Yo, I have a bit of a problem with my PC which is why I post this from my cellphone.
Earlier today my computer gave me something I've not seen in a long while: a blue screen of death.
Afterwards it failed to boot - getting as far as the desktop before going back to the bsod.
I first thought it might be a memory issue, so I tried all combinations for the 4 2gb bars I havw. Negative. I ran scn/scannow but without success. I tried disabling what I could in msconfig. No positive result.
The bosd references a luafv.sys and complains about the unability to write a pagefile or -table. Secure mode runs fine. Any tips what I could try short of reformat?
Please, no comments about vista, ms, mac or whatever.
If it can't write a page file, it sounds like your hard drive might be kaput. If you've got any external drives or USB memory sticks in, remove them and see if it's still happening. The file referenced is also apparently part of User Account Control; do you have that enabled or disabled?
Also, check Control Panel > Performance Information and Tools > Advanced > Reliability and Performance Monitor > Reliability Monitor. What kind of index number do you get for that? (It's in the top right of the reliability monitor)
DOS? Whats in the logs?
Run a surface scan on the drive. Sounds like it might be on its way out.
Almost certainly your hard drive - I've had two die on me in the last couple of years under similar circumstances. :(
Agree, sounds like a bad HDD. Do you know the make/model?
Thanks for the hints. It could indeed be the harddrive, because now the pc boots to a black desktop with a responsive mouse pointer and strong hd activity.
This sucks, though. I've had this machine half a year and already had to replace the power supply a while back. The place that built it for me refused to replace it under warranty because I had opened the case to install a second hard drive.
Well, trying to run the vista installer from dvd nets the same redult. Great. "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA". I'm just glad that most of my important files are on a different drive.
Seriously, I think we should have computer problems sub-forum. We've got a lot of knowledgeable people here, as well as lot of people with lemon computers. It would be nice to put all that together into one place.
Quote from: Syt on October 04, 2009, 01:21:33 PM
Well, trying to run the vista installer from dvd nets the same redult. Great. "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA". I'm just glad that most of my important files are on a different drive.
Bastards.
If you really want to keep the setup you could try making an image of the drive and putting it on the replacement. It may or may not work depending on how much file corruption has resulted from the drive's death throws.
What DGuller said.
We need a subforum.
No. No, we don't. We need everything in one big forum.
Quote from: DGuller on October 04, 2009, 02:00:12 PM
Seriously, I think we should have computer problems sub-forum. We've got a lot of knowledgeable people here, as well as lot of people with lemon computers. It would be nice to put all that together into one place.
Yeah then nobody would go in there except when they have PC problems. The way we have it now the thread with a PC problem is for all to see, annoying everyone. Like Roadkill or something.
Count me in the "pro-subforum" camp- I'm a big fan of a nice directory structure to forums; and why would it matter if the forum was busy or not, since we're not leasing server space with a minimum traffic clause? If we had a subforum, it'd be easier to see when there's progress on a PC work thread.
Incorrect Shamesy. In.Core.Ekt.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on October 04, 2009, 08:16:44 PM
Incorrect Shamesy. In.Core.Ekt.
I didn't say "helpful progress." Just that it'd be easier to spot right away that there's been movement in a PC thread, even if it's just Raz talking about roadkill.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on October 04, 2009, 09:03:34 PM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on October 04, 2009, 08:16:44 PM
Incorrect Shamesy. In.Core.Ekt.
I didn't say "helpful progress." Just that it'd be easier to spot right away that there's been movement in a PC thread, even if it's just Raz talking about roadkill.
The idea ofa subforum is a movement.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on October 04, 2009, 03:03:34 PM
Quote from: Syt on October 04, 2009, 01:21:33 PM
Well, trying to run the vista installer from dvd nets the same redult. Great. "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA". I'm just glad that most of my important files are on a different drive.
Bastards.
If you really want to keep the setup you could try making an image of the drive and putting it on the replacement. It may or may not work depending on how much file corruption has resulted from the drive's death throws.
Thanks for the tip. Not sure how well it would work, though, as it has two partitions - one for the OS, one for the software.
Most annoying will be that I'll lose savegames, a number of maps I was working on, and possibly some activations on some games if their DRM decides changing a HD is a major change.
No subfora needed people :rolleyes:
Anyways, I just ordered two new Samsung HDs (one for OS, one for software - no fan of partitioning) to replace the broken Hitachi one. Had a couple Samsungs before and never had any problems with them.
This reminds me, whatever happened to the "Need help Mac OSX"-thread?
Quote from: katmai on October 04, 2009, 10:46:53 PM
No subfora needed people :rolleyes:
Fatmai is oppressing the whites again. Just like Santa Ana. :mad:
I don't dislike the subforum idea for this but I don't think we currently have enough such traffic to justify. "Help me with my PC" threads are not a daily occurrence, like emo whining threads and "LOL map sux" threads are. :)
Quote from: Syt on October 04, 2009, 10:54:02 PM
Anyways, I just ordered two new Samsung HDs (one for OS, one for software - no fan of partitioning) to replace the broken Hitachi one. Had a couple Samsungs before and never had any problems with them.
Interesting, because I partition the hell out of my drives, and never had any luck with Samsung drives! :lol:
It just shows to go you that different folks have different strokes.
UPDATE:
I tried booting from Vista DVD with only one of my two HDs connected and I get the pagefile error with *either*. Could it be that both hard disks crapped out at the same time?
:unsure:
Quote from: Syt on October 05, 2009, 01:47:45 PM
UPDATE:
I tried booting from Vista DVD with only one of my two HDs connected and I get the pagefile error with *either*. Could it be that both hard disks crapped out at the same time?
:unsure:
Actually, that sounds more like OS corruption; can you run SFC and maybe link a copy of the CBS log that it generates?
I did that before I got stuck on a black, empty desktop (what an allegory for my life). The black desktop appears without Win load bar or welcome screen. I get stuck there both in normal boot and in secure mode.
Trying to boot from Vista install DVD gets me to the welcome screen but dies in a blue screen, no matter which hd is connected.
I also tried each RAM stick seperately and reverted to BIOS failsafe settings.
:(
What do you do when you boot from Windosws DVD?
I set BIOS to boot from DVD first and pop the disk into the drive. During startup it requests to press any key to start from disk. Windows ascii load bar fills up, then switches to normal graphical loading bar. An empty default desktop with hourglass cursor appears before reverting to bluescreen a second or two later.
Quote from: Syt on October 05, 2009, 02:15:14 PM
I set BIOS to boot from DVD first and pop the disk into the drive. During startup it requests to press any key to start from disk. Windows ascii load bar fills up, then switches to normal graphical loading bar. An empty default desktop with hourglass cursor appears before reverting to bluescreen a second or two later.
Interesting. Can you get to the Windows setup screen, or does it crap out before that?
P. S.: Trying to start from HD the startup stops at a blinking cursor before the moment it would tell me the last boot failed and whether I'd like to boot up in secure mode.
Hm, this is strange. I mean, if you can get as far as even reading off the Vista DVD then your CPU, board, and RAM should be good. I'm completely stumped. I would have said for sure you had a bad HDD.
Quote from: DGuller on October 05, 2009, 02:19:33 PM
Quote from: Syt on October 05, 2009, 02:15:14 PM
I set BIOS to boot from DVD first and pop the disk into the drive. During startup it requests to press any key to start from disk. Windows ascii load bar fills up, then switches to normal graphical loading bar. An empty default desktop with hourglass cursor appears before reverting to bluescreen a second or two later.
Interesting. Can you get to the Windows setup screen, or does it crap out before that?
Before.
Quote from: Caliga on October 05, 2009, 02:19:54 PM
Hm, this is strange. I mean, if you can get as far as even reading off the Vista DVD then your CPU, board, and RAM should be good. I'm completely stumped. I would have said for sure you had a bad HDD.
Could the hd controler (sata) be the problem?
It may still be a bad hard drive. I'm not 100% sure, but I think that Windows setup disk copies some files to hard drive before really executing, it doesn't run directly from the DVD. Obviously if that's the case, then bad hard drive would still be a problem even when starting from DVD.
Quote from: Syt on October 05, 2009, 02:21:56 PM
Could the hd controler (sata) be the problem?
