| h/w or s/w problem how to identify????
Posted: 6/15/2005 7:01:40 AM | i got a intel p3 comp with 256mb ram... running on windowsxp. earlier i had linux(hardly used it) with win98se.
while upgrading to xp, the space i left for linux was left intact, so that later i can reconfigure it as primnary boot os.
now the problem... my system hangs up, switchin off the monitor, while the cpu fan still runs on. On restarting, the system never boots...but the cpu fans still runs. However, if i cut off the external power supply (at ATX) and then reconnect... the system boots again. all this in windows98se.
hoping to get rid of the problem, i upgraded to windowsxp, now i notice that the system restarts on its own. and when i give shutdown...the cpu fan still runs (i stop that by cutting the external power supply).
System even hangs when i enter BIOS at the startup (esp. while changing the time and date in cmos). i have phoenix award bios cmos setup(v6.00p6).
i have already disassembled and reassembled my entire computer hardware...couldn't identify any problems with the hardware (expect for finding a dead baby lizard in ATX power supply!)
how do i identify what the problem is?? and how do i rectify it? also is there a clearly defined way to pinpoint hardware problems? | |
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| h/w or s/w problem how to identify????
Posted: 6/15/2005 10:56:01 AM | I'm going to guess that your power supply is flaking out. That wouldn't explain everything you describe, but it's a common problem for older computers. Most PSUs are cheap and crappy.
The fact that you have problems in BIOS suggests that it's not a software problem (at least not OS).
Try resetting the CMOS. There should be a jumper on the motherboard that you can move over to connect two pins. Then you reboot, and it will clear CMOS. Then you shutdown, put the jumper back (probably where it's only covering one pin) and then boot up. If your CMOS is corrupted it can cause unpredictable behavior.
Another possibility is that your video card or RAM is bad or going bad. I wouldn't think the video card would cause what you describe, but bad RAM could perhaps. Download and burn to CD the bootable memtest86 program and let it run on your machine for several hours. That will help rule out the RAM (and it's free). | |
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| h/w or s/w problem how to identify????
Posted: 6/15/2005 2:26:46 PM | | I would suspect the power supply. Random rebootings a symptom. The dead baby lizard may also be an indication. I don't know why computer manufacture skimp on getting cheap power suppies that go out. | |
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| h/w or s/w problem how to identify????
Posted: 6/18/2005 8:22:49 AM | thanks guys... i had cleared my cmos before, but it didn't solve the problem...
well i tried my power supply on a diff comp and it worked pretty welll...
i concluded that the problem is with my bios chip, which happens to be soldered to the board, meaning i have to change the board in case of any problem( no new boards are available for pentium3 processor, and hence change the entire processor unit).
i tried downloading bios bin file to update my bios( in case its corrupt) with awdflash...still didn't find the file on web...
waiting for a better result from my, before i login again
could u plz tell me is possible for a virus to corrupt the bios rom??? | |
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| h/w or s/w problem how to identify????
Posted: 6/18/2005 10:22:24 AM | if u tryed your PS in another comp doesn't necessarily mean u should rule it out, i'd try another PS in your comp and see how that works before anything else.
it has been knowen for viruses to attack the bios but their rare.
i'm thinking its the power supply. they can do some weird things to comps. | |
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| h/w or s/w problem how to identify????
Posted: 6/20/2005 8:10:09 AM | | if you had a dead baby lizard in your PS (id like to hear how that happened BTW) then it was most likely electrocuted, and it might have shorted out a few resistors or whatever in the PS. Also, if you upgraded to WinXP instead of doing a fresh full install, you could be having problems that way. If you can fully eliminate the PS as a cause, try a different hard drive and do a fresh full install of ONE OS on that drive and see if you have any problems. I only suggest a second hard drive in case you don't want to reformat your old one and get rid of the different partitions on that drive.. | |
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| h/w or s/w problem how to identify????
