Re: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-19 Thread FemmeFatale

I post to a msg board that sometimes sees 1000 posts a day :)

No its no trouble, most on the board are geeks/IT guys/Kids playing
quake too.

This guy is a very smart man whom I trust for HW recommendations

I will see what I dig up from his brain ;p


Roger Sherman wrote:
> 
> On Tue, 19 Mar 2002, FemmeFatale wrote:
> 
> > >From a  friend of mine who buys comp's & parts in the hundreds per month
> > he said, Asus & I believe it was Soyo are good. *Not sure on the Soyo*
> >
> > Sorry nothing more specific...but I can ask if you like?
> >
> > Femme
> 
> If it's no trouble, yeah, that would be great! He sounds like quite the
> authority. I did see Soyo on the recommended list...I can't remember, I
> think they might have had onboard sound, and I'm determined to use my SB
> Live
> 
> I don't want to put you to any bother, though, so don't do it if its an
> inconvenience...
>



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Re: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-19 Thread Tom Brinkman

On Tuesday 19 March 2002 06:05, Roger Sherman wrote:
> If it's no trouble, yeah, that would be great! He sounds like quite
> the authority. I did see Soyo on the recommended list...I can't
> remember, I think they might have had onboard sound, and I'm
> determined to use my SB Live

Well, I'm a Soyo fan, but wasn't real thrilled when they started 
integrating sound. Went ahead an got a k7vta pro almost a year ago an 
it's been flawless, even tho I'm oc'd to the hilt. Anyhow the onboard 
AC97 works great... I was plesantly surprised.  NBD tho to use a 
different card, the onboard sound is easily disabled by a bios 
setting. I tried it, it works. Both the k7vta and Dragon boards are 
AMD and LinuxHardware approved for the high end Athlons. So it's not 
just me that likes 'em ;)

   The original poster mentioned expense. The k7vta pro is very 
inexpensive and works great with any old sdram.  One thing Soyo 
boards are noted for is great ram performance.  I'm usin ancient 
pc100 sdram at 135Mhz Cas2 4bank interleaved. Runs memtest86 or 
cpuburn (burnK7 and burnMMX) endlessly with -0- errors. Competes 
favorably with many DDR systems.
-- 
Tom Brinkman   Corpus Christi, Texas



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RE: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-19 Thread Gerald Waugh

On Tue, 19 Mar 2002, Lyvim Xaphir wrote:
> 
> I think Damian is on the right track with the RAM replacement approach. 
> If you could get a "known good" ram module, you might be able to make
> some progress in your diagnosis.
> 
> I assume that your bios is at it's defaults and you haven't make any
> changes to the processor speeds (overclocking, etc).  ?
> 

You MB should have a jumper for reseting CMOS to default.
Try activating the jumper.
On my Soyo Board, I have to remove the power (pull the plug)
and activate the jumper for a few seconds.
I had to do it a couple of times when I was messing with the Config Settings.

--
Gerald Waugh



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Re: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-19 Thread FemmeFatale

>From a  friend of mine who buys comp's & parts in the hundreds per month
he said, Asus & I believe it was Soyo are good. *Not sure on the Soyo*

Sorry nothing more specific...but I can ask if you like?

Femme

Roger Sherman wrote:
> 
> Hey Terry...
> 
> Yep, just did that. Stripped it down to the bare motherboard, reseated the
> CPU, RAM, vid card...reconnected the power switch, reset switch, etc. Then
> I tried starting it up, with basically nothing but the vid card attatched,
> and it still exhibited the same boot problem, so I guess I'm in the market
> for a new motherboard. I saw a couple Asus boards on the AMD recommended
> list that might do the job.
> 
> Anyone want to make some recommendations for boards that worked well for
> them? It needs to be a board recommended for an XP1800, that will accept
> DDR RAM, and no integrated sound or video...
> 
>



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RE: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-18 Thread Lyvim Xaphir

On Mon, 2002-03-18 at 08:58, Roger Sherman wrote:

> > 
> > I had a similar problem with my laptop after upgrading the RAM. Be sure that
> > your RAM is fully and securely seated in their slots.
> > 
> > Bill
> 
> 
> Thanks Bill...I actually had to take a great deal of care with the 
> RAM...this board seems to be incredibly sensitive to how the RAM is 
> seated. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the problem.
> 
> 
> peace,
> 
> Rog

Roger,

I think Damian is on the right track with the RAM replacement approach. 
If you could get a "known good" ram module, you might be able to make
some progress in your diagnosis.

