Computer freezing continuously - plz help!

[vm]

Specs:

Tbird 1.0 (unlocked)
Epox 8kta3 (latest bios)
Infineon pc133 cas 2
Creative Geforce 2 GTS 64mb (Tried Det 6.50, went back to 6.31, same thing)
Sb Live value
Creative 36x cdrom
Quantum Fireball 5200rpm 6.4 LX (ata33)
Matrox 20gb 7200 rpm (ata 66)
floppy
d-link dfe-530TX ethernet card
FOP 32-1

Windows 1998 version 4.10
Explorer 5.5
DirectX 8.0a
Via 4in1 4.25 (I did try 4.28 and went back to 4.25, no difference)

Here's the problem, my computer locks up ALL THE TIME.It can be from anything, from saving a file in photoshop, to playing a game, to nothing at all.It just locks up completely, and I have to reboot.I've tried fail-safe settings in the bios, different others and there's no difference.From 800mhz to 1156mhz, same thing..my temps are normal.

I have noticed that my hard drives are running quite hot..but they've always been like that for 2 yrs and no problems up until now.I had a p3 450 before with an asus p2b and i've NEVER have so much damn lockups than with this new setup.I'm starting to regret buying all of this.

Anyways..I have no IRQ conflicts, I've tried default settings for my vid card, other drivers, different voltages..nothing works.I'm all out of ideas

I can give more detailed info if need be..but i'd like to have an idea of what the hell is causing all these lockups..it's really getting on my nerves now :|

thanks for any info..

 

[jakethemuss]

Hi VM,
I can't offer a lot of help except to say I have similar problems
on a similar system and have found that if I disable my soundblaster live
in device manager, the problem stops.
I still can't fix the prob. however, and like you, I have no reported
IRQ conflicts.
Good luck.

 

[rbV5]

First make sure your HSF installation isn't your culprit, heat can cause random errors, then try uninstalling you NIC and see if the problems go away, I'm assuming you have all the latest drivers ect for your hardware.

 

[BadThad]

1) It's easy to determine if heat is the problem. Start the system in safemode, this disables all drivers. Run a program like SETI@HOME for a few hours and see if the system locks up. If it does, then either you have a cooling problem or your OS is corrupted (likely the latter anyway). Doesn't that board have a thermal diode under the CPU that you can monitor from windows?

2) What is an FOP32-1?

3) Did you try your RAM at CAS3?

4) What PCI slots are you using and for what cards? Hopefully, you have NO cards in PCI 1 and are NOT skipping PCI slots. Sometimes moving the PCI cards around can have surprizing effects.

5) Did you try wiping the C: drive and reinstalling Windows?

You may not have an APPARENT IRQ conflicts, but there is a possibility that one of your cards is not sharing properly.

 

[Sporko]

Back in December there were a number of posts about lock-ups with Epox 8kTA+/2 boards, mine included. The fix was to use either the Nov 10 or Dec 13 beta bios. At the time the latest official bios was Dec 1. Don't know if this a similar problem with your 8KTA3 but you may want to try some previous bios.

 

[vm]

jake:I did have loads of problems getting the sb live to work at first..had to switch it aroud the slots to get it to work.I disabled sb16 DOS emulation a few days ago, is that what you did?

rbV5: My current CPU temp is 100F, or 38C..and it goes up to around 43C after playing a game or something "hard" on the system.I do have the latest drivers for all my hardware, and I'll try re-installing my nic in another slot after I write this.

badthad: 1) I honestly doubt it's the heat, altho I could be wrong..but like I said it can lock up doing anything, even typing this with just winamp running it might freeze :/

2)FOP32 (-1) is a HSF

3)Yes I have..and it's ram from Compuwiz, the one ppl are running at 145mhz+ Cas2

4)Slot 4 = sb live slot 5 = ethernet card

5)Yes I did that the second day I installed this new hardware and the day I got it.

Sporko:Could be a solution, I'll try it later today.


Thanks for all the info guys

edit: My ethernet card is in no3 and my sblive in no4 now..can't get my sblive to be detected tho.

 

[BadThad]

Why are you skipping PCI 2? Did you try SB Live in PCI2 and NIC in PCI3? Is the bios set to AUTO for PNP and PNP OS selected?

 

[vm]

Yep just tried that, still won't get detected on startup

 

[vm]

3/4 works..like it was at yesterday

Won't be more stable tho I would think..

edit: nope, freezes still :|

 

[BadThad]

I would pull all the cards out and restart the machine clean. Shutdown, insert the SB in PCI2, reboot, hit pause at POST report to be sure the BIOS is seeing the SB. If the BIOS doesn't see it, the SB is probably toast me thinks. If the BIOS sees it, then you know its a windows/driver issue....then we proceed...

 

[vm]

Well the SB works fine now..

I installed the new leaked drivers from nvidia (7.52) and went back a few revisions for my bios, and re-installed my monitor, and so far so good, i'll test it out more and see if it solved the problem

Thanks

 

[BadThad]