I wouldn't rule it out. Back when I had my SSD-induced problems, they very much resembled a dying hard drive, but it turned out to be controller-related issue.
Quote from: Syt on October 05, 2009, 02:20:32 PM
IQuotenteresting. Can you get to the Windows setup screen, or does it crap out before that?
Before.
Sounds like a memory fault to me. As DG says, the windows setup does create a temporary directory to hold some files, but that should work with at least one HDD, whereas a memory fault would fail with either.
You have already tested this with less than full memory, but it might be worthwhile to check each memory stick in each slot, as there could be some combo of memory and slot that works.
Quote from: Syt on October 05, 2009, 02:21:56 PM
Could the hd controler (sata) be the problem?
Connect the drives with the parallel cables and see what happens. I like this idea better than my memory one.
It could be the SATA controller I guess, but I've never heard of individual components failing without preventing the board from POSTing. What make/model of motherboard is this?
Grumps: thanks for the hints, I will try both tomorrow or the day after (going to movies with friends tomorrow).
Cal: Asus P5N-T Deluxe
That is strange. It may be the controller, but I am more inclined to blame RAM at this point.
Alright, latest update.
1. I replaced the new rig's RAM with the 2x 1GB sticks from my old machine which was in working condition when I exchanged it against the new one. No change.
2. I hooked up my old system's hd after that (has XP installed). BIOS recognizes the drive but will refuse to boot from it (blinking cursor, like the other drives). Trying to run Win setup from disk nets the same result as usual: blue screen, pagefile error.
At this point I'm inclined to consider the interlude of "high end goodness" ended and revert to my old sytem, or to go for cheap low end rig and quit graphics intensive gaming.
I guess it's got to be the board. :mellow:
Change the cables.
Buy a Dell.
Quote from: Syt on October 05, 2009, 10:47:25 PM
Alright, latest update.
1. I replaced the new rig's RAM with the 2x 1GB sticks from my old machine which was in working condition when I exchanged it against the new one. No change.
2. I hooked up my old system's hd after that (has XP installed). BIOS recognizes the drive but will refuse to boot from it (blinking cursor, like the other drives). Trying to run Win setup from disk nets the same result as usual: blue screen, pagefile error.
At this point I'm inclined to consider the interlude of "high end goodness" ended and revert to my old sytem, or to go for cheap low end rig and quit graphics intensive gaming.
See if you can get an RMA on the board from ASUS. You've had this for less than a year, right?
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on October 06, 2009, 08:15:03 AM
Buy a Dell.
Oddly, the most reliable, most uncomplaining system I ever had was my previous system, an HP Pavillion. I only kept upgrading the gfx card now and then and was otherwise fine.
Quote from: grumbler on October 06, 2009, 08:17:27 AM
Quote from: Syt on October 05, 2009, 10:47:25 PM
Alright, latest update.
1. I replaced the new rig's RAM with the 2x 1GB sticks from my old machine which was in working condition when I exchanged it against the new one. No change.
2. I hooked up my old system's hd after that (has XP installed). BIOS recognizes the drive but will refuse to boot from it (blinking cursor, like the other drives). Trying to run Win setup from disk nets the same result as usual: blue screen, pagefile error.
At this point I'm inclined to consider the interlude of "high end goodness" ended and revert to my old sytem, or to go for cheap low end rig and quit graphics intensive gaming.
See if you can get an RMA on the board from ASUS. You've had this for less than a year, right?
Half a year. I'll have to check their warranty clauses, and how it relates to my original supplier, and the fact that I added hardware.
Quote from: Syt on October 06, 2009, 09:07:03 AM
Quote from: grumbler on October 06, 2009, 08:17:27 AM
Quote from: Syt on October 05, 2009, 10:47:25 PM
Alright, latest update.
1. I replaced the new rig's RAM with the 2x 1GB sticks from my old machine which was in working condition when I exchanged it against the new one. No change.
2. I hooked up my old system's hd after that (has XP installed). BIOS recognizes the drive but will refuse to boot from it (blinking cursor, like the other drives). Trying to run Win setup from disk nets the same result as usual: blue screen, pagefile error.