I assume that your bios is at it's defaults and you haven't make any
changes to the processor speeds (overclocking, etc).  ?



HTH

LX


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Re: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-18 Thread Roger Sherman


Hey Terry...

Yep, just did that. Stripped it down to the bare motherboard, reseated the 
CPU, RAM, vid card...reconnected the power switch, reset switch, etc. Then 
I tried starting it up, with basically nothing but the vid card attatched, 
and it still exhibited the same boot problem, so I guess I'm in the market 
for a new motherboard. I saw a couple Asus boards on the AMD recommended 
list that might do the job.

Anyone want to make some recommendations for boards that worked well for 
them? It needs to be a board recommended for an XP1800, that will accept 
DDR RAM, and no integrated sound or video...

On 18 Mar 2002, Terry Smith wrote:

> Roger,
> 
> Sorry to hear about your troubles. I had some 'shutdown' problems with
> my new box also. Turned out to be a bad mobo (which has been replaced - 
> no problems since).
> 
> One way of debugging these things is to 'simplify'. Disconnect all your
> peripherals - removable drives, keyboard, floppy, mouse, etc. -
> everything except the monitor and the boot drive. Does it boot and run?
> (Obviously you won't be able to do anything). Yes, start adding
> components and rebooting.
> 
> No. Swap drives. Try again.
> 
> No. Swap power supplies. Try again.
> 
> Well I think you get the drift. Try to isolate the component that's
> causing the problem.
> 
> Good luck.
> 
> Terry Smith
> Cape Cod, USA
> 
> On Mon, 2002-03-18 at 08:28, Roger Sherman wrote:
> > Sorry to address this to the list, but I'm at my wits end, and it's either 
> > this, or find a service center or something to fix this problem for me, 
> > and after building this PC, I really don't have the money. 
> > 
> > I built a PC about two 1/2 months ago (my first attempt at building a PC), 
> > and I'm having a booting problem, and a problem with it freezing up, and 
> > I'm hoping someone could help point me in the right direction, 
> > troubleshooting wise.
> > 
> > First of all, the system configuration:
> > 
> > Abit KG-7 motherboard
> > AMD 1800XP
> > 512 Meg DDR RAM
> > ATI Radeon All-In-Wonder 32mg vid card
> > SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Platinum w/Live Drive
> > 60 gig Maxtor HD
> > generic DVD/CDROM from my old PC, a Compaq presario (which is happily 
> > gurgling along as a dedicated FTP server now)
> > 
> > Now, it's got a boot problem that is baffling to me - to turn this PC on, 
> > I have to press the start button, at which point it sounds like it's 
> > starting up, the HD and all the fans start spinning, but I don't get the 
> > beep that I get with a successful boot, and there's no video output. So, I 
> > then have to turn the PC off, unplug it, and plug it back in - at which 
> > point it will usually start up again.
> > 
> > Now, I do mean it will start up again just from plugging it in - I don't 
> > have to press the start button. But, sometimes I'll plug it in, and it 
> > wont start, at which point I'll have to unplug it, then press start, and 
> > it seems to discharge a little power. Then I plug it in again, and it will 
> > start. Then I get the beep that it's booting correctly, and I get video 
> > output and away we go.
> > 
> > Now, I'd live with this problem, if it weren't for the system freezes. The 
> > first time I turn the PC on each day, there is always a complete freeze of 
> > the system - and I totally can't get it unfrozen, either by 
> > Control-Alt-Backspace, or Alt-SysRq-r. My only recourse is to press and 
> > hold the start button til it shuts down (with this box, you have to hold 
> > the start button in for 5 seconds to shut it down, for some reason). Using 
> > the reset button doesn't seem to work. 
> > 
> > This system freeze can happen anywhere, too. Sometimes it'll happen when 
> > Mandrake is actually starting up, once it even happened at a command line 
> > login (it's set up to start at runlevel 3), but usually it happens about 2 
> > - 3 minutes after the system is up and running...usually after I've 
> > started X, and am checking my email.
> > 
> > And I can't let it run all day - the PC actually works great once it gets 
> > past the booting and system freeze problems (usually the system freeze 
> > problem happens one or two times, and then the PC will run properly), but 
> > if I get up and walk away for several hours, then come back, of course the 
> > monitor will have gone into power save mode, and I jiggle the mouse to 
> > wake it up, but at that point for some reason the PC will have stopped 
> > giving video output, and I have to start the whole process over again.
> > 
> > My ideal situation would be to just leave this PC running 24/7, but that 
> > makes it impossible, obviously.
> > 
> > Now, I've tried several things to fix the problem - a friend told me the 
> > symptoms are indicative of a hardware incompatability, so I changed the 
> > HD, the CD-ROM (which is why I have the DVD player in there - I originally 
> > had a Plextor CD-RW), the power supply, and I took out the SoundBlaster 
> > and nic card (a linksys nic), although I 

Re: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-18 Thread FemmeFatale



Roger Sherman wrote:
well IMO & I've built several PC's you have a definite problem.

If I may ask, is that the "old" case & Powersupply that came with it?

I know you said you swapped PW's, but...how big is that PW?  250 watts
won't cut it.  Get the biggest you can afford & this is one area in PC's
where more $ usually means better hardware.  Powersupplies that are
crappy also weigh less.  If you can, take 2 that are the same output &
stuff.  Put one in one hand, the other in the other hand.  Weigh them. 
The heavier one is the better one.  Why? Because they don't use cheap
electronics, more fans & more circuit board stuff.

I would recommend a 350 watt PS minimum.  Preferably one that will clean
the input electricity too.  It helps a helluva lot.

Other than that, I take it cooling isn't an issue?  Do you have 2 case
fans at least in there ?  One on the Hard drives & one at the back
letting air out help.  *Not expensive, maybe $10 tops for 2 or 3 of
them*.

Femme

> 
> Now, I've tried several things to fix the problem - a friend told me the
> symptoms are indicative of a hardware incompatability, so I changed the
> HD, the CD-ROM (which is why I have the DVD player in there - I originally
> had a Plextor CD-RW), the power supply, and I took out the SoundBlaster
> and nic card (a linksys nic), although I put those two back in, since it
> didn't seem to make a difference. I also tried disconnecting the floppy
> drive.
> 
> Before I replaced the HD and CD-RW, they effectively stopped working with
> this PC, and I'm worried what's currently in there will stop working as
> well, as every time I make a change, things seem to get a little better,
> but never really work right, and then things degenerate. I don't have
> anything else I can swap into this box, so if it continues to degenerate
> with the current config, I'll have to stop using it until I can afford to
> take it to a PC doctor.
> 
> Again, sorry for the OT post, but any help anyone can offer would be
> hugely appreciated.
> 
> --
> 
> peace,
> 
> Rog
> 
> registered linux user #190719
> ICQ #56469198
> http://www.toddstheory.com
> 
>   
> Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft?
> Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com



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Re: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-18 Thread mooseman

just thought i would add my two cents...

i run an abit bp6 dual machine.
it is very stable now that i removed my piece of @#$$% HP cd burner.
but, while i was fighting with it, i had some similar weird symptoms you 
mention, like if i edited the bios settings, generally the machine would hang 
after save and exit. needing a power reset.
every once in awhile, if i have had it turned off (doesn't happen often), 
when i start it up by power on, it won't boot until i give it a reset then 
away it goes.

i think this is specific to this mb, but something related to the video card 
not initialising correctly.

things for you to check: are you running the most current revision of the 
bios? your power supply is stable and delivering the correct voltages? what 
size of supply are you running? i too have heard of the AMD chips being 
somewhat hungry and sensitive to dirty power.

i know i haven't helped much other than i feel for you brother! been there, 
done that. made me crazy for awhile too.

good luck! :-)

moose.

