windows 98 keeps crashing to BSOD

[chandr]

Hi,

I have a PII400, 256MB with 2 HDs and a 52x cd rom drive. I installed win98 se onto the C drive after fdisking and formatting both drives. since then windows has constantly crashed - usually when booting up. I install windows, it comes up then the next time it crashes, I erase the hds, install windows 98 and then it crashes and so on and so on. Just now I turned it on and it gets to the windows 98 loading screen before going back to a black screen that says:

Windows protection error. You need to restart your computer

Sometimes I can get to the desktop and then for no reason before I can even move the mouse I get the BSOD with a cryptic error like:

Fatal error 0E has occurred at 0028:C0008279 in VXD VHM(01) + 00007279 (this is a common one)

as is:

Explorer caaused a general protection fault in module krnl386.exe at 0001:00003003

this is really getting me down now as I have erased my HDs, changed my Hds and installed windows from scratch around 40 - 50 times now.

can anyone guess at what might be wrong?

thanx

spooky

[reboot]

Go into BIOS setup.
Set Failsafe Defaults.
Set PnP OS to NO.
Set Reset configuration data to YES.
Disable Com 2.
Set ACPI ON (enable)
Boot to a startup disk, fdisk the drive you're going to boot from, remove all partitions.
Restart to the diskette.
Fdisk the boot drive, making sure you make the partition "Active".
Restart, reinstall Windows.
If it seems to be running slow, go back into BIOS and enable cache on video and system.
If it still fails to install correctly, BSOD's again, I would suspect bad RAM.

[chandr]

Thanx Jim!

I'll try that out tonight if I can. you sound like you have a suspicion as to the culprit. I've got to admit, my QDI legend motherboard has a BIOS that seesm to go on forever in terms of options (not that I'm a seasoned PC tinkerer by any means - I'm a relative rookie).
Are there any reasons why you've suggested the particular options?

thanx

spooky

[chandr]

Hi Jim,

I've been thru my bios and this is the result:

Set Failsafe Defaults - is this an option? If so then I can't find it in my bios. if its not then I guess I look kinda dull
Set PnP OS to NO. - done but there are like 20-30 options for slot 1, slot 2 all set to pnp OS
Set Reset configuration data to YES. - I don't seem to have this although auto configuration is enabled
Disable Com 2. -can't seem to find this either
Set ACPI ON (enable) done

If it seems to be running slow, go back into BIOS and enable cache on video and system. - can't find these either.

might they be called something else?

thanx
spooky

[reboot]

Failsafe, aka system default, or other "default" settings.
OK, there should be an option for "PnP OS Installed", set it to NO.
If you don't see it, don't worry about it.
What you're seeing is for manually setting the slots to PnP or Legacy, leave them all PnP.
Autoconfigration, for RAM timing and such, leave it.
Com 2, aka serial port 2, or serial port B.
Somewhere, some BIOS' have cacheing for video and system, and newer ones have the ability to enable L2 cache or disable it.
You may have to dig deep, but you'll find something on that.
Another thing to look for is, modem IRQ's. Look in Power Management section, and disable any modem IRQ (unless you ARE using the onboard CMR/AMR slot).

Reasons:
PnP OS to NO, this forces each device to attempt it's own, unshared resources, including IRQ's, especially when 2 devices insist on sharing with disasterous results.
Reset configuration data. Forces the motherboard chipset/bios to poll each device, assign it's IRQ and memory resources upon the next restart. Just to clean things up after setting PnP OS to NO.
Disable com 2 (and com 1 if you aren't using it!), nobody uses external com ports for anything usually, so you can free up an IRQ for something else.
ACPI, power management for auto shutdown etc in all Windows operating systems. If this is OFF, you have to manually enable APM in Windows to get shutdown/restart options to work right.

[chandr]

Hi Jim

Things make a lot more sense now!! Thanx

I'll try to have a root thru the bios but it may take some time. I'll get back to you tomorrow to let you know if I've been successful or not.

thanx

spooky

[chandr]

Hi Jim,

just a quick observation. I have installed windows over the basic changes I could make first time round and when I get to the desktop, it shows up but the hard drive seems to keep whirring away for a while and the cursor is an arrow+hourglass. If I click on anything during this time I get BSOD with:

OE at 0028:F0008308

does this make any sense to you?

thanx

spooky

[reboot]

Nope. Windows is doing something important, and trying very hard to sort it out.
Did you fdisk the drive and make the partition active? Did it go OK to that point? Did it seem to take an extremely long time to format? (im thinking bad sectors on the drive maybe).
The other possibility is still bad RAM. It only takes one faulty byte for everything to go haywire.

[chandr]

Hi Jim,

I've had another go at my pc from scratch. here's what I've managed to put together:

Failsafe, aka system default, or other "default" settings. - DONE
OK, there should be an option for "PnP OS Installed", set it to NO. - DONE
What you're seeing is for manually setting the slots to PnP or Legacy, leave them all PnP. - DONE
Autoconfigration, for RAM timing and such, leave it. - Still can't find
Com 2, aka serial port 2, or serial port B. - Serial Port B DONE
Somewhere, some BIOS' have cacheing for video and system, and newer ones have the ability to enable L2 cache or disable it. - found L2 cache and disabled it
Another thing to look for is, modem IRQ's. Look in Power Management section, and disable any modem IRQ (unless you ARE using the onboard CMR/AMR slot). - set to NA

I then booted from a floppy fdisked the c: drive as an active partition and installed windows. everything was fine for the first couple of boots but after that It just got worse.

Did you fdisk the drive and make the partition active? YES

Did it go OK to that point? YES

Did it seem to take an extremely long time to format? (im thinking bad sectors on the drive maybe). NO

The other possibility is still bad RAM. It only takes one faulty byte for everything to go haywire. - Haven't tried.

