How to isolate problems

[Won Lee]

Hello.

I have an Audigy Plat EX
1 Tyan k7 Dual Mobo
2 AMD 1.9
WD SE 120 GIG HD
Win XP Pro.

My system has been crashing a lot lately. The kind of crash that locks
up the computer. The computer will not respond to keyboard or mouse
input. Event loggers go dead as well. The only way to reboot the
machine is to pull the power plug from the back of the machine. When I
hold down the power button to resets and then just hangs at the BIOS.

I looked at my BIOS and made sure it's been updated.

Any ideas why my system is doing this? Is there a way to isolate the
problem?

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

Hello.

I have an Audigy Plat EX
1 Tyan k7 Dual Mobo
2 AMD 1.9
WD SE 120 GIG HD
Win XP Pro.

My system has been crashing a lot lately. The kind of crash that locks
up the computer. The computer will not respond to keyboard or mouse
input. Event loggers go dead as well. The only way to reboot the
machine is to pull the power plug from the back of the machine. When I
hold down the power button to resets and then just hangs at the BIOS.

I looked at my BIOS and made sure it's been updated.

Any ideas why my system is doing this? Is there a way to isolate the
problem?

If it hangs at the BIOS it is almost certainly a hardware problem. Bad
PSU, memory, disk, cpu, motherboard (or indeed maybe some other things).
There are test available for most of these, if you are competent to play
with hardware, if not, find a local repair shop.

 

[Maureen Goldman]

My system has been crashing a lot lately. The kind of crash that locks
up the computer. The computer will not respond to keyboard or mouse
input. Event loggers go dead as well. The only way to reboot the
machine is to pull the power plug from the back of the machine. When I
hold down the power button to resets and then just hangs at the BIOS.

I don't know that it's a good idea to pull the plug from the back of
the machine. Turn off the power bar or unplug at the wall, if you have
to.

 

[cimex]

You should run some diagnostics on your machine:

www.memtest86.com (you need a floppy drive)

http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/index.html?dir=dload&location=sware_dl_x86&langx=en&a=
for an advanced diagnostic that tests more than RAM.

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm A "torture tester" involving the
computations for finding certain prime numbers.

You can download a disk diagnostic from the website of your hard disk
manufacturer. Since the test may be able to alter stored data, read the
instructions carefully before using.

Alternatively, a good computer repair shop can do these same tests for you,
and more besides (power supplies can be flaky, etc.)

 

[Won Lee]

Thanks to everyone.

I will test my mem, HD, and run the merseene.org torture test.

I will also stop pulling the plug from the back of the machine.

I would say that I'm pretty handy with a computer. I build the machine
I'm using right now.

You should run some diagnostics on your machine:

www.memtest86.com (you need a floppy drive)

http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/index.html?dir=dload&location=sware_dl_x86&langx=en&a=
for an advanced diagnostic that tests more than RAM.

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm A "torture tester" involving the
computations for finding certain prime numbers.

You can download a disk diagnostic from the website of your hard disk
manufacturer. Since the test may be able to alter stored data, read the
instructions carefully before using.

Alternatively, a good computer repair shop can do these same tests for you,
and more besides (power supplies can be flaky, etc.)

 

[Won Lee]

Thanks to everyone. I will test my memory, HD, and run the torture
test. I'm curious, how would I test my power supply and CPU?

Won

 

[R. McCarty]

Motherboard Monitor has the capability to monitor
the voltages present on the MB. Left running for a
while you might be able to see spikes and dips in a
particular voltage that would indicate an insufficient
power supply.

 

[cimex]

I suspect that, because power supplies are not too expensive, many people
may "test" them by replacing them with a borrowed "good" power supply or
purchasing a new one and seeing if the problem stops. Good luck.

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

I suspect that, because power supplies are not too expensive, many people
may "test" them by replacing them with a borrowed "good" power supply or
purchasing a new one and seeing if the problem stops. Good luck.

That's what I do - for $20-30 (the cost of a good DVM) you can have
something which not only diagnoses the problem, but fixes it too. 8>.
However MBM is certainly a way of seeing if there is anything really
weird going on.

 

[Malke]

I suspect that, because power supplies are not too expensive, many
people may "test" them by replacing them with a borrowed "good" power
supply or purchasing a new one and seeing if the problem stops. Good
luck.

You can buy a power supply tester from many of the online computer
stores. I think I got mine from Antec, but I don't remember. It was
around $10usd. Google for "power supply tester".

Malke

 

[Guest]

-----Original Message-----
hangs at the BIOS.

I don't know that it's a good idea to pull the plug from the back of
the machine. Turn off the power bar or unplug at the wall, if you have
to.

Have you tried new RAM If your ram is fault you will
have heaps of startup and running problems