On March 18, 2002 10:48 am, you wrote:



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Re: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-18 Thread civileme

Roger Sherman wrote:

>Sorry to address this to the list, but I'm at my wits end, and it's either 
>this, or find a service center or something to fix this problem for me, 
>and after building this PC, I really don't have the money. 
>
>I built a PC about two 1/2 months ago (my first attempt at building a PC), 
>and I'm having a booting problem, and a problem with it freezing up, and 
>I'm hoping someone could help point me in the right direction, 
>troubleshooting wise.
>
>First of all, the system configuration:
>
>Abit KG-7 motherboard
>AMD 1800XP
>512 Meg DDR RAM
>ATI Radeon All-In-Wonder 32mg vid card
>SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Platinum w/Live Drive
>60 gig Maxtor HD
>generic DVD/CDROM from my old PC, a Compaq presario (which is happily 
>gurgling along as a dedicated FTP server now)
>
>Now, it's got a boot problem that is baffling to me - to turn this PC on, 
>I have to press the start button, at which point it sounds like it's 
>starting up, the HD and all the fans start spinning, but I don't get the 
>beep that I get with a successful boot, and there's no video output. So, I 
>then have to turn the PC off, unplug it, and plug it back in - at which 
>point it will usually start up again.
>
>Now, I do mean it will start up again just from plugging it in - I don't 
>have to press the start button. But, sometimes I'll plug it in, and it 
>wont start, at which point I'll have to unplug it, then press start, and 
>it seems to discharge a little power. Then I plug it in again, and it will 
>start. Then I get the beep that it's booting correctly, and I get video 
>output and away we go.
>
>Now, I'd live with this problem, if it weren't for the system freezes. The 
>first time I turn the PC on each day, there is always a complete freeze of 
>the system - and I totally can't get it unfrozen, either by 
>Control-Alt-Backspace, or Alt-SysRq-r. My only recourse is to press and 
>hold the start button til it shuts down (with this box, you have to hold 
>the start button in for 5 seconds to shut it down, for some reason). Using 
>the reset button doesn't seem to work. 
>
>This system freeze can happen anywhere, too. Sometimes it'll happen when 
>Mandrake is actually starting up, once it even happened at a command line 
>login (it's set up to start at runlevel 3), but usually it happens about 2 
>- 3 minutes after the system is up and running...usually after I've 
>started X, and am checking my email.
>
>And I can't let it run all day - the PC actually works great once it gets 
>past the booting and system freeze problems (usually the system freeze 
>problem happens one or two times, and then the PC will run properly), but 
>if I get up and walk away for several hours, then come back, of course the 
>monitor will have gone into power save mode, and I jiggle the mouse to 
>wake it up, but at that point for some reason the PC will have stopped 
>giving video output, and I have to start the whole process over again.
>
>My ideal situation would be to just leave this PC running 24/7, but that 
>makes it impossible, obviously.
>
>Now, I've tried several things to fix the problem - a friend told me the 
>symptoms are indicative of a hardware incompatability, so I changed the 
>HD, the CD-ROM (which is why I have the DVD player in there - I originally 
>had a Plextor CD-RW), the power supply, and I took out the SoundBlaster 
>and nic card (a linksys nic), although I put those two back in, since it 
>didn't seem to make a difference. I also tried disconnecting the floppy 
>drive. 
>
>Before I replaced the HD and CD-RW, they effectively stopped working with 
>this PC, and I'm worried what's currently in there will stop working as 
>well, as every time I make a change, things seem to get a little better, 
>but never really work right, and then things degenerate. I don't have 
>anything else I can swap into this box, so if it continues to degenerate 
>with the current config, I'll have to stop using it until I can afford to 
>take it to a PC doctor.
>
>Again, sorry for the OT post, but any help anyone can offer would be 
>hugely appreciated.
>
>
>
>
>Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? 
>Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
>
OK well finding this line in your /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file

  Option"DPMS"  "on"

and changing it to

 Option  "DPMS"  "off"

will stop the powersaver (then just lock the screen when you leave for a 
while).