At this point I'm inclined to consider the interlude of "high end goodness" ended and revert to my old sytem, or to go for cheap low end rig and quit graphics intensive gaming.
See if you can get an RMA on the board from ASUS. You've had this for less than a year, right?
Half a year. I'll have to check their warranty clauses, and how it relates to my original supplier, and the fact that I added hardware.
I hope they take it back then. some of them are pissy about things like that.
Well, I already contacted my (independent) trader after the power supply had died (two months after purchase) and they refused to treat it as warranty, because I had modified the rig and opened the case (to install an additional HD). :rolleyes:
I will stay clear of their products in the future, though.
I will put the components of the new system (RAM, hard disks, gfx card into my old system to make sure they work fine there. If they do I guess it's time for a new mainboard. :(
Quote from: Syt on October 06, 2009, 09:07:03 AM
Half a year. I'll have to check their warranty clauses, and how it relates to my original supplier, and the fact that I added hardware.
Generally, after 90 days or so, the manufacturer covers the warranty. Check out their website. ASUS has some tools that can help you diagnose board problems.
It seems to me like it is a problem with the motherboard. Since ram from a another computer produces the same problem its not ram dimms themselves. Do you have a way of making a boot disc with memtest on it? If memtest is throwing errors then, its probably the memory controller on the motherboard that has the problem (since you know the ram itself is okay). I've had ram that worked fine in other computers throw errors in memtest and have random BSODs on one of my ASUS boards. What fixed it was raising the voltage on the northbridge. Most ASUS motherboard bios I've seen let you do this.
Also if your power supply sucks or is going again when you are drawing a lot of current on a rail the voltage will sag, like when the harddrive motors spool up. So depending what rail the motherboard uses to provide power to the ram, the ram voltage will sag which can cause memory errors. Raising the nominal ram voltage can help with this. One caveat is that the ram will run hotter, and doing that might void the warranty on the ram.
In the end though the motherboard may well just be effectively dead.
Quote from: Syt on October 06, 2009, 10:15:26 AM
Well, I already contacted my (independent) trader after the power supply had died (two months after purchase) and they refused to treat it as warranty, because I had modified the rig and opened the case (to install an additional HD). :rolleyes:
I will stay clear of their products in the future, though.
:yeahright: Good idea. The case is
supposed to be openable, so you can keep dust from accumulating on the mobo and expansion slots; for a company to say that breaches warranty is fishy, at best.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on October 07, 2009, 07:57:29 AM
Quote from: Syt on October 06, 2009, 10:15:26 AM
Well, I already contacted my (independent) trader after the power supply had died (two months after purchase) and they refused to treat it as warranty, because I had modified the rig and opened the case (to install an additional HD). :rolleyes:
I will stay clear of their products in the future, though.
:yeahright: Good idea. The case is supposed to be openable, so you can keep dust from accumulating on the mobo and expansion slots; for a company to say that breaches warranty is fishy, at best.
I never owned a computer where this was *not* the case, no matter if it was Fujitsu, HP or custom made.
Quote from: grumbler on October 07, 2009, 06:29:02 AM
Quote from: Syt on October 06, 2009, 09:07:03 AM
Half a year. I'll have to check their warranty clauses, and how it relates to my original supplier, and the fact that I added hardware.
Generally, after 90 days or so, the manufacturer covers the warranty. Check out their website. ASUS has some tools that can help you diagnose board problems.
Will do.
Quote from: Gbeagle on October 07, 2009, 07:22:22 AM
It seems to me like it is a problem with the motherboard. Since ram from a another computer produces the same problem its not ram dimms themselves. Do you have a way of making a boot disc with memtest on it? If memtest is throwing errors then, its probably the memory controller on the motherboard that has the problem (since you know the ram itself is okay). I've had ram that worked fine in other computers throw errors in memtest and have random BSODs on one of my ASUS boards. What fixed it was raising the voltage on the northbridge. Most ASUS motherboard bios I've seen let you do this.
Also if your power supply sucks or is going again when you are drawing a lot of current on a rail the voltage will sag, like when the harddrive motors spool up. So depending what rail the motherboard uses to provide power to the ram, the ram voltage will sag which can cause memory errors. Raising the nominal ram voltage can help with this. One caveat is that the ram will run hotter, and doing that might void the warranty on the ram.