I've tried to install some stuff while it was up and so my system looks like this:

PII 400 ATX 256MB RAM (PC133), ATI Rage Fury MAXX AGP 32MB,
QDI legend BX1 motherboard
2GB HD as primary master, 3GB HD as primary slave
54x cd rom as secondary slave
PS2 compaq mouse
PS2 compaq keyboard
floppy drive
17" radius monitor
Iomega zip 100 parallel port drive
win98se

one thing I noticed is that as I tried to install stuff off my cd rom drive I got a lot of BSOD errors. do you think there could be a prob with the cd rom drive or the way in which it is setup. when I first installed it and installed the drivers they conflicted with MSCDEX and so I had to turn them off in the system settings.

The BSOD still seems to plague whatever I do, its been ok now for an hour and just as went to the start menu - yep, you guessed it BSOD!!

this is making me kinda depressed.

thanx

spooky

[GaryRouth]

Hi chandr

Following up on reboot's list of things to try:
Time to test that RAM: http://www.simmtester.com (the program is called DocMemory or MemoryDoc - I can never remember which)

If you have two sticks, try one at a time & see if you can get through the test.
_____
And you mention a QDI Legend with a BX chipset. A quick glance over at Crucial only shows Legend's with 440LX chipsets. (course, not a giant difference I suppose). I'm guessing it's PC66 memory? Seems like some of the guys have experience with those motherboards - if I remember right, some have had luck using PC100 and PC133 sticks and letting 'em run at the slower 66 speed. I mention this since it might be hard to find a stick of PC66 to try, where you might be able to find 128mb of PC100/PC133 at a local shop for $10-$20 USD.

Best of luck - We'll see if we can have your cheered up for the Holidays.
. . . Gary

[p.s. pardon my sloppy reading: I just noticed you put the info that you're already running PC133 in that system. What speed are you running it at? reboot was referring to screens in the Bios Setup for memory timings - look for things with memory types and nanosecond ratings ("ns"), or "Timing by SPD", or Normal - Fast - Turbo. Try a lower setting than what you're on now. The other setting that reboot was referring to sometimes shows up on the very first Bios menu that you see. It's usually over on the right hand side, and it's often listed as "Save Defaults and Exit" - it uses default settings for what hardware the bios detects]

[reboot]

Good point Gary. Set RAM timing "by SPD" to be as compatible as possible.
You mention mscdex giving troubles. Can you make the second hard drive master on the second channel and slave the CD to it? Then your primary C will be alone on the primary master channel.
Another idea to try (if it's CD-ROM problems) is booting with CD support, copy the entire CD to the hard drive, and install from there.
I know also that zip drives can cause problems. Unplug it. You can always install it later.
Once you've got windows installed, go back and ENABLE the L2 cache. If it BSOD's right after that, I suspect the CPU is on it's way out, however, I'm still thinking RAM problems...the only other things that may cause all this are overclocking or a bad PSU.

[GaryRouth]

I confess I'm a little confused how you can get mscdex errors with a fresh install - you shouldn't have any cd-rom drivers loaded at all, except the generic ones from either your Windows installation CD or bootable floppy. Did you add the ones from the drive's manufacturer to your bootdisk? Or?

Maybe it'd be a good idea to test as much of the hardware as possible. In addition to testing the memory, might want to test the hard drives, too: download the diagnostics from the manufacturers' websites. (ie: Western Digital = Data LifeGuard, Seagate = SeaTools, Maxtor = Powermax).

I like reboot's idea of unplugging the zip during your install. I'd unplug any modems or sound too, if there are any. And no USB peripherals plugged in.

Is that Rage Fury Maxx the one with the two graphics processors on one card? I seem to remember it was a sensitive beast - with timing issues because of the two chips. If yours only has one chip, - no problem (they quickly dropped the two gpu idea - the single gpus just worked better) - If it turns out that you have the two chip model: make sure you get the exact driver for it.

Can you see the label of your power supply clearly? What brand/strength is it?

With reboot remembering most of the things I've forgotten, we should have you fixed up soon
. . . Gary

[chandr]

Hi Guys,

wow, thanx for all the input. let me see if I can respond to some of it:

I'm not overly sure about RAM on a PC (I'm mainly a mac user but thought I'd give PC's a go). I have a stick of PC133 128MB in it and the rest is PC66 i believe. This mobo came with 128MB 92 sticks and I added another 128. is there anyway via software to find out what they are? they don't seem to have any logical markings on them.
____________________________________________________________
And you mention a QDI Legend with a BX chipset. A quick glance over at Crucial only shows Legend's with 440LX chipsets. (course, not a giant difference I suppose). I'm guessing it's PC66 memory? Seems like some of the guys have experience with those motherboards - if I remember right, some have had luck using PC100 and PC133 sticks and letting 'em run at the slower 66 speed.
____________________________________________________________

The motherboard is hard to fathom - I believe its a P61440BX.B1S - I don't know if thats a Brilliant 1 or Brilliant 1S or whatever. QDI's web site has been very confusing!