I would be very concerned about a number of things:

1.  The front panel connections to the header need to be 
double-checked...  It is almost like the power switch is conected to the 
"Green" header pins.

2.  The motherboard may have an intermittent short. Sspray instant frost 
in a few spots to see what happens.  If you can reproduce the symptoms 
that way, time for a warranty return.

3.  The motherboard may be like my experience with Abit, just plain 
poorly manufactured, and ready to e

RE: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-18 Thread Damian

El lun, 18-03-2002 a las 10:58, Roger Sherman escribió:
> On Mon, 18 Mar 2002, Bill Spatz wrote:
> 
> > 
> > 
> > -Original Message-
> > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Roger Sherman
> > Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 6:28 AM
> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Subject: [newbie] OT - PC building help
> > 
> > 
> > Sorry to address this to the list, but I'm at my wits end, and it's either
> > this, or find a service center or something to fix this problem for me,
> > and after building this PC, I really don't have the money.
> > 
> > I built a PC about two 1/2 months ago (my first attempt at building a PC),
> > and I'm having a booting problem, and a problem with it freezing up, and
> > I'm hoping someone could help point me in the right direction,
> > troubleshooting wise.
> > 
> > --
> > 
> > I had a similar problem with my laptop after upgrading the RAM. Be sure that
> > your RAM is fully and securely seated in their slots.
> > 
> > Bill
> 
> 
> Thanks Bill...I actually had to take a great deal of care with the 
> RAM...this board seems to be incredibly sensitive to how the RAM is 
> seated. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the problem.

i had similar problems ( not booting, freezing ) with my sister's 
computer a while ago. i had to borrow her a stick of RAM to replace
hers, and that did the trick.

is there any  way you can test your RAM? on other machine, a friend's
 or something?

HTH. 


Damian




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Re: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-18 Thread Tom Brinkman

On Monday 18 March 2002 07:28 am, Roger Sherman wrote:
> Sorry to address this to the list, but I'm at my wits end, and it's
> either this, or find a service center or something to fix this
> problem for me, and after building this PC, I really don't have the
> money.

 First try re-seating everything, ram, cable connections, 
peripheal cards, etc, even the cpu. Clean the connectors on ram and 
other cards with a clean pencil eraser. If you have more'n one stick 
of ram, try reversing the order they're installed.  Make sure your 
harddrive cables aren't wadded up, don't have any kinks in 'em.  Make 
sure that Compaq CD drive is properly set to either master or slave, 
and not CS (cable select).

Abit's are fussy about what card is in what slot.  Look for a 
KG-7 FAQ, there's often recommends for which card to put where, eg, 
SB Live! in slot 3. There are many reports of Abit/SB Live! problems, 
sometimes solved by moving them to suggested slots. I believe you'll 
have the best chance of getting further help from an AMD newsgroup.

As always make sure you're grounded to the case to avoid static 
elec shocks to the electronics.  Working barefoot on a tile floor is 
a good idea. Give the PS a few minutes to loose any residual charge 
after unplugging before working on the system.

I'm no big fan of Abit's period. Might as well admit that up 
front. Many users experience just the symptoms you describe, but with 
any board they're indicative of motherboard and/or power supply 
problems. You need at least a 300w PS and it should be one one AMD's 
recommended list.  Go by model numbers, many PS's are sold under 
different brand names.  BUT with Abit's it's more often the 
motherboard.  I believe that's why AMD does not recommend them.  
http://www.amd.com/us-en/  (look for AMD Athlon Configuration Info)

It could also be many other varied things (eg, drive cables, bad 
ram, etc) causing your problems, but you'll have to eliminate the 
mobo/PS first. They're the most important part of any system.  The 
very foundation.
-- 
Tom Brinkman   Corpus Christi, Texas

