random reboot

Vincent Godefroy · Oct 5, 2003

hi,

when i read all the messages here, i have the impression that my abit KT7 RAID has all troubles spoken !

It is only at cold boot that my pc goes well. the only moment when all seems to go right is at cold boot. but when i install my OS, eg massives files transfert occurs, my pc reboot.

After that, this is random hell.

cases occured on reboot :
- 1 long beep and 2 shorts (video signal) : i have to reset many times
- buzzer crackles and endless reboots occur very quickly, nothing on the screen : nothing to do but power off the system

what i've tested (all together):
- switched video card with another, old one, vga card
- removed network card
- unplugged cdrom drives
- updated my bios
- added a thermal paste between cpu and cooler

the two constant things are my mother board and my power supply. I don't believe that my PS is in failure since there was few things plugged.

is my mother board dead ? is there something to do with bios configuration such IO voltage or stuff like that ?

my configuration is :

ABIT KT7 RAID
AMD Athlon 1Ghz
512 Mo RAM
GeForce GTS 64Mo
Western Digital 160Go (brand new)
SoundBlaster Live
Power Supply 300W

This configuration has been working for three years without any troubles at all !

Thank you for you help

Wayne Youngman · Oct 5, 2003

"Vincent Godefroy" wrote

hi,

It is only at cold boot that my pc goes well. the only moment when all seems to go right is at cold boot. but when i install my OS, eg massives files transfert occurs, my pc reboot.

cases occured on reboot :
- 1 long beep and 2 shorts (video signal) : i have to reset many times
- buzzer crackles and endless reboots occur very quickly, nothing on the screen : nothing to do but power off the system

the two constant things are my mother board and my power supply. I don't believe that my PS is in failure since there was few things plugged.

ABIT KT7 RAID
AMD Athlon 1Ghz
512 Mo RAM
GeForce GTS 64Mo
Western Digital 160Go (brand new)
SoundBlaster Live
Power Supply 300W

Hi,

is your PSU unit branded? (e.g: Antec. Enermex?). Most people say 300w is on the low-side for power, I myself use a 300w Antec PSU and so far no problems. A 300w generic PSU may be your problem. How old is that PSU (3 years?).

I'm no expert (yet! ;P) but I would guess that random reboots would be to do with a flaky PSU or bad memory. . .

Vincent Godefroy · Oct 5, 2003

Wayne Youngman wrote:

"Vincent Godefroy" wrote

hi,

It is only at cold boot that my pc goes well. the only moment when all seems to go right is at cold boot. but when i install my OS, eg massives files transfert occurs, my pc reboot.

cases occured on reboot :
- 1 long beep and 2 shorts (video signal) : i have to reset many times
- buzzer crackles and endless reboots occur very quickly, nothing on the ...

hi, thank you for reply.
the PSU is also about 3 years old. no Antec or known stuff but it is written BEST in blue capitals letters. i don't think it is about memory, award does not complain about that with beeps. but how a psu which has been working for 3 years can cause such troubles ?

Skid · Oct 5, 2003

"Vincent Godefroy" wrote:

but how a psu which has been working for 3 years can cause such troubles ?

Because it may be about to stop working.

There are some other things you can check, see the great KT7 FAQ at http://www.sudhian.com/showfaqs.cfm?fid=2

But the PSU would be on my short list of things to replace if the spontaneous reboots continue.

Wayne may not be an expert, yet ;>) but he has pointed you in the right direction.

dr_hardwrae · Oct 5, 2003

"Vincent Godefroy" wrote:

Wayne Youngman wrote:
"Vincent Godefroy" wrote

hi,

It is only at cold boot that my pc goes well. the only moment when all
seems to go right is at cold boot. but when i install my OS, eg massives
files transfert occurs, my pc reboot.

cases occured on reboot :
- 1 long beep and 2 shorts (video signal) : i have to reset many times ... is on the low-side for power, I myself use a 300w Antec PSU and so far no
problems. A 300w generic PSU may be your problem. How old is that PSU (3 years?).

I'm no expert (yet! ;P) but I would guess that random reboots would be to do with a flaky PSU or bad memory. . .
hi, thank you for reply.
the PSU is also about 3 years old. no Antec or known stuff but it is written BEST in blue capitals letters. i don't think it is about memory, award does not complain about that with beeps. but how a psu which has been working for 3 years can cause such troubles ?