_________________________________________________________
[p.s. pardon my sloppy reading: I just noticed you put the info that you're already running PC133 in that system. What speed are you running it at? reboot was referring to screens in the Bios Setup for memory timings - look for things with memory types and nanosecond ratings ("ns"), or "Timing by SPD", or Normal - Fast - Turbo. Try a lower setting than what you're on now. The other setting that reboot was referring to sometimes shows up on the very first Bios menu that you see. It's usually over on the right hand side, and it's often listed as "Save Defaults and Exit" - it uses default settings for what hardware the bios detects]
________________________________________________________
It only has one item with a "ns" listing and it is set to 60ns. It only lets me change it to 50ns or 60ns. I have also found and selected the load defaults and exit option.
________________________________________________________
Good point Gary. Set RAM timing "by SPD" to be as compatible as possible.
You mention mscdex giving troubles. Can you make the second hard drive master on the second channel and slave the CD to it? Then your primary C will be alone on the primary master channel.
__________________________________________________________
I've tried this several times with various combinations of HD but the Pc won't see the primary HD unless its in this current configuration. I don't know whay this might be. Any any setup with the drive and I get a "NO BOOT DISK FOUND" error on startup.
___________________________________________________________
Another idea to try (if it's CD-ROM problems) is booting with CD support, copy the entire CD to the hard drive, and install from there.
I know also that zip drives can cause problems. Unplug it. You can always install it later.
_________________________________________________________
I've tried installing the zip drive after win98SE but I'll checkout the cd rom thing you suggested
_______________________________________________________
Once you've got windows installed, go back and ENABLE the L2 cache. If it BSOD's right after that, I suspect the CPU is on it's way out, however, I'm still thinking RAM problems...the only other things that may cause all this are overclocking or a bad PSU.
I confess I'm a little confused how you can get mscdex errors with a fresh install - you shouldn't have any cd-rom drivers loaded at all, except the generic ones from either your Windows installation CD or bootable floppy. Did you add the ones from the drive's manufacturer to your bootdisk? Or?
____________________________________________
I installed the cd rom originally when I just had DOS on the c: drive and was building the pc. Its gone now of course (the cd rom drivers)
______________________________________________________
Maybe it'd be a good idea to test as much of the hardware as possible. In addition to testing the memory, might want to test the hard drives, too: download the diagnostics from the manufacturers' websites. (ie: Western Digital = Data LifeGuard, Seagate = SeaTools, Maxtor = Powermax).
_________________________________________________________
I have the stuff for both drives (Maxtor and Seagate and they seem to check out fine although Powermax seems to hang now and again)

______________________________________________________
I like reboot's idea of unplugging the zip during your install. I'd unplug any modems or sound too, if there are any. And no USB peripherals plugged in.
_____________________________________________________
(Have tried this. There was one weird side effect when all was installed. I had a parallel port zip drive attached to the pc and a parallel epson 500 attached to the zip drive. on my old compaq this arrangement was fine. However, if I tried to print via word pad the print box would come up and would constantly flicker between "Printer not found" and "Printing" rapidly every second!! the printer would rpint part of a page then turf the paper out bfore printing the next inch of the document on the next sheet and so on. major league weirdness!! It was as if the printer was alternately being seen and then not seen rapidly in succession over and over again!

________________________________________________________
Is that Rage Fury Maxx the one with the two graphics processors on one card? I seem to remember it was a sensitive beast - with timing issues because of the two chips. If yours only has one chip, - no problem (they quickly dropped the two gpu idea - the single gpus just worked better) - If it turns out that you have the two chip model: make sure you get the exact driver for it.
_____________________________________________________
I have the 2 chip model with the latest drivers although to be fair I was having the same problems when I tried a friends Voodoo 3 in the pc instead. There is an option in the ati software to turn off one of the procs and this seems to have no discernable effect.
_____________________________________________________
Can you see the label of your power supply clearly? What brand/strength is it?
__________________________________________

I'll check it out.

With reboot remembering most of the things I've forgotten, we should have you fixed up soon
. . . Gary
_______________________________________________________
I've just tried docmemory and:

The first time around it just hung!! I then recreated the diskette, booted and ran a comprehensive set of tests according to the pdf manual and passed on every test. each stick of ram seems to be doing just fine!!

The Bios saga now reveals the following:

CPU Model: Pentium(R) II
CPU Speed: 400Mhz (100 x 4)
CPU L1 Cache: Enabled (although I have disabled this in the past)
CPU L2 Cache: Enabled (although I have disabled this in the past)
CPU L2 Cache ECC: Enabled (although I have disabled this in the past)

EDO DRAM speed selection: 60ns (it allows me 50 or 60 only)
EDO CASx# MA wait State: 2
EDO RASx# wait State: 2
SDRAM CAS Latency Time: 3
SDRAM Precharge Control: Disabled
DRAM ECC Select: Non-ECC
Video Bios Cacheable: Disabled
Video RAM cacheable: Disabled
8 bit I/O Recovery time: 1
16 bit I/O Recovery time: 1
memory Hole at 15M-16M: Disabled
Passive Release: Enabled
Delayed Transaction: Disabled
AGP Aperture Size (MB) : 64
Clock speed spectrum: Disabled
Close Empty DIMM/PCI Clk : Enabled

ACPI function: Disabled

I can't find SPD at the moment

Does any of this shed any more light for you guys?
I'll try what you guys suggested and get back to you - if not tonight then next Monday when I get back

thanx

spooky



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[GaryRouth]

Well, the memory tested OK with one stick at a time - that's good. Did you also test with both sticks in? If not, make sure that configuration tests O.K. too. You mention using PC133 RAM, but the Bios Setting you show is for EDO RAM ??? - you can use either EDO type memory, or PC66 (& possibly PC100/PC133) type memory separately - but you can't mix both types on a motherboard. That might be the problem right there.

Another thing = why disable ACPI? (just wondering)

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[p.s. I don't know of any programs to identify memory right off hand. . . some of the other techs, might know of some, though. I've never looked much, but it's possible SiSoft Sandra - the system analysis program, might - but it runs from Windows. Does DocMemory offer to identify the modules?]

[reboot]

Some boards took either PC or EDO...no worries there.
All RAM timings seem to be OK.
Enable ACPI before you do anything else, or the computer won't shutdown properly.
Is there anything anywhere about "Peer Concurrency"? Enable it, if you find it.
As a last resort, you can enable the Memory Hole...".
Yank the PC66 RAM out. It will definitely give problems trying to run at 100mhz, and could be the source of all your problems.
Try the install with those settings, and just the 1 stick of PC133 in it.

