HI
I have a new computer which is a pentium 4. 2667mhz processor, 1gb ram, matsonic ms1927c mobo, based on via apollo p4x400. I am also using a Nvidia geforce 4mx AGP 8X graphics card. I have been experiencing extreme system freezes. I am using windows xp pro. My Pc will freeze randomly and I have to do a clean restart, CTRL-ALT-DEL has no effect. I have disabled the Nvidia driver helper service which can sometimes make starting and shuttung the computer down freeze. I have also installed Nvidias latest drivers. My pc was sent back to be repaired. I am informed that there is no problem with hardware. memory, cpu, power supply and fan have all been tested and are fine. I believe the problem is with my Nvidia graphic's card. As i bought my pc with no operating system, and its a driver or system error Its up to me to sort it out. I wondered if anyone can help. I have all the critical windows updates. After windows update has downloaded updates my pc always freezes on the installation process. It will also freeze randomly when I am online. My computer freezes once in a while when I am not on the net as well. I have changed my NIC card to see if that was the problem it was not. I have also done 2 clean installs of Windows XP, That did not help either. Can anyone help. Does anything need to be enabled regarding AGP settings in the bios? Any comments about this would be helpful.
regards
debbie
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The best way to find out if this is video is to take that one out and install a plain old vga card. If it normally freezes within an hour of doing normal stuff and the system will run for more than a couple of hours with a plain VGA card then it is the video.
You may also want to try a standard VGA driver with your current video card.
Another option would be to back the video down to 4x and see if that helps the situation.
Hi
The problem is not the memory as I did memtest and had 52 passes! At that time I had 1 module of 512mb ram. I bought another 512mb ram and the computer still froze. I now have 1gb of ram installed. I dont have a Tv card. Memory timing is set to 2.5 the max being 3. I have not adjusted it yet. My AGp settings in the bios are :
AGP Aperture size (128mb)
AGP driving control (auto)
X AGP Driving value - DA
AGP fast write - disabled
AGP master 1 ws write- disabled
AGP master 1 ws read - disabled
DBI output for AGP trans - Disabled.
My system is not overlocked. All windows service packs are installed. How do I flash the bios. The bios is Phoenix technologies 6.00 PG, 18/07/2003. My motherboard is a via technologies P4X400-8235. AMBios version 2.2.
Regards
Debbie
Hey there,
Is this your motherboard?
http://www.matsonic.com/ms
I cant find any MS1827C..
Bios is available from here:
http://www.matsonic.com/do
Also, have you installed the VIA 4in1 (Hyperion) http://www.viaarena.com/?P
With all the problems you're having, I suspect you just have a faulty motherboard. If you can, look at the capacitors (the large cylindrical components sticking up from the motherboard) and see if any of them look swelled up on top or the sides(they should be flat or slightly concave on top, and perfectly round with the same diameter all the way from top to bottom). It could also be a grounding issue; is the motherboard installed with brass pegs or plastic? Did you use paper spacers between the standoffs and the screws that hold the board in? Do any of the electrical traces (the gold lines) on the board look burned or do they come in contact with the case anywhere? I know this would be a little difficult, but try running the system outside of the case. Put it on a plastic or wood table and see how it does. Also try changing the AGP mode from Auto to 4X and see if that helps. But I really think its just a bad motherboard, there are too many problems all running together here. Does the Event Viewer (Start/Run... eventvwr.msc <enter>) show any errors in the system or Application log? Have you checked that its not overheating (Hmonitor from www.hmonitor.com should be able to show your CPU/northbridge temperatures). The CPU shouldn't be hotter than 50* C or so.
-dog*
To do the BIOS flash, format a floppy with the "Make DOS Boot disk" option, then save the 031015.bin file from:
http://206.135.80.155/down
to the diskette along with the Award flash utility from:
http://206.135.80.155/down
You may want to clear off the "extra" files XP puts on your "DOS" bootdisk, all you need is io.sys, msdos.sys and command.com. Otherwise you may not have sufficient space on the disk for the Award flash utility and the .bin file.
So after you start the system from the floppy, you'll type: awdflsh 031015.bin
After the flash completes, reboot, go into BIOS and choose "Load SETUP defaults" then make any adjustments you need.
Actually, loading Setup/BIOS defaults may help even before you flash the BIOS.
-dog*
Hi all
I have installed the latest via 4in1 drivers. It made the system worse! The pc would not start after I installed them and I had to boot up in safe mode and do a system restore. I tried to download the bios updates from matsonic but the computer kept crashing and I gave up. I tend to think it's a dodgy board as there are so many problems the whole system is unstable. I cant even use my printer as my Pc always freezes when I print anything. I will let you know how I get on with all of your suggestions.
