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Hi,
I've been trying to solve this for almost two weeks now, but I'm =
completely at a loss of what else to try. I'll give the symptoms, what =
I've already tried, and what my lines of thought and troubleshooting =
have been thus far..
First, very rarely, my system will spontaneously reboot. This does not =
happen often.. Maybe four or five times in the past two months. I =
generally leave my PC on 24/7, and it never seems to reboot while I'm at =
it and actively working, only when idle while I do other things. I've =
also noticed that sometimes, after it reboots, it does not recognize my =
SATA drives, on the regular ATA drive and DVDRW drive. (I have one WD =
200GB ATA drive which is my primary boot drive, one WD 350GB and one =
Maxtor 500GB SATA drive, and a Sony DVDRW ATA drive.) I also recently =
had another WD 350GB SATA drive that failed and was replaced by the one =
I'm using now. All this may have just been coincidence or related, but =
for now I'm considering it a more minor issue that is more a symptom of =
the next..
While the previous is spontaneous and unpredictable, the system freezes =
are like clockwork, and only in certain conditions (although I'm not =
entirely sure what the exact conditions are, else I'd know better where =
to look for the problem): When playing some games, most notably ones =
that have some sort of Direct-X and/or 3-D capabilities, sometime =
between 10 and 20 minutes of gameplay, it just freezes my entire system. =
Even the soft power switch stops working; I have to unplug it or force a =
hard reset. It does not seem to affect other types of games.. There are =
a few I can play for hours without problem, but it does seem to rely on =
the game using the 3-D modeling capabilities of Direct-X and my video =
card. (Also note that OpenGL games, or games where I can switch them to =
OpenGL instead of Direct-X, do not freeze, hence why I'm not ruling out =
a Direct-X problem.)
I also do not think it is in the memory, mainboard or the video card and =
video subsystem; I can have very intensive graphics applications and =
editing going on for hours, including 3-D modeling via Blender and =
ray-tracing with POV-Ray, without a single problem or freeze. It only =
seems to happen in full-screen 3-D type games that initialize Direct-X. =
Games that freeze so far include Sims 2, Gore, Delta Force, Doom 2, =
Empire Earth 2, and Warcraft 3. Most other games work fine, as do =
non-game applications--even those that use Direct-X.
I've tried just about every diagnostic, test and burn-in procedure, =
application, etc, that I could think of or find, including one which I =
do not know them name of, but I got when I worked as a tech for a =
mail-order pc vendor which runs a 48-hour intensive burn-in test. (Which =
includes firing up the Direct-X 3-D engine and runs around a maze of 3-D =
objects for an hour.) That all passed without detecting a single =
problem. I've also recently totally updated every driver and software I =
can find updates for and installed Windows XP Service Pack 3 and =
Direct-X 9.0c in an attempt to isolate or eliminate the problem. I've =
tried looking through debug logs, alerts, and any other kind of log or =
record I can find to see if I could find anything else they have in =
common prior to the freeze. All to no avail.
I've also disabled, shut down, terminated and otherwise trimmed my =
running tasks down to the bare essentials for system functioning before =
trying to run any problem games. Likewise, I've tried everything I could =
think of to force and reproduce the problem in a controlled environment, =
but could not. Finally, I've replaced various hardware with identical =
hardware (I have another almost identical system), but the problem =
persists.
Here's my system information:
Windows XP Home Edition, updated to Service Pack 3 and the latest =
drivers and updates available from the Microsoft and other hardware =
websites. (Build 2600.xpsp.080413-2111/SP3)
System mfg is listed as RS480_, with Phoenix-Award ACPI BIOS, v6.00PG.
Mainboard is ECS/EliteGroup RS480-M (I do not have the stats handy.. Can =
Google it if needed. On-board video disabled; I am using the on-board =
Realtek AC97 sound, however.)
CPU is the AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3000+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.8GHz.
I have 1GB RAM installed, and a 2GB pagefile on the main drive. (I've =
already described my drives, above.)
Video card is MSI NX6600 (nVidia GeForce 6600 PCI Express, x16).. =
ForceWare v169.21, 256MB RAM, Video BIOS 5.43.02.57.00.
Direct-X 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904), and I do not have the OpenGL version =
info handy.
Case is a unbranded case, with three cooling fans, and I've sampled the =
airflow and taken temp readings at various points, so I do not think =
it's simply overheating. I do not overclock the CPU or anything else. =
Most everything in the BIOS is set at their defaults, as well, nothing =
fancy.
Please let me know if I can provide anything else to help figure out and =
fix the problem.. I have lots of diagnostic, testing, and information =
software; I know how to read and test (short of any equipment like an =
oscilloscope, which I do not have) chips, etc; and many years working =
with PC's, both hardware and software (but this problem eludes me.. =
sigh.) So just ask.
Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas to try, _anything_, would be greatly =
appreciated.
Regards,
--=20
C. Mitchell
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Hi,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I've been trying to solve this for =
almost two weeks=20
now, but I'm completely at a loss of what else to try. I'll give the =
symptoms,=20
what I've already tried, and what my lines of thought and =
troubleshooting have=20
been thus far..</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>First, very rarely, my system will =
spontaneously=20
reboot. This does not happen often.. Maybe four or five times =
in the=20
past two months. I generally leave my PC on 24/7, and it never seems to =
reboot=20
while I'm at it and actively working, only when idle while I do other =
things.=20
I've also noticed that sometimes, after it reboots, it does not =
recognize my=20
SATA drives, on the regular ATA drive and DVDRW drive. (I have one =
WD 200GB=20
ATA drive which is my primary boot drive, one WD 350GB and one Maxtor =
500GB SATA=20
drive, and a Sony DVDRW ATA drive.) I also recently had another WD =
350GB=20
SATA drive that failed and was replaced by the one I'm using now. All =
this may=20
have just been coincidence or related, but for now I'm considering it a =
more=20
minor issue that is more a symptom of the next..</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>While the previous is spontaneous and=20
unpredictable, the system freezes are like clockwork, and only in =
certain=20
conditions (although I'm not entirely sure what the exact conditions =
are, else=20
I'd know better where to look for the problem): When playing some games, =
most=20
notably ones that have some sort of Direct-X and/or 3-D capabilities, =
sometime=20
between 10 and 20 minutes of gameplay, it just freezes my entire system. =
Even=20
the soft power switch stops