Total System Hang

[Guest]

My PC has just recently started having problems. It just hangs, and the only
thing I can do is a power cycle. The keyboard goes dead, mouse dead, and no
system response. I have no installed any new software, but have added any
recent system patches (automatic). My AV is up-to-date, as well as my
firewall. I don't think I've any virus or anything unusual going on.

I've checked all I can. There are no entries in the Event Viewer (the system
just totally hangs). I've seen no unusual error messages in there recently.

I've added no new hardware either.

I'm just totally confused. If anyone can guide me as to how I can - a)
collect more data as to what the system is doing when it hangs or b) control
what's happening or c) by miracle recommend a fix to an unknown problem.

The hangs are totally at random. It can happen on boot, just as the startup
apps are starting, after 5 min of system running, or after 5 hours of system
running. No specific task seems to cause it.

Thanks folks.

 

[Guest]

How old is the computer? Have you ever replaced the CMOS battery? How about
dust in the cooling fans and inside the case, see any dust bunny's?
Overheating can cause prob's ,a slowly dying PSU can too...Updated any
drivers lately? If not you may actually need too, like, for the
video/graphics card, BIOS, software, etc..
A good driver a year ago can get old and nasty and cause prob's as well,
especially with service pack updates rolling out every few weeks or months...
j;-j

 

[Michael]

Download memtest86 and run a memory test (overnight if possible). When
systems start acting up, this is the first thing to check.

 

[Guest]

The PC itself is about 3 years old.

The CMOS battery hasn't been replaced. Not sure how I'd check if it needs.

No, the machine is clean inside and certainly isn't overheating. The inside
temp is around normal. I've a good CPU fan on it, and the case is open.

I am currently running all the latest BIOS and drivers, and run both Windows
Update, and all application updates frequently. That's why I'm confused.

The only thing I've done recently is move the machine. Now, maybe it got a
little bump in transit. I've rechecked all the disk cables.

Anyway, thanks for the ideas.

 

[Guest]

Ok , you moved your rig and you cut the power to do so, right? Did you have
this problem after the move? The CMOS battery is at most $3 or less at Radio
Shack and even if you can rule it out of the picture thats one down, so to
speak. I have solved my own system problems by just removing and replacing
the battery to force the bios to reset and in some cases it works, pun
intended.

With the case open the air flow is negated or in my case it was, because I
have 7 80mm fans, 3 drawing in and 4 blowing out heated air. With the case
open, air wasn't flowing over the components and they ran hotter.. You might
make sure all cables and all connections are indeed tight with the RAM chips
seated tight as well.
What are your system specs...?
j;-j

 

[Guest]

Ok.

I moved house, so machine came with me.

I have just taken the machine apart. I disconnected everything, and
reconnected everything. I removed the CMOS battery and put it back. So,
everything on the hardware level has been reset.

I'm now running that memtest86 to check the machine.

When I first booted it had a problem with the CPU settings. It's an Intel
P4 2.53ghz CPU. I had to change it down to a lower setting, boot, shutdown,
and reset it to run at 2.53.

The machine (home built) -
P4 2.53ghz
1.5gb RAM (Rambus 1066)
2 cd drives - DVD drive, and DVD-RW drive
4 hard disks - 40gb, 80gb, 80gb and 200gb (two disks run off a PCI Promise
controller)
4x AGP Video card (MSI GeForce FX5900)
Asus P4T533-C motherboard

Any more info you need?

Thanks for all the help/advice.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice.

I've downloaded this software, burned to CD, and booted from CD. The tests
are currently running.

 

[Guest]

Paul,
You might try rolling back the drivers for the geforce or updating them to
the latest from the MSI or Nvidia site. Also you could update and or roll
back the drivers for the Promise card..You might try and just boot to the two
HD's on the primary IDE channel without the raid card installed and see if
the problem goes away, if so, It may be the raid card that needs to be
reconfigured updated etc...Are both HD's on the primary IDE channel, with the
CD devices on the secondary IDE channel?

