Flaky startup

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wizrd0330

Soyo k7v Dragon Plus!
400 W PSU in an Antex ATX case
AMD Athlon XP 1900+ (Palomino)
768 Mb DDR Ram PC2100 on 266 MHz FSB
Gainsward GeForce 3 64 MB Video
Total of 3 HDD 110 GB -- (1) 30 GB Barracuda on IDE 2 and (2) 40GB
Barracudas (ATA 100) connected to a PROMISE onboard RAID controller
and using RAID 0
V92 internal modem PCI
USB 2.0 PCI with 5 ports
Video Capture Card with IEEE 1394
7 in 1 card reader and floppy drive
DVD burner and CDRW burner

Please HELP! It all started several months ago. Computer ran fine for
two years. Occasionally it would turn itself off or on, but I used
to overclock the FSB and thought that made the board unstable. Then
one of HDD's on my RAID went out. Then another IBM drive went out.
Replaced. Then I installed a DVD burner and video capture to burn
home movies. Decided to upgrade the CPU from 1600+ to a 2100+. When I
installed the AMD 2100+ XP the computer wouldn't post, so I got a
1900+ and the computer posted after several attempts to power up the
computer.

The computer is very flaky now. If I unplug the computer from power
and peripherals, I have to mess with the insides for hours to get it
to boot again. Each time something different seems to get it to boot.
I unplug a hard drive and the plug and then the computer will boot. I
will reattach the power to the board, then it will reboot. Last week
I checked through the RAM and thought I solved the problem. With one
of my sticks of RAM the computer wouldn't boot. So I removed it and
everything seemed fine, until I went to install an ATA controller.
Once installed the computer wouldn't boot again...no post...but all
the fans and drives had power...CPU light did not come on.

Once the system boots it seems to be fine. It runs clean and fast. But
I want to switch out a drive and I am afraid to get this boot issue. I
have tried to put the old CPU back (it was working fine when I
removed) thinking that was the issue, but the same issue occurs, that
is, the computer will only POST and boot after several attempts,
plugging and unplugging etc. Then it works fine.

Any ideas. A bad mobo or psu have been suggested and before I purchase
either I would like to have an educated guess as to the problem. I
await any help and in the meantime I will belly up to the bar and
take solace in the drink which this problem is driving me.

Thanks :D
 
Sure is a bunch of junk for parts. Why? Most of what
you have there is very old and out of date. I can't see
one piece worth saving in an upgrade. I think the reason
the system has so many problems, is the system has
so many bad parts. All of them should be flakey by
now.

johns
 
wizrd0330 said:
Soyo k7v Dragon Plus!
400 W PSU in an Antex ATX case
AMD Athlon XP 1900+ (Palomino)
768 Mb DDR Ram PC2100 on 266 MHz FSB
Gainsward GeForce 3 64 MB Video
Total of 3 HDD 110 GB -- (1) 30 GB Barracuda on IDE 2 and (2) 40GB
Barracudas (ATA 100) connected to a PROMISE onboard RAID controller
and using RAID 0
V92 internal modem PCI
USB 2.0 PCI with 5 ports
Video Capture Card with IEEE 1394
7 in 1 card reader and floppy drive
DVD burner and CDRW burner

Please HELP! It all started several months ago. Computer ran fine for
two years. Occasionally it would turn itself off or on, but I used
to overclock the FSB and thought that made the board unstable. Then
one of HDD's on my RAID went out. Then another IBM drive went out.
Replaced. Then I installed a DVD burner and video capture to burn
home movies. Decided to upgrade the CPU from 1600+ to a 2100+. When I
installed the AMD 2100+ XP the computer wouldn't post, so I got a
1900+ and the computer posted after several attempts to power up the
computer.

The computer is very flaky now. If I unplug the computer from power
and peripherals, I have to mess with the insides for hours to get it
to boot again. Each time something different seems to get it to boot.
I unplug a hard drive and the plug and then the computer will boot. I
will reattach the power to the board, then it will reboot. Last week
I checked through the RAM and thought I solved the problem. With one
of my sticks of RAM the computer wouldn't boot. So I removed it and
everything seemed fine, until I went to install an ATA controller.
Once installed the computer wouldn't boot again...no post...but all
the fans and drives had power...CPU light did not come on.
Click to expand...

What brand and model of power supply are you using? Is the heatsink and
fan unit suitable for your CPU? Did you install thermal interface
material correctly? etc
Once the system boots it seems to be fine. It runs clean and fast. But
I want to switch out a drive and I am afraid to get this boot issue. I
have tried to put the old CPU back (it was working fine when I
removed) thinking that was the issue, but the same issue occurs, that
is, the computer will only POST and boot after several attempts,
plugging and unplugging etc. Then it works fine.
Click to expand...

I randomly suspect an inadequate power supply.
Any ideas. A bad mobo or psu have been suggested and before I purchase
either I would like to have an educated guess as to the problem. I
await any help and in the meantime I will belly up to the bar and
take solace in the drink which this problem is driving me.

Thanks :D
Click to expand...


--
spammage trappage: replace fishies_ with yahoo

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/
 
A bad mobo or psu have been suggested and before I purchase
either I would like to have an educated guess as to the problem.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a flaky PSU to me. You really need to invest in a good power
supply.
 
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