Having a few new rig problems, please help!

[sagramore]

Okay guys, here we go - I have a new system that was bought yesterday and I'm having a few troubles that i'd like to see if anyone can help me with!

First of all, the new system contains the following: -

IDEQ-200P Small Form Factor Bare Bones Unit
A64 Athlon 3000 - Newcastle
2x512mb GEIL Value (Not the dual channel kit)
Radeon 9800 Pro OEM
2xWestern Digital Special Caviar Edition 8mb Cache SATA drives (In a RAID 1 Array)
DVD-ROM Drive
Floppy Drive
Windows XP Pro Edition


Now for the problems: -

Firstly, about 40% of the time i turn the PC on or reboot, it will POST fine, it will bring up the SATA BIOS screen fine, detecting my SATA disks, then just before the WinXP loading screen appears, just after the "Verifying ESCD,........" has been shown, the system will stop - it doesnt hang or anything, the cursor still blinks, ctrl-alt-delete works to reboot, but it doesnt do anything else. I originally thought that this was a problem with the RAM, because when i turned the rig off, took out one stick and then turned it back on it would work - it also seemed to only do it when one certain stick was in, so i took that one out ready to RMA on monday, however, as i sat here and played some UT2004, then went for a reboot (with only the "good" stick in) the problem occured again.
The RAM is quite hot, but im not sure it's a heating problem because it happens even with the case sides off and a desk fan blowing on them and sometimes when i turn it on after a long time of being off... i've tried various DIMM voltages too (up to the max specified on the GEIL site - 2.85) with no change in the problem.

The weirdest thing is, as i write this, i have both sticks in, just this time it decided to boot. It also doesnt seem to matter what order the sticks are in, i only have two DIMM slots and i've tried every combination of 1 and 2 sticks in both slots.



Problem number 2
This one is slightly less severe, but no less annoying...
It's linked to my wireless keyboard and mouse (and please please try to refrain from giving me the solution "get corded ones" that doesnt help!). I have the Microsoft Wireless Desktop Pro Version 2.0. I've installed Intellipoint & Intellitype software/drivers as per usual and both work, however the extra "side" buttons on the mouse along with the left and right scroll of the tilt wheel are not working at all. Also, in games (possibly also in windows, just it is less noticeable there - i do not get it whilst typing...) such as UT2004, the keyboard will often "lock" in one direction leaving me strafing right until i unpress and repress the right key, and similar with all the other buttons.

I've tried without intellipoint/type and i've tried re-installing both but with no luck.



I was also getting some BSODs, but they seem to have gone away, I think they were just the usual Windows teething problems you get sometimes.

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas at all about either of these problems, please please let me know!

THanks in advance

Hamish



EDIT: I've managed to fix the keyboard/mouse problem by using the USB connector for the receiver rather than the dual PS/2 ports that I have always used in the past, not sure why it works now but it does so im happy

First problem still a problem though!

[Howard]

I get those odd "locking" problems with my keyboard sometimes. It'll repeat a key 10 or so times, so a word will end up looking like thissssssssssss. And the same with strafing... Will continue till I press another key. Lol

[sagramore]

Like i said mate, that one's fixed by using the USB instead of the PS/2


Other problem is more persistant though :S

[sagramore]

Hmmm..... Warcraft III crashed twice just then...

Once it was just the game that crashed, had to use ctrl-alt-delete to close the process but windows was fine, then when i was in anotehr game (without restarting) the entire box crashed and rebooted itself..... but i;ve got the sides of the case off with a desktop fan blowing in, nothing felt too hot to touch - im downloading memtest to run overnight to see what happens

[myth]

Hmmm..... Warcraft III crashed twice just then...

Once it was just the game that crashed, had to use ctrl-alt-delete to close the process but windows was fine, then when i was in anotehr game (without restarting) the entire box crashed and rebooted itself..... but i;ve got the sides of the case off with a desktop fan blowing in, nothing felt too hot to touch - im downloading memtest to run overnight to see what happens

Also check the voltage, and why not try a format or two?

