similar behaviour here, only noticed under Win98SE (not intensively tested
in another OS environment). The video disappears for 1 or 2 seconds then
recovers.
You don't say if the computer hangs or just freezes for a short while.
(I'm still looking for a solution).

 

[Ben Pope]

Similar behaviour here, only noticed under Win98SE (not intensively tested
in another OS environment). The video disappears for 1 or 2 seconds then
recovers.
You don't say if the computer hangs or just freezes for a short while.
(I'm still looking for a solution).

His computer freezes, as in it needs to be turned off in order to get it
going again - this is typical of errors in the data thats being worked on,
often as a result of unstable RAM.

Ben

 

[Hans Kuhn]

Have you confirmed RAM stability using memtest86?

What OS and chipset drivers are you using?

Ben

Hi Ben,

I've just run Memtest86 through twice without any problems.

I'm running Win 2000 Pro.
The Nforce drivers are version 3.13
BIOS is version 1007, board Rev 2.0

As I said before though, it often crashes when not even in windows...

Anything else you can think I should try?

Thanks
Hans

 

[Hans-Ulrich Kuhn]

His computer freezes, as in it needs to be turned off in order to get it
going again - this is typical of errors in the data thats being worked on,
often as a result of unstable RAM.

Ben

Thats correct, only a reset will get it going again.

The problem appears to be very sporadic too - it worked fine for a week
from new and then the problems suddenly started. Tonight I'm not having
any problems either... whereas last night I had to reset about 8 times...

I thought it might be the mains power that was unstable at certain times
but I have 4 other computers running here without any problems.

Regards
Hans

 

[Ben Pope]

Hi Ben,

I've just run Memtest86 through twice without any problems.

I'm running Win 2000 Pro.
The Nforce drivers are version 3.13
BIOS is version 1007, board Rev 2.0

As I said before though, it often crashes when not even in windows...

Anything else you can think I should try?

Freezing up is almost always a hardware problem, it can be caused by dodgy
drivers, but we can safely assume that it's not drivers as you say it occurs
in DOS.

Strip the machine of all non required hardware (especially PCI cards) and go
from there - if it's still freezing then try swapping the Video Card, CPU
and/or RAM, if not, build the machine up again, verifying each component.

Ben

 

[Tocapet]

CHECK THE POWER SUPPLY!!!!!!!!!!!

Freezing up is almost always a hardware problem, it can be caused by dodgy
drivers, but we can safely assume that it's not drivers as you say it occurs
in DOS.

Strip the machine of all non required hardware (especially PCI cards) and go
from there - if it's still freezing then try swapping the Video Card, CPU
and/or RAM, if not, build the machine up again, verifying each component.

Ben

 

[Ben Pope]

CHECK THE POWER SUPPLY!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a fair point, but the QTec 400W should be enough.

They tend to mark their supplies with the maximum power rather then
continuous.

lucky, if you use something like MBM5 to monitor voltages and give the
minimum (after say, 10 minutes or some heavy duty work... gaming etc.) for
+12, +5 and +3.3V here that might throw some light on the situation.

Ben

 

[Arnie Berger]

Hi,

My computer freezes at random times, no response from computer and
video display goes off. It happens a few seconds to a few minutes from
boot, or it can happen after using the computer for hours. It happens
while in Windows, DOS (boot floppy) or even while I'm in the BIOS...
It can happen 4-5 times in a row and then work fine for hours...
really annoying!

specs:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon 2800+
1 Gig Crucial PC2700 (2x512 in dual channel)
Nvidia 4200
120 Gig WD SATA HD
CD writer and DVD drive on secondary IDE
Qtec 400watt PSU

already checked:
Heat - not heat related, I've monitored the temps and everything is
fine, plus it sometimes happens just a few seconds from boot.

Any ideas?

TIA
Hans

I had a similar problem with another MOBO. Being a hardware designer I
naturally assumed that the software was at fault. After much testing
we finally discovered that the video card was defective. Likely, it
was a marginal memory chip. In any case, there is no one place to
look, because there can be many sources of the problem. My best advice
is to start with a minimum configuration and run memtest86 overnight.
If it passes, then add something else and repeat.

Start with the mobo on a table top with CPU with heatsink and fan, one
memory stick, the video card, the power supply, floppy disk drive, the
keyboard and the mouse, memtest86 on a bootable floppy. Set the BIOS
defaults to the safe mode and run the board overnight. If it passes,
then set the BIOS settings to how you want them to be for the full
system and repeat. Next, load-up the full memory complement and
repeat. If all is still looking good. Then mount it in the case and
repeat. If it starts to fail now, then you might have an intermittent
short circuit to ground. If it runs in the case, then add your drives.

What I'm getting at is to approach it systemmatically. If the hardware
seems stable, then you can start to bring up the software.

Arnie

 

[Tocapet]

Ben, I was running a 500W power supply and getting fluctuations on the 3.3V
rail. I'm now running a 300W supply I had extra and everything is fine.
Some power supply mfgs. split the voltages in order to come up with the 5V
and 3.3V rails. That can make them unstable.
I'm waiting on a new Antec Truepower 550 that I ordered. Probably overkill,
since a 430 or 480 would probably do fine. But Antec has dedicated
circuitry for each voltage output.

Tocapet

 

[Phil]

Hi,

My computer freezes at random times, no response from computer and
video display goes off. It happens a few seconds to a few minutes from
boot, or it can happen after using the computer for hours. It happens
while in Windows, DOS (boot floppy) or even while I'm in the BIOS...
It can happen 4-5 times in a row and then work fine for hours...
really annoying!

specs:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon 2800+
1 Gig Crucial PC2700 (2x512 in dual channel)
Nvidia 4200
120 Gig WD SATA HD
CD writer and DVD drive on secondary IDE
Qtec 400watt PSU

already checked:
Heat - not heat related, I've monitored the temps and everything is
fine, plus it sometimes happens just a few seconds from boot.