If you have access to another video card you could swap it out and see if
that card solves the problem.. I assume you have been to the ASUS site for
bios and any other related updates ie.. for the chipset drivers, or at least
setup the board with the original setup disk that came with the P4T533-C for
initial chipset support
http://support.asus.com/download/download_item.aspx?product=1&model=P4T533-C&SLanguage=en-u
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/driver/dvr/spt_dvr_detail.php?UID=534&kind=2
Also, just a thought, when connecting molex 4 pin connectors to HD's, Video
cards etc.. don't use the Y molex cable for a device that needs a full 12v of
power, two devices that need a pure 12v might only get 6v each if running
simultaneously.
Hope this can help
j;-j

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice.

Well, turns out that it was a memory problem. Seems the memory chips had
become very slightly dislodged. I began to notice at times, when booting,
that it wasn't picking up the full amount of memory.

So, I started from scratch. Removing each chip and trying.

Everything has now been working fine for 2-3 days. No hangs and no other
issues.

In the box, I've 2 IDE devices off each channel, plus two disks on the
adapter. 1 disk and 1 cd off each channel.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Guest]

In primary IDE channel properties under advanced settings tab are there 2 hd
devices 0/1 showing with transfer modes "ultra DMA mode 5", yes or no? If the
cd/dvd devices are paired on the secondary IDE channel devices 0/1 the
transfer mode for both should be "ultra DMA mode 2" is this what you have,
yes or no?
The reason I ask this, is if you mix hd and cd devices it could affect their
DMA..
A hd on the secondary channel may get set to DMA 2, a cd device to a higher
DMA than needed. I'm just curious what yours show for your connected devices
for both channels? If you are not experiencing any data loss or disk copy
errors, then don't worry about it..
Glad to here you solved your problem..
j;-j

 

[Guest]

Sorry, you've lost me now. Where do I find these settings?

I checked in the device manager, and can't see it. Is it a BIOS setting?

 

[Guest]

Sorry, Look in device manager, click the + next to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers,
right click on the primary IDE channel, click properties, click advanced
tab...What is the current transfer mode for device 0, device 1? What about
the secondary IDE channel? What is it's current transfer mode for device 0,
device 1?
You mentioned that you had one HD and one CD on each channel and I am just
curious as to what the current transfer mode is for all of your devices on
both channels..
Hard drives usually use UDMA 5 mode and CD/DVD devices UDMA 2 mode, for
example. So, the Primary IDE channel device 0 should be the HD with UDMA 5
and device 1 the CD with UDMA 2, for their respective transfer mode settings.

j;-)

 

[Guest]

Sorry for not replying sooner. Life has been hectic.

I've no advanced settings in there. In fact, I can't find anywhere that the
DMA settings are.

 

[Guest]

Yep, I know what you mean..
No advanced settings tab?? What's your ver of XP? Retail or OEM? Computer
make and model? Hard drive and CD/DVD drive make and model? Do you have a
CD/DVD RW drive? Burning software installed?

The reason for all the questions is that I had my advanced settings tab
disappear on my system. I got it back by uninstalling my old burning software
B's Clip and B's Recorder Gold 5 that came bundled with a CD RE drive that I
had removed from the system in order to install a DVD/CD combo drive. The
combo drive came with Nero and at the time I liked the other apps better. I
realized my mistake with the system being a little unstable at times as well
finally opting for signed and updated drivers, which restored reasonable
stability and the advanced settings tab too.
j:-j

 

[Guest]

Here's some info,

Nero InfoTool 2.27

Drive Information
------------------
Drive : ASUS DVD-RW DRW-0402P

Drive Information
------------------
Drive : TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1202

Interface Information
---------------------
Adapter 1
---------
Description : Primary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : System32\DRIVERS\IdeChnDr.sys
Company : Intel Corporation
Version : 2.2.0.2126, 04/10/2002
Description : Intel Application Accelerator Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: WDC WD400AB-00BVA0
Type : Disk Drive
DMA : On
Description : Slave: ASUS DVD-RW DRW-0402P
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : Off
Autorun : On