[chandr]

Hi Guys,

sorry for the delays in getting back to you. in response toy some of your questions/suggestions:

____________________________________________________________
Did you also test with both sticks in? YES - everything seems to pass
____________________________________________________________
You mention using PC133 RAM, but the Bios Setting you show is for EDO RAM ??? - you can use either EDO type memory, or PC66 (& possibly PC100/PC133) type memory separately - but you can't mix both types on a motherboard. That might be the problem right there. - I've tried running the machine with just one stick and still I get the same BSOD problems. I've left just a 128MB stick in it right now and after I got to the desktop (and before I'd even touched the mouse) I got kicked into a blue screen that says: A fatal exception has occurred at 0028:F0008308. The current application will now be terminated!!

_____________________________________________________________
Another thing = why disable ACPI? (just wondering) - I've re-enabled it now.

_________________________________________________________
Enable ACPI before you do anything else, or the computer won't shutdown properly. - OK Done!
_________________________________________________________
Is there anything anywhere about "Peer Concurrency"? Enable it, if you find it.
As a last resort, you can enable the Memory Hole...". I can only find the ones I listed above I'm afraid, the rest of my bios seems preoccupied with Pnp, processor temperature and drives.
___________________________________________________________
Yank the PC66 RAM out. It will definitely give problems trying to run at 100mhz, and could be the source of all your problems.
Try the install with those settings, and just the 1 stick of PC133 in it. - I've tried it with just the 128 PC133 and have the problems noted above.

This is really getting me down now. I can't really see what could be wrong. Could it perhaps be software? I've just rebooted and then at the desktop done a CTRL ALT DEL. The close program window has come up and listed the following:

Explorer
Qttask
Findfast
Atiptaxx
Wzqkpick
Imgicon
Adusermon
Systray

what the hell are Wzqkpick, Imgicon, Adusermon?!? (I'm asuming that Atiptaxx is something to do with my ATI card?)

any ideas guys?

thanx
spooky

[reboot]

Disable Qttask aka Quicktime junk. Uninstall quicktime if you must.
Disable Findfast. It's built in to MSOffice. More reading here: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q158/7/05.asp
Atiptaxx is for your video card, you don't need it. It's just for the icon in the systray, and you should be able to disable it.
Wzqkpick is from Winzip. Disable it in winzip options.
Imgicon is from Iomega zip drives. Not needed. Removal instructions: http://pw2.netcom.com/~deepone/zipjaz/ioware.html#startup
Leave Explorer and Systray.
For almost everything you ever wanted to know about startup programs and what they are (and how to remove them) see: http://www.azpchelp.com/StartupListA-F.htm#A

One more thing to try.
Device mangler > System > PCI Bus> IRQ steering tab...take the tick marks out of all except "Use MS Steering...."
Restart.

[andyms18a]

try to boot in safe mode as this will give you access to msconfig

[chandr]

Hi guys,

I've managed to try most of the things you've all suggested although I'm not sure I quite understand how to do the IRQ steering thing (could you please explain this a bit more simply for me? :))

So far the result of all your help has been that the pc is much more stable than it has ever been (this morning it did not crash or BSOD at all for over 4 hours!!). However, a weid thing happened to me this afternoon and evening. I pulled the pc forward as it on the floor to reach the sockets behind on the wall. this involved tipping the case forward. when I started the machine after that I got an immediate BSOD with an exception error. when I rebooted an hour later it ran fine with no crashes. just for the hell of it I tipped the case forward again and rebooted. It got to the desktop and before I could click on My Computer I got a BSOD! is this coincidence do you think?

One more thing I've tried is to turn of the dual procersor mode for the ati rage furry maxx using the ati control panel.

its getting better but I'm still not at the stage where I'd trust it to do any real work on it which is kinda making a mockery of building it in the first place!!

does anyone have any more thoughts?

thanx

spooky

[Rick Hall]

Have you removed the processor and reseated it. It may be loose in the socket.

[reboot]

If simply tipping the case is causing crashes, then it's a hardware related problem. something is loose in the case, or something may even be shorting out the motherboard. Any loose screws, cables, whatever, can really mess things up. Time to crack it open, tear it down and rebuild it.
You shouldn't have any troubles if you put the cards back in the same slots they came out of.
A loose processor wont' cause a BSOD, it will simply quit, however, a loose cable of any sort, making contact, then not, then contact again, is the same as hot swapping a part. Guaranteed to cause the BSOD, if not fry the part in the process.
I have seen CPU fans, not quite attached right, and if you tip the case, it partially falls off the CPU, usually contacting the RAM, making it lose proper contact in the slot, instant BSOD or restart.

[chandr]

Hi,

I haven't replied for some time as I have been out of the country on personal business. to recap, I was having dreaded blue screen probs at random with win98se. eventually in the ATI controls I turned off the use of dual chips on the graphics card and everything was fine for weeks. however, today for no apparent reason it has started up again!

is it time to dump this pc in the trash and buy a new one? I guess this will teach me to try to buld my own pc!

if anyone has any ideas then I would be very greatful. As I'm typing this on my trusty apple G4 (never crashed, never needed any maintenance) I am reformatting the c drive of my pc in order to reinstall Win98se from scratch.

thanx

:confused:

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

Well, I had to re-read the saga from the start (reload it in my own aging memory) - and some things still don't seem to add up.