Any ideas?

TIA
Hans

If you have the factory AMD fan/heatsink combo it may be
your problem. I built 2 identical A7N8X Deluxe systems
with XP2100 cpus and AMD fans and they have both gone
intermittant. In the last year I have had 6 or more
unexplained shutdowns, all but once when I was away from
my office. After a lot of checking and aggravation I
installed MBM and the logs recorded the culprit, the fans
were stopping or slowing down and the cpu went over temp
and shut the system down. The BIOS was set to keep the
fans on full speed so its not a system problem. I also
plugged the cpu fan into all 3 different power sockets
on the mobo with no improvement. I'm no expert but that is
my story, my new fans and heatsinks arrived today, I'll
install them tomorrow (Merry Christmas!) and I'll post my
results. Check yours out.

Phil

My Systems:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev 1.04
AMD Athlon XP 2100+
Corsair (2) CMX512-3200C2PT 512MB PC3200
Western Digital (2) WD400JB with iWill SATA adapters (Raid 1)
Yamaha CRW-F1ZE 44x24x44 CD-RW
Asus V9280TD Ti4200-8X AGP 8X 128MB DDR Video
Antec TruePower 430 ATX Power
Win2000 Pro SP4

 

[Phil]

If you have the factory AMD fan/heatsink combo it may be
your problem. I built 2 identical A7N8X Deluxe systems
with XP2100 cpus and AMD fans and they have both gone
intermittant. In the last year I have had 6 or more
unexplained shutdowns, all but once when I was away from
my office. After a lot of checking and aggravation I
installed MBM and the logs recorded the culprit, the fans
were stopping or slowing down and the cpu went over temp
and shut the system down. The BIOS was set to keep the
fans on full speed so its not a system problem. I also
plugged the cpu fan into all 3 different power sockets
on the mobo with no improvement. I'm no expert but that is
my story, my new fans and heatsinks arrived today, I'll
install them tomorrow (Merry Christmas!) and I'll post my
results. Check yours out.

Phil

My Systems:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev 1.04
AMD Athlon XP 2100+
Corsair (2) CMX512-3200C2PT 512MB PC3200
Western Digital (2) WD400JB with iWill SATA adapters (Raid 1)
Yamaha CRW-F1ZE 44x24x44 CD-RW
Asus V9280TD Ti4200-8X AGP 8X 128MB DDR Video
Antec TruePower 430 ATX Power
Win2000 Pro SP4

December 25th Update:
I installed my new Vantec AeroFlow VA4-C7040 coolers today
and what an instant difference! One system dropped about
17 degrees C, the other about 20 degrees C. I tested both
systems with MBM HeatUp and neither system hit 40 degrees
C! When I removed the original AMD heatsink the heat
transfer film had actually melted and dripped. I'm thankful
that I haven't lost a processor to over heating. I'm
currently running Norton AV and the system is running about
36 to 38 degrees C, much better then the 50 to 56 it would
run in the past. The case temoerature is running 24 degrees
at the moment. BTW, these coolers are as quiet if not
quieter than the original AMD coolers, highly recommended
form my initial experience.

Phil

 

[Hans Kuhn]

Hi,

My computer freezes at random times, no response from computer and
video display goes off. It happens a few seconds to a few minutes from
boot, or it can happen after using the computer for hours. It happens
while in Windows, DOS (boot floppy) or even while I'm in the BIOS...
It can happen 4-5 times in a row and then work fine for hours...
really annoying!

specs:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon 2800+
1 Gig Crucial PC2700 (2x512 in dual channel)
Nvidia 4200
120 Gig WD SATA HD
CD writer and DVD drive on secondary IDE
Qtec 400watt PSU

already checked:
Heat - not heat related, I've monitored the temps and everything is
fine, plus it sometimes happens just a few seconds from boot.

Any ideas?

TIA
Hans

Hi All,

Thanks for all the useful advice.

I stripped system components and swapped them out to eventually narrow
my problem down to the graphics card - either a faulty config in the
BIOS or a faulty card.

I first underclocked my card a bit in case I had a marginal GPU or
memory chip - but still had the same freeze.

I then went into the BIOS and put the AGP Spread Spectrum on 0.50% and
so far its been stable! I don't really understand the technical reason
for this option (see:
http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=8&var1=0&var2=114) - can
this really be the solution to the problems I'm having or am I just
experiencing a short period of relief?

Thanks again,

Regards
Hans

 

[Roger Hamlett]

(e-mail address removed) (Hans Kuhn) wrote in message

Hi All,

Thanks for all the useful advice.

I stripped system components and swapped them out to eventually narrow
my problem down to the graphics card - either a faulty config in the
BIOS or a faulty card.

I first underclocked my card a bit in case I had a marginal GPU or
memory chip - but still had the same freeze.

I then went into the BIOS and put the AGP Spread Spectrum on 0.50% and
so far its been stable! I don't really understand the technical reason
for this option (see:
http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=8&var1=0&var2=114) - can
this really be the solution to the problems I'm having or am I just
experiencing a short period of relief?

Thanks again,

Regards
Hans

Probably the 'short period of relief'.
Spread spectrum, should have no positive effect on card reliability.
Basically, it means the system will continuously change the clock rate used
to the clock, up/down by this small amount. The reason for this, is that it
reduces the 'peaks' in the radiated emissions, and therefore allows it to
meet standards required in some countries. Normally it makes stability
worse!.
That having been said, enabling this, will have a tiny effect on some other
timings to the card, and it is possible that this has 'just' made things
work....

Best Wishes