Adapter 2
---------
Description : Secondary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : System32\DRIVERS\IdeChnDr.sys
Company : Intel Corporation
Version : 2.2.0.2126, 04/10/2002
Description : Intel Application Accelerator Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: ST3120024A
Type : Disk Drive
DMA : On
Description : Slave: TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1202
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : Off
Autorun : On

Adapter 3
---------
Description : Promise Technology Inc. Ultra IDE Controller

Driver
Description : System32\DRIVERS\ultra.sys
Company : Promise Technology, Inc.
Version : 2.00.0.42
Description : Promise Ultra Series Driver for Windows2000

Attached Devices
Description : ID 0 (0): WDC WD2000JB-00EVA0 15.0
Type : Disk Drive

Hardware Information
--------------------
CPU : Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2533 MHz
Bus Speed : 133 MHz
Motherboard : ASUSTeK P4T533-C
System : System System Name
BIOS : Award ASUS P4T533-C ACPI BIOS Revision 1010
Memory : 1536 MB


I use the Nero burning software with it.

 

[Guest]

Paul,
Update Nero first of all and get the newer ver of the infotool here..
http://www.nero.com/en/nero-up.php
http://www.nero.com/en/Info_Tool.html
Here is my info to compare, I don't have a raid card, but it may be the
drivers that are causing you to be missing the advanced settings tab..Mine
are signed from MS and yours are from Intel, are they signed?
Also, Norton has been known to have a prob with Intel's app excel driver. I
don't use it for now, (I do use NIS) until I can update a Norton fix , just
haven't gotten around to it yet..

Nero InfoTool 3.00

Interface Information
---------------------
Adapter 1
---------
Description : Primary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : system32\DRIVERS\atapi.sys
Company : Microsoft Corporation
Version : 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Description : IDE/ATAPI Port Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: Maxtor 6Y200P0
Type : Disk Drive
DMA : On
Description : Slave: Maxtor 6B250R0
Type : Disk Drive
DMA : On

Adapter 2
---------
Description : Secondary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : system32\DRIVERS\atapi.sys
Company : Microsoft Corporation
Version : 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Description : IDE/ATAPI Port Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: GENERIC DVD DUAL 4XMax
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : On
Autorun : On
Description : Slave: TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1612
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : On
Autorun : On

Let me know what you think..
j;-j

 

[Guest]

Thought this might help..
XP Pro/Home raid IAA driver update ver 2.3.0.2160
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scr...XP+Professional&lang=eng&strOSs=44&submit=Go!
XP Home raid IAA driver update seems to be the same as XP Pro. These may be
signed and may solve the advanced settings tab disappearance in device
manager..
Your thoughts..
j;-j

 

[Guest]

I had problems before when I put my two CD/DVD drives on the same channel. I
just couldn't get them to work. So, I mixed the pairings with the hard
disks. Since then I've added more parts, but kept the same configuration.

I'll check out that Intel Driver and let you know how it goes.

Sorry, here's a new Infotool report.


Nero InfoTool 3.02

Drive Information
------------------
Drive : ASUS DVD-RW DRW-0402P
Type : Combo Drive

Drive Information
------------------
Drive : TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1202
Type : DVD-ROM Drive

Interface Information
---------------------
Adapter 1
---------
Description : Primary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : System32\DRIVERS\IdeChnDr.sys
Company : Intel Corporation
Version : 2.2.0.2126, 04/10/2002
Description : Intel Application Accelerator Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: WDC WD400AB-00BVA0
Type : Disk Drive
DMA : On
Description : Slave: ASUS DVD-RW DRW-0402P
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : Off
Autorun : On

Adapter 2
---------
Description : Secondary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : System32\DRIVERS\IdeChnDr.sys
Company : Intel Corporation
Version : 2.2.0.2126, 04/10/2002
Description : Intel Application Accelerator Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: ST3120024A
Type : Disk Drive
DMA : On
Description : Slave: TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1202
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : Off
Autorun : On