[SilentDeath]

For the first problem please try running memtest86 and a program called goldmemory. With memtest, test no. 5 is of most importance as it will more likely show errors. If you get any errors at all you should fiddle with fsb, timings and voltage, if still dont work then RMA them. Note it could also be mobo or cpu causing it, so running other test programs to find out which can save a lot of effort.

goldmemory is suppost to find errors better but ive never used it.

[myth]

For the first problem please try running memtest86 and a program called goldmemory. With memtest, test no. 5 is of most importance as it will more likely show errors. If you get any errors at all you should fiddle with fsb, timings and voltage, if still dont work then RMA them. Note it could also be mobo or cpu causing it, so running other test programs to find out which can save a lot of effort.

goldmemory is suppost to find errors better but ive never used it.

Goldmemory.. ISO! Cool.. what do you use to burn ISOs...?

[SilentDeath]

I use nero to burn the memtest86 iso (and have a bout 5 of them - only uses about 5mb of the disk so its quicker to burn a new one than look for the old one ... never used goldmemory..

and what psu are you using? I dont htink its the cause though...

[BUFF]

Geil & value together
I'm not a fan of Geil but that might just be me...

[Howard]

Like i said mate, that one's fixed by using the USB instead of the PS/2


Other problem is more persistant though :S

Not for me I'm using the USB and it still does it

[sagramore]

Also check the voltage, and why not try a format or two?

Heh, format :S :S
I used to do them so often, no troubles - then lately they all started going wrong on me, it was a horrid format (backup disks all died simultaneously with the format) that encouraged me to start afresh with a RAID setup and a new rig.....

[sagramore]

For the first problem please try running memtest86 and a program called goldmemory. With memtest, test no. 5 is of most importance as it will more likely show errors. If you get any errors at all you should fiddle with fsb, timings and voltage, if still dont work then RMA them. Note it could also be mobo or cpu causing it, so running other test programs to find out which can save a lot of effort.

goldmemory is suppost to find errors better but ive never used it.

I ran memtest for 8 hours last night, i hadn't read your post before i stopped it so i ended up stopping it half way through test 5, i looked at the error report and it had found one in test 3 and one in test 4 though - ill try upping the voltage a bit as it's running at stock FSB and lower timings than it's rated for.

[sagramore]

I use nero to burn the memtest86 iso (and have a bout 5 of them - only uses about 5mb of the disk so its quicker to burn a new one than look for the old one ... never used goldmemory..

and what psu are you using? I dont htink its the cause though...

Well, it COULD be the cause :S

It's a SFF psu so it's only 200Watts and I do have a lot of stuff in there. I really hope it isnt that though as the only thing in there I'm not bothered about is the floppy drive :S :S

[sagramore]

Oh w00t
Now i've madfe myself a new problem.... Well, i didn't make it but it's occurred

My RAID array has self-destructed for some reason... as i rebooted to start memtest it popped up saying "need to re-duplicate to ensure data consistency between drives" so i hit "ok" and it errored immediately saying the array was broken - strange thing is, both drives still boot fine

I think i'm going to have to destroy the array and re-make it - i just hope that i dont have to format again (I didn't the first time)

[Rabs]

First try the memtest option,if the tests come back fine - try removing one of your hd's - A64's are power hungry, by having two drives in it you'll not only increase heat but the strain on the PSU. You may just be going over the edge slightly on it...

How you updated to the latest BIOS release?

[sagramore]

I haven't touched the BIOS yet, i only got the box on friday afternoon and it's only sunday morning - a BIOS update is also something i've never done, don't like the thought of it but if it turns out to be necessary then i will consider it.

I've fixed the RAID problem I had, well, at least I think i have - I destroyed and re-made the array and it's giving me no errors/seems to be working fine without hte loss of any data so hopefully all's well there.

Now i'm just back to fiddling with the RAM and stuff, i can also see if it's heat related now as i've got both sides off and a desktop fan blowing in - nothing in there feels "hot" anymore, only the RAM is "warmer than room temperature" to the touch - the extra air is cooling even the hard discs right down.