Regards
Deb
OK going back about 6 months (or more) I had similar problems with random freezing/lock ups and the problem was the CDRW ( originally thought it was a vid driver) or to be more precise enabling digital playback. Disabling digital playback cured the random lock ups (for me).......take a look here:
http://www.experts-exchang
To eliminate the driver, download an independant driver support utility like Powerstrip, install and run it for awhile and see if it still freezes. If it does you can eliminate the NVidia driver as the cause. Also, you can see if the card has problems by changing the clock speeds a little with Powerstrip or other such utils; underclock it according to specs and adjust in small increments until you reach card specs; if the video card memory has problems you will know right away. This is not a recommended solution, but a troubleshooting tool you can use if you suspect the card is faulty. A faulty video card can cause many (virtual)problems with the operation of your box....
slangtech
OK here is your problem:
>>CPU 2 - 64.0'c
Not sure why its showing it as CPU2, but 64* is WAY too hot for a P4 2.66GHz chip (or pretty much any other properly cooled CPU, Intel or AMD!). Try running the system with the side of the case open and a floor or desk fan blowing into it. Also check your heatsink, make sure that its not totally packed full of dust and lint, which insulates it and prevents the heat from escaping. If using the external fan clears up the problem, then you may be able to get away with just adding another case fan to exhaust air. ALso check (with a piece of thin paper is easiest) to make sure the fan in your Power supply is blowing air out instead of sucking air into the case. Is there a fan in the lower-front section of the case, and if so is it clear of dust/dirt? Are the intake vents clean and unobstructed? Does the system sit on carpet or on a desk? If its on carpet the dust/carpet fuzz build-up can get really bad and it gets hard for the system to suck cool outside air in if the intake for the front fan is blocked by carpet.
-dog*
I have done a clean install of windows XP again! Below is the procedure i followed.
I installed the via 4in1 Drivers, Installed Nvidia graphic card drivers from CD rom supplied. Installed norton anti virus and enabled firewall. I then got the critical updates from windows update. Normally every time I did this the Pc would freeze on installation after files had been downloaded. This time everything was O.K. I realised I had no sound Driver so I opened Device manager as I have always done before, clicked on audio multimedia codec that was not installed yet. As I dont have a disc windows will download driver automatically. On installation of this driver that windows chose with no prompt from me, my Pc crashed. It continued to crash on restart. I disabled this driver in safe mode and windows was O.K. I found the correct driver for my mainboard which is an AC'97 audio driver and installed it. System was O.K.
On every installation I have done before in the 10 weeks I have had this computer I remember installing sound drivers before installing critical updates. On these occassions windows has installed the driver and my computer did'nt crash. So I asssumed the driver was O.K as I had sound and no adverse effects doing this. It was when I then went to install critical updates the P.C froze and then all my problems started. Does anyone have any idea if the original sound drivers installed by windows could have caused my problems. The only glitch I have encountered was on testing my printer. The P.C always froze in the middle of printing anything before. My printer froze the system. I uninstalled the printer and disabled norton anti virus and installed printer again. I tested it by printing an email that was 4 pages long this morning. Everything was fine.
As from this morning my P.c has been working fine. I have specifically ran programs and installations that were causing my PC to freeze before, this time everythings O.K. I have also disabled digital sound playback on both of my dvdrw and cdrw drives as suggsted. Obviously I will give it a few days and see if the computer remains stable.
If someone could advise on the sound driver issue i would be grateful.
Debbie
I must agree with dogztar, I had a Athlon 2000XP+ with a Geforce 4 mx4400 128MB. For no reason when playing games or graphical work it would just shut down. My CPU was running at 58'c and the graphics card was burning hot. It was just a standard case I had with a fan in the PSU and a fan on the back of the case with air blowing in, I was told this was wrong and changed the fan on the back to extract the air and added a couple of fans to the front of the case to bring air in, I never had another crash after that and the CPU ran at a constant 40'c while not doing much going up to 45'c while playing 3D games, case temp stayed at 31'c constantly. My case was on the floor as I did not have anywhere else to put it but I put a bit of wood underneath to lift it up and that dropped the temp a couple of degrees by itself!!
I think the hmonitier was wrong in displaying 64'c for my cpu. Hmoniter also stated my hard drive temp, but my hard drive would not be detected as it does not have that facility. I have used a diferent cpu temperature monitor and it is running at 35'c or less. I have 3 fans, one for the cpu, 1 for nvidia card and one on the P.C case. The card has never felt hot. My case is on a wooden floor. Because of my earlier comment, I believe my problem was wrong audio drivers installed by windows (not me!). Anyone had any problems regarding wrong audio drivers installed and symptons the same as my original comment.
My P.C is running beautifully at the moment. It is like a different machine! It has never been stable for longer than 30 minutes before!
regards
Debbie
Hey there ;)
Glad the 4in1 worked for you. With any VIA chipset motherboard, those drivers are essential to get the best performance out of them. Wrong drivers can cause crash and system hang. They can do alot of other things, such as stop windows from even starting or constant rebooting. Try using Motherboard Monitor (MBM) http://mbm.livewiredev.com
You may have to readjust/recalibrate the sensors first though :)
Well glad its working better now! Your board has a CMI9739 audio chip on it, the drivers are here (top link):
http://www.cmedia.com.tw/d
-dog*
Hi all
Slight problem!
