"hangs" or short freezes when (cpu, hdd?) crunching?? please help!

[Hexametaphosphate]

Hey tech folk!

I have a problem. It's really more of an annoyance than anything, but I do need to fix it. I'll give my system specs first:

Win98SE
Antec Full tower with 300W Athlon approved PS
Abit KT7-Raid mobo
Duron 650@650
192MB Micron 8e RAM
2X 20GB Maxtor 7200 HDD
32X SCSI Plextor
8X20 SCSI Imation (Plextor) CDR
V3 3500
SB Live Value
Adaptec 2930
generic NIC
Diamond SupraExpress USB
Microsoft Intellimouse w/Intellieye (USB)
Logitech Quickcam (USB)

OK, that done.... my system just has these mini "hangs" fairly often. It's not really always during heavy crunching, but seems more common during this. Example, when I'm connecting to the net I'll often loose ability to move my cursor. I can run Prime 95, SETI all day without any problems, but these 2-6 second little hangs while surfing or using photoshop are really annoying. I'm sorry if I'm not describing this well, please ask any questions and I hope I can help. Oh, yeah..... I'm sure I had a memory leak before reinstalling Windows, cos I'd get an error that I didn't have enough memory available to even shut down a program. I haven't seen this since reinstalling, but it hasn't been that long. I really wanna fix this minor problem. Like I said, the system is stable in terms of Prime 95, SETI, or burning CDs....... but I can't get rid of these "hangs." I tried the USB mouse in the PS2 port, thinking maybe it was a USB thing, but that didn't seem to help either.

PLEASE help.....

Thanks,

Hex..

 

[Hexametaphosphate]

is there anything I can descibe better? I think I covered it all, but I just hope it's fairly clear....


Thanks,

Hex..

 

[Cosmic_Horror]

try turning off seti (or anything else in the background, rc5 etc) and see if it helps...

 

[Hexametaphosphate]

all that is gone with the new Windows install........... I think the memory leak is gone, or not showing yet.... but the stutter is still there..... running fairly clean right now......

Thanks for the reply....

Hex..

 

[AC]

Not IRQ conflicts or anything, right? (check "device manager&quot

 

[ksclay]

If you ever find out what the problem is please let me know what it is! I have a KT7 and Duron 600 that does the same thing. At first I thought it was just the CDROM drive, but I get this problem with heavy disk activity, such as unzipping a 100MB file. It doesn't even have to be that much disk activity for it to freeze momentarily. It is most annoying when playing any big 3d game - every time the HDD runs, it stalls the game.

I've tried lots of things like backing down to PIO modes and disabling/enabling DMA for the HDD. I tried switching IDE controller (primary to secondary for the HDD). I tried with minimal hardware - no sound card & no NIC. I do have all of the chipset and card patches. There are NO conflicts apparent.

Maybe we need to try a Promise Ultra66 PCI IDE controller card? Perhaps the mobo IDE is flaky?

Win98SE
Abit KT7
Duron 600 (currently at 950, but this problem is unrelated)
192MB (128 PC100 / 64 PC133)
20GB WD 7200 HDD
12x DVD
2x2x6 Philips CDRW
SB Live (in slot 3)
Linksys NIC (slot 5)
Radeon 32MB DDR
250W Enlight PS

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

I've got the same problem on one of my machines.

Celeron2-533MHz oc'd to 800
448MB RAM
Asus CUBX
Herc GeForce2 MX
SB Live
D-Link NIC
Adaptec 2490UW
USR 56K(not 3com)
20GB 7200rpm Maxtor HDD
15GB 7200rpm Maxtor HDD
(2)17.2GB 5400rpm WD HDD
45GB 5400rpm WD HDD
8x DVD-ROM SCSI
8x20 CD-R SCSI
40x CD-ROM SCSI
400watt P/S

It only does it when I try to access a drive from My Computer. If I go through Windows explorer it doesn't do it.
(First person that says then don't go through My Computer is going to get a knuckle sandwich)

All my drivers are current. It does it under Win98 and Win2k but not BeOS.

Is it Windows going retarded for a minute. I've even low reinstalled OS's and it keeps doing it.

 

[Hexametaphosphate]

Hmm........ maybe we need to go to a KT7 dedicated website and look through common problems..... seems ksclay and I may have basically the exact same problem.....with similar equipment even......

I'll let you know if I figure it out, please do the same if you figure out........ this is annoying, huh?


Thanks for the replies.....

