Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Occassion Failures to Post

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Occassion Failures to Post

    I've been upgrading my "in-laws" old computer with spare parts that I've had here at home. They had a Pentium II 400MHz machine running with only 64MB ram and an old Diamond Viper 550 video card. I replaced the motherboard/memory/cpu with an Abit BE6/ Pentium III 850 MHz / 256MB ram setup and added a GeForce 3 Ti200 video card. I also added a SCSI card for a photo scanner I included.

    Everything went pretty smoothly and seems to be working fine with the exception that once every 10 or so power ups, the machine fails to boot up. If I unplug power and then try again, it works fine.

    I'm suspecting a couple things, but would like your opinions.
    A) The power supply is only 235Watts. Is this too wimpy for the new parts?
    B) Is the battery in the motherboard dying? I think I replaced it about 3 or 4 years ago, but maybe not.
    C) Something else?

    All the parts that I added were used in my kid's machine up to about 2 months ago and never exhibited this problem.
    My rig: P4 3.0GHz; Asus P4C800E; 1GB DDR 3200; AIW Radeon 9800 Pro; WD 120GB SATA; Plextor DVD burner; Liteon DVD reader; Audigy 2ZS; Logitech Z560 4.1; NEC FE991SB

    Kid's rig: AMD XP 1600+; 512MB ram; GF4 Ti4600; Maxtor 60GB; Plextor CD burner; Sony DVD reader; SB Live; Cambridge 4.1 speakers; NEC FE991SB

    Other kid's rig: Athlon 2700+; ASUS A7N8X mobo; 512MB PC3200 ram; GF4 Ti4600; Maxtor 80GB; SB Live; Cambridge 2.1; NEC FE991SB; Liteon DVD-ROM

  • #2
    Whenever I've experienced what you are describing it was always power supply related. However, you've just made a lot of changes so it's hard to rule any of those out too.

    Do you have another power supply to test with?
    P.S. You've been Spanked!

    Comment


    • #3
      Everytime I've ran into that issue was due to BIOS. Have you upgraded the BIOS?

      Dave
      Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice.

      Comment


      • #4
        What if you try a warm reset?
        Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.

        Comment


        • #5
          An interesting point Helevitia.

          BIOS is definitely a factor on warm booting but I was assuming cold booting.
          P.S. You've been Spanked!

          Comment


          • #6
            Problem has only occurred on Cold Boots -- of course I think I've only done a warm reset about 10 times during this project. I was not really suspecting the Bios because my kid used that board and version of Bios for about 3 years without that problem occurring. However, I do know that there are at least a couple newer versions of Bios available.
            Unfortunately I do not have another power supply to try, so I would have to go out and buy one in hopes it would solve the problem. I can probably find a power supply pretty cheap, but I was trying to do this upgrade for them with as little cash spent as possible. So far I've only put $9 into it (case fan).
            I guess I should try the bios upgrade, but to be honest bios upgrades kinda scare me for some reason. I've done it once a long time ago and had no problems, but it just seems too easy to mess things up big time.
            I actually had this thing boxed up and ready to ship back to them (they live in Idaho) thinking they could live with the issue... but my conscience tells me I have to fix this.
            My rig: P4 3.0GHz; Asus P4C800E; 1GB DDR 3200; AIW Radeon 9800 Pro; WD 120GB SATA; Plextor DVD burner; Liteon DVD reader; Audigy 2ZS; Logitech Z560 4.1; NEC FE991SB

            Kid's rig: AMD XP 1600+; 512MB ram; GF4 Ti4600; Maxtor 60GB; Plextor CD burner; Sony DVD reader; SB Live; Cambridge 4.1 speakers; NEC FE991SB

            Other kid's rig: Athlon 2700+; ASUS A7N8X mobo; 512MB PC3200 ram; GF4 Ti4600; Maxtor 80GB; SB Live; Cambridge 2.1; NEC FE991SB; Liteon DVD-ROM

            Comment


            • #7
              Well, I cycled through about 10 (warm) resets without a problem... so I guess it's off to Fry's at lunch today to buy a new power supply.
              My rig: P4 3.0GHz; Asus P4C800E; 1GB DDR 3200; AIW Radeon 9800 Pro; WD 120GB SATA; Plextor DVD burner; Liteon DVD reader; Audigy 2ZS; Logitech Z560 4.1; NEC FE991SB

              Kid's rig: AMD XP 1600+; 512MB ram; GF4 Ti4600; Maxtor 60GB; Plextor CD burner; Sony DVD reader; SB Live; Cambridge 4.1 speakers; NEC FE991SB

              Other kid's rig: Athlon 2700+; ASUS A7N8X mobo; 512MB PC3200 ram; GF4 Ti4600; Maxtor 80GB; SB Live; Cambridge 2.1; NEC FE991SB; Liteon DVD-ROM

              Comment


              • #8
                Another thing to try would be delaying the boot until after HD spinup.

                But yeah, the PSU sounds a little weak.
                Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Well, unfortunately it wasn't the power supply. I put in a brand new 350 watt unit and still got a failure.

                  Next thing I noticed was the HighPoint Controller drivers never got loaded so I found the floppy disk that had them and loaded them. I don't really think this helped, but we'll see.

