This isn't directly related to the empeg, but there are so many computer engineers people here, someone might have an idea... =)

I recently bought a new computer (well, I bought the bits for a new computer, and built it up using some old bits from my old machine). I got an AMD Athlon 900, ABit KT7-A-Raid motherboard, 256Megs of Crucial branded PC133 CAS2 memory and a 300 Watt AMD approved PSU.

All worked well for 3-4 weeks. Then when I turned the screen on one morning, it wasn't working (I normally leave it running 24/7).

I rebooted, and the bios came up and started booting. Windows then blew up with a windows protection fault. On rebooting, safe mode appeared, so I tried to boot into windows proper, and the protection fault came back.
I tried my Linux partition, and it crashed part way through the boot with a dynamic loader error. Now even windows safe mode isn't booting (more "helpful" windows protection fault errors)

I've removed every expansion card (Except the graphics card, which I replaced briefly with an old PCI orchid card I had kicking around). The drives all work fine in another machine (My inital fear was a HD corruption). All expansion cards work fine in my old machine.

So the situation is that I have a motherboard, CPU, Memory Floppy drive and a graphics card. I can use a bootdisk to get to dos, but after a "dir" on any attached drive the system will hang solid. Booting memtest86 from http://reality.sgi.com/cbrady_denver/memtest86/ runs for over an hour without errors, so I'm fairly certain the memory is ok. I tried my old PC100 memory in it as well (with the memory clock set to 100) which didn't stop the hanging problem.

I sent the motherboard back, as it was the drive accesses that crashed the machine, and the voltage display doesn't appear correct.
It's apparently checked out fine (Although they keep telling me I should be using PC133 memory, and I keep telling them they sold me the PC133 memory I'm using and could they please give me another reason as to why the system won't work)

My main questions are

• Has anyone seen errors like this?
  
• Is it normal for the Bios voltage monitor on the KT7-A-Raid to report 1.81 volts when the soft menu is set to the cpu default of 1.75?
  
• Should an Athlon under load be running at 55 degrees C? (I suspect not, perhaps the board really is providing 1.81 volts)
  
• What next?

Thanks for any help

Jazz
(List 112, Mk2 12 gig #40. Mk1 4 gig #30. Mk3 1.6 16v)

Sounds like you're headed in the right direction, diagnostics-wise. I don't know anything about AMD processors and voltages, but that sure sounds like it could be the culprit.

Was the CPU properly cooled? Did you have heatsink compound in between the processor and the heat sink?

___________
Tony Fabris

Should an Athlon under load be running at 55 degrees C? (I suspect not, perhaps the board really is providing 1.81 volts)

It is possible, as AMD's biggest problem with current chips is the heat generated. The 1.4 should be comming out with a new cooler running core, but it's possible they are going to try and stretch the existing core a bit more. I still remember the 1.0gHz slot A Athlon Gateway had as a prototype to train us onn. Massine heatsync, and a fan located directly above it, with the holes needed made into the side of the case. The origional core got really hot :-)

Here is a link showing the heat the newer ones are putting out http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1441&p=2

55C is a bit hot.... Even for an Athlon. But it should still be in operating limits. What I'm wondering, is your cooling for the athlon. If you used a sleeve type fan, it's possible that the fan seized during the evening, and cooked a bit.... Athlon's WILL burn up in about 5 seconds without a heatsink applied, and my only contribution would be that it's possible that with the fan in a stopped mode, the Athlon exceeded it's limits.

But the fact that you can run memtest points against that.

How far into the Linux boot do you get? any messages of relevance?

DIR works on the Floppy disk, and dies on the HD's, (ie, the floppy control is ok, but the IDE is gone?)

It's possible one of the bridges is faulty, and those can get hot, causing a marginal bridge to fail.

The other thing that may be happening is a bios problem. A re-flash may be in order.

Sure doesn't sound like a nice problem.

Are you running windows 2000? I have the same motherboard and I am having some trouble with it. It will let me use my dial up modem once, if I disconnect and try to reconnect later, DUN doesnt get past authentication.

Getting back on topic, make sure the cpu is making good contact with the heatsink. It takes a lot of force to get the heatsink clipped over the cpu, is it still on there tight? There should be an option in softmenu to turn the computer off immediately if the cpu fan drops below a certain rpm. make sure its on. Did you try setting all your bios options to default? Some of the options in the bios will increase performance but make things more unstable. Is the bios up to date? Are your via 4 in 1 drivers up to date? If you get the new via 4 in 1 drivers make sure you dont choose the agp turbo option unless you are playing a bunch of games. As far as the temp goes, I have a duron 600 running at 950, and it runs around 115 F. Are you overclocking? How good is the air movement through your case? Are you using a heatsink made for AMD cpus?
Are you running a raid array? Will your computer boot up and run if you use another hard drive?

Unfortunately I think I had something like this happen to me in the past - it was a corrupted windows file and I had to reformat and reinstall windows.

This is all terribly written and out of order, but maybe you will find it useful.

Sean

Hello,

Sad to hear about your troublesome computer.

My bet is that it's cooling related. I have an 1GHz Athlon, which was delivered with an ThermalTake Chrome Orb. It did not run stable, and the temperature was around 56C.

A ThermalTake Chrome SuperOrb (two fan monster, very noisy) brings the temperature on my system down to around 54C. That solved the problem.

Your 300W AMD-approved PSU is what I'd be looking at next. There might be a sticker on it stating that it's approved, but that doesn't mean it is. Generally the larger and more expensive powersupply you get, the more happy you'll be :) You can always move the powersupply to your next computer when that time comes.

If you have SCSI-harddrives, lots of CD-ROMs, a GeForce2 or just a power-hungry system, that will also demand a better PSU. The PSU can also have taken damage if it has been overloaded for a longer period. Most PSUs will run at 130% capacity for a longer time, but will either fail completely or just degrade.

Hope this helps.




Lars

Cooling. Lots of it. Athlons run notoriously hot. I can't recall the temp of my T900, but ISTR that it was around 50-55C. I'm running a golden orb on it - which whines a bit - I sometimes wonder if people realise that their fans are run with a horizontal axis.

Drive coolers for the disks are also a must - particularly if you're using 7200rpm or 10Krpm (or even 15Krpm) disks. Some CD-RW drives (in particular Yamaha ones) run very hot - make sure there's enough airflow there. Put an extra case fan in if possible.

Then, make sure you've got a really good PSU. If you get them with the case, they sometimes skimp a little. I've got one from Enermax, and other people have also said they're good - a little pricey, but good.


Roger - not necessarily speaking for empeg

My 800 is overclocked to 840 and it's running 48 degrees.

Calvin