System hanging

Matt Miller · Jul 23, 2003

Hi,

I recently built a new PC with the following hardware:

ABIT NF7, rev. 2
AMD Athlon XP 2800
2x256mb Crucial PC2700 ram
MSI GeForce FX 5600, 128mb ram
SBLive! soundcard
on-board NIC
WD "Special Edition" 80GB HDD
SONY DVD drive
AOPEN CD Burner
350W PSU, brand name ="Max"

Win98 SE
Debian Linux

In both Windows and Linux, the system constantly will lock up. When this happens, I can still see whatever was on the screen, but no input from the keyboard or mouse is accepted, and any sound playing loops over and over like a broken record. Only way I can reboot is by reset button.

The problem doesn't seem isolated to games, as it seems to occur randomly. For example, I could be playing Ghost Recon for an hour just fine, but then when I exit out to do something else, and then restart the game, the system hangs. It has also crashed sometimes just on a fresh boot up.

Does this sound like an issue of not having a big enough power supply? The dealer I got it from says it's reliable, but maybe it doesn't have enough wattage?

I've checked the CPU temp immediately after one of these crashes in the BIOS, and it doesn't seem too high. Or maybe it spikes somehow?

I have updated my BIOS, and have recent drivers loaded.

Thanks for your help!

red · Jul 23, 2003

I can tell you from experience that board is the quirkiest one ever made by Abit. (outside of rev 1) Try setting memory timings to SPD it helps a lot and I don't know why. You will also get better stability if you use the generic IDE controller drivers as opposed to nVidia's.

Matt Miller wrote:

Matt Miller · Jul 23, 2003

Great, so I have a quirky board. Oh well. Do you know how to use the generic IDE drivers(or how to switch over to them?)

Thanks.

RED wrote:

DeMoN LaG · Jul 23, 2003

Matt Miller wrote in

Your problem is either your system is overheating (most likely the CPU or video card is overheating) or your PSU is not a quality one and isn't providing consistent power.

DiddyS · Jul 24, 2003

Hi Matt,

I don't necessarily have a solution, but have you tried running just a "basic" set-up and seeing if it still hangs?

By this I mean removing/disconnecting non-essential components such as the sound card, NIC, CD burner, etc. and try running the same programs.

Does it still do it? If it works OK, try replacing these components one by one until it starts misbehaving again. The odds are that the last component you replaced is the problem (or its drivers/software are). See if you can borrow a different make component from a friend and see if that fixes it.

I had a similar problem when I upgraded my PC a couple of years back using an Abit KT7A mobo and a Creative SB Live! sound card. A friend had the same set-up and the same problem. Looking on newsgroups, etc. so did a lot of other people. As I recall, the cause was the soundcard and the Via chipset not being compatible. The only solution we found was to replace the sound card. I used a Videologic Sonic Fury and I've had no problem since.

Best of luck,

Derek

To e-mail me please remove my headwear.

"Matt Miller" wrote:

Neil Green · Jul 24, 2003

"Matt Miller" wrote:

Try taking the RAM out alternately and testing the system on each. Neil.

Colin Smith · Jul 24, 2003

Matt,

I know a couple of people who have this board and suffer the same problem, it seems to be very sensitive to power, I would suggest you remove all devices except your HD and Video Card and floppy, unenable your sound, Lan, and all other items that are not essential to the basic running of the machine. You would need to check your power supply by a visit to their web site and check how it 's put together. Be sure to have the cmos set to optimised, see if that helps.

"Matt Miller" wrote:

Matt Miller · Jul 24, 2003

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give that a try when I get some time. It seems to be what other people are suggesting also.

--Matt

DiddyS wrote:

anthonyi · Jul 24, 2003

I can't comment on whether the NF7 is quirky or not (the first Abit product I've used). But I've built two systems over the last few months based on the NF7-S v2.0 and both have been rock solid under XP.

I do wonder about your power supply as a potential culprit and I have had problems in the past similar to yours that eventually I tracked down to the SB Live! Can you use the onboard sound, having removed the SB, and see if that helps?

"Colin Smith" wrote:

randomly.

Randy (16) · Jul 24, 2003

On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 19:04:14 GMT, Matt Miller
wrote:

I have a friend who just built a new system with the NF7-S board. He is having the same problems. Except he is using a Yamaha DSP FACTORY DSP 2416 PCI card. He is using a generic 350 watt PSU that came with his case also. He really wants to keep the sound card in his system to do recording stuff. But it freezes just like yours does. I am trying to help him get it going. And all the great suggestions are really appreciated. We are about to upgrade the bios to the latest and check the hardrive with western digital tools. But the feeling in my gut tells me this is the power supply. Any more people out there that have fixed their board, lets hear from you. Thanks

Abit NF7-S Rev2
Athlon XP2600
500mb PNY PC2700 dimm
ATI Radeon 9000
Yamaha DS2416 sound card
Lucent Winmodem
WD 30GB 7200 RPM
350 PSU
Not sure about CD burner but has one in there.
Windows XP Pro hasn't updated to SP1 yet because it keeps crashing.

Matt Miller · Jul 25, 2003

Update:

I set the memory settings to go by processor speed (choice SPD) in the BIOS.

I'm not sure if it had any effect on the real problem, because I was able to run several games yesterday for a long time and the system never crashed. It only again happened once this morning.

Still haven't had a chance to take out the components, but I'm going to talk to the dealer where I got the PSU tomorrow.

Thanks again for all your responses

---Matt

Matt Miller wrote:

Gerry Nance · Jul 26, 2003

Systems can hang when a process fails to finish or end. Try Ctrl+Alt+Del and Look in Task Manager to see if it is shown, then click on processes Tab and experiment, ending processes (except explorer.exe, as that will shutdown windows).

Gerry Nance
World Alumni Registry
http://www.alumni.net
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madgamer · Aug 3, 2003

you have not spent cheep on the system you describe but the power supply is suspect. it could get to the point where it could cause something to go bad. I had a alienware system that caused several components to go bad. I would get a antec, thermaltake, or any good brand and replace it no matter what the dealer says. I have not heard of "max" brand.I have a power system being built and I am going to get a antec 480watt true ps as my minimal choice, you may pay $100 for a good one but it is worth every cent.

Matt Miller wrote: