Testing Hardware with diff OS

[Guest]

Hi,
My XP has been having lots of stop errors with new install, updated all
drivers from MS source, no application software on it except NAV and Zone
Alarm and AdobeReader7. To find out if its a Hardware fault I got a new HDD
and install it and a different OS (GNU/Linux) tested stable so far. Does
this suggest that there are NO hardware failures? or its not conclusive?

 

[Guest]

Try administration,then open event-viewer,click on a event/warning,get the
details as to whats going on.Also,click on the url in event,this opens help/
support in xp,usually with a fix or more detailed info.

 

[Sharon F]

Hi,
My XP has been having lots of stop errors with new install, updated all
drivers from MS source, no application software on it except NAV and Zone
Alarm and AdobeReader7. To find out if its a Hardware fault I got a new HDD
and install it and a different OS (GNU/Linux) tested stable so far. Does
this suggest that there are NO hardware failures? or its not conclusive?

It would be reasonable to conclude there are no hardware problems when
using the new hard drive.

You mention having updated the drivers from MS source. Is there a reason
that you don't use the drivers (designed for use with XP) that are from the
relevant hardware manufacturers?

 

[Guest]

It would be reasonable to conclude there are no hardware problems when
using the new hard drive.

You mention having updated the drivers from MS source. Is there a reason
that you don't use the drivers (designed for use with XP) that are from the
relevant hardware manufacturers?

Sharon, I have posted in another thread asking specifically about the errors
I'm getting and there I have documented a whole list of my stop errors from
time of install right up to a few days after, and I also briefly mentioned
the error codes for the ones before this "opportunity" to reinstall fresh and
put sp2 on a brand new HDD.

In answer to your question, I was hoping to minimise or eliminate unknown
factors by keeping to MS sources. Besides, even if the drivers are older
versions, I wasn't stressing the system to obtain peak performance, I wanted
to just see if I could just do internet browsing without getting a blue
screen. However, I have since updated the latest sound card driver obtained
from the manufacturer (C-Media) eventhough XP warns me of instability because
it doesnt have the XP logo. Stop errors was already happening before that
particular driver was installed, so I doubt I was compounding the problem
with the sound card. Next i will try to run the latest Nvidia driver to see
if that helps but i doubt it. I cant help but think that it is such an
unstable and unhelpful OS. Unhelpful because its not easy to find out what
is causing the problem.

In this thread I just want to get opinion if my assumptions are sound that
if I use a second hard drive and a different OS and that OS doesnt reboot
automatically it prooves that the Hardware is sound, I used Ubuntu by the
way. Thanks for your comments.

 

[Sharon F]

In this thread I just want to get opinion if my assumptions are sound that
if I use a second hard drive and a different OS and that OS doesnt reboot
automatically it prooves that the Hardware is sound, I used Ubuntu by the
way. Thanks for your comments.

As I said in my other response, you've assured that all is well when the
new drive is in place. That's a start. However, there are stop errors that
can by due to an undefined problem with the old hard drive. For example:
faulty drive, corrupted or damaged driver files.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Sharon, I'm still confused and can't figure out if its Hardware or XP.
Here is the background.

Bought new PC in 2003 - HDD1 began giving stop errors after a few months,
since its not apparent what software or driver was last installed (didnt
happen soon after a hardware or software upgrade - although it could be NAV
or MS automatic updates which happens in the background) I couln't point to a
specific point in time to rollback to. The stop errors increased in
frequency as the months pass until end of 2004 when it was just too often.

Bought new HDD2 (same model as HDD1) and reinstalled XP with SP2, stop
errors continued to occur soon after with no applications except NAV,
ZoneAlarm, and Adobe Reader 7. Continued to update peripheral drivers to
latest. Stop errors still happens. Left overnight no blue screens but blue
screens when browsing on the internet.

Bought new HDD3 (SATA model due to shortage and time constraints) installed
Ubuntu, good stability, left overnight with no stop errors. Reason I got HDD3
was HDD1 began to give SMART warning of failure (not surprised with the
amount of times it had to reboot) and I need to minimise its use to only for
recovering data later.

 

[Sharon F]

Thanks Sharon, I'm still confused and can't figure out if its Hardware or XP.
Here is the background.

Bought new PC in 2003 - HDD1 began giving stop errors after a few months,
since its not apparent what software or driver was last installed (didnt
happen soon after a hardware or software upgrade - although it could be NAV
or MS automatic updates which happens in the background) I couln't point to a
specific point in time to rollback to. The stop errors increased in
frequency as the months pass until end of 2004 when it was just too often.

Bought new HDD2 (same model as HDD1) and reinstalled XP with SP2, stop
errors continued to occur soon after with no applications except NAV,
ZoneAlarm, and Adobe Reader 7. Continued to update peripheral drivers to
latest. Stop errors still happens. Left overnight no blue screens but blue
screens when browsing on the internet.

Bought new HDD3 (SATA model due to shortage and time constraints) installed
Ubuntu, good stability, left overnight with no stop errors. Reason I got HDD3
was HDD1 began to give SMART warning of failure (not surprised with the
amount of times it had to reboot) and I need to minimise its use to only for
recovering data later.

What kind of stop errors were you getting?

While your app load was minimal with hdd2, it only takes one file
(corrupted/mismatched version - app or driver) or one misbehaving app to
cause persistent errors. Example: Lots of folks use Zone Alarm with minimal
or no trouble at all. It doesn't play well with my mix of applications and
tends to hang my system on shutdown, so I don't use it.

For SMART to work, the hard drive and the BIOS both have to be SMART
enabled. There is a software type of interaction that goes on between
these. Very rarely, that interaction can misfire a false SMART warning. The
hard drive manufacturer may have a tool that will reset SMART on the drive
to "good." If there really is a problem with the drive, the flaw will be
re-detected and the SMART warning will reappear in the near future. (Had to
do this once to obtain an RMA so know that it is available with some drive
manufacturers.)

This certainly is an odd problem that you have. Your description makes it
sound like the regular ATA IDE ports are eating your drives. Voltage
irregularity in the main board, perhaps? Metal touching where it shouldn't?
It might take a close examination by a tech with diagnostic tools if the
problem is buried somewhere in the physical hardware components.

Similar story: I had an odd elusive problem with a short in one of three
memory banks. STOP errors were seemingly unrelated (most referred to
kbdclass.sys). On a whim, I played around with moving RAM around. Bank 1
and 3 worked fine. Anything in bank 2 caused more STOP errors to appear
again. Bought a new motherboard. End of story and the problem.

 

[Guest]

Hi Sharon, here is a list of what is happening

HDD1:
Have to reconnect it to get exact list so instead of doing that, I have
noted it down on paper at one stage and here is part of what I have written
(for brevity I only give the code and not the parameter info):
0x00000050, 0x000000D1, 0x0000001A, 0x000000C5, 0x0000000A, 0x0000007F and
plenty of 0x0000008E's

HDD2:
Going from most recent:
05/02/05 08:44am Error code 10000050, parameter1 ce242cde, parameter2
00000001, parameter3 bf801633, parameter4 00000000.

05/02/05 08:43am The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck
was: 0x10000050 (0xce242cde, 0x00000001, 0xbf801633, 0x00000000). A dump was
saved in: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini020505-01.dmp.

04/02/05 09:24am Error code 10000050, parameter1 cdcdcde9, parameter2
00000000, parameter3 bf808d58, parameter4 00000000.

04/02/05 09:23am The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck
was: 0x10000050 (0xcdcdcde9, 0x00000000, 0xbf808d58, 0x00000000). A dump was
saved in: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini020405-01.dmp.

31/01/05 08:34pm Error code 1000008e, parameter1 c0000005, parameter2
81352b4f, parameter3 f4a85c08, parameter4 00000000.

31/01/05 08:31pm Error code 10000050, parameter1 f4337f64, parameter2
00000001, parameter3 80577c65, parameter4 00000000.

31/01/05 08:30pm The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck
was: 0x1000008e (0xc0000005, 0x81352b4f, 0xf4a85c08, 0x00000000). A dump was
saved in: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini013105-03.dmp.

31/01/05 07:33pm Error code 1000008e, parameter1 c0000005, parameter2
81552b4c, parameter3 f4a85c04, parameter4 00000000.

31/01/05 07:32pm The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck
was: 0x10000050 (0xf4337f64, 0x00000001, 0x80577c65, 0x00000000). A dump was
saved in: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini013105-02.dmp.

31/01/05 07:26pm Error code 1000008e, parameter1 c0000005, parameter2
81552b4c, parameter3 f4a85c04, parameter4 00000000.

31/01/05 07:26pm The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck
was: 0x1000008e (0xc0000005, 0x81552b4c, 0xf4a85c04, 0x00000000). A dump was
saved in: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini013105-01.dmp.

30/01/05 12:37pm Error code 1000000a, parameter1 8e676fd4, parameter2
000000ff, parameter3 00000000, parameter4 804e3b58.

29/01/05 11:58pm The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck
was: 0x1000000a (0x8e676fd4, 0x000000ff, 0x00000000, 0x804e3b58). A dump was
saved in: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini012905-03.dmp.

29/01/05 11:32pm Error code 00000024, parameter1 001902fe, parameter2
f6419328, parameter3 f6419024, parameter4 8054b534.

I have already tried the RAM tests (with MS memory tester and also taking
the PC to the Vendor who said nothing wrong with it so they changed the PSU
and charged me for it) no effect, tried changing slots no effect, threw more
money and bought another stick of RAM (this time an approved brand by the
mobo manuf), moved that one around.... no effect. Tried plugging the power
directly to the wall socket instead of the UPS... no effect. On HDD2
Installed ASUS PC Probe and ran a recording... got a blue screen while it was
on, checked the recorded data, MB and CPU Temps were not spiking or anything,
just steady and below limits.

The RAM slot changing took some days to test, I used CounterStrike Zero
whatever game to test, as playing this game for a few rounds will almost
always lead to a blue screen. Could be the Video Card.... but the blue
screens happens even just browsing with IE or even with no application
running but the Screen Saver! Testing the video card is at the moment beyond
my resources. But its in consideration. I've got an old PCI video card,
maybe I can simply take out the NVidia out and put this one in to test.

I think you are right, it could be something in the ASUS P4S8X mobo.
Problem with the vendor is that they are short on time and keen to charge
money, if I take out the mobo, the warranty is voided so I can't even send
that back to ASUS.

Meantime I have been running my PC on Ubuntu, want to see how long it last
before something happens, if it anything. 48hours so far no problems. I have
no idea what different problems will lead to with GNU/Linux I dont have much
experience with it.

 

[Sharon F]

Hi Sharon, here is a list of what is happening

An MVP, Torgeir, posted the following earlier this week:

Microsoft have released a command line tool err.exe that I use
sometimes. It is listed as an Exchange tool, but it works fine
on WinXP.

Error Code Lookup
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...99-7bb8-4208-b7fc-09e02a13696c&displaylang=en

May 24, 2004. Determine error values from decimal and hexadecimal
error codes in Microsoft Windows operating systems.
[/end quote]

Don't know if the tool would help in decoding your error messages or not
but may be worth a try. My gut feeling is that the problem is in the
electrical/hardware category but that's just a guess. It could end up that
those codes are driver related. You'll still need to figure out which
driver...

 

[Guest]

Thanks Sharon F, I'll take a look at that and try it out and post results
here if anything....

I find it hard that it could be drivers because all is from MS except for
the Soundcard. I doubt if Adobe or NAV or ZA can cause these error codes.
then again I know nothing about XP.

 

[Guest]

Hi Sharon,

I tried the err tool but its not much help still fairly cryptic. It gave
several possiblities and perhaps one or two are likely but it doesnt really
make sense to me.

One thing though, I got to using Ubuntu for a few days without it dying on
me but towards the third day I had a few Firefox windows open (doing my
research work) and it hang. But this isn't conclusive because I found out
later that a few people have reported the same thing, could be a bug.

I think I have wasted so much time being unproductive with this I have throw
more money down and get another mobo. THanks for your help anyway.