Adapter 3
---------
Description : Promise Technology Inc. Ultra IDE Controller

Driver
Description : System32\DRIVERS\ultra.sys
Company : Promise Technology, Inc.
Version : 2.00.0.42
Description : Promise Ultra Series Driver for Windows2000

Attached Devices
Description : ID 0 (0): WDC WD2000JB-00EVA0 15.0
Type : Disk Drive
Description : ID 1 (0): WDC WD800JB-00FMA0 13.0
Type : Disk Drive

Software Information
--------------------
Operating System : Windows XP Home Edition (5.01.2600 Service Pack 2)
DirectX : DirectX 9.0c


Hardware Information
--------------------
CPU : Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2533 MHz
Bus Speed : 133 MHz
Motherboard : ASUSTeK P4T533-C
System : System System Name
BIOS : Award ASUS P4T533-C ACPI BIOS Revision 1010
Memory : 1536 MB
Sound : SB Audigy 2 Audio [FF00]
Video : MSI MS-StarForce GeForce FX 5900XT (NVIDIA GeForce FX
5900XT)

 

[Guest]

Hey,
The DMA for both optical drives is off, that's not the way it should be for
the best optimal performance, I would think..In the bios did you set those
drives to auto configure? Were the jumpers set to master/slave or cable
select mode? All drives need to be set same, either or, ie..all on cable
select or all using the master/slave configuration..
Oh, and your infotool info is the same, the version 3.02 is not what I am
downloading from the link I provided in the post, It 's still ver 3.00.. The
drive info should appear as follows..

Nero InfoTool 3.00

Drive Information
------------------
Drive : GENERIC DVD DUAL 4XMax
Type : DVD±R/RW Recorder
Firmware Version : 2.60
Buffer Size : 8 MB
Date : 04-04-12
Serial Number
Vendor Specific : 04/04/12¨Âe
Drive Letter : G:\
Location : 1:0
Mechanism : Tray
Read Speed : 52 , 51 , 50 , 49 , 48 , 47 , 46 , 45 , 44 , 43
, 42 , 40 , 39 , 38 , 37 , 36 , 35 , 34 , 33 , 32 , 31 , 30 , 29 , 28 , 27 ,
26 , 25 , 24 , 23 , 22 , 21 , 20 , 19 , 18 , 17 , 16 , 15 , 14 , 13 , 12 , 11
, 10 , 9 , 8 , 7 , 6 , 5 , 4 , 3 , 2 , 1 X
Write Speed : 24 , 20 , 16 , 8 , 4 X

Read CD Text : Yes
Return C2 Pointers : Yes
Read CD-R : Yes
Read CD-RW : Yes
Read DVD-ROM : Yes
Read DVD-RAM : No
Read DVD-R : Yes
Read DVD-RW : Yes
Read DVD+R : Yes
Read DVD+RW : Yes
Read DVD+R DL : No
Read BD-ROM : No
Read BD-R : No
Read BD-RE : No
Read Digital Audio : Yes
Read CD+G : Yes
Read VideoCD : Yes

Write CD-R : Yes
Write CD-RW : Yes
Write DVD-R : Yes
Write DVD-RW : Yes
Write DVD-R DL : No
Write DVD+R : Yes
Write DVD+RW : Yes
Write DVD+R DL : No
Write DVD-RAM : No
Write BD-R : No
Write BD-RE : No
Buffer Underrun Protection


: Yes
Mount Rainier : No
Modes : Packet, TAO, DAO, SAO, RAW SAO, RAW DAO 96

Region Protection Control : RPC II
Region : 1
Changes User : 4
Changes Vendor : 4


You are cutting & pasting, right? Anyway, see the link below for the latest
corresponding driver that I could find for your raid card, you know your
model if you see it..Just a thought, you might update the raid card driver
too..
http://www.promise.com/support/download/download2_eng.asp?productId=87&category=driver&os=0&go=GO
Hope this info can help..
Later..
j;-j

I had problems before when I put my two CD/DVD drives on the same channel. I
just couldn't get them to work. So, I mixed the pairings with the hard
disks. Since then I've added more parts, but kept the same configuration.

