Lockups are back!!!

[hawkeye_wx]

Ok, this is the third time since I upgraded my system back in November that I've been hit with repeated lockups. You would think by now I'd have some kind of idea why the lockups are occurring, but I'm actually getting more confused with time. The first time lockups happened was shortly after I upgraded my mobo, cpu, and ram. I installed the via 4in1 drivers and my system proceeded to work fine for about one month. After one month, the lockups hit again. I was so fed up with my system I didn't even bother booting up again for two weeks. Two weeks later, I decided to try pushing the two ddr dimms and the video card into thier slots very hard. Guess what, the system worked fine! That was at the end of January. My system again worked great until today, a little over one month later again. I was writing an email when the system locked up. This time, pushing the video card and dimms in harder had no effect. Just as with the other two times, once the first lockup hits any reboot results in another lockup within three minutes after windows loads. I am officially stumped. I would kill for a solution to my problem and I'd greatly appreciate any help. Does anyone think the fact that about one month passed before each of the last two lockup attacks is important? I did leave my computer off for two weeks after the previous occurrence. Could some kind of electric charge buildup be a factor? I don't know anything about power supplies, but I'm just throwing out ideas.

By the way, I have already eliminated the video card itself as the problem. I swapped in my old tnt video card and it still locked up. Also, I haven't ran any 3d application of any kind for the past month. The lockups occur even while just sitting idle at the desktop.

 

[Kingslayer]

Have you tried using the system without the 4 in 1's installed and see what happens?

 

[hawkeye_wx]

I'm desperate for some kind of solution to my problem, so I'm just getting this thread to the top again.

 

[David]

If I think lockups = I think PSUs.
I think that your PSU runs fine for a while, but after a period of frequent use it fails. If you try to reboot it just locks up. If you leave it for a while it will recover, then lock up again. Try a branded 350W PSU - Enermax or Antec. This may resolve the problem.

 

[KaHNZa]

Can you try different memory? Try different slots? Or maybe check your CPU temps to make sure they aren't too high. Or here is another idea, try moving your PCI cards around. Windows may not like where one of them is. BTW, what OS are you using? If its 2000 or XP I would check the event logs and see if I could gleem any info from that.


P.S. I hope you get your problem solved. I know how it is to have your computer lockup a lot.

 

[hawkeye_wx]

Well, I've elimated any software problem as the cause of my lockups. The system locks up even when it is at the bios settings screen. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears to me that the lockups are being caused by either the power supply or the motherboard.

 

[Cooler666]

what power supply are you using?

 

[hawkeye_wx]

I'm using a Powerman 300W power supply that came with my InWin S500 case.

 

[muddocktor]

What are the 5 volt and 3.3 volt rails showing in bios? I've found that the AMD chips and boards can be picky sometimes when these are low. I used to run a Powman 400 watt psu in my t-bird and it ran OK, but you might be marginal with a 300 watt psu. If you need to replace the psu, I'd recommend an Antec 400 watt psu.

 

[jw50]

Have you tried checking the Event Viewer to see if it might tell you if a program or process may be causing the lockups?

 

[jboy]

Download MBM and use it to check your psu's voltages. It also logs the voltages overtime. If your voltages on the 5v line run low, like between 4.74-4.85, then a sudden dip in line voltage, (the voltage of the ac coming into your house), will throw your box into a lockup situation. If you have access to a voltmeter, plug it into the wall outlet that powers your computer, and see if the voltage is reliably steady and constant. A better power supply than the one you have, ( which I believe I've seen reviewed with poor results), will regulate your voltages better, and help even out line voltage fluctuations. I was having the same kind of lockups on my 1,4tbird/dragon plus running a generic 300w supply, witrh 5v's running from 4.70-4.85 v. Replaced it with a HEC 350w, and the lockups stopped.

 

[hawkeye_wx]

I don't remember the exact voltages for all my lines, but I do know they were all a bit lower than 5v and 12v respectively. The 5v line always ran in the 4.82-4.88 neighborhood. The 12v line ran around 11.88v.

 

[David]

The 12V looks a bit low IMHO - do you have a lot of fans?
The 5V does look kinda low, but not at crisis point. Looks like you may be having problems with fluctuating voltages.

Can you get UPS like devices to 'clean' power? I think I have heard of some...

 

[hawkeye_wx]

Lockups still a problem.

I just installed a new Antec 350W power supply. The line voltages are improved, but the system still locks up. I guess I have to look at the motherboard next. Man, I built this system back in November and it still doesn't work. I've had computer problems before, but it doesn't get worse than this.