So weird...

[hoffman-log.livejournal.com]

So here's my problem. I've never had to post one to this place before, because between several Microsoft and CompTIA certifications, one would assume i know my (stuff). But this is driving me nuts.

Problem: The computer will suddenly freeze up, nothing will work. This means mouse and keyboard fail, and the sound suddenly quits. It simply LOCKS. Only solution is to shut off the power and restart.

For a while i thought it was thermal related, but this couldn't be it, because when i reboot (a whole three seconds later) it works fine. Oh, as far as suggestions go, "Take it back to the manufacturer" isn't really an option, i techincally AM the manufacturer (built everything myself from scratch. go me!)

Specs: This should be helpful, maybe... ABIT KR7A-RAID 266MHz FSB, AMD Athlon 1800+, 256MB PC2300 (i think) DDR ECC RAM, Windows XP Pro, and if there's anything else you would like to know, let me know.

All right. Problem submitted to the think-tank. Let's see what it generates...

_MaH

Comments

[nix.livejournal.com]

update the BIOS yet? I had to do that when I got my ABIT KR7A board...

Whoa

[hoffman-log.livejournal.com]

A reply in all of two minutes. I'm amazed... Actually yes, i did update the BIOS, but that was back in summer.

_MaH

[diji.livejournal.com]

You seem to indicate that for a period of time, the system was working normally. If so, what has changed between the time it was all working, and the time it wasn't? Have you possibly added new hardware or software? Were there any intermittant problems before than might have led up to this?

If it hasn't worked... possibly bad hardware combination?

Re:

[hoffman-log.livejournal.com]

Actually the water cooling system did explode back in September, but since then all exposed circuitry (motherboard, chip, PCI cards, etc) have been replaced. It appears to happen randomly, sometimes within a day, sometimes within a matter of hours, but one thing i AM noticing, is that it takes an event to trigger it. Most (if not all) of the time, it's been as simple as moving the mouse. Cursor moves, computer goes to hell. I'm seriously betting it's something with the software.

_MaH

"Unless it's on fire, it's a software problem."

[diji.livejournal.com]

You might try booting into Safe Mode and then just operating the system as close to normally as you can in those conditions... if it works fine after it would have normally failed, then its an extended driver or piece of software.

Alternately, you could zap everything out of your start up folder, as well as all the stuff in the run part of the registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Windows\Current Version\Run) and see if the problem occurs. :)

Happy hunting.

[alacrity.livejournal.com]

Generally water cooling systems are only necessary if one is overclocking. Are you presently, or have you in the past, overclocked? That can cause a very small amount of damage to hardware that could result in a slightly higher incidence of fuzzy bits (bits in memory, or in computations that come out in the grey area and are interpreted incorrectly, yes, I just made up the term "fuzzy bits" as I'm not actually sure what the real word for this is.)

Also, if you are presently overclocking, it is quite likely you've simply pushed it too far and it is not at a stable speed. In which case, slow down! ;-)

Re:

[hoffman-log.livejournal.com]

Nah, like i said, had to replace (almost) everything inside. Never really had the desire to overclock the second processor...

_MaH

A few basic troubleshooting questions:

[synthe.livejournal.com]

When did this start happening?
Did you or anyone else change anything around that time?
What other troubleshooting have you tried?
Have you tried WinXP Safe mode? Clean boot?
Tried removing non-essential hardware?

Re: A few basic troubleshooting questions:

[hoffman-log.livejournal.com]

Wow you people are fast. As stated earlier, I'm seriously betting the problem is software related (probably should've given more software specs then). But like stated earlier, it seems to take an event, like me moving the mouse, to cause this to happen. It really happens at random times. Also, nothing has been changed since it started happening, hardware-wise. I can't think of anything i've recently installed that runs when it happens, so i'm betting that's out too.

_MaH

Re: A few basic troubleshooting questions:

[tjernobyl.livejournal.com]

I had a random lockup problem for quite a while as well, often triggered when I moved the mouse. One of the standoffs on the case had been installed incorrectly and would occasionally contact one of the pins on the back of the motherboard. As the mouse was right next to the case, sometimes the movement would do it. Other times I could smack it and be just fine. Mechanical fluke..

Re: A few basic troubleshooting questions:

[hoffman-log.livejournal.com]

wow that's weird...

_MaH

Some more info

[hoffman-log.livejournal.com]

Ok. As stated in several other posts, I'm betting the problem is software related. No BIOS settings have recently been changed, no new hardware installed, no new programs that would be causing this (IE: new programs that constantly run or are running at the time of the crash), and it seems to take an event (most commonly mouse movement) to trigger this.

In fact, the most recent one, i moved my cursor across the "Next Track" button on Windows Media Player, and as soon as it started to change shade (indicating a mouse-over) that was when it crashed. [shrug] Interpret what you will...