                  So... next I guess I'll go with the bios update. Does anyone think the CMOS battery needs replacing?

                  Also, I see in the CMOS setup an option to Enable/Disable "Quick Power On Self Test". Should I try disabling this? Wombat: is this what you meant about delay boot until after HD spin up? There's also a setting labelled "Delay IDE Intial" ... do I enter a couple seconds here?

                  I also noticed the AGP Aperture Size was set to 256. I'm using a GF3 Ti200 64MB card. Do you think this setting being too high is a potential problem?
                  My rig: P4 3.0GHz; Asus P4C800E; 1GB DDR 3200; AIW Radeon 9800 Pro; WD 120GB SATA; Plextor DVD burner; Liteon DVD reader; Audigy 2ZS; Logitech Z560 4.1; NEC FE991SB

                  Kid's rig: AMD XP 1600+; 512MB ram; GF4 Ti4600; Maxtor 60GB; Plextor CD burner; Sony DVD reader; SB Live; Cambridge 4.1 speakers; NEC FE991SB

                  Other kid's rig: Athlon 2700+; ASUS A7N8X mobo; 512MB PC3200 ram; GF4 Ti4600; Maxtor 80GB; SB Live; Cambridge 2.1; NEC FE991SB; Liteon DVD-ROM

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Also, now twice I've gotten a "double beep" and then an automatic power down. What's up with that?
                    My rig: P4 3.0GHz; Asus P4C800E; 1GB DDR 3200; AIW Radeon 9800 Pro; WD 120GB SATA; Plextor DVD burner; Liteon DVD reader; Audigy 2ZS; Logitech Z560 4.1; NEC FE991SB

                    Kid's rig: AMD XP 1600+; 512MB ram; GF4 Ti4600; Maxtor 60GB; Plextor CD burner; Sony DVD reader; SB Live; Cambridge 4.1 speakers; NEC FE991SB

                    Other kid's rig: Athlon 2700+; ASUS A7N8X mobo; 512MB PC3200 ram; GF4 Ti4600; Maxtor 80GB; SB Live; Cambridge 2.1; NEC FE991SB; Liteon DVD-ROM

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Beezer
                      So... next I guess I'll go with the bios update. Does anyone think the CMOS battery needs replacing?

                      Also, I see in the CMOS setup an option to Enable/Disable "Quick Power On Self Test". Should I try disabling this? Wombat: is this what you meant about delay boot until after HD spin up? There's also a setting labelled "Delay IDE Intial" ... do I enter a couple seconds here?

                      I also noticed the AGP Aperture Size was set to 256. I'm using a GF3 Ti200 64MB card. Do you think this setting being too high is a potential problem?
                      If the machine is keeping its CMOS settings and the clock isn't acting funky (losing/gaining lots of time when switched off), the battery is probably fine.

                      "Quick Power On Self Test" skips some tests at startup. I'd turn it on - it'll make the boot go a bit slower, and who knows, perhaps a test will catch something.

                      "Delay IDE Initial" is very likely what Wombat was talking about - throw in a couple of seconds and see if it helps.

                      I very much doubt AGP aperture is an issue here. FWIW, I like to set it to twice my video card memory.

                      To diagnose the double-beep/power-down, you'll have to find a BIOS reference (what BIOS is it? Phoenix? Award?) and/or a POST diagnostic card.
                      Blah blah blah nick blah blah confusion, blah blah blah blah frog.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Well, I think I'm pretty much "hosed". I posted the symptoms at the Abit Forums, and everyone was pretty certain it was "capacitor failures" on the board. Even though I see no signs of bulging or leaking capacitors. They say it's pretty typical of the Abit BE6 boards.

                        Now I need a replacement board that will work with the 850MHz slot 1 PIII that I have. Any suggestions?
                        My rig: P4 3.0GHz; Asus P4C800E; 1GB DDR 3200; AIW Radeon 9800 Pro; WD 120GB SATA; Plextor DVD burner; Liteon DVD reader; Audigy 2ZS; Logitech Z560 4.1; NEC FE991SB

                        Kid's rig: AMD XP 1600+; 512MB ram; GF4 Ti4600; Maxtor 60GB; Plextor CD burner; Sony DVD reader; SB Live; Cambridge 4.1 speakers; NEC FE991SB

                        Other kid's rig: Athlon 2700+; ASUS A7N8X mobo; 512MB PC3200 ram; GF4 Ti4600; Maxtor 80GB; SB Live; Cambridge 2.1; NEC FE991SB; Liteon DVD-ROM

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Why a replacement board? Why not just replace the capacitors? It used to be a common thing around here.
                          Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            If it's only happening about 1 in 10 times you try to power up, maybe your in-laws can live with it. Otherwise, it's going to be hard to find a replacement board. Their requirements are obviously modest, maybe an ultra cheap Dell or Gateway is a better bet.
                            P.S. You've been Spanked!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by schmosef
                              If it's only happening about 1 in 10 times you try to power up, maybe your in-laws can live with it.
                              Not if it's the caps. They're going to continue degrading, and the computer will be useless in weeks or months, and the caps may explode when they go.

                              I didn't find the parts numbers on a MURC search, but here's an article: http://hardware.ausgamers.com/?agn=review&id=251211
                              Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X