Hex..

 

[rockstar]

Hello,
I just built a computer for a friend and we are having the exact same problem. There is heavy disk activity which causes choppiness all around (very evident in UT, but happens in other apps, games). I've been suspecting the video card, but I see that you are using a different card and have the same problem. Tonight or tomorrow I am going to switch out his video card, processor, and ram with mine to narrow down where the problem lies. I have tried tweaking the software, bios, moving hardware around, all the latest drivers for mobo, vid, snd, but no change. Here are his specs:

Duron 700
Abit Kt7
Enlight 7237 (300W)
128 PC133 (generic)
Radeon AIW
Maxtor 30 7200
MS Optical mouse
SB Live
Plextor 12/10/32

I will let you know if and when I figure this problem out, and please do the same. I am going nuts!
thanks

 

[Hexametaphosphate]

I hate to promote another hardware website on the board that Anandtech provides us, but I don't think anything's wrong with it in this case...... athlonmb_com has a forum with an Abit mobo section, and http://go_to/kt7faq has some stuff too......... I updated my USB filter without luck...... haven't done the full blown drivers update, bios update, or any other things yet..... please let me know if you guys have any luck...... I'll make sure to do the same.......

Hex..

 

[rockstar]

Woohoo!
I figured out the problem in my friend's computer (see specs above). I brought over my RAM, processor, and video card. I tried my RAM, then my processor and experienced the same problems with hard disk accessing and heavy pausing/choppiness as I described above. Then I decided to try switching the IDE channels between the cd-rom drive and hard drive.
Bingo! :Q
I was very surprised to see that the problem was gone. Everything was completely smooth and as I had hoped it should be!
The hard drive was on IDE channel 2 in the end and the cd-rom on channel 1.

I find this very interesting because I experienced a similar problem with my kt7-raid (long load times in Unreal Tournament), but the problem was fixed after switching from the highpoint controller to the regular IDE2 channel.

I hope this is helpful to whomever is experiencing similar problems.
I was really getting frustrated and running out of ideas!
Good luck!!

 

[flood]

2 common solutions to this problem:
most common: remove the network card (to see if it is what is causing the problem) - put it back in if it still hangs, but replace it in a diff slot if that solves it

enable DMA on your drives

 

[ThePrIsMcAURA]

I have the same problem on my computer which is quite old.
P2 350, Asus P2B-F 440BX mb, 128MB pc100.

My computer pretty much "developed" the problem it wasn't there after the initial installation of win98. I did do a full format and reinstall but that didn't fix the problem.

Also about this DMA stuff with the HDD when i try to check it, win98 pops up a screen that says, Enabling DMA may have undesired affects with your HDD which is a 8.1GB IBM. I looked on the IBM site but there was nothing about it and I emailed them and have not had a response in the last 2 months.

I am very cautious to trying this just in case something goes wrong, is it possible to switch it back after it has been checked??

THanks in advance

 

[rockstar]

ThePrIsMcAURA,
I think it is safe to enable DMA on your drive. It is likely that your IBM 8.1 GB drive is dma/33 and therefore supports DMA (Direct Memory Access). It should speed things up and I am pretty sure that if it is not supported, the DMA box will just remain unchecked after selecting it and rebooting. I have never experienced any problems after enabling DMA.
Well, switching to a different IDE channel seemed to fix my friends problem.
Good luck!

 

[Hexametaphosphate]

OK....... I'm ashamed to ask, but how do I enable it? I used to know, but darn if my 25 year old memory isn't failing already Anyway, thanks for all the feedback.........

Hex..

 

[ksclay]

Glad you got yours fixed! But switching to IDE channel 2 just means that there is something wrong with IDE channel 1, right? I put my HDD on the second controller and had some improvement, but it was not until I weeded out a bad stick of NEW PC133 memory from (intentionally left blank.com) that I got further improvement. Still I get choppiness with copying huge files from one place to another on the drive.

 

[rockstar]

Good morning everyone!

Hexametaphosphate- I suspect that your memory is the problem, especially if it is 25 years old! Just kidding, I think I have the same problem with my slightly abused 25 year old memory (darn quarter of a century)! Anyway, right-click on My Computer then go to Properties. Go to Device Manager, find and then double-click your hard drive. You should see a DMA checkbox somewhere in there.

ksclay- Actually, I am hoping that it is just the cable that is bad, not the IDE channel 1, but I have to test this more.

Let me know if you make any progress.