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Random hangs. Strange boot up.

897 views 12 replies 3 participants last post by  cybersloth 
#1 ·
Hi all,

These are the specs of my PC :

Motherboard: D915GAV
CPU/Ram: P-IV 3 GHz / 1014 MB (512 MB * 2) DDR
Video Card: Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family (Onboard)
Sound Card: Realtek High Definition Audio (Onboard)
SMPS : 450 W
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Since few days, I am having random problems. It started with random system shutdown. The cause shown on boot-up was overheating. I have had shutdowns because of overheating in the past, because of fan clogging with dust. That time the CPU needed to be shutdown, and cooled by letting the case open. Meanwhile, I would clean the fan, and then put it back.

But this time, I could start the PC instantly. Its just that I could not reboot instantly. I had to shut down the main supply of the PC, turn it on again, and then it was able to reboot. This happens when PC hangs too. I have to cold boot it.

The shutdown because of overheating occurred on 2 days, 3-4 times... it is not occurring now. But, I notice, that while at boot, when it tests the memory... the numbers increment slowly... its like when you are operating the system, and something is taking up heavy memory, and things start to get slow... its like that. Its strange... I never saw that with any computer. The beeps that come after testing memory, also seem to be sort of hanging... normally two beeps would occur very quickly. Now, there is some time gap. The rest of the booting is OK, and system operates normally.

Apart from this, this evening, I have had random hangs... system will hang anytime, and stop responding.. and then I would have to cold boot the system.

What can be the cause of this? From where should I start?

I have installed SpeedFan now, and presently the temperature is 81 degree C (was 85 when I started SpeedFan sometime ago)... and HDD temperature is 46 degree C.

Any help is appreciated. I am particularly baffled by the slow and sort of hanging boot-up.. does that indicate any particular problem?
 
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#2 ·
I had an issue similar to this happen on an older laptop of mine. If I can remember correctly I think it was caused by dust getting onto the connections for the RAM. I took the dang thing to Iraq and it looked like I rolled it around on the beach after a few months there. I took the ram out and noticed that there was some scratches and alot of dirt and dust caked onto the connections. I cleaned them with alchohol and a cotton ball and never experienced the problem again. I am not sure if cleaning the RAM worked or if it was because I took the entire thing apart and have it a real good cleaning.
 
#4 ·
you need to clean the dust from the heatsink as well, not just the fan, you also need to make sure that you have good thermal conductivity from the cpu to the heatsink.

Unfortunatly all of that heat can damage other parts of the computer, namly the Mother Board, there are usualy a bunch of electrolytic capacitors (cylindrical components) these should be flat on top, if not and they are rounded or worse poped or bursed then you will probably need a new MoBo.

you may have also damaged your CPU although this is rare it can happen.

btw, your computer is running slow because P4's have a builtin protection to prevent overheating, it slows the clock speed to reduce temp

check for blown swolen capacitors, clean out the dust and run speed fan again, let us know how it goes.

c..
 
#5 ·
Thanks a lot for the replies :).

I cleaned the system today. I had thoughts about the RAM too initially. I took out the RAM and reseated it. Dust on RAM was not much, very little... so I doubt if that is the cause. But yea, I haven't cleaned with alcohol and cotton.

I cleaned the CPU fan too. Apart from getting dust on its wings, I also have to put 2 drops of oil on the spindle when I clean it, because that's also the cause of the fan stopping. I also cleaned the heatsink, it was not that dirty. In a month or so, I keep cleaning the system... so not much dirt was there.

About thermal conductivity with the CPU, I think that may be the point. Its been quite a long time, I think almost an year, since I changed thermal paste on the CPU.. I think I might have to do it again. That might be the cause... the thermal paste must have deteriorated.

Well, I think if a capacitor was blown, the Mobo would not work at all? :D... I will check it though.

Thanks for the replies. Seems to be a hardware problem only.

