Lockups on XP

For the past year, I have been having lockups on my computer, which freeze the screen and cause my headphones to emit a sound that sounds like a mix between a feedback loop and eletrically charged static, the sound never being quite the same. The only way to stop it is to do a hard restart using the front button on the computer. It only happens when playing online games, but other then that, has no continuity. Sometimes it's within a couple minutes, sometimes in a few hours, sometimes not at all. I have gone weeks without it happening, and then it suddenly happens 3 minutes after starting a game I've played all through those weeks. I am seriously confused and don't know what to do about this. I have a Windows XP 32-bit Pro OS 2 GB 1333mhx DDR3 OCZ platinum ram Asus Maximus Extreme (Republic of Gamers) motherboard Intel Duo Core 3.0 Ghz processor 512 mb nVidea GeForce 8800 GT OC 700w Ultra Power Supply 250Gb Sata Hard Drive Any other information you need I will be glad to provide. This is really giving me a headache.

Hi cthol

Sounds mostly as a driver problem somewhere. When did you last update drivers for
graphic, sound and maybe chipset? I can't rule out faulty RAM as well, but by far drivers
are the culprit in these situations.

To discover the type of Errors the machine has encountered recently, use Event Viewer.

1. Go to Start - Run, type eventvwr.msc, then Press Enter.
2. When the Event Viewer opens, there will be two panes.
The left pane is for event categories (Application, Security, and System).
The right pane is for event messages (Information, Warning, and Error). (We want to find errors.)
3. Left-click the Application category in the left pane and check for any error messages in the right pane.
You want to find the one(s) that occurred at the same time your system encountered the problem you have posted about.
4. Repeat the previous step for each category, or until you find an appropriate error to investigate.
5. Double-click the error message to bring up the information.
6. Click the third button on the right side of the information window (copies information)
7. Paste the information here


Regards

Okay, I checked the event viewer and didn't find anything to match the times. Everything was either an IE hangup or Fallout 3 error which happens rarely when quitting. I did some digging on Drivers and everything seems to be up to date except the Bios. So I flashed it with the latest and it went well. So we'll see if that was the problem. The old Bios was from 1/16/2008 which is right before I built the system. Not sure if the Bios could be the problem, but it didn't hurt to try. Still lost, but hopefully fixed now.

Okay, it just happened again, and Event Viewer doesn't show any errors.

A few things happened, but I'm not sure if they are related, so here they are.

Event 1
Event Type: Information
Event Source: Tcpip
Event Category: None
Event ID: 4202
Date: 3/9/2009
Time: 1:32:04 PM
User: N/A
Computer: HOME-B7BD6578E4
Description:
The system detected that network adapter \DEVICE\TCPIP_{DAB86BB7-6CDC-438D-9531-3876A1A7CF1C} was disconnected from the network, and the adapter's network configuration has been released. If the network adapter was not disconnected, this may indicate that it has malfunctioned. Please contact your vendor for updated drivers.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 00 00 00 00 02 00 50 00 ……P.
0008: 00 00 00 00 6a 10 00 40 ….j..@
0010: 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ……..
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ……..
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ……..

Event 2
Event Type: Information
Event Source: yukonwxp
Event Category: None
Event ID: 121
Date: 3/9/2009
Time: 1:31:56 PM
User: N/A
Computer: HOME-B7BD6578E4
Description:
Port A is up with 100 Mbps
Data:
0000: 00 00 08 00 02 00 62 00 ……b.
0008: 00 00 00 00 79 00 07 60 ….y..`
0010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ……..
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ……..
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ……..
0028: 00 1e 8c 02 99 9d 00 00 ..Œ.™..


It seems like there is no precursory failure before the lockup, so nothing gets recorded. I've tried programs to monitor and they show up nothing either.

Okay, It just happened again, and I checked Event Viewer, this is showing itself again at what seems to be at the exact time the system locks up. It tells me to contact vendor for updated drivers, but I don't know what vendor it is and what drivers I need. How would I go about figuring this out?


Event Type: Information
Event Source: Tcpip
Event Category: None
Event ID: 4202
Date: 3/9/2009
Time: 7:33:08 PM
User: N/A
Computer: HOME-B7BD6578E4
Description:
The system detected that network adapter \DEVICE\TCPIP_{DAB86BB7-6CDC-438D-9531-3876A1A7CF1C} was disconnected from the network, and the adapter's network configuration has been released. If the network adapter was not disconnected, this may indicate that it has malfunctioned. Please contact your vendor for updated drivers.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 00 00 00 00 02 00 50 00 ……P.
0008: 00 00 00 00 6a 10 00 40 ….j..@
0010: 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ……..
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ……..
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ……..

