hangs / freezes

[Riskman]

I am working on a Dell OptiPlex GX280 that up till last week worked fine (~3
years). 1GB RAM, 2.8GB Pentium, 80GB HDD SATA, CD-RW, XP SP2. Is a network
workstation. Virus & malware signatures updates hourly. Has decent
firewall. Recently had added second 512MB RAM strip, but ran with no issues
for weeks following. Run MS Updates routinely, but not yet loaded XP SP3 (it
was not yet released at time hang/freeze issue began). Has suddenly begun to
hang/freeze at about 2-3 minutes post log-in. Gives no warning, no error
messages, no error beeps, continues all green lights on back panel.
Initially reset to earlier restore point with no positive effect. Then did
repair of OS with no positive effect. Ran Dell Diagnostics which found no
hardware issues - all tests passed. Specifically retested Memory and HDD and
all still passed those further diagnostics. Have tested USB keyboard and USB
mouse separately and both are fully functional. Ultimately reformatted HDD
and did clean install, but still continues to hang/freeze at about 2-3
minutes post log-in. Can boot to CD and during lengthy OS repair or install
there was no hang. Can boot to Safe Mode and device will eventually
hang/freeze at about 10-12 minutes post log-in. When hang begins, red light
on optical mouse flickers (slow at first then increases to rapid, then
suddenly stops); also during this, audio begins to crackle and similarly
increases in pace, then stops same as mouse optic light. Did find some info
@ MS regarding an "interrupt storm" but the prescribed "fix" for that did not
alter my issue in any way. Presently the GX280 still hangs/freezes and
nothing I've done has resolved the issue.

Has anyone suffered through this type of problem before, and how did you
ultimately resolve it?

 

[R. McCarty]

With all your normal peripherals attached check both the bandwidth and
power consumption on your USB Root Hubs and controllers. It seems
like you've got a overload of some type that is causing the machine to lag.

 

[Riskman]

Thanks for the suggestion... However, I'm maybe an intermediate level tech,
so how do I go about checking the bandwidth and power consumtpion as you
suggest?

 

[R. McCarty]

Device Manager
USB category
Double-Click each Controller to open Details, Advanced (TAB)
to view Bandwidth usage
Double-Click each Root Hub to open Details, Power (TAB) to
view the % of maximum power consumed

 

[Riskman]

Sorry for being so ignorant... Even as I had sent my previous post I thought
to check the Device Manager, etc, (just as you replied) in order to compare
to a similar machine, and there I found the info. Nevertheless, thanks for
your direction. with the GX280 hanging, it took some time/effort to review
as you suggested, and I hope I can relay it to you in a sensible manner, but
what I find does not appear in my limited understanding to be too unusual:

Universal Serial Bus controllers: Self-powered; 500 mA per port; 4 ports
available
-Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 2658 @ 20% Bandwidth
-Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 2659 @ 23% Bandwidth
-Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 265A @ 10% Bandwidth
-Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 265B @ 10% Bandwidth
-Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB2 Universal Host Controller - 265C @ 10% Bandwidth
-USB Root Hub (w/2 ports available @ 0 mA)
-USB Root Hub (w/2 ports available @ 0 mA)
-USB Root Hub (HID-compliant mouse @ 100 mA and 1 port available)
-USB Root Hub (HID-compliant mouse @ 100 mA and 1 port available)
-USB Root Hub (Generic USB Hub w/8 ports available @ 0 mA)

As compared with my other similar PC (GX520) it is only marginally greater
on the first listed controller (20% on the GX280 vs. 10% on the GX520). One
odd thing was that the second-to-last controller on the GX280 lists an
HID-compliant mouse (a second time) @ 100 mA vs. an HID-compliant keyboard @
70 mA as shown on the GX520.

Does the above make any sense to you? Can you determine if that indicates
some possible problem with the USB controllers &/or keyboard?

 

[R. McCarty]

Looks OK, however there shouldn't be two instances of a HID mouse
as you note. Most USB mice are USB1(.1) technology and you seem
to have two mice being hosted on separate controllers. You need to
investigate and try to determine why the USB device tree has those 2
instances of a Human Interface Device mouse. What brand mouse do
you use and also do you run the vendor specific control software ( For
MS would Intellipoint and Logitech either MouseWare or SetPoint ).