In the end though the motherboard may well just be effectively dead.
Thanks for the hints. I have a 1000W power supply for my machine these days. Currently I don't get to the point where the HDs do anything, though.
This weekend a friend of mine (IT techie) will come over with some tools to check.
Quote from: Gbeagle on October 07, 2009, 07:22:22 AM
It seems to me like it is a problem with the motherboard. Since ram from a another computer produces the same problem its not ram dimms themselves. Do you have a way of making a boot disc with memtest on it? If memtest is throwing errors then, its probably the memory controller on the motherboard that has the problem (since you know the ram itself is okay). I've had ram that worked fine in other computers throw errors in memtest and have random BSODs on one of my ASUS boards. What fixed it was raising the voltage on the northbridge. Most ASUS motherboard bios I've seen let you do this.
Also if your power supply sucks or is going again when you are drawing a lot of current on a rail the voltage will sag, like when the harddrive motors spool up. So depending what rail the motherboard uses to provide power to the ram, the ram voltage will sag which can cause memory errors. Raising the nominal ram voltage can help with this. One caveat is that the ram will run hotter, and doing that might void the warranty on the ram.
In the end though the motherboard may well just be effectively dead.
A lot of this is true, but probably not applicable to a situation where the computer worked fine for a while and now quits.
The exception would be the power supply issue, which should be dead easy to test, and which I should have thought of myself.
Have you tried the cables?
Quote from: Grey Fox on October 07, 2009, 09:17:55 AM
Have you tried the cables?
Kinda hard to get a PC to run without using cables. I daresay he has tried them.
The PSU suggestion sounds weird to me. I have had PSUs fail on me, but in the most recent case I can recall (was three or so years ago) the PC just would refuse to boot up, or would on occasion begin to boot but never get past POST... the power just sorta came on but nothing ever happened. The latter happened like 20% of the time, and the other 80% the power button didn't do anything at all. Swapping in a new PSU fixed the problem perfectly.
Quote from: grumbler on October 07, 2009, 09:15:46 AM
A lot of this is true, but probably not applicable to a situation where the computer worked fine for a while and now quits.
The exception would be the power supply issue, which should be dead easy to test, and which I should have thought of myself.
Yeah; knowing Syt's gaming habits, he's probably already been running the rails pretty hot- another thought for Syt, somewhat from out of left field: how dusty is the room your computer is in, and how often do you clean out the interior of the computer?
Quote from: Caliga on October 07, 2009, 02:15:40 PM
The PSU suggestion sounds weird to me. I have had PSUs fail on me, but in the most recent case I can recall (was three or so years ago) the PC just would refuse to boot up, or would on occasion begin to boot but never get past POST... the power just sorta came on but nothing ever happened. The latter happened like 20% of the time, and the other 80% the power button didn't do anything at all. Swapping in a new PSU fixed the problem perfectly.
The PSU has different voltage rails which could (theoretically) fail independent of one another. It is easy enough to test to see if the 5V (which I think is what memory uses) has failed, by just taking the leads from his existing PSU and powering mobo, video, and a single drive.
For most modern boards, isn't memory powered via the ATX+12V connector? Hmmm... also, there's often a molex that plugs in near the CPU. I wonder if that could be the issue...
The place the pc is at is pretty dust free and the unit is surrounded by some space so that the Thermaltake Armor case's sidefans can work properly. Even after half a year's use there's little dust inside. Power supply is a 1000W barracuda modular unit. I have one cable dedicated for the gfx card, one for mainboard+fans, one for the HDs, one for the DVD drives. I also switched them around and connected them to different ports oft the psu.
I have off tomorrow and friday. An IT friend will come over tomorrow morning to take a closer look.
Quote from: Syt on October 07, 2009, 02:33:58 PM
The place the pc is at is pretty dust free and the unit is surrounded by some space so that the Thermaltake Armor case's sidefans can work properly. Even after half a year's use there's little dust inside. Power supply is a 1000W barracuda modular unit. I have one cable dedicated for the gfx card, one for mainboard+fans, one for the HDs, one for the DVD drives. I also switched them around and connected them to different ports oft the psu.