Any piece of equipment can fail after a few minutes or a few years. You either have a PSU problem or, probably more likely, there may be bad capacitors on the motherboard. Closely examine the large electrolytic capacitors near the CPU socket and other places on the MB for bulges, leaks, etc. Sometimes you may see material that has leaked out of the cap, either at the bottom or top of the cap.

If that is the case, they will have to be replaced. There is someone on the NG named Homie who does replace defective electrolytic caps if that is the problem.

Vincent Godefroy · Oct 5, 2003

dr_hardwrae wrote:

"Vincent Godefroy" wrote:

Wayne Youngman wrote:

"Vincent Godefroy" wrote

hi,

It is only at cold boot that my pc goes well. the only moment when all ...

thank you for reply,

i've looked to the capacitors and there is, on one of them, some kind of heated dust. very small quantity. i'm not sure, but i think i've always seen this.

i think i will try the easy way first : try another psu taken from another machine.

in the future, i think i'll be ready to pay a little more to have a good MB. what is a good MB reference ? Asus ?

Vincent Godefroy · Oct 5, 2003

Wayne Youngman wrote:

"Vincent Godefroy" wrote

hi,

It is only at cold boot that my pc goes well. the only moment when all seems to go right is at cold boot. but when i install my OS, eg massives files transfert occurs, my pc reboot.

cases occured on reboot :
- 1 long beep and 2 shorts (video signal) : i have to reset many times
- buzzer crackles and endless reboots occur very quickly, nothing on the ...

thank you for helping guys !

dr_hardwrae · Oct 5, 2003

"Vincent Godefroy" wrote:

dr_hardwrae wrote:
"Vincent Godefroy" wrote:

Wayne Youngman wrote:

"Vincent Godefroy" wrote

hi,

... massives files transfert occurs, my pc reboot.

cases occured on reboot :
- 1 long beep and 2 shorts (video signal) : i have to reset many times
- buzzer crackles and endless reboots occur very quickly, nothing on the screen : nothing to do but power off the system

the two constant things are my mother board and my power supply. I don't believe that my PS is in failure since there was few things plugged.

ABIT KT7 RAID
AMD Athlon 1Ghz
512 Mo RAM
GeForce GTS 64Mo
Western Digital 160Go (brand new)
SoundBlaster Live
Power Supply 300W

...

?

Any piece of equipment can fail after a few minutes or a few years. You
either have a PSU problem or, probably more likely, there may be bad
capacitors on the motherboard. Closely examine the large electrolytic
capacitors near the CPU socket and other places on the MB for bulges, leaks, etc. Sometimes you may see material that has leaked out of the cap, either at the bottom or top of the cap.

If that is the case, they will have to be replaced. There is someone on

the

NG named Homie who does replace defective electrolytic caps if that is the problem.

thank you for reply,

i've looked to the capacitors and there is, on one of them, some kind of heated dust. very small quantity. i'm not sure, but i think i've always seen this.

i think i will try the easy way first : try another psu taken from another machine. ...

Trying another PSU is a good place to start. There are pictures of bad caps on Homie's web page that will give you an idea what to look for if the PSU is not the problem: http://www.motherboardrepair.com/

I've had Asus MB's and they are good, but I have an Abit NF7-S and it's really a great MB. If you're going to get a new MB, the nForce2 chipset is the way to go and the NF7-S is a really good implementation of it.

- HAL9000 · Oct 5, 2003

Temperature sensitivity is a classic symptom for memory that has been damaged by electrostatic discharge (ESD).

Forrest

Motherboard Help By HAL web site:
http://home.comcast.net/~hal-9000/

On Sun, 05 Oct 2003 10:11:57 +0200, Vincent Godefroy
wrote:

hi,

when i read all the messages here, i have the impression that my abit KT7 RAID has all troubles spoken !

It is only at cold boot that my pc goes well. the only moment when all seems to go right is at cold boot. but when i install my OS, eg massives files transfert occurs, my pc reboot.

After that, this is random hell.

cases occured on reboot :
...

Wayne Youngman · Oct 12, 2003

"Vincent Godefroy"

but how a psu which has been working for 3 years can cause such troubles ?

Hi,

I'm not saying the PSU is causing your problem, but it is a *suspect* for trouble-shooting purposes. I'm not sure what the lifespan of a PSU is? but a 3 year old generic 300w may well be having small problems. . maybe?