Where to go from here?
1) If you have access to a different power supply, why not give it a try.
2) If you can download & install Sisoft Sandra (http://www.sisoftware.co.uk), see what speeds & types it reports for the memory. Just so we know what's up there. That's still my #1 suspect, regardless of the DocMemory results. How can you have only PC133 ram in there reporting itself as 60ns EDO??? Shouldn't be possible. Some PC133 sticks won't work at slower speeds, some will. If your motherboard doesn't support anything faster than PC66 or EDO 50ns, then give it what it wants - It's not easy to find, but a quick check on PriceWatch.com should find a few options for you. It would be nice if the memory was all the same type. Some motherboards will run with both EDO and PC66 at the same time, just not real quickly. I prefer not to mix (partly because I hate to fiddle and fiddle with the timings until both memory types are happy)
3) Try entering Bios Setup for the memory timing pages and use the "Set Default Values" option, and then "Save Changes and Exit"
[you Might want to set ALL of the pages to their Defaults while troubleshooting - excluding onboard devices which you are not using, which you need to set to Disabled ---> OR find a manual for your motherboard & carefully make your selections item by item with manual in hand]
4) On your next install, make sure ACPI is enabled in the Bios from the Start. [. . . and that "Bios Virus Protection" or "Bios Shield" bios antivirus, whatever it's named = is Disabled during the install - you can enable it again after]
5) Make triple-sure you've got the Ati reference driver for that 2 gpu beast (from the Ati support website)
6) Also before your next install, check every connection - and search for short possibilities. Look for short damage on the motherboard (black areas - or any goo oozing from leaky capacitors) Check under the motherboard for loose screws. Blow out dust from the heatsink, fans, circuit boards, power supply.
7) Also prior to reinstalling: Scan any drives/partitions that aren't being reformatted for viruses.

Win98se is usually fairly easy to get running smoothly. The fact that it hasn't gone well is more likely due to something wrong with the hardware, the bios setup, or driver problems.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[chandr]

Hi GaryRouth,

I've had a go at some of the advice you gave me:

1) I can't seem to get hold of a power supply to test this one out at the mo

2) I downloaded sandra but the installer kept giving me a message that said that MCDAC or something was required ?!

3) I've set some of this but frankly much of the options in the BIOS are a total mystery to me and I am more than a little nrvous about it!

4) Done

5) done

6) done

7) done

Now here's what I did afterwards:

1) boot from floppy
2) format C drive
3) Install windows 98se
4) Install DirectX 8.01 (ATI driver requires at least DX7)
5) Install ATI Rage Fury MAXX Driver and turn off dual chip support
6) Install Epson Color 500 Printer Driver
7) I found some intersting info about VXD errors on these forums at: http://tweakhomepc.virtualave.net/upd/vmm32vxd.html
and followed the instructions to install the seven VXD files
8) Installed my software
9) rebooted

It has not had a single BSOD error since although I have experienced a couple of strange things:

1) in the DX setup info it tells me that the ATI driver is not certified?!
2) On 2 occasions when I had 4 or more windows open in the desktop if I closed one it would stay on the screen but not respond to the mouse. all the other windows would then follow suit until I rebooted. Its as if the windows had closed but the screen was refusing to redraw.

Does this help at all?

thanx

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

Next time the screen freezes, see if pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL (just once, to bring up the Task List) will let you select the offending window, and close it with the "End Task" button.

I'm still not sure about your memory setup. I'd imagine that SiSoft Sandra should install fine now that you have a fresh copy of Win98se. You can run a burn-in test with Sandra, and especially look at what type and speed Sandra identifies the sticks to be. Odd lockups can be memory, heat, power supply types of problems. Sandra has system temps on one of it's screens, too.

By the way, does the tipping thing still happen? (there for a while if the box was slightly tipped, you mentioned it rebooted and sometimes blue-screened).

The vxd fix on that website is a little bit folklore: but it shouldn't hurt anything. It involves a little confusion about a file that Microsoft used to help speed up boot times, the correct versions of the vxd's are usually already contained inside it (if the hardware was installed successfully).

Should you get Sandra installed OK, it should be able to identify your motherboard for you. With that information in hand, we should be able to find a manual for your board on the Internet, and tune your Bios according to it's instructions.

Then we'll see about having you apply for an MSCE certificate :)
. . . Gary

[chandr]

Hi gary,

thanx for your reply. I've just downloaded sandra again and when installing it shows up a message that says MCDAC is needed and then exits!

any ideas?

thanx

[andyms18a]

just a thort have you tryed a difrent copy of win98 as the disk you have may be damaged and not instaling corectley

[chandr]

Hi Andy,
thanx for your email

yes, this is the fifth (!) different windows 98se CD!

[GaryRouth]

chandr - do you mean MDAC rather than MCDAC? If so, you can try it's service pack from Microsoft. What mysitifies me is why your latest install doesn't have it already.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9ad000f2-cae7-493d-b0f3-ae36c570ade8&DisplayLang=en

Let me know how it goes (oh, & see about the case tipping)
. . . Gary

[chandr]

Hi Folks,

what a couple of days I've had! I downloaded MDAC and installed it which went fine apart from telling me that some of the files it needed to install were in use and so a restart was required but everything seemed fine. I then downloaded and installed sandra which went fine. I ran a couple of modules but to be honest it was all a bit over my head and I didn't really know what I was looking at. I then tried to exit sandra and that's when the problems reappeared! I immediately got locked in a BSOD that led to powering the machine off and on again. when windows rebooted I was then treated to a number of BSOD at random moments such as launching an app, moving the mouse, double cliking on "My Computer" etc. so much so that the machine was unuseable. I then had to format the C drive, reinstall win98 and my apps and so far today the machine has been ok (!) I managed to get some data from Sandra although I have no idea what it means. I haven't dared to reinstall MDAC or sandra again. I know its asking a lot but maybe someone can make head or tail of this mess:

