New Computer New Issues

Hello Doug and the tech team, So ultimately I wound up getting myself a new system and new OS. I am currently using an AMD3500TB 1XAMD Athlon™ 64 processor 3500+ 2.21GHz OS XPPRO SP2 1 core, 1 thread per core (Internal data cache) 64kb Syncronous write back 2-way set 64 byte line size L2 Onboard Cache 512kb ECC Synchronous, Write back, 16-way set, 64 byte line size Mainboard: EPoX Computer Co., LTD nForce4 DDR:9NPA3JSLI Series MPS Ver. 1.4 Chipset NVIDEA nForce & Ultra MCP Buses: ISA PCI PCIe IMB USB i2c/SMBus Multi processor support, check, 2 processors Multi-processor advanced pic yes System BIOS Phoenix technologies, LTD 8.00PG, SYSTEM BIOS 08/17/2006-NF-CK804-6A61FPAIC-OO 2gb DDR-SDRAM Chipset 1 AMD Athlon 64 Opteron Hyper Transport Technology configuration revision A1 ver 1.02 No smp-mp capability I/O Queue depth 8 requests Max bus bandwidth 8040mb/s (est) Front side bus speed 2x 1005 MHz Memory Bus Speed 2x 200MHz Hub interface hyper transport ver 1.02 in-out width 16/16-bit Supported memory Types ECC DDR-SDRAM Regisered Bank 0 1gb DDR-SDRAM 3.0-3-3-8 (tCL-tRCD-tRP=tRAS) CR2 Bank 1 1gb DDR-SDRAM 3.0-3-3-8 (tCL-tRCD-tRP=tRAS) CR2 1 channel 2-way bank interleave 1/1x mulitiplier 128-bit width, mem controller in processor yes, 7.80us refresh rate, no power save mode, no fixed hole present Mem Modules samsung M3 68L2923CUN-CCC S/N: 063286CF APIC 1 Ver 1.01 Max interupts 24 Monitor default Adapter NVIDEA Quadro PCI-E series Physical Storage: Maxtor 5A300J0 (ATA) 279gb (C: D:) HL-DT-ST DVDRW GWA-4166B (ATAPI) multimedia NVIDEA nForce Audio Codec Interface Environment monitor 1 model NS LM78 ISA No mainboard specific support Env. monitor 2 AMD K8 CPU [POmC1, SCO, SNO] Ver 47.00 No mainboard specific support Temp sensor Cooling devices No auto fan speed control, sys fan 90000rpm cpu2 fan 45000rpm Voltage sensors 6 PCI buses 20 lanes SYS memory controller location mainboard, error correction capability none, mem slots 4 max mem 16gb Bank 0/1 DIMM1gb/64 Bank 4/5 DIMM 1GB/64 Legacy emulation not enabled on USB controllers Sys SMBus Controllers Advanced TCO Mode not enabled, Slave not enabled, PEC not enabled Performance tips care of Sandra Pro Home suggest that my BIOS info may be inaccurate, a need for more CPUs for better utilization, Large memory sized should be made of registered/buffered memory and of ECC/parity SMBIOS/DMI may be inaccurate, - 2.3 or later is recommended. BIOS can be shadowed so check whether it is. PC is not NEC PC98 compliant. VCORE less than rated minimum. Check VCORE setting! Processor power policy not optimal, for best efficiency, choose adaptive mode Video BIOS is too old. Check for update. Use a plugnplay /DDC compatible monitor and video adapter. S.M.A.R.T. not enabled - consider enabling for safety Accoustic management is enabled - performance may be impaired. SCSI version does not adhere to ANSI. probably ATA/ATAPI device. (My wireless adapter?) Hope that's enough information The problem is as follows. I bought this computer from a guy I know who custom builds his machines. I took home the fresh build and before even checking to see if it was in proper working order, I immediately took off the cover and installed my secondary hd, a Seagate model ST340810A 40gb. (accessing my work and keeping a secondary drive for backup was always my primary concern. There isn't a spare IDE port, so I used the cable with the extra cap, like the configuration in my last computer, and just plugged her in. When i tried to start her up, she wouldn't boot. she wouldn't power down either. I had to hard kill the power. I finally got her booted with a system restore disk. The first thing I did was to take out my disk and take her for a test drive. All seemed normal enough. I installed my disk again after checking A BIOS FAQ on wiki provided me by my friend. I made a few settings adjustments (actually they were already set to auto find, etc) but I set it again just to be sure and saved and exited, and with my new drive installed, it booted just fine. I played around with this and that all day, making sure I could access everything on my Seagate. Then I began to install apps like Sandra Pro Home, Your Uninstaller, WinRar, 7Zip, Tubehunter Ultra, Office 2007 and Abby Fine Reader. I began to get to work. I left the computer for a couple of hours and when I came back, a big bright blie screen with a long error message greeted me telling me it had to shut down; 'A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. Machine check Exception If this is the first time….restart your computer. if this screen appears again, follow…: check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. if this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need, If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory oprions such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press f8 to select advanced startup options, and then select safe mode. Technical info. Stop OX00000009C ()0X00000004, )X805461FO, 0XB2000000, 0X00070F0F) Beginning dump of physical memory Phys. mem dump complete Contact system administrator…. Sending the info on to Microsoft generated a small report for me too. I cannot read it though. Error Signature BCCode:9c BCP1: 00000004 BCP2: 805461F0 BCP3: B200000 BCP4: 00070F0F OS Ver: 5_1_2600 SP2_0 Product 256_1 There was also a sysdata and a .dmp file in the temp folder which I can't open. I rebooted. Everything was fine. I played around a bit. I turned it off and went to bed. This morning I wake up and begin to move my data from my Seagate to the Maxtor, determined to remove the Seagate and use dvds for backup from now on. During transfer, the machine turns off. I boot up again, it turns off again mid transfer. I remove the Seagate and say to hell with it. it's all on Dvd anyway, figuring the drive must be the problem as my engineer friend suggested but I wouldn't believe. Now as I sit her typing this on my laptop, my desktop is running diagnostics and generating information for me with Sandra. I have unistalld the Seagate and it has turned itself off 3 more times and generated the same error message (not sure though because I didn't read it, and boting back up doesn't offer me the chance to send another report to MS. So I just assume it is the same. And I don't know what to do and how to stabilize this system or if I want to, how to go about installing my secondary hd……ah! there it goes, it just turned off again -