_MaH

[inahandbasket]

so this started happening after you rebuilt the machine?
I had similar issues going on with my mcahine at one point.
It turned out to be one of the RAM chips which was very slighly flaky. Took it out, everything was fine.
If you have a spare HD, try swapping that in and see if it works fine for a few days. if so, it's software. if not, check your ram.

just some thoughts.

[diji.livejournal.com]

Its possible it could be cache as well... although not likely.

[inahandbasket]

yeah, i'd be pretty shocked. But anything's possible however unlikely.
;o)

Re:

[hoffman-log.livejournal.com]

Actually if it's not a software problem, it does look like the most likely hardware malfunction would be the RAM chip... Especially when you take into consideration that the mouse movement has triggered it, that involves the processor, memory, Motherboard, but not the harddrive (correct me if i'm wrong on that, but i'm pretty sure about it).

All righty. Just need to buy another chip (been a while, prices are probably way lower than back in august).

_MaH

hardware troubleshooting

[chupchup.livejournal.com]

While it's too early to rule out software problems, you need to completely rule out hardware problems before you can even begin to look at software causes. So swap out each of the hardware components, one at a time, and give it a good stress-test until it crashes again. Some of these (disk, RAM, video) can be tested with good diagnostic software--you may or may not get the right answer from diagnostics, but you may at least be able to reproduce the problem consistently!

Offhand, it sounds like you might have a faulty CPU. I had similar problems with an Athlon/KT-133 system which would hang only while I was playing a certain game--and would be fine after a reset/power off--but when I was testing some other components on an ASUS motherboard (also KT-133-based) at a friend's place and brought these home, the ASUS motherboard wouldn't even boot with my Athlon in place! When I swapped it out for a Duron 750, it ran fine, and the game ran without hanging! I'm still investigating an RMA for the faulty Athlon 1100...

[greeklady.livejournal.com]

To me this is screaming an overheating problem, AMD is known for heat issues. But try the safe mode thing mentioned above... I am currious. Please post results.

Re:

[hoffman-log.livejournal.com]

i very seriously doubt it's a heat issue. That was my first thought, but once i realized i could boot it right back up with no problem after about three seconds, i decided that wasn't it.

the concensus is that it's most likely a RAM problem. Albeit a rather strange one, but it seems to make the most sense to me. I'll test this once i have the money to afford another chip (yes, i'm THAT poor) :-P

_MaH

Re:

[greeklady.livejournal.com]

I didn't look at the specs too much. Do you only have one chip? I would test with whatcha got.

I have seen stranger things with ram so it wouldn't surprise me if it was.

[wildkard.livejournal.com]

All I can recommend at this point is that if you think it's termal; even casually.... install motherboard monitor or something that equally reads your heat sensors (your motherboard *does* have sensors right? yeah, a KR7A should.) and be generating a log. I've known a few systems that cooled off fast enough once they weren't generating additional heat.

*sigh* Other than that... it's a stumper. Good for hours of sitting around in safe and limited device profile modes and seeing if you can pinpoint what in XP is crashing it. :/

[geam.livejournal.com]

How many watt power supply?
How many hard drives?
How many CD-ROMs.
Are your speakers powered through your sound card?
Is your monitor powered through your power supply? (Note: I do not mean _by_ the power supply.)

Normally a computer will restart randomly if too much power is being drawn, but it could also lock up. You said you were changing tracks when it froze up one time -- does it normally lock up when you do that?
If so, are you playing media from a CD-ROM?
Also, what type of mouse?
If USB, how many other USB devices do you have?

Just some questions to make you think.

Re:

[hoffman-log.livejournal.com]

Well i'm pretty sure we've narrowed it down to a flakey RAM chip, but sure, i'll go ahead and answer your questions to the best of my ability.

How many watt power supply?
500W

How many hard drives?
Three

How many CD-ROMs.
Two

Are your speakers powered through your sound card?
No

Is your monitor powered through your power supply? (Note: I do not mean _by_ the power supply)
Not quite sure what you mean, but i think i have an idea. I have a cord that allows me to plug my monitor into a second jack on the power supply. This is AC power that's coming right from the wall, though. So i think the answer you're looking for is "Through it, yes. By it, no."

Does it normally lock up when i [change tracks]?
No. Normally it happens when something changes, like a cursor position, or an onMouseOver effect, but most resently was when my computer was switching between the screen saver and the password protection screen. (More signs of a flaky RAM chip)

[Was I] playing media from a CD-ROM?
No.

What type of mouse?
Logitech Cordless/Optical mouse. It transmits to a receiver that also receives my cordless keyboard, and from there goes through one USB port.

If USB, how many other USB devices do you have?
Keyboard/Mouse is (technically) one device, a webcam (but it hasn't worked in a long time, little motivation to fix it) is another, the third and final is a Lexmark Z25 printer.

Hope that helped.

_MaH