Random STOP Error & Restart help please?

[Indi75]

Hi,

This looked like a good place to come for help, the Windows XP forum appears a little dead these days, and I'm really, really, stuck now.

Quick summary:

Been having a nightmare since parking 1GB of Ram (Corsair VS Paired ) and an ATI Radeon 9600 into my PC. Oddly the identical model I built for a friend has no problems.

Spec: "Athlon XP3200+ 400FSB / 1GB Paired Corsair VS PC3200 DDR400 / Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe nForce2 DDR400 / Gigabyte 3D Rocket Pro / Radeon 9600 256MB / Antec SLK3700BQE + SmartPower 350 PSU"

Only difference between PC's is the half gig in the other PC.

Microsoft error reporting takes me to the Online Crash Analysis page which indicates I have a device driver problem (No S***!)

Have confirmed on the other hand that the other PC I built is running Rome Total War, Pro Evo 4, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, C&C Generals, Call of Duty, Medal of Honour, flawlessly. (Mike does like to fill the PC!!)

Rise of Nations appeared to be a problem causing BSOD's while playing. Once uninstalled the BSOD's stopped.

The PC did keep restarting however. No BSOD, no stresses - sometimes just idle desktop.

..AND SOD ALL IN THE EVENT LOG... NOT EVEN AN ERROR REPORT!!! unless BSOD wants to inform of a bugcheck.

I tried everything from Radeon Cat's 4.12 -5.3 with and without Control Panel combined with various Nvdia Drivers including the same combo as in the functional other PC.

Virus Scan's via Zone Alarm Security Suite & BitDefender Online - clean.

A² Free Trojan Scanner reports clean, as does Adaware.

Used ATI Tool to run Artifact check on Radeon 9600, no OC'ing just testing default.... perfect for over 2 hours.

Even PC Pitstop reports all components running well with most comparisons at 102-105% of other similar....

Microsoft still keeps blaming drivers, but surely there'd be an event log entry?

Put old NVidia Ge-Force 4 64mb in and still got crashes and random errorless restarts.

ATI Tool > Default settings - No artifacts for 3 hours, CPU & System Temp never above 52° & 35° C. No crashes, no errors, no nothing!

Memtest86+ > Passed all tests, several times over.

Event Log > Still shows nothing unless BSOD has occurred, or App itself has crashed, both if which happen occasionally, but....

... most of the resarts occur when gaming or multitasking (IE6, MP10, Nero, ...that kind of thing)

CPU, Memory, Disk, etc all performing well.

..and then came this...

NVidia nTune Monitor shows CPU voltage in green @ 1.650 V, but shows both Mem & AGP in red (indicating danger according to guide) despite them running at their default 2.71 V & 1.50 V respectively (???)

The default voltages are as they should be, infact the system benches quite well with nTune giving impressive benchmarks over the NVidia baseline, so I'm wondering if it indicates that these voltages aren't the issue, its that nTune knows the voltages are not being supplied correctly?

Anyone think they can shed any light?

...and if is PSU issue as others have suggested, does any one jhave any recommended specs/models, I dont want to spend a fortune, but want something secure, and certainly with more thasn the current 16amps on 12v line.

Help?

[Lee H]

Have you tried running the memtest software and testing the memory as memory errors can throw up errors like the one you have got.

On a side note - if your running the memory in "dual channel" mode, the memory is not certified as dual channel as they are not matched pairs - only the twinX range are capable and certified of running in dual channel mode.

Hope this helps

[Indi75]

Prior to upgrading I was running 2 x 256mb Corsair VS with no probs for 6 months, and it is recommended for dual channel use as a 'kit' which is what I bought, the 2 x 512 has been put through MemTest 86 & Memtest 86+ since the problems started and both test fine.

The PC still restarts,a nd refuses to exeret itself, even when dual channel is off.

None of the indicators from MS OCA point to memory either, MS keeps blaming it on THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER, oddly this has been happening even when I put the old card in, ruling out the Radeon as a failure, and also with Drivers that always worked flawlessly, largely ruling out drivers also.

[iranu]

Sounds like PSU issue but.....

Are you running SP2? There may well be a compatability problem between SP2 and some of your software. Zonealarm springs to mind.

Check list of progs here.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=884130

[Indi75]

Been running service pack 2 since release, along with Zone Alarm Security Suite and never had any problems.

Infact dunno what all the fuss was about with SP2, unless people failed to back up and do clean install.

Had another BSOD earlier, first one today. Notably PerfectDisk was labouring over a messy partition at the time. Interestingly the PC has coped with 3 hours of Championship Manager (Real Memory sucker), and 2 hours of Cossacks without issue.

Hidden and Dangerous crashed twice, but that was down to I3D2.dll which is common and does this on old and new config.

For some reason the Stop Errors (BSOD) are always something different.

Commonly Device Driver, or Kernel32, or this time PFN_....something or other... which as usual OCA puts down to Device Driver.

As I say all tests run seamlessly so I don't see any consistent issues with Hardware or Drivers, as mentioned - the other PC still running fine, so I'm thinking of buying an Antec 450W.

Would anyone care to make any recommendations?

