bizarre hardware question

Specs:

AMD AthlonXP 1700 processor
ECS K7S5A mboard with SiS735 chipset
GeForce3
SB Live! XGamer 5.1
Windows XP

Symptoms:
The computer only starts when it wants to. Restarts are nonexistent, as I lose POST whenever I try to reboot. The computer technically works, as I can play and work on it. However, this problem does make driver installations and system failures more than a little painful. Help?

DC

My computer is having same kind of problems, it usually starts after three trys. Running defrag helps for a little while.

Prolly something to do with Windows XP. (XP = teh ghey, IMO)

Backup everything important.

Go to Windows Update (IE6, Tools, Windows Update) and download all the important shit.

Try to find updated drivers for your motherboard if possible.

WindowsXP runs fast as fuck and flawlessly... so long as it gets along with you hardware and the drivers are well written.

Originally posted by deadnail
WindowsXP runs fast as fuck and flawlessly...

...not to mention the fact that it's retard-friendly.

Actually, my computer has WinME in it. I did try download updates, which was real pain 56kbs modem, and after it was finished, it gave error "installation failed due to unknown reason", or something like that.

Yeah, I've found a BIOS update, but I haven't done it yet. I hate flashing BIOSes...

DC

Does it go through POST?

I'd test to see if it will boot to another OS first (put linux or DOS on a floppy and try booting that). That will tell you if the problem is or isn't the OS, before you waste time downloading stuff.

My guess? not the OS. Why? I've never seen an OS fuck up the POST.

Originally posted by Zro
...WinME...

BLASPHEMY!

Originally posted by Crendowing
...not to mention the fact that it's retard-friendly.

The description for Event ID ( 3 ) in Source ( Ray Server ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: MI_RAY_SERVICE environment variable not found. Using default., .

Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error calling routine CoCreateInstance. hr = 0x80040206.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Yeah, retarded-friendly alright :P

heh

XP is nice, it's like the good things of Win2k mixed with a nicer GUI.

Try this one

My computer restarts randomly either while dialing up to my ISP or while I am online.

Maybe that's God trying to tell you not to come online and bother us :P

if you don't consider XP to be better than 98 as an OS something's wrong with you.

ok does it boot up at all. or does it just lock up on the windows loading screen. does it say something like "com A has been changed" or something about the CMOS settings being lost or changed.
if it has given u some of those messages i would reomend replaceing the CMOS battery. if it does not give those wrnings be on the look out. sounds like a dying mainboard, but hope it is not. however it could be either XP or the mainboard. on all the systems i have seen do what u discried it was usally the mainboard, or a bad card or battery

orion said:

if you don't consider XP to be better than 98 as an OS something's wrong with you.

Then I guess there's something wrong with me.

ZarcyB said:

Maybe that's God trying to tell you not to come online and bother us :P

Heh, maybe...maybe not

Psyonisis said:

Then I guess there's something wrong with me.

/me points and laughs at the freak
j/k =]

Win98 is working flawlessly for me, hasn't crashed once in 4 months. It does get this wierd delay, but i just have to reboot it every 4 weeks or so and everything's fine.

Then again, maybe everythings working great cuz it's saving up for a really big crash or it'll blow when I'm not home and burn my house down... wait if my house burns down I get 100 grand for the insurance. Hmmmmm. I wonder how I'd rig something like that up.... :D

The problem has absolutely nothing to do with Windows. This is before Windows even loads. When I do a reboot, Windows shuts down properly, then I lose POST. I emailed the support desk, and they said something about refresh rates. Unfortunately, system startup uses a STANDARD refresh rate. Cockgobblers. Of course, this email was poorly translated from Korean or Taiwanese, or some other language I'll never speak purely for spite, so I don't put a lot of stock in what they say anyway.

DC

Do you get any beeps? And what length

fodders said:

Do you get any beeps? And what length

HE MEANS THE DURATION OF SAID BEEPS YOU PREVERTS.

There are all sorts of beeps. Happy beeps, angry beeps, strange 'wtf' beeps. I've heard at least 5 different sets of chimes while screwing around with this thing.

If you got a PC you don't care about, half-way connect some PCI and IDE things and fire them up. I believe those are called 'angry' beeps. =)




RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNT WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!

Looks like somebody deleted posts again...how confusing...

No...no beeps other than the normal clicks and whirrs that you get when you boot regularly.

DC

Below is a listing of some of the general steps that can be performed in helping the computer pass the POST sequence.


