Advice: the dreaded Machine_check_error!

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darkesnow

n00b
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
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Came downstairs Thursday night to my PC, which runs 24/7 with regular weekly reboots, to a BSOD with the dreaded machine_check_error. I turned the machine off, let it sit for a minute, then back on again via both the soft power button and the switch in the back, only to discover that I now have a 50 lb paperweight with fans attached - will not post at all.

After googling the error, only to discover it can be almost any sort of failure, from the processor on down to a bad driver, I started with what I believed to be the weakest link, a cheap-a$$ 600w power supply. I replaced this with a nice 680 watt antec, rewired the whole thing, did a visual check of the mobo (no popped capacitors), removed all but one ram chip, and powered on. Still no post.

The pertinent HW info : ASUS P5N- SLI Se Deluxe mobo, Intel conroe 6700 dual-core processor (only overclocked by 5%), 3 MB crucial ballistix tracer ram (2 1g chips, 2 1/2gb chips). Running WinXP sp2. Last update was 1 week before error. Also, no new hardware or drivers have been installed recently, and the most recent SW install was LOTROnline.

So tell me - anyone have any ideas what my next steps should be? I'm dreading having to replace the processor but I was planning on upgrading to a quad-core sooner rather than later, so if I do it's not a huge issue, but I'd prefer not to have to make that leap just yet.
 
welcome to the paperweight club i had a bad bios flash last week and now have a $3000 paperweight while i wait for abit to send me a new bios chip.

yea right like they will do that, what will happen is ill get a disk in the mail with a brand spanking new bios that will do no good due to the bios chip is fubar. then ill get to play the RMA game and the hole time i get to sit and look at this shiny new paper weight.
mine weighs around 60 lbs with lighted fans. at least every now and then i can turn it on and look at the fans turning
 
i had a computer that did something similar before. power on for just a second it seamed like it was going to boot up but then black screen hardware failure. it was traced to a bad wire on the cpu fan.
the wire that tells the main board the fan is spinning was chewed in half from touching the fan blade.

read your directions to the main board and see if you can bypass the cpu fan detection and try that it cant hurt.
 
Does the mobo have any LEDs lit up? Also, when you say it won't post, is it turning on the fans/drives, but not posting or is it just not doing anything?

Do you have a spare 775 mobo to test your CPU with? I doubt its the CPU itself.

Tear everything down: leave only one stick of ram, video card, cpu, and see if it posts.
 
Back in the day whe you had a bad bios flash, you could get another board that used the same type of BIOS chip... do a hot swap while the working one was one... yep, put the bad chip in the good board while the good board was running.

Then you would go and force flash the bad flashed chip to a good flash.

Not sure if the DOS based flash utils can do that anymore.. but it does work.
 
Basically, the fans spin, everything lights up and looks like a normal start up, except I never get the one-beep Post successful and nothing ever happens on the attached monitor.

Already have knocked it back to one stick of ram and tested each stick that way but it never does come up.

No spare motherboard to test the processor with, sadly. Also, someone told me I might try holding down Ins and Del while rebooting to trick it into posting and going into the bios, but this didn't work either. :(
 
Sounds like the mobo. :(

More people could have suggestions though, so I'd keep bumping the thread.
 
darkesnow said:
Basically, the fans spin, everything lights up and looks like a normal start up, except I never get the one-beep Post successful and nothing ever happens on the attached monitor.

Already have knocked it back to one stick of ram and tested each stick that way but it never does come up.

No spare motherboard to test the processor with, sadly. Also, someone told me I might try holding down Ins and Del while rebooting to trick it into posting and going into the bios, but this didn't work either. :(
Click to expand...

ok this is reaching but try swapping your monitor to the 2nd connector.
if every thing seams normal just no picture it can be the monitor or video card.
better yet if you have 2 monitors plug both in and turn them on..
then if nothing try swapping to a old video card. i keep a pci card around just for this reason.



yea i know of the old hot swap its risky and works but i don't have a 2nd abit IP35pro to try it on and i don't have a floppy drive thats what got me in this mess i tried flashing it in windows with the software abit gives you. ill give Abit a few weeks to work this out and then ill just say screw them and move on to a different brand board DIF here i come.:D
 
Of all the suggestions im amazed no one suggested a CMOS clear?

I would change the jumper on your board to clear the CMOS, jsut to make sure its not something stupid like that. If that doesnt work, then yea, your board will most likely need to be replaced, or you will need a new bios chip, but most of the time, they wont send you a bios chip, and the act of swapping that chip out probably voids your warranty anyway.
 
Shameless bump. Anyone else have any more ideas? I popped out the CMOS battery and let it sit for awhile then popped it back in but to no avail.
 
you could always try sacrificeing a goat or other small furry animal under a full moon on the first Monday of the month.

sorry im out of ideas
 
It really does sound like a bad board to me. If it's still under warranty, I suggest you apply for an RMA.
 
Pull everything, all cards, drives (with cables), RAM, and even the processor. Reinstall the processor. Clear the BIOS and try it again. If nothing, then either the processor or motherboard are in trouble.

Nearly all motherboards will start POST without a video card, and most will show some signs of life without any RAM. I don't know of any that will do anything without a processor, so you can't tell which went bad without a second system.
 
I batted my eyelashes and employed girlPower to borrow a friend's test box to test components individually. Sadly the board is just out of warranty or I'd have RMAd that sucker already.

I like goats too much to sacrifice one. Maybe a chicken....

I'll post my findings when I have some. :)
 
After a few more tests it does indeed appear to be the board, as the processor tests fine. So, new board for me.
It could have been worse. And I got a nice new power supply out of the deal too.
Thanks for everyone's help/words of encouragement. And no goats were harmed in the process. :)
 
Thats good to hear darkensnow. at least now you know what the problem is and can fix it.:)
have you given it any thought to what board your going to replace it with?


im still waiting on a new bios chip from ABIT , i gave up on dealing with the RMA department and ordered it my self, its just was not worth the hassle dealing with them :mad:
well back to the waiting game.
 
One more thing from rma experience i once had a board go dead and it was out of warranty but i contaced the manufacturer and they RMA'd it, they sent the board back but it wasnt same board, even tho i didnt get the same board they sent me a working one =) This was with asus tho!
worth a shot
 
I am debating the merits of the xfx nforce 780i. Any opinions? I don't really want to spend more than $250 on a board. Anything more just seems silly.
 
[H]awt update. I just bought the EVGA 750i FTW. People on newegg seem to approve and the price is right. Anyone have one and want to say nice things? Anyone had one and want to say bad things?
 
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