>
> I built a PC about two 1/2 months ago (my first attempt at building
> a PC), and I'm having a booting problem, and a problem with it
> freezing up, and I'm hoping someone could help point me in the
> right direction, troubleshooting wise.
>
> First of all, the system configuration:
>
> Abit KG-7 motherboard
> AMD 1800XP
> 512 Meg DDR RAM
> ATI Radeon All-In-Wonder 32mg vid card
> SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Platinum w/Live Drive
> 60 gig Maxtor HD
> generic DVD/CDROM from my old PC, a Compaq presario (which is
> happily gurgling along as a dedicated FTP server now)
>
> Now, it's got a boot problem that is baffling to me - to turn this
> PC on, I have to press the start button, at which point it sounds
> like it's starting up, the HD and all the fans start spinning, but
> I don't get the beep that I get with a successful boot, and there's
> no video output. So, I then have to turn the PC off, unplug it, and
> plug it back in - at which point it will usually start up again.
>
> Now, I do mean it will start up again just from plugging it in - I
> don't have to press the start button. But, sometimes I'll plug it
> in, and it wont start, at which point I'll have to unplug it, then
> press start, and it seems to discharge a little power. Then I plug
> it in again, and it will start. Then I get the beep that it's
> booting correctly, and I get video output and away we go.
>
> Now, I'd live with this problem, if it weren't for the system
> freezes. The first time I turn the PC on each day, there is always
> a complete freeze of the system - and I totally can't get it
> unfrozen, either by Control-Alt-Backspace, or Alt-SysRq-r. My only
> recourse is to press and hold the start button til it shuts down
> (with this box, you have to hold the start button in for 5 seconds
> to shut it down, for some reason). Using the reset button doesn't
> seem to work.
>
> This system freeze can happen anywhere, too. Sometimes it'll happen
> when Mandrake is actually starting up, once it even happened at a
> command line login (it's set up to start at runlevel 3), but
> usually it happens about 2 - 3 minutes after the system is up and
> running...usually after I've started X, and am checking my email.
>
> And I can't let it run all day - the PC actually works great once
> it gets past the booting and system freeze problems (usually the
> system freeze problem happens one or two times, and then the PC
> will run properly), but if I get up and walk away for several
> hours, then come back, of course the monitor will have gone into
> power save mode, and I jiggle the mouse to wake it up, but at that
> point for some reason the PC will have stopped giving video output,
> and I have to start the whole process over again.
>
> My ideal situation would be to just leave this PC running 24/7, but
> that makes it impossible, obviously.
>
> Now, I've tr

RE: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-18 Thread Roger Sherman

On Mon, 18 Mar 2002, Bill Spatz wrote:

> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Roger Sherman
> Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 6:28 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [newbie] OT - PC building help
> 
> 
> Sorry to address this to the list, but I'm at my wits end, and it's either
> this, or find a service center or something to fix this problem for me,
> and after building this PC, I really don't have the money.
> 
> I built a PC about two 1/2 months ago (my first attempt at building a PC),
> and I'm having a booting problem, and a problem with it freezing up, and
> I'm hoping someone could help point me in the right direction,
> troubleshooting wise.
> 
> --
> 
> I had a similar problem with my laptop after upgrading the RAM. Be sure that
> your RAM is fully and securely seated in their slots.
> 
> Bill


Thanks Bill...I actually had to take a great deal of care with the 
RAM...this board seems to be incredibly sensitive to how the RAM is 
seated. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the problem.




> 
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.333 / Virus Database: 187 - Release Date: 03/08/2002
> 
> 
> 

-- 

peace,

Rog

registered linux user #190719
ICQ #56469198
http://www.toddstheory.com




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Re: [newbie] OT - PC building help

2002-03-18 Thread Roger Sherman

On Mon, 18 Mar 2002, Roger Sherman wrote:

> Sorry to address this to the list, but I'm at my wits end, and it's either 
> this, or find a service center or something to fix this problem for me, 
> and after building this PC, I really don't have the money. 
> 
> I built a PC about two 1/2 months ago (my first attempt at building a PC), 
> and I'm having a booting problem, and a problem with it freezing up, and 
> I'm hoping someone could help point me in the right direction, 
> troubleshooting wise.
> 
> First of all, the system configuration:
> 
> Abit KG-7 motherboard
> AMD 1800XP
> 512 Meg DDR RAM
> ATI Radeon All-In-Wonder 32mg vid card
> SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Platinum w/Live Drive
> 60 gig Maxtor HD
> generic DVD/CDROM from my old PC, a Compaq presario (which is happily 
> gurgling along as a dedicated FTP server now)
> 
> Now, it's got a boot problem that is baffling to me - to turn this PC on, 
> I have to press the start button, at which point it sounds like it's 
> starting up, the HD and all the fans start spinning, but I don't get the 
> beep that I get with a successful boot, and there's no video output. So, I 
> then have to turn the PC off, unplug it, and plug it back in - at which 
> point it will usually start up again.
> 
> Now, I do mean it will start up again just from plugging it in - I don't 
> have to press the start button. But, sometimes I'll plug it in, and it 
> wont start, at which point I'll have to unplug it, then press start, and 
> it seems to discharge a little power. Then I plug it in again, and it will 
> start. Then I get the beep that it's booting correctly, and I get video 
> output and away we go.
> 
> Now, I'd live with this problem, if it weren't for the system freezes. The 
> first time I turn the PC on each day, there is always a complete freeze of 
> the system - and I totally can't get it unfrozen, either by 
> Control-Alt-Backspace, or Alt-SysRq-r. My only recourse is to press and 
> hold the start button til it shuts down (with this box, you have to hold 
> the start button in for 5 seconds to shut it down, for some reason). Using 
> the reset button doesn't seem to work. 
> 
> This system freeze can happen anywhere, too. Sometimes it'll happen when 
> Mandrake is actually starting up, once it even happened at a command line 
> login (it's set up to start at runlevel 3), but usually it happens about 2 
> - 3 minutes after the system is up and running...usually after I've 
> started X, and am checking my email.
> 
> And I can't let it run all day - the PC actually works great once it gets 
> past the booting and system freeze problems (usually the system freeze 
> problem happens one or two times, and then the PC will run properly), but 
> if I get up and walk away for several hours, then come back, of course the 
> monitor will have gone into power save mode, and I jiggle the mouse to 
> wake it up, but at that point for some reason the PC will have stopped 
> giving video output, and I have to start the whole process over again.
> 
> My ideal situation would be to just leave this PC running 24/7, but that 
> makes it impossible, obviously.
> 
> Now, I've tried several things to fix the problem - a friend told me the 
> symptoms are indicative of a hardware incompatability, so I changed the 
> HD, the CD-ROM (which is why I have the DVD player in there - I originally 
> had a Plextor CD-RW), the power supply, and I took out the SoundBlaster 
> and nic card (a linksys nic), although I put those two back in, since it 
> didn't seem to make a difference. I also tried disconnecting the floppy 
> drive. 
> 
> Before I replaced the HD and CD-RW, they effectively stopped working with 
> this PC, and I'm worried what's currently in there will stop working as 
> well, as every time I make a change, things seem to get a little better, 
> but never really work right, and then things degenerate. I don't have 
> anything else I can swap into this box, so if it continues to degenerate 
> with the current config, I'll have to stop using it until I can afford to 
> take it to a PC doctor.
> 
> Again, sorry for the OT post, but any help anyone can offer would be 
> hugely appreciated.


Ack...forgot to mention - I read somewhere that the KG-7 occasionally 
suffers from wierd voltage spikes caused by the CPU and case fan 
monitoring, so I tried hooking them up to fan connections that didn't use 
the monitoring, which made absolutely no difference.
 

-- 

peace,

Rog

registered linux user #190719
ICQ #56469198
http://www.toddstheory.com




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