I'll check out that Intel Driver and let you know how it goes.

Sorry, here's a new Infotool report.


Nero InfoTool 3.02

Drive Information
------------------
Drive : ASUS DVD-RW DRW-0402P
Type : Combo Drive

Drive Information
------------------
Drive : TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1202
Type : DVD-ROM Drive

Interface Information
---------------------
Adapter 1
---------
Description : Primary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : System32\DRIVERS\IdeChnDr.sys
Company : Intel Corporation
Version : 2.2.0.2126, 04/10/2002
Description : Intel Application Accelerator Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: WDC WD400AB-00BVA0
Type : Disk Drive
DMA : On
Description : Slave: ASUS DVD-RW DRW-0402P
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : Off
Autorun : On

Adapter 2
---------
Description : Secondary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : System32\DRIVERS\IdeChnDr.sys
Company : Intel Corporation
Version : 2.2.0.2126, 04/10/2002
Description : Intel Application Accelerator Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: ST3120024A
Type : Disk Drive
DMA : On
Description : Slave: TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1202
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : Off
Autorun : On

Adapter 3
---------
Description : Promise Technology Inc. Ultra IDE Controller

Driver
Description : System32\DRIVERS\ultra.sys
Company : Promise Technology, Inc.
Version : 2.00.0.42
Description : Promise Ultra Series Driver for Windows2000

Attached Devices
Description : ID 0 (0): WDC WD2000JB-00EVA0 15.0
Type : Disk Drive
Description : ID 1 (0): WDC WD800JB-00FMA0 13.0
Type : Disk Drive

Software Information
--------------------
Operating System : Windows XP Home Edition (5.01.2600 Service Pack 2)
DirectX : DirectX 9.0c


Hardware Information
--------------------
CPU : Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2533 MHz
Bus Speed : 133 MHz
Motherboard : ASUSTeK P4T533-C
System : System System Name
BIOS : Award ASUS P4T533-C ACPI BIOS Revision 1010
Memory : 1536 MB
Sound : SB Audigy 2 Audio [FF00]
Video : MSI MS-StarForce GeForce FX 5900XT (NVIDIA GeForce FX
5900XT)

Paul,
Update Nero first of all and get the newer ver of the infotool here..
http://www.nero.com/en/nero-up.php
http://www.nero.com/en/Info_Tool.html
Here is my info to compare, I don't have a raid card, but it may be the
drivers that are causing you to be missing the advanced settings tab..Mine
are signed from MS and yours are from Intel, are they signed?
Also, Norton has been known to have a prob with Intel's app excel driver. I
don't use it for now, (I do use NIS) until I can update a Norton fix , just
haven't gotten around to it yet..

Nero InfoTool 3.00

Interface Information
---------------------
Adapter 1
---------
Description : Primary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : system32\DRIVERS\atapi.sys
Company : Microsoft Corporation
Version : 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Description : IDE/ATAPI Port Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: Maxtor 6Y200P0
Type : Disk Drive
DMA : On
Description : Slave: Maxtor 6B250R0
Type : Disk Drive
DMA : On

Adapter 2
---------
Description : Secondary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : system32\DRIVERS\atapi.sys
Company : Microsoft Corporation
Version : 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Description : IDE/ATAPI Port Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: GENERIC DVD DUAL 4XMax
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : On
Autorun : On
Description : Slave: TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1612
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : On
Autorun : On

Let me know what you think..
j;-j

 

[Guest]

My machine is turning itself off after about 30 minutes. I did have two
strange emails this last week but did not open either one of them. The
Ad-Ware shows no problem but Spyware showed four detections. I can't scanwith
my Norton's long enough to complete a scan. I have uninstalled any programs
from the last two weeks as well. What to do now? I went to restore settings.
I have been online with Verizon.Net for three days now--it began with the
internet showing Cannot find server whenever I tried to go to a site by
searching or just putting in the URL. If I went via a URL embeded in an
email, it was fine.
Any suggestions?