Posted: 6/28/2005 10:01:02 AM | Telling whether something is a hardware or a software problem can often be tricky, but in your case I would definitely say hardware. It may have software problems as well, since they often occur when you have hardware problems, but I think the origin of the problems is hardware.
Anyhow, I think the real clue is that you say the system hangs when you enter the BIOS. This tells me that it's a hardware problem in your motherboard, or one of the pieces of hardware connected to it, because the only software that's been loaded at that point is your BIOS, and that's pretty stable stuff (and in general you won't get anything when it gets mucked up somehow). Re-flashing your BIOS might help... but frankly it's a bit of a long-shot. Course it can't really hurt to try.
One of the first steps to diagnosing the problem is to figure out how to reliably recreate the crash (or at least what causes it to crash the most often). After you do that, take out everything you can from the motherboard (cards, peripherals, hard drives) and see if it still crashes. If it doesn't crash, start adding components back in until it does. If it did crash, then you have to start swapping components out for known good components... video cards, RAM, CPU, and the like. Basically you have to isolate the problem, but remember that it could be a combination of components that's the problem, also. Sometimes when a component goes bad it stops playing nice with other components and causes them to fail in odd ways.
If you can't get the problem down to something that plugs into the motherboard, then it's likely a chip on the motherboard itself that went bad, and so you'd need to replace the motherboard.
Btw, what probably happened was the lizard crawled into your power supply and caused a short (which killed it), and the short hit the motherboard with a power spike which caused some component (most likely on the motherboard itself) to become unstable.
So what's the most likely thing? You probably need a new motherboard.
- bio | |
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| h/w or s/w problem how to identify????
Posted: 6/29/2005 11:20:05 AM | is possible for a virus to corrupt the bios rom???
Absolutely, and it can also damage the Mobo, but usually just causes it to misfunction to some degree.
Most often, re-setting the BIOS/CMOS and/or re-flashing it does the trick.
Also make sure your machine is not 'Over-clocked' as that is also common reason for re-boots. You could also try to disable all 'On-board' hardware such Video, Audio, Lan, etc. as well as any other Controllers you won't need such as Infra-red, SCSI, IEEE 1394, etc. and see if it has any bearing on that.
That, along with clearing the "Master Boot Record" of any corruption or possible resident virus' (C:\>fdisk MBR), usually wiping and re-partitioning, and then doing a fresh re-install of the Operating System quite often works too.
If your CPU Fan still runs after the Machine has been turned off, then the wiring might need some attention/changes.
Beyond that, its likely the MOBO that needs to be replaced.
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| h/w or s/w problem how to identify????
Posted: 7/27/2005 1:59:00 PM | | I'd say dump the CMOS and do a power drain.. unplug unit, hold power button in for a minute and plug in unit at same time, it will drain the capacitors on your systemboard in case you have a funky power glitch or something... to rule out hardware vs software, see if the problem happens in windows safe mode | |
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| h/w or s/w problem how to identify????
Posted: 7/27/2005 8:41:29 PM | | It really sounds like there is something messed up in the power supply or on the motherboard. I had a computer behaving similar and it turned out the 3.5 Inch drive had died and power supply was tripping out because it was over heating. If my memory serves me it would run awhile, then shut down at random. Difference me was the melting plastic smell from the connector on the Mobo. So it's possible that something is drawing too much power, or almost too much power and it's causing the system to partially shut down.. which is why the fan is still on and why it recovers when you totally unplug it and plug it back in. Try reducing your peripherals and see if it makes a difference. | |
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| h/w or s/w problem how to identify????
Posted: 7/29/2005 11:51:48 PM | could be hw or sw.
what happens when you 'halt' from linux w/ apm support compiled in?
also sounds like its not worth your time to debug it, get a new machine or deal with it.
if you want to debug your hardware configuration, well it's tedious at best. same thing to debug the software configuration. pull all sorts of boards out of the computer and clean reformat the hard drive.
good luck. | |
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