SiSoftware Sandra

Mainboard
Manufacturer : Quality Design (QDI)
MP Support : No
Model : Brilliant-1
Version : V1.XX
System BIOS : 04/05/99-i440BX-W977TF-2A69KQ19C-00
Chipset : Intel 440BX/DX/ZX

Memory Controller
Error Detection Method : Parity
Error Correction Capability : None
Supported/Current Memory Interleave : 1-way / 1-way
Number of Memory Slots : 3
Maximum Installable Memory : 96MB
Maximum Module Size : 32MB
Supported STD/FPM/(B)EDO Speeds : 70ns, 60ns
Supported SDRAM Speeds : PC66, PC100
Supported Memory Types : EDO, SDRAM
Supported Memory Voltages : +3.3V

Physical/BIOS Memory Banks
DIMM1 (RASL-0 RASL-1) : 32MB DIMM SDRAM single-bank
DIMM2 (RASL-2 RASL-3) : 256MB DIMM SDRAM single-bank
DIMM3 (RASL-4 RASL-5) : 128MB DIMM SDRAM single-bank

Chipset 1
Model : Intel Corporation 82443BX/ZX 440BX/ZX CPU to PCI Bridge (AGP Implemented)
Bus(es) : ISA AGP PCI USB i2c/SMBus
Front Side Bus Speed : 1x 100MHz (100MHz data rate)
Maximum FSB Speed / Max Memory Speed : 1x 100MHz / 1x 100MHz
Width : 64-bit
IO Queue Depth : 4 request(s)

Logical/Chipset 1 Memory Banks
Bank 0 : 16MB SDRAM 3-3-3CL
Bank 1 : 16MB SDRAM 3-3-3CL
Bank 2 : 128MB SDRAM 3-3-3CL
Bank 3 : 128MB SDRAM 3-3-3CL
Bank 4 : 128MB SDRAM 3-3-3CL
Speed : 1x 100MHz (100MHz data rate)
Multiplier : 1/1x
Width : 64-bit
Refresh Rate : 15.60µs
Power Save Mode : No
Fixed Hole Present : No

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module 1 : 32MB 16x(2Mx8) SDRAM PC100-333-811 (CL3 up to 100MHz) (CL2 up to 67MHz) (CL1 up to 33MHz)
Memory Module 2 : NEC 4532CD647PF-A75 A102EE23 256MB 16x(16Mx8) SDRAM PC133U-333-542 (CL3 up to 133MHz) (CL2 up to 100MHz)
Memory Module 3 : 128MB 8x(16Mx8) SDRAM PC133U-333-542 (CL3 up to 133MHz) (CL2 up to 100MHz)

AGP Bus(es) on Hub 1
Version : 1.00
Speed : 2x 66MHz (132MHz data rate)
Multiplier : 2/3x
Side Band Enabled : Yes
Aperture Size : 64MB

PCI Bus(es) on Hub 1
Version : 2.10
Number of Bridges : 1
PCI Bus 0 : PCI (33MHz)
Multiplier : 1/3x

LPC Hub Controller 1
Model : Intel Corporation 82371EB/MB PIIX4E/M ISA Bridge
ACPI Power Management Enabled : Yes
Random Number Generator Enabled : No
Multiplier : 1/4x
Speed : 8MHz
DMA Multiplier : 1/2x
DMA Speed : 4MHz

USB Controller 1
Model : Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4/E/M USB Controller
Version : 1.10
UHCI Interface : Yes
Channels : 2
Speed : 48MHz
Legacy Emulation Enabled : No

System SMBus Controller 1
Model : Intel PIIX4 SMBus / compatible
Slave Device Enabled : Yes
Speed : 16kHz

Expansion Slot(s)
ISA : ISA 16-bit +5V Full-Length
ISA : ISA 16-bit +5V Full-Length
ISA : ISA 16-bit +5V Full-Length
PCI (9h) : PCI 32-bit +5V Full-Length Available
PCI (Ah) : PCI 32-bit +5V Full-Length Available
PCI (Bh) : PCI 32-bit +5V Full-Length Available
PCI (Ch) : PCI 32-bit +5V Full-Length Available

Port Connector
PRIMARY IDE : None - ATA / None
SECONDARY IDE : None - ATA / None
FDD : 8251 FIFO - Floppy Disk / None
COM1 : Serial Port 16450 - 9 Pin Dual Inline / DB-9 pin male
COM2 : Serial Port 16450 - 9 Pin Dual Inline / DB-9 pin male
LPT1 : Parallel Port ECP/EPP - DB-25 pin female / DB-25 pin female
Keyboard : Keyboard - None / PS/2
PS/2 Mouse - Detected : Mouse - PS/2 / PS/2
USB : USB - None / None

Performance Tips
Notice 224 : SMBIOS/DMI information may be inaccurate.
Warning 2508 : All memory slots are full. Upgrading the memory may be difficult or expensive.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

SiSoftware Sandra

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) II
Co-Processor (FPU) : Built-in
Speed : 401MHz
Performance Rating : PR481 (estimated)
Type : Standard
Package : SECC(2) Slot1 Cartridge
Multiplier : 4/1x
Generation : 6 (6x86)
Name : P6L (Deschutes) Pentium II 266-450MHz 2V
Revision/Stepping : 5 / 2 (0)
Stepping Mask : (m)(m)dB0
Microcode : MU065214
Core Voltage Rating : 2.000V
Maximum Physical / Virtual Addressing : 36-bit / 32-bit

Processor Cache(s)
Internal Data Cache : 16kB Synchronous Write-Thru (4-way sectored, 32 byte line size)
Internal Instruction Cache : 16kB Synchronous Write-Back (4-way, 32 byte line size)
L2 On-board Cache : 512kB ECC Synchronous Write-Back (4-way, 32 byte line size)
L2 Cache Multiplier : 1/2x (200MHz)