 

[Riskman]

All hardware/HIDs are Dell specific, as is controller software. Also, keep
in mind I reformatted the HDD and did a clean install, again with original
delivered software and resource CD, so controllers were same as originally
installed. It is puzzling, though that the mouse shows up twice and the
keyboard doesn't specifically show. I've checked Dell support, but cannot
find any software/firmware updates related to the USB. For now it is Status
Quo.

 

[Riskman]

In case you did not see it previously, please see my reply to your lastest
post. For now, problem is unresolved, and Dell nor MS seem to have any USB
controller updates available. Nevertheless, I want to say that I greatly
appreciate your wisdom and assistance provided herein. If you (or any other
reader) should have any further guidance regarding my woe please do not
hesitate to post a next step. Kudos to R. McCarty on a valiant effort.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was 5/9/2008 8:55 AM, and on a whim, Riskman pounded
out on the keyboard:

I am working on a Dell OptiPlex GX280 that up till last week worked fine (~3
years). 1GB RAM, 2.8GB Pentium, 80GB HDD SATA, CD-RW, XP SP2. Is a network
workstation. Virus & malware signatures updates hourly. Has decent
firewall. Recently had added second 512MB RAM strip, but ran with no issues
for weeks following. Run MS Updates routinely, but not yet loaded XP SP3 (it
was not yet released at time hang/freeze issue began). Has suddenly begun to
hang/freeze at about 2-3 minutes post log-in. Gives no warning, no error
messages, no error beeps, continues all green lights on back panel.
Initially reset to earlier restore point with no positive effect. Then did
repair of OS with no positive effect. Ran Dell Diagnostics which found no
hardware issues - all tests passed. Specifically retested Memory and HDD and
all still passed those further diagnostics. Have tested USB keyboard and USB
mouse separately and both are fully functional. Ultimately reformatted HDD
and did clean install, but still continues to hang/freeze at about 2-3
minutes post log-in. Can boot to CD and during lengthy OS repair or install
there was no hang. Can boot to Safe Mode and device will eventually
hang/freeze at about 10-12 minutes post log-in. When hang begins, red light
on optical mouse flickers (slow at first then increases to rapid, then
suddenly stops); also during this, audio begins to crackle and similarly
increases in pace, then stops same as mouse optic light. Did find some info
@ MS regarding an "interrupt storm" but the prescribed "fix" for that did not
alter my issue in any way. Presently the GX280 still hangs/freezes and
nothing I've done has resolved the issue.

Has anyone suffered through this type of problem before, and how did you
ultimately resolve it?

You stated "added second 512MB RAM strip". I read on Dell's site that
the GX-280 is a dual channel memory board. Did they add two 256 DIMM's?
What was the original RAM?

--
Terry R.

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[Riskman]

Terry, thanks for jumping in... I'm back in today (Monday) for another
go-round... To answer your question, the original was a single 512MB strip,
and while Dell encourages dual channel, the device was originally configured
(by them) with a single strip which does typically work fine, it is just more
efficient with two similar strips. My later update was to round it out with
another 512MB strip to make it an even 1G RAM, and in that configuration it
ran fine for a couple of weeks. I have since tested the system with each
individual strip-only onboard just to make sure the anomoly of hang/freeze
was not somehow related to one or the other of the memory strips, but it
continues to do that behavior whether I have either or both strips onboard.

 

[Riskman]

Ray, thanks for your input... The bad caps appear to be precisely the
problem. Upon close inspection of the board I do see no less than at least
five capacitors that appear to have blown with leakage easily observed, and
there could be more. I would have not recognized this had you not provided
your input and links. I have emailed Dell, but suspect they will disavoy
since our warranty period has expired. Thanks so much for your help. I wish
I could have somehow known it sooner because it sure would have saved me
considerable frustration and wasted effort. Nevertheless, you are spot on
with diagnosing the root cause. Thanks again.