Subject:
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Re: PC Troubleshooting...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.geek
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Date:
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Sat, 29 Sep 2001 20:24:44 GMT
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Viewed:
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107 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.geek, Richard Marchetti writes:
> Hey Y'all:
>
> Someone I know is giving me slightly old computer parts and I am building
> 3-4 different computer systems from the parts for use by friends -- I may
> even end up with one or two machines in return to give to people in the
> neighborhood. These systems are comprised of 500 MHz Pentium III processors
> and motherboards, 128 MB RAM, IBM SCSI Hard Drives, 8 MB video cards, 56 K
> modems, Yamaha Sound cards, a CD-ROMS drive, a floppy drive, and all of it
> housed with ATX format metal case. All my pals have to do is buy keyboards,
> mice, and monitors. Well, you get the idea...
>
> Anyway, I have built one system a few times now. After putting together a
> bare-bones hardware setup, I usually install the OS (Win 98 se), and run a
> series of tests from a utility called Checkit 98 -- which besides testing
> most everything, does deep memory testing in DOS mode and also has a burn-in
> feature (which I have yet to get to).
>
> My problem after swapping out almost all the possible components at least
> once, is that the system keeps hanging. Just to be sure you understand what
> I mean -- I mean that the system appears to freeze, the screen image becomes
> static, the mouse does not work, the keyboard does not work,
> control+alt+delete does nothing. Basically, the only thing I can do at that
> point is soft or hard boot the system once again. And it keeps hanging anyway.
Is this while running Checkit, or regardless of what the system is doing?
I'm not 100% clear on that. And what do you mean by soft boot? I'm
familiar with that term being a restart using software (i.e. cntrl-alt-del)
but I think you're meaning something else.
Also, in "swapping all possible components" are you including different
combos of sysboard & processor? If you've got access to the sysboard's
manual (on or off line) have you checked to make sure the various switch
settings are all OK and you aren't accidently overclocking?
> This is just about the wierdest thing to have ever happened to me
> hardware-wise as the problem defies discovery (hence all the part swapping
> and diagnostic testing). The only things I haven't tried is doing tests of
> the ports with loopback plugs or swapping the power supply (which is a new
> case, BTW -- not that this excludes it from possibly being a problem). The
> problem appears to be intermittent, yet it will occur within 45 minutes of
> the system being turned on in most cases. The machine never hangs in DOS
> mode while undergoing the deep RAM testing.
Have you tried a different OS? (i.e., if you leave it in DOS mode, does it
ever freeze?) How about Windows safe mode? If it's happy in safe mode, your
problem is more likely bad drivers than bad hardware; go to the
manufacturers website(s) and install the current drivers for the hardware
you're using (one at a time). Also check to make sure your running the most
current BIOS for your board.
> Does anyone have any ideas as to what this problem might be? Alternatively,
> does anyone recommend any other diagnostic tools or software that I should
> consider using? Frankly, if anyone has any really kick-ass DOS diagnostic
> software I'd be pleased to recive a zip-file of it before purchasing the
> whole package.
The only other thing that I'd consider looking into would be APM (auto power
management) incompatability. If the machine is typically sitting idle (or
running non-intervention software like Checkit) something in the
OS-BIOS-board-PSU chain may be trying to engage some variant of a sleep
mode, and failing miserably.
Also, try google. Lots of really useful things flow through the technical
usenet groups, and you're very rarely the first person to see a particular
problems.
thanks,
James "yes, I'm a hardware tech by trade, how did you guess?" Brown
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: PC Troubleshooting...
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| (...) I meant hitting the reset button, which I've always heard of as a soft boot because it doesn't cut the power. Is it called something else? (...) Actually, I am pretty sure that it was the motherboard -- the part I was most loathe to have to (...) (23 years ago, 30-Sep-01, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)
| | | Re: PC Troubleshooting...
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| (...) anyway. (...) One other thing you may want to check is that the CPU fan's working OK, and the thermal connection is good. IIRC Pentium IIIs shut down when they overheat. Regards ROSCO (23 years ago, 5-Oct-01, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | PC Troubleshooting...
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| Hey Y'all: Someone I know is giving me slightly old computer parts and I am building 3-4 different computer systems from the parts for use by friends -- I may even end up with one or two machines in return to give to people in the neighborhood. (...) (23 years ago, 29-Sep-01, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)
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