My Lexmark Z33 printeris freezing XP when I print. This happens only occassionally. When I was having all of the system freezes posted in the first comment, My printer froze Xp everytime I used the printer and everything else I did would freeze system. I rectified all of the problems I was having by installing correct sound driver. My printer is working 90% of the time but now and again printing will hang and I have to do a clean restart. I have the right driver for XP loaded from lexmark website. As I said before this happens not very often. Also, I have tried to install USB 2.0 drivers from my mainboard CD rom. The install shield wont run. I then downloaded the drivers from matsonic (mobo via ms9127c) and the install shield would still not run. It says please wait while the install shield is being prepared gets to 100% and nothing happens either from cd rom or download. Windows has automatically installed USB drivers dated 2001 via 5 or later. Are these drivers Ok and why cant I install from CD? My printer settings in the advanced tab are spool print documents so printing finishes faster is selected, start printing immediately is selected and enable advanced features is selected. I installed the windows update patch for usb 2.0 issues in service pack 1 this morning. Have tried printer in different Usb ports with no effect and have installed and uninstalled printer twice.
Help
Deb
There is an option in the properties for "VIA Rev 5 or later USB..." (under Advanced) for "Don't tell me about USB errors", try switching that and see if it helps. Or try installing the VIA USB Filter patch:
http://downloads.viaarena.
dogztar
Dogztar
Im an idiot. I did not have USB 2.0 advanced host controller driver installed. Got that from via and have also installed patch you suggested. Device driver listsed 3 VIA 5 or later universal host controllers and 4 USB root hub drivers and 1 USB printing support. I assumed I had all the drivers as there is a lot listed! I now have VIA USB 2.0 enhanced host controller listed as well. This should sort it!
Thanks
Deb
Hi
A week after my last post on this issue, My pc is freezing again! I have installed a new nvidia fx5200 128mb graphics card. Still have the same problems. Ram, hard drive, graphics card have all been changed. no difference. Please see the first post on this thread as my problems are discribed there. Can anyone help me please!!!!!!
Debbie.
Also my hard drive is noisy when it is installing anything. Its a Maxtor 80gb and it is brand new. My computer freezes installing windows updates but not when I download them. before I installed the new harddrive I put a western digital drive in from my old pc. That drive was noisy in the pc but is not noisy in my old pc.
>>Should it beep at start-up?
it won't beep if you have a problem with: power supply, motherboard, CPU
that is why i would like you to trade out the power supply.
you say they tested the stuff. Well, I can't see how they did not come up with any problems in any of the devices. The power supply could likely not show up any errors. I could also see that with the motherboard.
Please retry installing the VIA Hyperion drivers enfz linked to early in the question. Also (if you haven't done it already), disable Automatically Restart when there is a critical error/system failure. This will let us see exactly what is causing the crash. Right-click My Computer, choose Properties. Go to the Advanced tab, in the Startup and Recovery section, click Settings button, then in the "System failure" section, uncheck "Automatically restart". Also before loading the Hyperion drivers, do Start/Run -> msconfig.exe. Go to the BOOT.INI tab, and check the box "/SOS", then OK. Choose to Restart Later, then install the VIA drivers. When it boots it will list all the files that are being loaded. We can use this to determine exactly where in the boot process the system is failing (which driver file is causing the hang). The VIA Hyperion drivers should also help with the USB problems...
Dogztar,
The pc is being returned today. Hopefully it will come back and be working properly. Regarding no beeps on start up, I have been informed that the matsonic board does not have a speaker jack so it would not make a noise anyway, Very un-useful for diagnosing problems! Will keep you informed when pc is returned to me. Thanks for all of your suggestions.
Regards
Debbie.
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by: enfzPosted on 2004-01-29 at 03:34:21ID: 10226112
Hey there,
Firstly, when the system freezes..were you doing anything intensive on the PC? Does it freeze when you boot it up and leave it as it is and not touching it?
There are alot of things which contributes to freezing, ill list the most common ones.
1. Memory - bad memory can cause the system to freeze. To diagnose this, goto www.memtest86.com and download Memtest86 to test your memory.
2. Memory timing - Goto the bios, look at the memory timings, eg CAS rating etc. Set it to a higher value. Higher = Slower. Setting fast (aggresive) settings on memory which doesn't support it can result in unstablity.
3. AGP Settings - turn off AGP Fast-Write and set it down to AGP 4x or 2x to test it out.
4. Is your system overclocked? If so set it all back to system defaults.
5. Is windows Service Pack installed? If not, I`d suggest for you to do so.
6. Try flashing your motherboard's BIOS, it may be an incompatibility issue with certain hardware that is causing the freezeup.
7. Do you have a TV Tuner/Capture card? Try removing it from the PCI slot if you do. See if that solves the problem.
Hope this helps :)
Try those above, let us know how it goes and we can go from there..