Hi

I am trying to get to the bottom of a computer problem that's starting to do my nut. The system itself has had memory replaced, new graphics card, new hard drive, new mainboard the only thing remaining is the cpu.

Now i know the cpu was involved in a machine that went bellyup but for an hour or so it works. The machine then starts getting brain damage and saying so and so has shut down and it gets worse over about 30 seconds till the entire thing freezes up and cold boots.

What makes it more irritating is that after this any attempt to run windows for more than 1 minute are met with another hard boot. The machine has to go off for a good 10-15 minutes before it's usable again.

First thing i thought after testing the ram etc was heat but checking the temperatures before and just after each boot shows a temperature drop if anything.

Im just wondering if anyone has any idea's. Would a faulty cpu choose to go insane almost on the hour and keep being silly after?.

Thanks all

power supply? was the cpu installed properly? are the onboard fans running at a good speed?

i don't know about the psu ill check but wouldnt that make the problem worse the more load you put on it?.

Fans running 4100 rpm and ive had chips at 50 keeping more stable. I will check the psu in case and keep you posted.

Are their any motherboard faults that could cause this issue?

does it write to the mini dump? i can view these files and see what it says... helped me find out why i had a few bsod's!

If a power supply is on its way out it will shut down when ever the temp gets up, regardless of load as it does sound like its heat related.

you say you have replaced the mobo? is the cpu seated properly and you used decent paste? might be worth redoing that aswell?

Can you tell me how to find the mini dump and ill get that information for you. Im monitoring temp levels at the minute and taking some screenshots that i will also post links too in a bit.

The machine has been doing it since it was bought (was my fathers) but with him installing it himself they only went so far to help him....letting him replace the memory and graphics card.

Depending on what happens with this dump file and what the temps show ill have to ask if anyone has a chip i could use to test if it is the motherboard or psu.

Thanks for the help so far

c\:windows\minidump if its bsod it should write a log file of the problem.

if you dont get a bsod and the computer just turns off, and when it eventually reboots it acts as normal then it sounds like a heat issue to me.

Well the dump files state things such as usbport, ataport, ecache.sys,ntkrnlpa.exe....each one being a different error.

There a way to send you these as the only information it gives is one line which is what i sent you....the rest is saying i don't have the right symbols.

If your computer makes it all the way to windows it sounds like it could be a driver, virus, or hard drive problem. At your stage I would backup all your stuff on another hard drive and reinstall windows and take it from there.

Will have to give that a try. I have used both xp and vista on this machine now. I ran some more tests after reading about (irq not less or equal) i disabled all the onboard things such as sound, network and anything above barebones and still managed to get the error. It wasnt always bluescreening only on bootup but i disabled auto restart.

It's becoming more and more obvious it's a hardware fault somewhere but i may also try linux just to be sure.

Anyone around southey green have a spare hdd and/or cpu to help test the system...after that im putting the blame right on the motherboard.

Thanks all

I've found this free tool handy when suffering from crashes:

WhoCrashed 1.01
Comprehensible crash dump analysis tool
for Windows Vista/XP/2008/2003/2000 (x86 and x64)

Available here:
http://www.resplendence.com/downloads
:thumbsup:

Anyone around southey green have a spare hdd and/or cpu to help test the system...after that im putting the blame right on the motherboard.


but havent you already changed that?

so is it bsod everytime or does it just switch off, leave it 20min and powers back up as normal?

Yeah if i leave it about half hour it works fine which makes me think heat but nope all nominal for each device. In fact i need a bit more thermal past as some of it came off as i checked the cpu....made things no better or worse same timing of the crashes etc.

I have heard about it being the hard drive (found out that might not have been changed) so was thinking of putting ubuntu or it's ilk on dvd and booting live would that work as a test?.

Thanks for the link i will check that out much appreciated.

I did notice where the cpu sits that one of the pins on the board was bent and it's playing on my mind as to if that's causing this problem. At this point i have even checked the compatability of all the components with eachother specially the cpu and board and all is checking out.


This first shot is a minute or so after finishing the boot sequence.

http://www.digitaloblivion.co.uk/tempcheck1-boot.jpg

This one being 15 minutes after boot and having run a few applications and an ati tech demo.

http://www.digitaloblivion.co.uk/tempcheck2-15minutes.jpg

Yeah if i leave it about half hour it works fine which makes me think heat but nope all nominal for each device. In fact i need a bit more thermal past as some of it came off as i checked the cpu....made things no better or worse same timing of the crashes etc.
rules out then imo


I have heard about it being the hard drive (found out that might not have been changed) so was thinking of putting ubuntu or it's ilk on dvd and booting live would that work as a test?.
Never used linux so no idea. didnt know you could use an op system direct off a dvd? HD's are cheap enough these day so no harm in putting a new one in.

Thanks for the link i will check that out much appreciated.

I did notice where the cpu sits that one of the pins on the board was bent and it's playing on my mind as to if that's causing this problem. At this point i have even checked the compatability of all the components with eachother specially the cpu and board and all is checking out.


This first shot is a minute or so after finishing the boot sequence.

http://www.digitaloblivion.co.uk/tempcheck1-boot.jpg

This one being 15 minutes after boot and having run a few applications and an ati tech demo.

http://www.digitaloblivion.co.uk/tempcheck2-15minutes.jpg


The temps im thinking off are not the onboard ones.... i mean the hardware physically overheating. Next time it goes try putting your hand on the componants just to see if they feel hotter.

Did you manage to read the minidumps? this will point at what it was that caused the last failure.

Does it do it using certain progs.. or even if you just boot up and dont actually use it.. just leave it running and see what happens without running any progs?

When i boot it up initially it can run for an hour or so perfectly fine...after which if it isnt off for 20 minutes or more i get a few minutes before a bsod.

I can do both hardware intensive tasks such as graphics card testing via a demo of 3dmark and a direct x 10 demo with no obvious problems. I can also just boot it and leave it for the hour and it will go almost like clockwork.

That is why heating is something im not sure about because youd expect the more work the devices are doing the sooner the failure?.

To keep you updated i have tried removing the dvd writer and moving the ram to the second slot and again same error.

One thing i did notice that i changed as soon as i found out....the memory was set incorrectly in bios. Now the bios might have been doing the speed correctly but when i chose manual they were set above the CAS etc so i set them as 5-5-5 to be safe......same error.

The bent pin on the cpu bed is playing on my mind something cronic but i don't have the money to test another chip or hdd at the moment hence giving the pc an nhs check.

I will try feeling at the components or in the area around them to see how they feel.

On the linux issue yeah you can run a live cd without installing...wether this puts some data on the hard drive im not sure maybe someone could clarify that but i couldn't carry that test out because as soon as the GUI launced the screen went absolutely mental all distorted as if the monitor couldnt accept the settings.

In xp and vista display is fine and same error with same timing......this is confusing me bigtime.....:huh:

Almost forgot the memory dumps. Ill post them up tommorow but what i can say is 9 times out of 10 it report ntkrnlpa.exe as being the culprit. The errors i recieve are irql_not_less_or_equal or one associated with page fault. As for the files it shows when it shows them they range from ones associated with usb ports, to memory management and anything in between lol.

Cheers

download and burn Hirens Boot CD, then boot the said pc with the disc and run tests on your hardware, will save you a lot of messing about ;)

Will give it a go thanks for the advice :)

wow alot of useful applications on that cd. Running a memory test at present and keeping it running to see if it crashes out while not in xp or vista.

Ill run the other checks like cpu and hdd and let you know the result...thanks very much for the heads up on hirens cd.