Please help with this lock-up problem!

[Dressler]

I am sorry if this is the wrong forum, but it is both Linux and Windows related...sorry.

My system: AMD 1.333 Ghz 512mb SD ram
Geforce2 Mx400 card plus two hard drives, a 40 and an 80 Gb.

Windows xp and sometimes Linux.

My computer will randomly freeze. Yes, very often, but not at regular times, not at set intervals.

The computer freezes in two manners: One, it just locks up. No response at all.

The second manner is similar to the first, but a strnage kind of line is displayed, a line made up of maybe horizontal dots, vertical dots, lines, angled in whatever way.

I have no idea what to do. I hae updated my Video Card drivers and have removed the cabinet sides so heat should NOT be the problem.

Please, what do I do?

I barely ever use Linux, but now I'll see if it locks up in Linux too.

If it were defective RAM, could it work in Linux but not in Windows??

Thanks!!!

[Calum]

it would more likely be that dodgy RAM would work in windows (albeit perhaps dodgily) but simply be ignored by linux (or that used to be the case anyway).

Sounds like a video card thing, not that i would know. If it did lock up in linux, and it was a video driver thing, you would just need to restart the X server, also doing this would be able to tell you if it were a video card thing or not (if just X is frozen up it would likely be the video card, if the whole system freezes up it might be something else)

The bottom line for me: i don't know. Here's hoping other respondents will be more helpful.

[Faust]

Dodgy RAM should mess up under any OS - however "Windows 2000 and XP are far stricter about hardware than (other OS's)" and "often one particular component can be the culprit - nine times out of ten it's bad RAM."  (Australian Personal Computer Magazine, issue 286.)  How old is your RAM?

Also are you overclocking any components?  This can cause random "issues"

Have you:
Done a disk check?  (Including for bad blocks?)
Checked that every connection is fit snugly?
Checked for dust?  Especially dust on circuitry or in PCI/RAM etcetera slots?
Checked again for heat?  (Even if the board is open it can still overheat - try touching the heatsinks on various components especially the CPU and GPU.  If it's too hot to comfotably touch, it's too hot.)

[ June 11, 2003: Message edited by: Faust ]

[Faust]

www.tufftest.com make what is in my opinion a very good hardware tester.

How stable is your power supply?  Do you notice any large electrical equipment causing minor fluctuations in say the lighting?  If you live in a large flats style place the power supply can fluctuate at "unacceptable" levels.  If thats the problem try borrowing a friends UPS.

Also have you:
Scanned for virii with updated .dat files?
Done a check with norton utilities?  Norton can be useful for this kind of thing.
Checked for any BIOS issues?  Try flashing your BIOS with a newer version.  Be careful with this BTW.
Checked for bad software?  Anything flakey (eg freeware/spyware holding apps.) may have issues.  Especially Kazaa.  God I hate that application.  VERY flakey.
Any recently installed hardware?  Try booting without it.

[Faust]

Probably obvious, but have you dropped or maltreated your case lately?  Coffee spillage on any components?  (Including keyboard etcetera)

[Faust]

Maybe also change your system settings to "write an even to the system log" in the control panel and check that when you reboot.

[mobrien_12]

One of the best ways to test your RAM is to compile a linux kernel

YOu don't have to install/use the kernel, but compiling a kernel is a very good way to find RAM problems (it's how I identified and fixed a random crash problem in one of my computers a few years ago).

[TheQuirk]

quote:Originally posted by M. O'Brien:
One of the best ways to test your RAM is to compile a linux kernel

YOu don't have to install/use the kernel, but compiling a kernel is a very good way to find RAM problems (it's how I identified and fixed a random crash problem in one of my computers a few years ago).

No no no!

What he needs is this: http://www.memtest86.com/

[mobrien_12]

quote:Originally posted by TheQuirk:


No no no!

What he needs is this: http://www.memtest86.com/

I used several different memory testers on that PC (although not memtest86) and not ONE showed a memory flaw.  Kernel compilation did.