First if any added hardware has been added to the computer before the irregular POST I would recommend it be removed to see if it is causing this issue.
Remove everything from the back of the computer except the power cable.
If you are receiving a sequence of beeps see if those sequence of beeps are listed within this page and follow the recommended steps for that beep code. If however your computers BIOS is not listed on this page or you are not sure which BIOS you have within your computer continue with the below steps.
Disconnect the IDE cables from the CD-ROM, Hard Drive, and Floppy drive from the Motherboard. If this resolves your irregular post attempt to connect each device one at a time to determine which device and or cable is causing the issue.
If the above still has not resolved the irregular post attempt to disconnect the Riser board (if possible) with all devices attached to it. If your computer does not include a riser board (ATX Motherboard) disconnect all the cards within the computer. If this resolves the issue or allows the computer to post connect one card at a time until you determine which card is causing the issue.
If you continue to to receive the same problem with all the above hardware still removed attempt to disconnect the CPU and RAM from the Motherboard. If this fixes the issue connect the RAM if the computer still continues to work connect the CPU. Extra Note: If your computer has a Pentium II or Pentium III socket, once the CPU is remove you may receive a NO POST (No beeps). However it is a good recommendation to at least reseat the CPU.
If the issue persists its a good possibility that the motherboard is bad.
Note: Cache is normally not a consideration considering that the Cache controller is usually enabled after the POST, however this can differ.


AMI BIOS BEEP CODES

The following are AMI BIOS Beep Codes that can occur. However because of the wide variety of different computer manufacturers with this BIOS the beep codes may vary.

Beep Code Descriptions
1 short DRAM refresh failure
2 short Parity circuit failure
3 short Base 64K RAM failure
4 short System timer failure
5 short Process failure
6 short Keyboard controller Gate A20 error
7 short Virtual mode exception error
8 short Display memory Read/Write test failure
9 short ROM BIOS checksum failure
10 short CMOS shutdown Read/Write error
11 short Cache Memory error
1 long, 3 short Conventional/Extended memory failure
1 long, 8 short Display/Retrace test failed

AWARD BIOS BEEP CODES

The following are Award BIOS Beep Codes that can occur. However because of the wide variety of different computer manufacturers with this BIOS the beep codes may vary.

Beep Code Description
1 long, 2 short Indicates a video error has occurred and the BIOS cannot initialize the video screen to display any additional information
Any other beep(s) RAM problem.

If any other correctable hardware issues the BIOS will display a message.



IBM BIOS

The following are IBM BIOS Beep Codes that can occur. However because of the wide variety of models shipping with this BIOS the beep codes may vary.

Beep Code Description
No Beeps No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
1 Short Beep Normal POST, computer is ok.
2 Short Beep POST error, review screen for error code.
Continuous Beep No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
Repeating Short Beep No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
One Long and one Short Beep Motherboard issue.
One Long and Two short Beeps Video (Mono/CGA Display Circuitry) issue.
One Long and Three Short Beeps. Video (EGA) Display Circuitry.
Three Long Beeps Keyboard / Keyboard card error.
One Beep, Blank or Incorrect Display Video Display Circuitry.

MACINTOSH STARTUP TONES

TONES ERROR
Error Tone. (two sets of different tones) Problem with logic board or SCSI bus.
Startup tone, drive spins, no video Problem with video controller.
Powers on, no tone. Logic board problem.
High Tone, four higher tones. Problem with SIMM.

[b]PHOENIX BIOS BEEP CODES[b]