Hi Cthol

Sorry for getting back to you this late.

It tells me to contact vendor for updated drivers, but I don't know what vendor it is and what drivers I need. How would I go about figuring this out?

Check the network card in device manager.

Start or "My Computer"
Control-panel, then system
Hardware tab, then device manager

Scroll down to your netcard. Right-click and choose update driver. If you get the message that
no newer driver is available, right-click it again and choose remove. Reboot and let windows
re-install it again. If still no joy, take note of the primary manufacturer, and check their site for
a downloadable driver.

Regards

Okay, I did as you said. I have a Marvell Yukon 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller and got the lastest drivers and everything, then I decided to try something. I uninstalled the drivers and pretty much shut it off and started a game. 2 hours later it froze again and the TCPIP message wasn't in the event viewer, so I'm starting to doubt this is it. With it only happening in a 3d game, (no popcap/shockwave/solitaire) games, I'm wondering if it's either A.) Power to video card, or B.) Problem in Video Card. It also doesn't do it when the game is paused or in startup menus. So I would say it has to do specifically with the 3D engine or something therein. I have monitored heat on the card and it usually gets to about 75 C, and nVidia has stated they have gone up to 145 C with no issues, but the highest they want to see is about 120 C. I havn't done any overclocking on this system yet primarily due to this problem and the lack of need to overclock. Now, I have power set to auto, but am not sure how much power is reaching it at all times. I've looked for a program to monitor it or something, and havn't found anything that does what I want, so, I am once again, stumped. If it was getting low on power, I would think it would just shut off, or at least give me some sort of warning. All I get is a scratching electric feedback loop from headphones, screen freeze (actual freeze, no movements, no anomolies, just the last scene it was showing.), lcd screen on my Logitech G15 keyboard shuts off and key lights go out, mouse stops working (or at least appears to, I havn't turned it to look at the light yet.) Keyboard and mouse are both USB, Sound Card is installed on the short short port which is about 2 inches in width, Video Card is PCIe I'm trying to put all the information I know down…. but not sure what else is relevant

Something I noticed that may be a problem, but I'm not sure how they react…. Power supply - OCZ GameXstream 700 W SLI and Crossfire capable. Motherboard - Maximus Extreme Crossfire Capable Graphics - nVidia Geforce 8800 GT OC SLI Capable Seems the motherboard is Crossfire and the Graphics card is SLI. Would that cause my problem?

Hi again

I have monitored heat on the card and it usually gets to about 75 C, and nVidia has stated they have gone up to 145 C with no issues, but the highest they want to see is about 120 C.
I havn't done any overclocking on this system yet primarily due to this problem and the lack of need to overclock.

Just to clarify. Do you mean celcius by those temperatures? Because 75 celcius is way to high..! By 145 and 120 I do think they mean Fahrenheit and not Celcius. 145 F is roughly 61-62 celcius and 120 around 48-49. So if you do mean 75 celcius, you have to look at your heat. So please report if you mean 75 celcius or 75 Fahrenheit (which is roughly 22-24 celcius)

Now, I have power set to auto, but am not sure how much power is reaching it at all times. I've looked for a program to monitor it or something, and havn't found anything that does what I want, so, I am once again, stumped.

If you want to monitor the voltage, you can download this little portable program.

CPUID-HwMonitor

With this you monitor voltage fluctuations over a given time-period. It will also show the heat on various hardware components.
From a cool boot, monitor your heat and voltages. The program can produce a log for you if you want. Make one such log every ½
hour or so of normal computer use, including gaming. Attach the logs in a zipped folder, and I can have a look at them.
Use this guide on how to upload images or zipped files as attachments: http://forums.whatthetech.com/How_upload_I…ead_t96285.html

All I get is a scratching electric feedback loop from headphones, screen freeze (actual freeze, no movements, no anomolies, just the last scene it was showing.), lcd screen on my Logitech G15 keyboard shuts off and key lights go out, mouse stops working (or at least appears to, I havn't turned it to look at the light yet.)

Sounds like a driver problem. I use a Nvidia GF8600GT 1024Mb card myself, and found the 182.xx serie to be unstable on my system, so I installed the 178.24 driver instead. Which have improved my overall video function, including Fallout3. You could try install that driver and see how it goes.

But first, you need to swipe your system clean for any remaining driver leftovers before doing so. Download Driver-sweeper from this page and read carefully how to use this tool.

Driversweeper
From the same page we will download the driver needed, from here:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/Videocards—N…2-bit)_c10.html
Scroll down to the 178.24 driver and download it to desktop.

Something I noticed that may be a problem, but I'm not sure how they react….

Power supply - OCZ GameXstream 700 W SLI and Crossfire capable.
Motherboard - Maximus Extreme Crossfire Capable
Graphics - nVidia Geforce 8800 GT OC SLI Capable

Seems the motherboard is Crossfire and the Graphics card is SLI.

Would that cause my problem?

Short answer is no. Crossfire and SLI are ATI's and Nvidia's names for the capability to install two of the same graphic cards
in the same hardware setup. They are capable, but they are not utilized because you have only one graphic card installed.

Keep us posted with the above

I may be a bit slow to answer these days, but I am sure other tech's will answer as well if need be.
I'll try to hang on with you tho, no worries

Regards

I'm going to start all your suggestions in the morning, it's starting to get late, but I did want to comment on one thing. The temperature of the graphics card is celcius but it's at it's normal temp. It concerned me at first but other people are having the same thing, and nVidia has responded on it too. This is a hot card. Some comments are as follows… [H] Enthusiast "As a brief overview of what we experienced we found an idle GPU temperature of 61c and a full load GPU temperature of 91c. That full load temperature is very hot for a video card, and keep in mind we are testing in an open-case environment. Though it reached 91c the fan did not get loud at all." TechARP "With the fan running at 29%, the GPU temperature is already hitting 62°C" nVidia (Official) "Maximum GPU Temperature (in C), 105 C." nVidia Forums "It's been tested at 145 C and ran fine, but I wouldn't recommend any more then 120 when overclocking." So yeah, It's all in Celcius. But, enough about that. I'll probably be back on tomorrow with what I can find

Alright, I'm having a little trouble with CPUID. I got the Pro trial version and set it to log every 20 seconds. The problem I'm having is that it won't save until you press "Stop Recording" which means if the computer seizes up, I get no log. But, from watching it by alt tabbing out of games and such, nothing really seems out of the ordinary. Some things that do look a little fishy…. CPU power min/max 14.95/47.36 Is it supposed to jump that much? _____________________________________________________________________ Winbond W83627DHG, all the voltages are in line with it's numbered voltages, such as… +12V min/max is 12.38/12.43 +3.3V min/max is 3.26/3.26 +5V min/max is 4.99/5.02 But…. Winbond W83791D is way off. +3.3V min/max is 1.23/1.25 +5V min/max is 5.03/5.08 +12V min/max is 3.16/3.22 -12V min/max is -6.77/-6.69 -5v min/max is -3.29/-3.24 ____________________________________________________________________ I'm adding a snippet or my time playing Fallout 3. It's not long, but I don't want to risk the system freezing up, so it will hopefully show what it needs to. 📎Tempsandvolts.zip I hope this helps.

Hi cthol Hmm, I am not that familiar with the pro version. I just use the normal logs in the free version. However, it does seems that you have been putting some strain on your PSU. If it was my card, I would put it back to factory condition, skip the OC and see how it goes for a period of time. I don't have much knowledge on OC, so I'd rather not advice on that. Did you test the driver setup? Regards

Thats the name of the card, nVidia Geforce 8800 GT OC. I havn't overclocked it at all due to this issue. I havn't overclocked a single thing, everything is factory. I've just put the new drivers in but won't be able to test it till either later tonight, or tomorrow due to some RL stuff, but I will test it thoroughly at the highest settings. Thanks for all the help so far

Well, I installed the new drivers and wiped the old ones, and fired up Fallout 3. 2 hours into the game, I freeze again. This is totally confusing and infuriating me. Local computer stores can't help due to it happening sporadically and they don't have time to just sit and play a video game for hours just to see the problem happen. So, this is pretty much a sit down and figure it out project, but It's got me stumped. I don't know what else to do.

Possible good news. After talking to some very knowledgable people at both OCZ and BFG, I'm RMAing both the Graphics card and the Power Supply. According to BFG, their cards can only handle between 11.7 and 12.3 on their 12v rail, and with mine showing at 12.44-12.47, they believe too much power is being pushed through it. With it happening more often lately, BFG has agreed to replace the graphics card also, with the understanding that Intel regulations allow power supplies to range from 11.4 to 12.6 and there is nothing on their product that says it can't handle the regulations. I'm getting an advanced RMA through them, and hopefully an advanced through OCZ, and if they both come through, and the new power supply has a little less in 12v rail, I'll have an update about mid to end of next week. And if thats not the problem, well, at least we can eliminate two things.