I have off tomorrow and friday. An IT friend will come over tomorrow morning to take a closer look.
1000W? :blink:
Just in case I want to install a 2nd gfx card some time down the road. It scales its use/output by what the components demand, though.
Quote from: Caliga on October 07, 2009, 02:31:48 PM
For most modern boards, isn't memory powered via the ATX+12V connector? Hmmm... also, there's often a molex that plugs in near the CPU. I wonder if that could be the issue...
In P4-style ATX boards, there's two connectors (20+4), but I'm pretty sure they've done away with that and moved everything for the motherboard itself back to P6 (single 20-pin).
I'm not sure of the actual pinout, so don't quote me, but I think 12V is reserved for mechanicals (hard drive, CD-ROM) and the CPU, I believe memory would be on +5V, and internal expansion slots are on +3.3V (hence video cards requiring a separate direct connection to the PSU).
I just built a system this weekend on an ASUS P5E Deluxe. I also used an ASUS P5E on Princesca's PC, and I have an ASUS Commando in mine. In all three cases, the board was connected via a 24-pin connector (most PSUs have a main connector that has 20/24 pins, IIRC). There was also (in all cases) a four pin Molex you plug in near the CPU. Apparently the system will POST if this is not plugged in, but will "be unstable" (according to ASUS's manual).
I have no idea if all ASUS-Intel boards are this way now, or other manufacturers have this power config, or what.
Quote from: Caliga on October 07, 2009, 02:53:34 PM
I just built a system this weekend on an ASUS P5E Deluxe. I also used an ASUS P5E on Princesca's PC, and I have an ASUS Commando in mind. In all three cases, the board was connected via a 24-pin connector (most PSUs have a main connector that has 20/24 pins, IIRC). There was also (in all cases) a four pin Molex you plug in near the CPU. Apparently the system will POST if this is not plugged in, but will "be unstable" (according to ASUS's manual).
I have no idea if all ASUS-Intel boards are this way now, or other manufacturers have this power config, or what.
I've seen a lot with that as the case.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on October 07, 2009, 03:02:30 PM
I've seen a lot with that as the case.
Huh. I thought AUX connectors were used pretty much only on Pentium IV systems.
Ok, friend has come and gone. We replaced board, HDs,RAM, cables. The only thing not replaced are: case, power, cpu, gfx card. We got as far as installing vista, but the restarts resulted again in blue screens and pagefile errors. I can currently not afford a new cpu.
You replaced the board but not the CPU. :huh:
Quote from: Syt on October 08, 2009, 06:31:35 AM
Ok, friend has come and gone. We replaced board, HDs,RAM, cables. The only thing not replaced are: case, power, cpu, gfx card. We got as far as installing vista, but the restarts resulted again in blue screens and pagefile errors. I can currently not afford a new cpu.
Can you connect the essential-only power cables from your known-good PSU to the board, GFX card, and a HDD in your existing system, just to verify the PSU is not at fault? This doesn't sound like a CPU fault to me (though I have only experienced one).
Go to http://www.fonerbooks.com/cpu_ram.htm (http://www.fonerbooks.com/cpu_ram.htm) for some basic troubleshooting help.
Alright, I replaced gfx card with an old one I still have. I alao put in the power supply from my old system which had tided me over when the previous one had died. No fucking change. The only things I could still replace are the case and cpu. I have to presume that it's a combination of factors of two or more faulty pieces.
I give up. I will dissect the machine, keep the HDs with data for future retrieval and get me a notebook or netbook when my xmas bonus comes around. My contemporary gaming days are over for now. I'll have to cancel my preorder for Age of Dragons and see if I can sell some of my recent non-drm games.
Thanks for your help, everyone, but this is the suckiest birthday ever.
You are changing too many stuff to pin point the problem effectively tho.
Quote from: Grey Fox on October 08, 2009, 11:57:00 AM
You are changing too many stuff to pin point the problem effectively tho.
I only change one piece at a time. If that fails to improve the situation I return the original part.
So Original set up + different PSU = still crash?
Man, this sucks. Sorry. I have to wonder if it's not something obvious that we're overlooking.
