Crash and restart

[Marc Missire]

I've been having endless problems with my computer, and hope someone
here can suggest something. It abruptly crashes and restarts several
times a day.

This occurs under both Windows XP and Linux, so I don't believe it's a
software issue. I took the following steps to diagnose it, although
nothing has helped:

1. I tried using the "failsafe" settings in the BIOS. No change.
2. I updated to my latest BIOS and latest motherboard manufacturer's
set of drivers. Nothing. The motherboard is a Tyan S5101, by the way.
3. I monitored the temperature and found that the crashes still happen
when the CPU is only at 38C. The video card is also fairly cool.
4. I swapped out the power supply for a 400 watt new one. An Antec. No
change.
5. I replaced the video card (an ATI 9800 Pro) with a known good
Nvidia 440-MX. No change.
6. I extensively tested the RAM, using a diagnostic program. No errors
there. I then tried running the system with the RAM underclocked in
the BIOS. No help there. I then removed the RAM and tried in different
slots. I tried them one at a time, hoping one of them was bad. Nothing
made a difference.
7. I pulled the hard drive and put in a new one. I installed Windows
XP fresh, with no applications. The crash and restart still happened.
8. I checked the processor and heatsink and CPU fan. All in order. I
did use thermal compound, and the heatsink was snug against the
processor.
9. I removed ALL PCI cards from the system, and disconnected ALL
devices except the hard drive. No CD-ROM, no modem, nothing. The
crashes still happened.
10. I turned off all integrated peripherals, in the BIOS (networking,
for example), except the hard drive controller. Still, the crashes
happened.
11. I inspected the motherboard for loose components and blackened
areas. Nothing seemed amiss.

While I did mention this happened in Linux as well as Windows, it's
worth mentioning that I've thoroughly scanned my system for spyware
(Adware, SpyBot) and viruses (AVG). I've checked the logs (on Linux)
and the Event Viewer (on Windows XP).

I have now replaced every piece of my system, with the exception of:
a) The motherboard itself, and
b) The CPU, and
c) the RAM, although as I said I ran RAM tests, underclocked it, tried
it in different slots, and tried them one at a time.

Frustrating. I'm considering setting the whole mess on fire,
extinguishing the smoldering ashes in a manner I won't describe here,
and buying a slow, overpriced Macintosh.

My questions:
Is there something that stands out, that I am not considering?
My next step is a new CPU. Is this reasonable?
Or should I proceed with a new motherboard?
Or should I buy name-brand memory, even in light of the above testing?
Should I be suspecting an issue with the power from the wall and/or
surge protector?

Any advice would be greatly appeciated.

 

[Chris Stolworthy]

I've been having endless problems with my computer, and hope someone
here can suggest something. It abruptly crashes and restarts several
times a day.

This occurs under both Windows XP and Linux, so I don't believe it's a
software issue. I took the following steps to diagnose it, although
nothing has helped:

1. I tried using the "failsafe" settings in the BIOS. No change.
2. I updated to my latest BIOS and latest motherboard manufacturer's
set of drivers. Nothing. The motherboard is a Tyan S5101, by the way.
3. I monitored the temperature and found that the crashes still happen
when the CPU is only at 38C. The video card is also fairly cool.
4. I swapped out the power supply for a 400 watt new one. An Antec. No
change.
5. I replaced the video card (an ATI 9800 Pro) with a known good
Nvidia 440-MX. No change.
6. I extensively tested the RAM, using a diagnostic program. No errors
there. I then tried running the system with the RAM underclocked in
the BIOS. No help there. I then removed the RAM and tried in different
slots. I tried them one at a time, hoping one of them was bad. Nothing
made a difference.
7. I pulled the hard drive and put in a new one. I installed Windows
XP fresh, with no applications. The crash and restart still happened.
8. I checked the processor and heatsink and CPU fan. All in order. I
did use thermal compound, and the heatsink was snug against the
processor.
9. I removed ALL PCI cards from the system, and disconnected ALL
devices except the hard drive. No CD-ROM, no modem, nothing. The
crashes still happened.
10. I turned off all integrated peripherals, in the BIOS (networking,
for example), except the hard drive controller. Still, the crashes
happened.
11. I inspected the motherboard for loose components and blackened
areas. Nothing seemed amiss.

While I did mention this happened in Linux as well as Windows, it's
worth mentioning that I've thoroughly scanned my system for spyware
(Adware, SpyBot) and viruses (AVG). I've checked the logs (on Linux)
and the Event Viewer (on Windows XP).

I have now replaced every piece of my system, with the exception of:
a) The motherboard itself, and
b) The CPU, and
c) the RAM, although as I said I ran RAM tests, underclocked it, tried
it in different slots, and tried them one at a time.

Frustrating. I'm considering setting the whole mess on fire,
extinguishing the smoldering ashes in a manner I won't describe here,
and buying a slow, overpriced Macintosh.

My questions:
Is there something that stands out, that I am not considering?
My next step is a new CPU. Is this reasonable?
Or should I proceed with a new motherboard?
Or should I buy name-brand memory, even in light of the above testing?
Should I be suspecting an issue with the power from the wall and/or
surge protector?

Any advice would be greatly appeciated.

What mobo do you have? It may be a long shot but my friend had a similar
problem, what happened was that he actually put a newer video card in an
older system, I can't remember the voltages right now, but it was a lower
volt card 1.5(I believe?) and his motherboard was trying to give it too much
power causing reboots.

 

[Marc Missire]

What mobo do you have? It may be a long shot but my friend had a similar
problem, what happened was that he actually put a newer video card in an
older system, I can't remember the voltages right now, but it was a lower
volt card 1.5(I believe?) and his motherboard was trying to give it too much
power causing reboots.

Thanks for the reply.

It's not a mobo. It's a tower: a Tyan Trinity S5101 motherboard, Lian
Li aluminum case, Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz CPU.

I'll look into the voltage requirements of the video card, but I think
it requires a lot of power. For example, it needs a completely
separate power cable running directly to the card, in addition to
anything it gets from the AGP slot. If you don't do this, turning on
the machine gives you a message telling you to plug in the cable.

 

[Marc Missire]

Oops. I misunderstood the term "mobo," thinking you meant a Shuttle.
Just realized it's short for "motherboard." It's a Tyan Trinity
S5101, which uses an i875P chipset.

 

[Marc Missire]

I replaced the Tyan S5101 motherboard with and Intel D865PERL. The
crashes are gone. Glad that's over.