Upgradeability
Socket/Slot : SLOT 1
Upgrade Interface : Slot 1
Supported Speed(s) : 550MHz+

Features
FPU - Co-Processor Built-in : Yes
VME - Virtual Mode Extensions : Yes
DE - Debugging Extension : Yes
PSE - Page Size Extension : Yes
TSC - Time Stamp Counter : Yes
MSR - Model Specific Registers : Yes
PAE - Physical Address Extension : Yes
MCE - Machine Check Exception : Yes
CX8 - Compare & Exchange Instruction : Yes
APIC - Local APIC Built-in : No
SEP - Fast System Call : Yes
MTRR - Memory Type Range Registers : Yes
PGE - Page Global Enable : Yes
MCA - Machine Check Architecture : Yes
PAT - Page Attribute Table : Yes
PSE36 - 36-bit Page Size Extension : Yes
PSN - Unique Serial Number : No
CLF - Cache Line Flush Support : No
DS - Debug Trace & EMON Store : No
ACPI - Software Clock Control : No
MMX Technology : Yes
FXSR - Fast Float Save & Restore : Yes
SSE Technology : No
SSE2 Technology : No
SS - Self Snoop : No
HTT - Hyper-Threading Technology : No
TM - Thermal Monitor : No
SBF - Signal Break on FERR : No
SSE3 Technology : No
MON - Monitor/MWait : No
DSCPL - CPL qualified Debug Store : No
TM2 - Thermal Monitor 2 : No
EST - Enhanced SpeedStep Technology : No
CID - Context ID : No
DAZ - Denormals Are Zero : No

Advanced Settings
L2 Cacheable Range : 4GB
L2 Cache Grouping : 1 bank(s)
L2 Cache Latency : 7 clock(s)
Data Error Checking : Yes
Low Power Mode : Yes
Fast Strings : Yes
IO Queue Depth : 8 request(s)

Machine Check Architecture Settings
Number of Reporting Banks : 5 bank(s)

Variable Range MTRR Settings
MTRR 0 : 00000000-0FFFFFFF (0MB-256MB) WB
MTRR 1 : 10000000-17FFFFFF (256MB-384MB) WB
MTRR 2 : 18000000-19FFFFFF (384MB-416MB) WB
MTRR 3 : EC000000-EDFFFFFF (3776MB-3808MB) UC
MTRR 4 : EE000000-EFFFFFFF (3808MB-3840MB) WC
MTRR 5 : E0000000-E1FFFFFF (3584MB-3616MB) WC
MTRR 6 : E4000000-E5FFFFFF (3648MB-3680MB) WC