Quote from: Grey Fox on October 08, 2009, 12:09:27 PM
So Original set up + different PSU = still crash?
Yes. I also removed the connectors for the optical drives in case those are fucked.
Try something for me.
Try installing any other OS that isn't Vista.
Quote from: Grey Fox on October 08, 2009, 12:23:31 PM
Try something for me.
Try installing any other OS that isn't Vista.
I'll have to search my xp installer. I tried putting my old pc's system drive with xp in a couple days back with no positive result.
If you can't find the XP disk just download Solaris or Linux.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on October 08, 2009, 01:29:43 PM
If you can't find the XP disk just download Solaris or Linux.
With my cell phone or what? :rolleyes:
Have your IT friend d/l it and burn it to a DVD for you.
Quote from: Syt on October 04, 2009, 12:24:25 PM
Please, no comments about vista, ms, mac or whatever.
:zipped:
It'd be handy to get a bootable cd with an OS. I'll let you run an OS without a working hard drive. Ubuntu is good for that.
Quote from: frunk on October 08, 2009, 03:55:59 PM
It'd be handy to get a bootable cd with an OS. I'll let you run an OS without a working hard drive. Ubuntu is good for that.
Yeah, I'll second Ubuntu suggestion.
Get a Universal Boot CD with XP.
Quote from: Syt on October 08, 2009, 11:46:42 AM
Alright, I replaced gfx card with an old one I still have. I alao put in the power supply from my old system which had tided me over when the previous one had died. No fucking change. The only things I could still replace are the case and cpu. I have to presume that it's a combination of factors of two or more faulty pieces.
I give up. I will dissect the machine, keep the HDs with data for future retrieval and get me a notebook or netbook when my xmas bonus comes around. My contemporary gaming days are over for now. I'll have to cancel my preorder for Age of Dragons and see if I can sell some of my recent non-drm games.
Thanks for your help, everyone, but this is the suckiest birthday ever.
Dunno why you don't ask for an RMA on the CPU. This thing has a warranty which hasn't expired, right?
Friend picked up the computer to check it more thoroughly at home.
Quote from: grumbler on October 08, 2009, 08:51:19 PM
Quote from: Syt on October 08, 2009, 11:46:42 AM
Alright, I replaced gfx card with an old one I still have. I alao put in the power supply from my old system which had tided me over when the previous one had died. No fucking change. The only things I could still replace are the case and cpu. I have to presume that it's a combination of factors of two or more faulty pieces.
I give up. I will dissect the machine, keep the HDs with data for future retrieval and get me a notebook or netbook when my xmas bonus comes around. My contemporary gaming days are over for now. I'll have to cancel my preorder for Age of Dragons and see if I can sell some of my recent non-drm games.
Thanks for your help, everyone, but this is the suckiest birthday ever.
Dunno why you don't ask for an RMA on the CPU. This thing has a warranty which hasn't expired, right?
Have to check Intel's terms for Austria. I'll want to make sure if it really is the problem.
Quote from: Syt on October 09, 2009, 10:36:42 AM
Have to check Intel's terms for Austria. I'll want to make sure if it really is the problem.
If you ask for an RMA, they generally will tell you what troubleshooting you need to do to demonstrate that it is the CPU.
I have never heard of a CPU failing in this way, only if it burns out or something. Is this sort of a 'partial' failure even possible, especially as something that develops over time rather than something that was immediately apparent on the first build? :huh:
Quote from: Caliga on October 09, 2009, 11:09:54 AM
I have never heard of a CPU failing in this way, only if it burns out or something. Is this sort of a 'partial' failure even possible, especially as something that develops over time rather than something that was immediately apparent on the first build? :huh:
Well, you've got 2-300-some-odd pins, each of which can burn out. I'd wager a lot would depend on the shielding, too- thermal glue and a heat sink wouldn't offer the same level of corrosion protection as, say, a sealed CPU fan.
Quote from: Caliga on October 09, 2009, 11:09:54 AM
I have never heard of a CPU failing in this way, only if it burns out or something. Is this sort of a 'partial' failure even possible, especially as something that develops over time rather than something that was immediately apparent on the first build? :huh:
Dunno. I have never seen it or heard of such a case, but I don't know enough to say that it isn't possible, and the troubleshooting to date sure points that way.
