Having a pretty major problem

M

ManCannon

2[H]4U
Joined
Aug 9, 2004
Messages
2,451
Last night my monitor shut off out of nowhere without me touching the power button. At first I thought this was a problem with the monitor until I realized that my sound had cut out too. I tried turning the monitor back on but the monitor was actually still on and had went into sleep mode, like the computer wasn't sending any information to it. The computer was on, it just wasn't sending information to my monitor or speakers.
]
So I restart the computer, it boots up perfectly and I think to myself "guess it was just gremlins", then after about 3 minutes of use the same thing happens, sound and display disappear. I reboot again, same story in the same about of time. I reboot again, no problems, works just like it normally does until I turn it off before heading to bed.

So today I come home and after using it for a couple hours the same thing that happened last night happened again. But this time, the sound didn't just cut out immediately like before, my monitor shut off then my sound got really quiet for about 5 seconds, then it cut off entirely.

Does anyone have any ideas? After rebooting this time (about ten minutes ago) it didn't do it three times in a row again, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. What is the likeliest culprit?
 
Check the temperature of the CPU, check voltages from the power supply. Make sure all cards and memory are fully seated as well. If those are OK, try running memtest on the RAM to see if theres an issue there.
 
I know all the temps are good, unfortunately I haven't really had the time or the patience to do any extensive testing as I've just started a new job and it's eating up my time and keeping me quite tired so I really haven't had the patience to open up the case and tool around. With the weekend coming I'm going to give it a go, but I figured I'd get some ideas from everyone before I went in.

Thanks for all the advice so far.
 
Alright, I ran memtest for a while with no errors, checked if everything is seated correctly and everything is, and the problems are getting worse.

As of right now I'm running in Safe Mode with Networking because it refuses to boot into windows normally. I get to the windows loading screen, finishes loading, then the screen just goes black and my monitor turns off.

Once when I turned it on instead of loading Windows and turning black it said something about there being an error in the CONFIG/SYSTEM file and to try repairing it with the Windows XP disc, I did that, it loaded up perfectly, then crashed again and now I'm stuck at a black screen everytime I restart.

EDIT: After a few reboots it actually went to Windows, about 5 minutes into using it everything but the mouse froze, then ten seconds later the mouse froze and the monitor turned off. In Safe Mode nothing has went wrong yet.
 
are you running an a/v software? i had a similar problem this week. after many frustrating hours of trouble shooting, it turns out i had the win32.gael.3666 virus. i wasn't using a/v software at the time (my stupidity). it really messed up my system.
 
I actually just completed a test and I do have a few virii, all thanks to Java apparently. I'm going to uninstall Java and wipe out those viruses.

I did notice that during the scan there was a reading error on the Partition Table and Boot Sector, so that can't be good.
 
They're gone and things aren't any better.

Some new details, I've received two error codes, 0x0000008E, and 0x0000007E.

One is a memory error but both sticks pass memtest fine and I've even swapped them out one at a time and I get blue screens with both so I don't think it's the RAM.

Once when I booted into VGA mode I was able to use it for a bit before a crash, but now it blue screens within 10 seconds everytime. The strange thing is, when I try to boot up normally I don't even get to Windows I just get a black screen, but in VGA mode I get in for a few seconds before it crashes.

I heard 0x0000008E can signify that something is wrong with your videoram too, I'm going to try swapping out the card when I get a chance.
 
Switched in an old 5200, working perfectly.

Apparently my 6800's RAM is screwed, wonderful :mad: .

First it's thermal paste wears off about a year and a month after having it (just outside the warranty), now it's RAM has quit and I'm stuck without a good card for quite sometime because an upgrade just isn't in the budget until October.

I had just applied some Arctic Silver 5 about a month back too and my card was performing beautifully and running at the lowest temps it had ever seen to boot.

Man this sucks :(.

EDIT: Scratch all that, Just crashed after a few more minutes with the 5200 in and received an entirely new error code, 0x0000000A. I'm just going to go for the format this weekend, I was planning to get a new HD anyway so I'll backup everything I need and hope this clears up, if it doesn't I'll know for sure that it's my hardware, probably the PSU.
 
Got a new HD, tried doing a clean install of Windows on that and before I could even start installing it the monitor shut off and I couldn't do a damn thing.

I'm thinking the PSU as well now but I don't have a voltmeter to test it with.
 
was gonna say run a hard drive diagnostic from the manufacturer, but the new drive changed that. I would say your power supply for sure. Also make sure you motherboard looks okay, no bad caps, etc but if you are running a 6800 then the board can't be too old. What power supply are you using ?
 
Ok, I was able to test the power supply today, and I've tested everything but the Motherboard and the CPU. I'm 99% certain that everything else is in working order. I've swapped out the HD and videocard, tried each stick of RAM individually and in different slots as well as running them both in memtest, and I also removed all nonessential components.

A bit more info, as I said, when I start up normally I get a blue screen within 20 seconds of Windows loading everytime now. I also noticed that I hear a faint click inside the computer everytime the blue screen comes up. In Safe Mode I can sometimes run for a while longer but after a varying amount of time (sometimes happens during boot and sometimes happens after 30 minutes) the monitor just shuts off as I described in the first post.

What should be my next step? I've been without my computer for a few weeks now and I'm starting to have Oblivion withdrawls.
 
ManCannon said:
Switched in an old 5200, working perfectly.

Apparently my 6800's RAM is screwed, wonderful :mad: .

First it's thermal paste wears off about a year and a month after having it (just outside the warranty), now it's RAM has quit and I'm stuck without a good card for quite sometime because an upgrade just isn't in the budget until October.

I had just applied some Arctic Silver 5 about a month back too and my card was performing beautifully and running at the lowest temps it had ever seen to boot.

Man this sucks :(.

EDIT: Scratch all that, Just crashed after a few more minutes with the 5200 in and received an entirely new error code, 0x0000000A. I'm just going to go for the format this weekend, I was planning to get a new HD anyway so I'll backup everything I need and hope this clears up, if it doesn't I'll know for sure that it's my hardware, probably the PSU.
Click to expand...

I made the mistake of using Arctic Silver on a cards ram a while back.
Some got onto the memory legs and from that moment the card was trashed as I just couldnt clean it out. I'm sure some got under the ram after being thinned by the cleaning solution.
You may have a very tiny amount somewhere, even transfered by your skin that eventually made the ram fail by overloading a gate.

Now I only use Arctic Ceramique as its non conductive.
 
Well it happens regardless of whether I'm using the 5200 or the 6800 so it's not the card.

Still, thanks for at least taking the time to offer up an idea and for the bump. Right now I'm not sure what to do, I'm thinking it's either the mobo or the CPU since I've ruled out most everything else at this point. Both are still under warranty but I'd like to know for sure what's going on before I send something off to be replaced.
 
I didnt read the edit bit :)

Theres a lot to suspect here.
I would take the system apart and fit it back together after cleaning all contacts.
If still no luck, a fresh but full install of Windows+ drivers on a spare disk would be a quickish way to test if its a hardware issue.
If you can determine if the problem is hardware or software it would help greatly.
 
Please scratch the last post, I'm getting some sleep after this!

Its definitely hardware and if you are happy with the testing you have done, it looks like you have only the motherboard and CPU to test.
I suspect the CPU but it still could be either.

Try resetting the CMOS completely.
I recommend removing the battery and leaving it overnight to make sure it gets a real fresh start.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top