sv24 video freeze problem

Hi all,

I have been running a sv24 system for a few years now and it recently started
giving me video problems with the on-board S3 Savage chipset. The system will
boot fine but after a few minutes the video will freeze and give random patterns
(some made up of mosaic content from last image, others more solid colors).

I have tried:
0. swapping the monitor
1. Reinstall S3 video drivers
2. Lower resolution to 640x480
3. Lower color depth to 256 colors
4. Minimize hardware acceleration setting

The system seams to run longer the lower I set the performance levels, but it
still ends up freezing.

What's weird is that it ran fine for so long?!?

I also tried putting in an old PCI video card, but it didn't fit well and had
other problems of its own.

Any ideas?

The system is configured with:
Win 98
Celeron 600
256M PC133 Ram
40G HD
CD, Floppy No PCI

I do notice that the PS gets warm, but its internal fan doesn't kick on while
the case cover is off.

Thanks for any help you can give: I hate to just give up on this problem after
the system ran so well for so long.

Karl

 

I am not sure it is the video. You should try a PCI card. I wonder if you
aren't having Power Supply Problems. It would act strange and lock up if
the power supply was overheating. Luckily, my SV24 survived a PSU going
bad. Mine went bad when the fan in the PSU failed. That fan was also
generating most of the obnoxiously loud noise. It was much quieter with a
replacement PSU. But try a PCI video first. You should be able to get an
old trident PCI card. They are fairly small 1 meg cards. Are you running
the VIA hardware monitoring program that came with your SV24? How is the
CPU and system temp holding up before it freezes? Try a PCI video card and
run the VIA hardware monitoring program, then get back with the newsgroup.

Tom

 

I'm betting bad power supply. SV24's only have a 150W ps and they are
a real week link...I'v had to replace mine at least every 6 -8 mos.
DD

"It's easy when you know how..."
Johnny Shines

 

It was the power supply... and it may have fried my processor too.

The only way I got the system to run again was to replace the processor with the
original Cyrix 800MHz CPU and to use a "standard" 350W power supply as a life
support system. The power supply is now remotely attached to the main box by an
umbilical cord of wires entering the back of the original box. I removed the
floppy drive and put the hard drive there (so I didn't need the right angle
power plug that is needed when the HD mounts from the rear). After all these
structural changes I started over with a fresh install of Win2000 Pro and now
all seams fine.

Thanks for all your help... I can send a picture of the resulting two box
solution if anyone wants a good laugh

 

This is really not a "bad" solution...others have done the same. I am
considering mounting a good quality 350W ps on the underside of my
desk and "plumbing" the wires in through some sort of descrete
conduit. The only real problem with this is that it kind of trashes
the portability bit for those who like to take their boxes to "LAN
parties". I don't so it will be a good way around the crappy ps issue.
DD

"It's easy when you know how..."
Johnny Shines

 

Hi
You can find a replacement power supply at newegg for $32 plus $5 shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...=58&manufactory=1465&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1

I bought one and shuttle replaced my original because it was still under
warranty. So you really got a lot of miles out of yours. I was thinking of
getting a Tualatin adapter from upgradeware.com They say it will work with
the SV24 and allow the installation of up to a Celeron 1.4. These
processors use less energy than the older FCPGA Celerons. Might help the
power supply last a little longer. The replacement power supply from
Shuttle was much much quieter than the original "Briggs and Stratton (US
lawnmower company) Power Supply". My PSU failure didn't fry anything
though. I smelled something burning before mine fried.

Tom