Hello Deva,

I am sorry to read you are having so much trouble with a brand new build.

Do you live near where you had your computer built for you?

This answer may or may not be what you would like to hear, but frankly I would return the computer to the "Engineer" who did the build for you and make sure it all works before you take delivery of it again.

I have had two computers built for me over the last years and would not dream of taking delivery of either until my technician walked me through everything.

Were you offered or did you request a warranty with the build? If not then you have huge problems.

Take it back and request that the builder see that all works.

Best of luck to you.

kind regards,

Hi talin, Thanks for that. Indeed, i live within an hour's drive from the chap, and sure, taking it back is an option that i will pursue sooner or later. Just hoping there may be a quick fix.

There may be a quick fix here. You said you added your 2nd drive to an existing IDE cable. Did you verify the jumpers on both drives are properly set?

Each IDE port supports up to two IDE devices, the Master (Primary) and Slave (Secondary) drive. One end of the cable plugs into the system/main/motherboard, the opposite end connects to the Master drive. The middle (actually offset, closer to the Master end - this is how you tell which end is which, if not labeled) connects to the Slave drive.

The jumpers MUST be set correctly, depending on method used to connect the drives, and the drives MUST be attached to the correct cable connector, regardless the method used.

1 Drive: Jumper must be set to Master (MA) or Cable Select (CS) and the drive MUST be attached to the Master connector on the cable.

2 Drives:

Option 1. Cable Select. If using the CS option, both the current and your second drive MUST have the jumpers set to CS. The controller then determines which is Master and which is Slave by the drive's position on the cable.

Option 2. Master/Slave. If using the MA/SL jumper settings, set the jumper on the Master drive - the drive on the end, commonly your C: or boot drive to MA. Then set the Slave drive jumper to SL and position the drive on the middle cable connection.

Key points to remember:

1. With one drive, the drive is always the Master, attached to the Master cable connection, and the jumper must be set to either CS or MA
2. With two drives, you cannot mix methods used - if one drive is set to CS, so must the other. If one is set to MA, the other must be set to SL, and both drives must be positioned correctly on the cable, regardless method used

Hi Deva tallin gave you good advice, and I reckon its best to go back to your system builder and get him to take a look at it. Some thoughts for you…….. 1 To open your new build and start installing an extra hard drive, without checking that the machine actually works (as delivered) was …shall we say, courageous of you! 2 accessing the BIOS and making changes there was 'er shall we say, even more courageous of you! 3 Opening a new build will often terminate any guarantee/warranty provided by the builder. 4 If you accepted the risks and are fully conversant with all personal safety and anti static precautions necessary, followed the correct procedures and kept a log of all settings and changes made together with a back up of your BIOS then there may be a quick fix available: 5 To start a quick fix, Undo each and every one of the changes you made including those you made in the BIOS (keep a written log of everything you do with a photo (cheap digital camera) cross referenced to your log, and after powering down your machine, and taking all necessary personal and antistatic precautions, remove the secondary hard drive that you fitted. 6 Your machine is now back to where it was when you took delivery. 7 If it works OK, then rejoice and post back here and we can provide some information for you on how to fit a secondary hard drive. 8 If it doesn't work then its time to go visit your builder……..maybe you can get him to fit your secondary hard drive for you but make sure if you can that he demonstrates to you that it is all working 100% before you leave. Regards paws if not then I recommend you go back to the builder as tallin suggested and ask him to fix it for you.