Current Spec:

Athlon XP3200
1GB Corsair VS PC3200
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
Gigabyte 3D Rocket Pro Cooler
Sapphire Radeon 9600 256MBA
2 x Vantec 120mm silent fans.
LG CD ROM 52x
Sony DWU-23A 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter

I'm currently pondering on Antec TRUE430PGB True Power 430W ATX... and whilst the price makes me cringe, the investment should be worth it, I'd rather spend some on a PSU than loose my MoBo & CPU with the current one

[iranu]

It's not something really simple like a loose connecton/wire is it? A few people have had issues with dust causing oveheating. Have you done a spring clean recently?

[Indi75]

Very clean, filtered airflow keeps it that way.

Gigabyte Rocket Pro has the potential to be a real dust magnet thorugh its alu/copper fins but is always spotless.

Ram Guy at Corsair confirms that the Corsair VS Kit is dual channel memory and works well in the A7N8X-E Deluxe, but then Memtest+ pretty much assured me of that.

Difficult to pinpoint isn't it? ...and worse still, one could get very paranoid with the multitude of error messages post crash, or indeed the lack of them. Since I know these problems dont lie with Hardware or Software I'm gonna go with the consensus from a couple of forums and try a new PSU. 350W cant really be big enough, and having reviewed many, many, postings about amps, Rails, and PSU related random restarts, I'm pretty convinced this is gonna be the issue. 'specially since the other PC runs just fine.

I've ordered a Antec TRUE430PGB True Power 430W ATX Power Supply, following several spec suggestions.

Arrives wednesday, lets hope nothing dies afore then.

[Indi75]

It's not something really simple like a loose connecton/wire is it? A few people have had issues with dust causing oveheating. Have you done a spring clean recently?

Sod that..... PSU cancelled temporarily....

Decided to go with advice from Corsair and whilst checking for loose wiring as suggested by Iranu thought I'd remove a stick.

Interestingly not a single crash since.

Gonna swap the other stick in shortly, if that one fine too then it's most likely PSU, but I'll wait and see.

[iranu]

Adodgy stick certainly would cause random errors like your experiencing.

Could well be a dual channel issue with that ram. I presume it was bought as a matched pair/kit.

[Indi75]

Yes, bought as kit from Overclockers.... and Corsair Ram Guy confirms it as dual channel kit.

Having spent the last 3 months trying to contact them regarding a shagged Seagate Barracuda... I'm relieved to have nw got an RMA via the new support email form.

At least by tomorrow when I'm done checking I know I can get them easily now.

Having noted the way Amtrak threw the damn box around last time, I'm beginning to wonder if these components are failing through lack of courier care.

I'll try the other stick tomorrow when done soundly thrashing this one, presumably if the other ones fine too, I then check MoBo slots?

If still fine, then I'll blame it on PSU.... possibly?

I'm still bemused as to why Memtest86+ picked up no errors tho?

[iranu]

Is it still running ok with one ram stick?

[Indi75]

Here's the thing....

As suggested by 'Alistairhamilton' ( ) over at XPForum I did some intensive memtesting.

Having established that 1 stick in bank 3 was fine I then swapped the sticks round in same slot and 2nd Stick was fine too. I then swapped both, one after other, into slot 2 (the other DC slot) and equally all went well.

I then put the 1st stick back in, leaving both in the appropriate dual channel slots as before and rebooted.

Thrashed through some DVD Burning, a H&D deluxe mission, a Cossacks Scenario, all went well.

Chucked few albums through media player whilst browsing with 7 or 8 explorer windows open, Trillian running and fired up CM03-04 too, again all going well.

Then went to Mentest86+ v1.51 via Bootable CDROM and proceeded to test as follows.

Optimal settings:

Full tests x 1 = 0 errors 1 Pass
Test 5 X 12 = 0 errors 12 Pass (Distracted )
Reboot
Test 5 x 10 = 0 errors 10 Pass

Then changed BIOS to 'Agressive Settings', although since mulitplier, timings, and FSB remain unchanged not sure this does much?

Full tests x 1 = 0 errors 1 Pass
Test 5 X 10 = 0 errors 10 Pass
Reboot
Test 5 x 10 = 0 errors 10 Pass

All passed again then.

H&D Deluxe (Hidden & Dangerous) is the usual candidate for crashing, and having had so many probs Rome Total War is not currenty installed.

So I've just given H&D a good hours play, all settings at their utmost... again no problems?

Is it at all possible that dirt or the seating of the sticks might have been the issue?

I'm literally waiting for a crash/BSOD/Error message now, cos can't quite believe it's sorted....... fingers crossed tho, eh?

Gonna park Rome Total War in later and see what happens, tho all has currently been ok since about 2pm yesterday... and it was on for 13 hours!!!!

'bout 6 hours today 'cos I'm home with flu still and no bugs yet.

Thanks for all the advice everyone , not sure what the problem was yet, and I think I'll still get a PSU as this one is a little small.

[Indi75]

Fixed.

PSU replaced - lessened BSOD, although some + CTD remained.

New VS1GBKIT PC3200 DDR400 arrived today... passed Prime.

All now well, thanks to those who helped out.