Random Reboots

J

jrbryner

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 6, 2001
Messages
1,530
I built this computer for a friend and it's rebooting at random times. I haven't been able to associate any of the reboots with any events so far. Times that it's rebooted tonight:
resizing (a window a few times)
moving the mouse over items on the start menu
playing blackjack online
posting a thread on the [H]

It runs through SiSoft Sandra burn in tests fine, not rebooting at any given point. I turned off 'Automatically Restart' on System Error in the Control Panel, but it's rebooted twice since then.

Any suggestions?

System:
Athlon 2000+ (stock cooling, no OC)
Asus A7V8X-X (latest 4 in 1s)
Radeon 9200
512mb Kinston ValueRam
Windows XP Home
WD 80GB 7200 IDE
Antec Smart Power 350w
 
Typically when I encounter problems like that its usually bad ram. At least if your XP or other OS install is fresh and properly updated.
 
Well, I just reformatted and reinstalled Windows. I installed the latest 4in1s first, then video card, and windows update. Went to install Winamp and press back on the browser and it rebooted :mad: . When Windows starts back up, it pops up a window saying that Winodws has recovered from a fatal error. I can'f find any program, .exe. or any other useful information in the info it says it sending.

I turned off Automatic Restart in the Windows error procssing stuff in the control panel, but I guess it's still rebooting.

I also ran MemTest overnight and it didn't come back with any errors.

I installed Motherboard Monitor and here's some of the values off of it:
CPU Temp => 104 F
vCore => 1.62
+3.3 => 3.17V
+5.0 => 4.74V
+12.00 => 11.97

Are those in reasonable range?
 
Ok you say 104 F for cpu temp. I would say with stock cooling that 104 is to low a temp for stock cooler. stock meaning retail I assume, Im guessing you have the cpu cooler mounted crooked or the shelf is on the wrong side . meaning rotate the cooler 180 degrees. if that is not the case you may need to remove the cooler clean it and reinstal with good thermal paste. if this is not the problem and the memory is good I would guess MB it happens some times O and im assuming windows xp

ME.95,98 all can have major driver issues on fresh installs with kt400 boards
 
Ok, I took out everything, applied some fresh artic silver, reseated the CPU/HSF, memory, video card. Temp has dropped down to ~98 degrees.

Is the 104 too hot?

edit: Nevermind, after a few minutes, it's back to 104 at boot.
 
I have a Duron that runs at 102 and never has a problem, so I seriously doubt it's that.
Honestly, first things I'd try are different RAM and a different hard drive.
I would think RAM first off because I've seen that a few times, but I've only seen this happen once where a hard drive was the problem.
And you've ran memtest, so give a diff hd a try.
O yes, and the motherboard may also need to be reseated.
Almost forgot about that :) I found that out after working on a machine for like 2 hours swapping all the parts wondering what was going on, hehe.

Edit: Oops, typo. My Duron runs at 120.
 
Software memory testors aren't full proof. I would try swapping memory modules. If you have two chips in there try them one at a time. See if your stability improves.
 
try installing the service packs and critical updates and stuff?

there was a expliot a while back that caused the computer to randomly reboot. worth a shot i guess.
 
I got a break, I was testing the computer out some more and it froze up, instead of rebooting. After I clicked around, did the CTRL + ALT + DEL it gave me a long beep, like a flatline.

I pushed the reset switch and when it got back into Windows I got a message saying that the computer had "recovered" :rolleyes: from a flawed driver related to the Radeon 9200. So I swapped out the Radeon for an old Geforce I had and it's been running Sandra now for 4 hours and no reboots. I let my wife play on it for a few hours before that and turned up nothing.

So looks like a bad Radeon. Will be trying and RMA on that and see if it's the card's hardware or the Catalysts.
 
It may be your Catalysts. What I have been told by alot of my friends running Radeon's is that after going to Windows update the last time, with in the last week or so there video drivers are all screwed up.
 
i got the same error message with my 9800 :(
i get that "flatline" sound as well, and ive tried like 20 different drivers.
only the older ones seem to work 3.5 and down and anything above i get errors.

let me know if u fix it.
 
I run the 4.3s on my 9800Pro on my main box and haven't had any problems with em. Of course that's a different motherboard/chipset. Maybe there's a conflict of interests with the KT400 and the current Catalysts.

I'm sending out this 9200 for an RMA tomorrow, so I'll let ya'll know what turns out when I get the new one back.
 
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