TRAP 00000006 EXCEPTION on boot

Repair install: http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Hi all.

This is just a short update with what i've done and what has happened so far.  I'll need to keep the machine going for a while, before I can finalise the issue.

I wanted to believe that it was the ntldr file that was corrupted, as has been suggested by many other search results that I did for the error, so I went with Callandors suggestion.  I started doing the re-install/recovery.  Well, that didnt work out so well, because it crashed in the middle of that, some way after reinstalling all the files and saving the new config.  

So the next step was memory.  I have two DIMMs, a 512 and a 256.  I also have 3 DIMM slots on my GA-7DXR.  So I removed the 256, and continued with the repair of the reinstall.  No problems.  I got all the way through with installing XP, applying all the patches and even updated the BIOS to F10 (was previously F6).

I then swapped the 512 and 256, and fired up again.  I was expecting instant crashing.   No such luck, no problems.

I then put the 512 back in, but put it into slot 2, effectively reversing the original order.  I fired up eMule and left it running all night (just as a test.. and it was late).

When I got up this morning, I was greeted by a blue screen.  The error was STOP 0x0000008E (0xC0000005, 0x0B803670, 0xF2239890, 0x00000000).  I havent done a search for what this error is yet, but the interesting thing was that the physical memory dump had halted 37% of the way through.  This suggests to me that the second slot on the motherboard may be cactus, not the memory itself, since the dump would have done the 256 mem card first, before the 512.

Anyway, I've inserted the 512 back into slot 1, and have put the 256 into slot 3, and i'm going to let the computer run for several days and see what happens.  I'm also going to have a look for the STOP error to see if that comes up with anything obvious.

>>inserted the 512 back into slot 1, and have put the 256 into slot 3,
This is a good thing.  The problem may be related to DIMM density and "sidedness" issues. Does the 512MB stick have chips on both sides (I would assume so).  It shouldn't hurt to put the 2nd chip on Slot 3.  You may also want to try a memory diagnostic (I don't recall if that was suggested already).  Go to www.memtest86.com and download the program to create a floppy disk to test your RAM with.

What brand are the modules, or are they generic??

-dog*

For some reading on the distinctions between different density RAM, see: http:Q_20815547.html

well... after more errors today with both memory modules in a combination of many slots, I think it is the motherboard.
The errors were many and varied.. something about HIDCLASS.SYS and WDM, and page faults in nonpaged areas, etc.
So I've decided on a scorch earth approach, and i'm getting myself a new mobo and memory.
I've decided to go for a Gigabyte GA-7N400PRO2 mobo and 2 samsung 512 DDR400 mem modules.

I will give the old memory a burl in the mobo when it arrives, just to make sure that it was the motherboard and not the memory.  The old memory was also samsung.

Did you run the memtest86 diagnostic??

Ran the memtest86 diagnostic tonight... no problems reported.
Tried a few combinations of slots, but still no problems.
In fact, I'm still using the same machine, though i'm not sure how long the session will stay up.
Perhaps its heat related.. perhaps the thermo is busted, or the fan on the CPU is not running very well.  I might look around for some utils to see what the temp of the system and CPU, while the system is running, instead of having to look at it from the bios.

Anyway, I ordered the mobo and two mem sticks today, so hopefully this will all be rather moot in a few days.  I think I will invest in come kit from quietpc.com to help cool the CPU and mem modules.

Cheers for your help.
Reuben Helms

www.hmonitor.com will show you the CPU temp and fan speeds and is very easy to setup (I used to recommend MBM, but its a little complicated at times!)

-dog*

Excellent monitor.  Looks like its running a little warm. Mainboard 24.1, CPU1 45.9, CPU2 32.5, HDD3 40.0, Power 4818rpm, +12V +12.19V, +5V +4.93V, Core +1.8V, I/O +3.28.
Other fields dont have values.

The CPU is a bit high, but not overly so.  Strange how it shows 2 CPU temps, probably one is the northbridge (your board by the way is a "hybrid" AMD/VIA chipset, AMD northbridge (which controls memory, PCI devices, etc) and VIA southbridge (IDE, etc).  Let us know how the mobo swap works out for you!

-dog*

Well, its been a while, but here's what happened in the end.
I ended up getting a DFI LanParty nForceII Ultra B (Rev A+) mobo, an AMD XP 2800 CPU and two 512Mb DDR400 mem sticks.
Realised that I had to do a fresh install of XP because of the mobo, so I lost alot of data, but kept the critical stuff (like photos).
Had initial problems with the mobo and my two 40Gb WD drives.  When booting, it would hang at the Detecting IDE Devices stage.  I eventually got around the problem by unplugging the IDE cable, booting to the BIOS (no freeze there.. only when the drives were connected), plugging the IDE cables back into the HDDs, doing the autodetect and continueing.  The machine would be fine until it had to turn off for more than 10 minutes.  There didnt seem to be a problem with the CMOS battery, since the time was being maintained correctly.
After a few to and thro's with DFI support in Tawain (who where very helpful, BTW) and a beta BIOS, the problem was still not solved.
I had a newer 120Gb WD (the 1200JB) available, so last night a decided to give it a go.  I plugged it in as the only master (no pin in the HDD).  Bingo! that did the trick.  I tried plugging one of the 40Gb drives in as the slave.  It didnt like that much.  Oh well.. looks like I've got a couple of 40Gb HDDs spare for external HDD cases.
The most important lesson from all of this is to make use of that DVD burner and make backups.  I'm ordering a spindle of 50 DVD-Rs today and getting a nice little case to hold them all in.
Now I've just got to call Microsoft when I get home to activate my XP installation (had to reinstall last night, and it seems I've gone over some sort of activation limit for the product key).

Oh, and I ended up getting a funky CPU cooler from quietpc.com.  I got one of the flowers.. not the round one.

A big thank you to dog* and Callandor for helping me with this.

Reuben