I have a new power supply, and a new SATA HDD too... both put in there more than a month or so. Thought I should mention.

Thanks again. If some more suggestions are there, most welcome :).
 
#6 ·
Oh, and my computer is not working slow, everything else is fine.. no problem once the system boots up (apart from the random hangs I got). Its just the things during boot-up are slow... strange because I have never seen anything like that.

I think I might have to change the thermal paste.. the CPU temperature is fluctuating a lot.. shooting up to 99 C ... thats a lot :eek: ... certainly needs attention.
 
#7 ·
Well, I think if a capacitor was blown, the Mobo would not work at all? :D... I will check it though.
Incorect, it would produce issues similar to those you have described.

the capacitors on the mobo are primarily used in voltage regulation circuts where the capacitor will charge when the supply voltage is high and then discharge when the supply voltage drops to maintain the voltage, if the circut uses a chopper then this is verry important, but still important with regulators (most likley on a mobo)

the capacitors will degrade over on time the capacitance will reduce and eventualy start leaking current, this will cause voltages to drop and you can get riples on the voltage rail, hopefully you can apreciate what this would do to a digital circut.

the computer will work ok if error correction can fix the errors but the more errors the harder this is untill errors cannot be corrected and you get aplication/driver/system errors or a blue screen.
 
#8 ·
disable any smart fan controls in your bios, if your fan's barings are sezing then replace the fan (i'm hoping you oiled the fan baring by removing the sticker and plug (if it has one) and then replacing it, squirting oil in between the spinning part and the frame won't help, you can get an aftermarket H/S and fan for your P4, just check if it's 478 or 775 socket just in case it's a diferent HS Fan unit (aftermarket unit's are probably compatible either way though)

also look at adding extra case fans and if you already have some make sure you have air flowing, I have seen people set up all the fans blowing in, and this dosen't work verry well.

finaly if your PC lives in a little box in your desk then take it out so it can get proper ventalation.

:)
 
#9 ·
Whoa, you are scaring me with all that :D. I certainly hope that is not the case. I do want to buy a new configuration, but I am not planning it that soon :D.

I will do check thoroughly though, for any such signs. I do handle my PC with care, and I don't think that should be case. I think it just needs a change of thermal paste... although its something that I dread of. But still, the high temperatures indicate that way. I will also clean the memory slots and the RAM again.

The sticker of the fan has gone.... so its open. I just take the fan out, clean it, put 2 drops of oil on the bearing... let it sink in.. take the extra oil off with a cloth, and then I put it in. It works fine again.

I had an extra fan.. but since I bought a new power supply, and it has more of SATA power connectors... I can't use the fan now... no extra power connector left for it. I used a splitter, but my PC gave problems with that... so I took it out. Maybe that's one of the reasons why its getting hot in there.

The cabinet is kept on the table.. and I think it gets proper ventilation..

Thanks :).
 
#10 ·
well it sounds like you need to get some power connector spliters, i realy think you should think about replacing the HS/Fan, re-doing the thermal paste isn't going to help if you have done it only a year ago, where do you think the paste has gone???, but just to ease your mind on this one do a test for me.

open the side cover while the pc is on or straight after shutdown, use your finger to carefully touch the Heat Sink, if it is 'hot' then the heat is being conducted if it is only warm then this could be the problem, but is is highly unlikley.

cybersloth
 
#11 ·
well it sounds like you need to get some power connector spliters
I mentioned that in my earlier post... I used splitter, and it gave me problem. The system would not boot, and show error if I used splitter, and so I decided to remove it.

i realy think you should think about replacing the HS/Fan, re-doing the thermal paste isn't going to help if you have done it only a year ago, where do you think the paste has gone???
I don't think I need to replace the heatsink or the fan. Over a long period of time, thermal paste degrades with all that heat, and so requires replacement. I have checked the motherboard for any signs of overheating, and all the capacitors look good. I think I will go for replacing the thermal paste, and cleaning of the RAM. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
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