Yeah, agree... not saying it's impossible.
Alright, friend looked things over during the weekend, taking single components from my faulty machine and putting them into a compatible, known to work system. It turns out that the CPU, board, RAM are in a freak way shot. He presumes that either it was some odd domino effect, an exotic virus he never heard about or (implied) I messed things up (most likely). It also appears the gfx card has a glitch. The HDs are ok and the data can be salvaged.
Anyways, I dusted off my Asus EEE for home, and am now in the market for a replacement.
I think I will keep the current gaming to XBox360 from now on (action games).
I'll go checking for a mobile solution that I can't mess up too badly.
Requirements:
- must run my old Matrix wargames or AGEOD games or OOTP
- must run Campaign Cartographer (CAD-style mapping program)
- Office
- video playback
- music playback
- internet
- being able to connect external HDs of 1 TB or more.
- hook up to am external screen with 1600+ resolution
I'll also need an external docking station for SATA drives so I can still use data from my old drives.
Hmm... oh well. If there are multiple damaged components I would guess you overheated. The virus explanation is impossible as a virus cannot damage a CPU, or any hardware for that matter anymore (years ago, there was a virus that was capable of damaging some CRT monitors... forget the exact details).
I didn't realize virii could fuck a CPU.
Least you know what's wrong.
Quote from: Caliga on October 12, 2009, 06:54:20 AM
Hmm... oh well. If there are multiple damaged components I would guess you overheated.
Also a likely cause. I'd been playing Risen at full details on 1920x1200 for a couple hours when the thing gave up its ghost.
Quote from: Caliga on October 12, 2009, 06:54:20 AM
Hmm... oh well. If there are multiple damaged components I would guess you overheated. The virus explanation is impossible as a virus cannot damage a CPU, or any hardware for that matter anymore (years ago, there was a virus that was capable of damaging some CRT monitors... forget the exact details).
This is a pet peeve of mine. Keep in mind that the computer can take "conscious" control of the CPU's cooling fan. Override that on a hot system, and you can slag the CPU, so it's possible, but really, really unlikely. Maybe I'll give one of the junkers in the office a send-off by demonstrating and posting either some pics or video.
Syt, that sounds like overheating to me as well... what type of video card was in there? Aside from the CPU, the video card is the hottest component and most likely to overheat- also if it was overheating by a lot, it could explain the damage to the other components, since video cards are usually located right by the RAM and CPU sockets.
The far, far more likely scenario is that he overheated, which is a common problem.
Whatever BIOS that ASUS usually uses (AMIBIOS) will shut the computer down automatically if the CPU fan stops and return an error screen to let you know. If you boot with the fan not running it'll do the same. The last time I did a build I actually saw this screen because the fan connector wires somehow got into the fan and jammed it up. :blush: It was cool once I pulled the wires out and bundled them with electrical tape though.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on October 12, 2009, 08:55:37 AM
Syt, that sounds like overheating to me as well... what type of video card was in there? Aside from the CPU, the video card is the hottest component and most likely to overheat- also if it was overheating by a lot, it could explain the damage to the other components, since video cards are usually located right by the RAM and CPU sockets.
A Gigabyte (that's the brand) GTX285 w/ 1GB. Also a QuadCore (2.83 GHz), 4x 2GB DDR RAM sticks. Two HDs (with a cooler right in front of them just for them).
All that in this case:
Armor Thermaltake MX
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tcmagazine.com%2Fimages%2Fnews%2FHardware%2FThermaltake_Armor%2B_MX_02.jpg&hash=501fd3dc25a7a6693d4073b7ca17c72860f0a3ab)
It may be, though, that the power supply (Corsair HX 1000W) might have run a little hot (sitting right over cpu/ram):
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fp.gzhls.at%2F317944.jpg&hash=6a27ef29cc2efa236ee8536194bc8719cfe2933b)
I skimmed through the NewEgg customer reviews for that PSU and they were generally favorable, aside from the usual scattering of DOA posts you see with any PSU.
Ouh a shinny new sub forum.
The thing you miss while not having the web at home. :(