The following is for PHOENIX BIOS Q3.07 OR 4.X

Beep Code Description / What to Check
1-1-1-3 Verify Real Mode.
1-1-2-1 Get CPU type.
1-1-2-3 Initialize system hardware.
1-1-3-1 Initialize chipset registers with initial POST values.
1-1-3-2 Set in POST flag.
1-1-3-3 Initialize CPU registers.
1-1-4-1 Initialize cache to initial POST values.
1-1-4-3 Initialize I/O.
1-2-1-1 Initialize Power Management.
1-2-1-2 Load alternate registers with initial POST values.
1-2-1-3 Jump to UserPatch0.
1-2-2-1 Initialize keyboard controller.
1-2-2-3 BIOS ROM checksum.
1-2-3-1 8254 timer initialization.
1-2-3-3 8237 DMA controller initialization.
1-2-4-1 Reset Programmable Interrupt Controller.
1-3-1-1 Test DRAM refresh.
1-3-1-3 Test 8742 Keyboard Controller.
1-3-2-1 Set ES segment to register to 4 GB.
1-3-3-1 28 Autosize DRAM.
1-3-3-3 Clear 512K base RAM.
1-3-4-1 Test 512 base address lines.
1-3-4-3 Test 512K base memory.
1-4-1-3 Test CPU bus-clock frequency.
1-4-2-4 Reinitialize the chipset.
1-4-3-1 Shadow system BIOS ROM.
1-4-3-2 Reinitialize the cache.
1-4-3-3 Autosize cache.
1-4-4-1 Configure advanced chipset registers.
1-4-4-2 Load alternate registers with CMOS values.
2-1-1-1 Set Initial CPU speed.
2-1-1-3 Initialize interrupt vectors.
2-1-2-1 Initialize BIOS interrupts.
2-1-2-3 Check ROM copyright notice.
2-1-2-4 Initialize manager for PCI Options ROMs.
2-1-3-1 Check video configuration against CMOS.
2-1-3-2 Initialize PCI bus and devices.
2-1-3-3 Initialize all video adapters in system.
2-1-4-1 Shadow video BIOS ROM.
2-1-4-3 Display copyright notice.
2-2-1-1 Display CPU type and speed.
2-2-1-3 Test keyboard.
2-2-2-1 Set key click if enabled.
2-2-2-3 56 Enable keyboard.
2-2-3-1 Test for unexpected interrupts.
2-2-3-3 Display prompt "Press F2 to enter SETUP".
2-2-4-1 Test RAM between 512 and 640k.
2-3-1-1 Test expanded memory.
2-3-1-3 Test extended memory address lines.
2-3-2-1 Jump to UserPatch1.
2-3-2-3 Configure advanced cache registers.
2-3-3-1 Enable external and CPU caches.
2-3-3-3 Display external cache size.
2-3-4-1 Display shadow message.
2-3-4-3 Display non-disposable segments.
2-4-1-1 Display error messages.
2-4-1-3 Check for configuration errors.
2-4-2-1 Test real-time clock.
2-4-2-3 Check for keyboard errors
2-4-4-1 Set up hardware interrupts vectors.
2-4-4-3 Test coprocessor if present.
3-1-1-1 Disable onboard I/O ports.
3-1-1-3 Detect and install external RS232 ports.
3-1-2-1 Detect and install external parallel ports.
3-1-2-3 Re-initialize onboard I/O ports.
3-1-3-1 Initialize BIOS Data Area.
3-1-3-3 Initialize Extended BIOS Data Area.
3-1-4-1 Initialize floppy controller.
3-2-1-1 Initialize hard-disk controller.
3-2-1-2 Initialize local-bus hard-disk controller.
3-2-1-3 Jump to UserPatch2.
3-2-2-1 Disable A20 address line.
3-2-2-3 Clear huge ES segment register.
3-2-3-1 Search for option ROMs.
3-2-3-3 Shadow option ROMs.
3-2-4-1 Set up Power Management.
3-2-4-3 Enable hardware interrupts.
3-3-1-1 Set time of day.
3-3-1-3 Check key lock.
3-3-3-1 Erase F2 prompt.
3-3-3-3 Scan for F2 key stroke.
3-3-4-1 Enter SETUP.
3-3-4-3 Clear in-POST flag.
3-4-1-1 Check for errors
3-4-1-3 POST done--prepare to boot operating system.
3-4-2-1 One beep.
3-4-2-3 Check password (optional).
3-4-3-1 Clear global descriptor table.
3-4-4-1 Clear parity checkers.
3-4-4-3 Clear screen (optional).
3-4-4-4 Check virus and backup reminders.
4-1-1-1 Try to boot with INT 19.
4-2-1-1 Interrupt handler error.
4-2-1-3 Unknown interrupt error.
4-2-2-1 Pending interrupt error.
4-2-2-3 Initialize option ROM error.
4-2-3-1 Shutdown error.
4-2-3-3 Extended Block Move.
4-2-4-1 Shutdown 10 error.
4-3-1-3 Initialize the chipset.
4-3-1-4 Initialize refresh counter.
4-3-2-1 Check for Forced Flash.
4-3-2-2 Check HW status of ROM.
4-3-2-3 BIOS ROM is OK.
4-3-2-4 Do a complete RAM test.
4-3-3-1 Do OEM initialization.
4-3-3-2 Initialize interrupt controller.
4-3-3-3 Read in bootstrap code.
4-3-3-4 Initialize all vectors.
4-3-4-1 Boot the Flash program.
4-3-4-2 Initialize the boot device.
4-3-4-3 Boot code was read OK.

4-3-2-3 BIOS ROM is OK.

FUCK! OH SHIT! NO!!!!

deadnail said:

FUCK! OH SHIT! NO!!!!

Shshsh you will scare Sephiroth

fodders said:

Shshsh you will scare Sephiroth

If I wanted to scare him I'd kick in his door while he was sleeping and:

A. be totally naked
B. have a knife in my left hand
C. have a dildo in my right hand
D. have a humongous erection
E. have on nipple clamps
F. scream, "OHOHOHOHO SHIT THIS IS GONNA BE SWEEEEEEEET!!!"
G. chase him around the room giggling like a schoolgirl

I just lost all will to ever procreate, for fear that whatever spawn I might create would be like you people. Intense technical knowledge coupled with the sexual maturity of a drunk Norweigan scares the bejeezus out of me.

DC

deadnail said:

If I wanted to scare him I'd kick in his door while he was sleeping and:

A. be totally naked
B. have a knife in my left hand
C. have a dildo in my right hand
D. have a humongous erection
E. have on nipple clamps
F. scream, "OHOHOHOHO SHIT THIS IS GONNA BE SWEEEEEEEET!!!"
G. chase him around the room giggling like a schoolgirl

A C D E and F are a normal Saturday night at Fod and Mods when the kids are away :)