Random Crashes after Hardware Upgrade

[dclive]

If you want to fix this, then you know what to do:

Install XP on the machine. Do not use *ANY* third party drivers at all - not motherboard CDs, not floppies, nothing. Then see if you can repro the problem. If not, add drivers one or two at a time until you figure it out. It might take a few days, but you'll know exactly where the problem is.

That's how to fix it.

 

[imported_Severed]

So...what do I do when I find out what driver it is?
Come to think of it, don't I have to install third party drivers for internet access so I can even get Microsoft drivers?

 

[dclive]

If not, add drivers one or two at a time until you figure it out. It might take a few days, but you'll know exactly where the problem is.

 

[imported_Severed]

I mean, what do I do when I find the problematic driver? Install an older version or something?

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Severed
Come to think of it, don't I have to install third party drivers for internet access so I can even get Microsoft drivers?

Install just your NIC's drivers if you must. Grab them beforehand, put them on a floppy. Be sure you have the latest version from the NIC maker's site (not the MB maker's site).

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Severed
I mean, what do I do when I find the problematic driver? Install an older version or something?

You can do plenty of things - disable the device and buy another device from another vendor, try an older driver...who knows? The important thing to do first, though, is to find the problem.

You've turned off auto-reboot in the event of a crash, right?

 

[imported_Severed]

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: Severed
I mean, what do I do when I find the problematic driver? Install an older version or something?

You've turned off auto-reboot in the event of a crash, right?

Yes.

 

[imported_Severed]

I just noticed in the task manager that there are 4 instances of svchost.exe running... 2 are under the system username, one under local service, and the fourth under network service. Is that normal?

Another thing I just noticed (this is after another reformat, before anything was installed): that disk/atapi error was back in the event logs.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Severed
I just noticed in the task manager that there are 4 instances of svchost.exe running... 2 are under the system username, one under local service, and the fourth under network service. Is that normal?

Another thing I just noticed (this is after another reformat, before anything was installed): that disk/atapi error was back in the event logs.

Then you've got disk issues. What's the exact error number and code? Paste the entire thing here.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: dclive
Another thing I just noticed (this is after another reformat, before anything was installed): that disk/atapi error was back in the event logs.

Then you've got disk issues. What's the exact error number and code? Paste the entire thing here.[/quote]

Disk 0 resides on Bus 0, Target 0, Lun 0

Failing opcode : 0x2a = SCSIOP_WRITE
Sense code : 0x04 = SCSI_SENSE_HARDWARE_ERROR
: 0x08
: 0x03
Srb status : 0x0f = SRB_STATUS_PARITY_ERROR
Scsi status : 0x02 = SCSISTAT_CHECK_CONDITION

is from:

Source: Disk
ID : 11
Date : 12/31/2005
Time : 3:30:52 PM
that.

Is that still what you're getting? You have a hardware error writing to disk 0 (the first disk).

 

[imported_Severed]

The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk0\D.


Strangely enough, it hasn't crashed once since the reformat...so maybe that error is insignificant?

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Severed
The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk0\D.


Strangely enough, it hasn't crashed once since the reformat...so maybe that error is insignificant?

It's significant. You've got a disk problem. If you still see that error, you've still got the problem.

Re-read your msg - yes, it's possible that's not related to your crashing problem, so you'd have to figure out when it crashed, and see if those errors correlated with those times.

 

[imported_Severed]

Okay, so this may sound stupid, but since all those problems continued after I put those new IDE cables in I figured they weren't causing the problem. I put my old ones back in after this recent reformat...and now I just put those new ones back in and the disk/atapi errors are gone. So..it really was the IDE cables.

Anyway, so far so good, sound and video drivers are installed and no problems yet.

 

[imported_Severed]

Started doing the same freezing thing..again. Friend suggested I should put on some better thermal paste, so I did - worked all day yesterday, just got on today and it crashed minutes after I booted up.

 

[unholy414]

You claim top have reformatted and even replaced the IDE cables. The error basically says it's having trouble writing to your hard disk....I'd suspect either the IDE controller on the motherboard or the hard drive itself. Is it possible to take the drive and test it on another system? Your friend might be able to help you with that, maybe in testing your other parts as well.

As nagging as it sounds, how's your case ventilation?

 

[imported_Severed]

There's nothing wrong with the IDE stuff, like I said, I reverted back to my old cables thinking the cables weren't the problem. When I saw the error back again, I put the new ones back in and the error disappeared.

As for the case ventilation, I have two case fans - an intake on the side and output on top. Video card has a fan and heatsink on it, as does the CPU, and the only PCI component I have is my wireless card, which is several slots below my video card.

 

[imported_Severed]

So no one has any idea why it's still happening?

 

[dclive]

What happens now when the machine crashes? Blue screen? Events written to the event log (System)? Anything? Provide concrete and exact details of what is happening. The disk errors are completely gone?

 

[imported_Severed]

Disk errors are gone, same problem as before - screen goes black, nothing happens. No errors in the system log, no dumps.

However, I did find a very strange temporary fix. Normally I'd come home, turn it on, and it would start freezing right away; now I start it up in safe mode with networking first, restart it and run it normally and I have no problems all day.