Thank you gentlemen, Courageous me did precisely as you have indicated already. Number 1 was the verification of the jumpers and IDE positioning. Everything was perfect there. it did boot up and both drives were recognized and functioning properly. Then the machine shutdown and I got the blue screen and error message. Next, I went back over my steps, there was nothing to log though, anything that I wanted to change in BIOS according to the WIKI faq, was already set to how it said it should be set, I simply selected the same choices that were already present, saved and exited. There is actually nothing left to undo except the removal of the drive, whch I have already done. And the machine boots up fine and I can even get a bit of work done, sometimes for 10 minutes, sometimes for 2 hours, but inevitably it does shut itself down. The builder has recommended I take out the d-link card and see if that's causing the conflict. He has offered to take it back and check it out for me and that is what I am prepared to do unless I hear something else to try out from you guys. BTW, you guys are really great. thanks tons.

I would have the builder take a look at this. You have at least two problems - your hard drive being one, but your system should not shut down on you. This could be heat related, a failing power supply, malware, or some other issue. You need to make sure your system is clean of malware. Ensure the case interior is not full of heat trapping dust. While in there, make sure you did not accidentally knock a cable loose - press on all of them - both ends. Also, make sure you are unplugging your power supply, or at least hitting the master power switch on back of the PSU BEFORE digging around inside. This ensures the +5Vsb all across the motherboard is completely removed.

Digerati, tell me what you think the problem with the hd is considering the jumper settings are correct and the IDE cables are correct as well. And, it's recognized and working properly when the machine is running in good order. There are two fans in the case. it is brand new and not a spec of dust. it is cool. This morning at bootup, it made the strangest noise from one of the fans for a little while, and the power seemed to fluctuate up and down like the reving of an engine. I let it be for a couple of minutes and it settled down on its own. I haven't tried to reboot yet as I was wanting to see if it will shut down as yesterday, even after removing the d-link card as the builder suggested. So far so good. I have been running several apps for 4 straight hours now, and only media player has run accross a bug and had to close. that's the first time for me to see a bug like that with MP. Anyway, I started up Sandra Home to run an analysis of the system and the cpu is being tasked at 100%. Other apps I have left open, just seeing if it will turn off. So far, nothing. It is running like a dream. So do you think it could have been a conflict with a little thing like a wireless card that was causing all these issues?

Deva, I would advise you take it back to the builder of the system. Paws, Digerati, and I have all mentioned that is what we suggest you do. You did not tell us if you have a warranty with the system. All the best,

Understand, you risk voiding the warranty the more you dink with it.

As for fan noise at boot up, there is no way of telling what that means without knowing which fan, specifically, was making the extra noise. I note, however, what you describe sounded to me like you had a disk in an optical drive during boot. Power fluctuating is never a good thing.

Digerati, tell me what you think the problem with the hd is considering the jumper settings are correct and the IDE cables are correct as well. And, it's recognized and working properly when the machine is running in good order.

Could be bad drive, loose connection, bad controller - can't tell without getting my hands on it - again, someone with more experience and the necessary spare parts, tools and test equipment should have a look. If you were never able to access it after the system recognized it, I would say it needed formatting. But since this is an intermittent issue, almost always the hardest to resolve when the obvious (loose connections, for example) is eliminated.

Yes, any added hardware, including network cards, can create problems if faulty or not configured properly.

AVC 113000047 This is what I can see written on a huge fan stuck right in the middle towards the top of the mother board. I had the machine built for me by an acquaintance. No warranty. There was no disk in the drive at boot up. it has been on all day without shutting itself down suddenly. Several times apps such as firefox and media player have become buggy and closed down suddenly though. but when running the cpu at 100% with Sandra, no issues. The hd was always accessible if the machine booted properly. it only took one insert of an Acronis restore image, and not alot of fussing with that itself, to bring it back. The only remaining problem was the tendency of the machine to shut itself down with the blue screen error message, and then the startup noise this morning and now the app bugs. Still want to fiddle with it if fiddling is something I'm able to do. The builder says he will look at it if I want to shlep it back to him, but things seem to be getting better, so if i can fiddle and learn as I go, that would be great too.

so if i can fiddle and learn as I go, that would be great too.

I understand and agree. However, I have no further suggestions than what has already been given. I suggest you read over those again to make sure you covered them all.

The machine went back to the builder today. I expect it will come back ship shape soon. Thank you gentlemen.

Deva, The best move to make and please get a warranty when you have another built………..imperative in my opinion. I go for three years, always extend the 1 year going with any machine to three, especially on Laptops. Preventive medicine is the best cure in my opinion. I hope the builder stands by you. Make sure all is running correctly before you leave his workshop. Good luck. kind regards,

Will do. Thanks again.