Fixed Range MTRR Settings
MTRR 0 Range 0 : 00000000-0000FFFF (0kB-64kB) WB
MTRR 0 Range 1 : 00010000-0001FFFF (64kB-128kB) WB
MTRR 0 Range 2 : 00020000-0002FFFF (128kB-192kB) WB
MTRR 0 Range 3 : 00030000-0003FFFF (192kB-256kB) WB
MTRR 0 Range 4 : 00040000-0004FFFF (256kB-320kB) WB
MTRR 0 Range 5 : 00050000-0005FFFF (320kB-384kB) WB
MTRR 0 Range 6 : 00060000-0006FFFF (384kB-448kB) WB
MTRR 0 Range 7 : 00070000-0007FFFF (448kB-512kB) WB
MTRR 1 Range 0 : 00080000-00083FFF (512kB-528kB) WB
MTRR 1 Range 1 : 00084000-00087FFF (528kB-544kB) WB
MTRR 1 Range 2 : 00088000-0008BFFF (544kB-560kB) WB
MTRR 1 Range 3 : 0008C000-0008FFFF (560kB-576kB) WB
MTRR 1 Range 4 : 00090000-00093FFF (576kB-592kB) WB
MTRR 1 Range 5 : 00094000-00097FFF (592kB-608kB) WB
MTRR 1 Range 6 : 00098000-0009BFFF (608kB-624kB) WB
MTRR 1 Range 7 : 0009C000-0009FFFF (624kB-640kB) WB
MTRR 2 Range 0 : 000A0000-000A3FFF (640kB-656kB) UC
MTRR 2 Range 1 : 000A4000-000A7FFF (656kB-672kB) UC
MTRR 2 Range 2 : 000A8000-000ABFFF (672kB-688kB) UC
MTRR 2 Range 3 : 000AC000-000AFFFF (688kB-704kB) UC
MTRR 2 Range 4 : 000B0000-000B3FFF (704kB-720kB) UC
MTRR 2 Range 5 : 000B4000-000B7FFF (720kB-736kB) UC
MTRR 2 Range 6 : 000B8000-000BBFFF (736kB-752kB) UC
MTRR 2 Range 7 : 000BC000-000BFFFF (752kB-768kB) UC
MTRR 3 Range 0 : 000C0000-000C0FFF (768kB-772kB) WP
MTRR 3 Range 1 : 000C1000-000C1FFF (772kB-776kB) WP
MTRR 3 Range 2 : 000C2000-000C2FFF (776kB-780kB) WP
MTRR 3 Range 3 : 000C3000-000C3FFF (780kB-784kB) WP
MTRR 3 Range 4 : 000C4000-000C4FFF (784kB-788kB) WP
MTRR 3 Range 5 : 000C5000-000C5FFF (788kB-792kB) WP
MTRR 3 Range 6 : 000C6000-000C6FFF (792kB-796kB) WP
MTRR 3 Range 7 : 000C7000-000C7FFF (796kB-800kB) WP
MTRR 4 Range 0 : 000C8000-000C8FFF (800kB-804kB) UC
MTRR 4 Range 1 : 000C9000-000C9FFF (804kB-808kB) UC
MTRR 4 Range 2 : 000CA000-000CAFFF (808kB-812kB) UC
MTRR 4 Range 3 : 000CB000-000CBFFF (812kB-816kB) UC
MTRR 4 Range 4 : 000CC000-000CCFFF (816kB-820kB) UC
MTRR 4 Range 5 : 000CD000-000CDFFF (820kB-824kB) UC
MTRR 4 Range 6 : 000CE000-000CEFFF (824kB-828kB) UC
MTRR 4 Range 7 : 000CF000-000CFFFF (828kB-832kB) UC
MTRR 5 Range 0 : 000D0000-000D0FFF (832kB-836kB) UC
MTRR 5 Range 1 : 000D1000-000D1FFF (836kB-840kB) UC
MTRR 5 Range 2 : 000D2000-000D2FFF (840kB-844kB) UC
MTRR 5 Range 3 : 000D3000-000D3FFF (844kB-848kB) UC
MTRR 5 Range 4 : 000D4000-000D4FFF (848kB-852kB) UC
MTRR 5 Range 5 : 000D5000-000D5FFF (852kB-856kB) UC
MTRR 5 Range 6 : 000D6000-000D6FFF (856kB-860kB) UC
MTRR 5 Range 7 : 000D7000-000D7FFF (860kB-864kB) UC
MTRR 6 Range 0 : 000D8000-000D8FFF (864kB-868kB) UC
MTRR 6 Range 1 : 000D9000-000D9FFF (868kB-872kB) UC
MTRR 6 Range 2 : 000DA000-000DAFFF (872kB-876kB) UC
MTRR 6 Range 3 : 000DB000-000DBFFF (876kB-880kB) UC
MTRR 6 Range 4 : 000DC000-000DCFFF (880kB-884kB) UC
MTRR 6 Range 5 : 000DD000-000DDFFF (884kB-888kB) UC
MTRR 6 Range 6 : 000DE000-000DEFFF (888kB-892kB) UC
MTRR 6 Range 7 : 000DF000-000DFFFF (892kB-896kB) UC
MTRR 7 Range 0 : 000E0000-000E0FFF (896kB-900kB) UC
MTRR 7 Range 1 : 000E1000-000E1FFF (900kB-904kB) UC
MTRR 7 Range 2 : 000E2000-000E2FFF (904kB-908kB) UC
MTRR 7 Range 3 : 000E3000-000E3FFF (908kB-912kB) UC
MTRR 7 Range 4 : 000E4000-000E4FFF (912kB-916kB) UC
MTRR 7 Range 5 : 000E5000-000E5FFF (916kB-920kB) UC
MTRR 7 Range 6 : 000E6000-000E6FFF (920kB-924kB) UC
MTRR 7 Range 7 : 000E7000-000E7FFF (924kB-928kB) UC
MTRR 8 Range 0 : 000E8000-000E8FFF (928kB-932kB) UC
MTRR 8 Range 1 : 000E9000-000E9FFF (932kB-936kB) UC
MTRR 8 Range 2 : 000EA000-000EAFFF (936kB-940kB) UC
MTRR 8 Range 3 : 000EB000-000EBFFF (940kB-944kB) UC
MTRR 8 Range 4 : 000EC000-000ECFFF (944kB-948kB) UC
MTRR 8 Range 5 : 000ED000-000EDFFF (948kB-952kB) UC
MTRR 8 Range 6 : 000EE000-000EEFFF (952kB-956kB) UC
MTRR 8 Range 7 : 000EF000-000EFFFF (956kB-960kB) UC
MTRR 9 Range 0 : 000F0000-000F0FFF (960kB-964kB) UC
MTRR 9 Range 1 : 000F1000-000F1FFF (964kB-968kB) UC
MTRR 9 Range 2 : 000F2000-000F2FFF (968kB-972kB) UC
MTRR 9 Range 3 : 000F3000-000F3FFF (972kB-976kB) UC
MTRR 9 Range 4 : 000F4000-000F4FFF (976kB-980kB) UC
MTRR 9 Range 5 : 000F5000-000F5FFF (980kB-984kB) UC
MTRR 9 Range 6 : 000F6000-000F6FFF (984kB-988kB) UC
MTRR 9 Range 7 : 000F7000-000F7FFF (988kB-992kB) UC
MTRR 10 Range 0 : 000F8000-000F8FFF (992kB-996kB) UC
MTRR 10 Range 1 : 000F9000-000F9FFF (996kB-1000kB) UC
MTRR 10 Range 2 : 000FA000-000FAFFF (1000kB-1004kB) UC
MTRR 10 Range 3 : 000FB000-000FBFFF (1004kB-1008kB) UC
MTRR 10 Range 4 : 000FC000-000FCFFF (1008kB-1012kB) UC
MTRR 10 Range 5 : 000FD000-000FDFFF (1012kB-1016kB) UC
MTRR 10 Range 6 : 000FE000-000FEFFF (1016kB-1020kB) UC
MTRR 10 Range 7 : 000FF000-000FFFFF (1020kB-1024kB) UC

PAT Settings
PAT 0 : WB
PAT 1 : WC
PAT 2 : UC-
PAT 3 : UC
PAT 4 : WB
PAT 5 : WC
PAT 6 : UC-
PAT 7 : UC

Performance Tips
Tip 210 : Mainboard supports faster CPUs, so the CPU can be upgraded when needed.
Notice 224 : SMBIOS/DMI information may be inaccurate.
Tip 219 : A SSE(2) processor is recommended for modern multimedia applications and games.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

SiSoftware Sandra

General Information
Manufacturer : Award Software International, Inc.
Version : 4.51 PG
Date : 04/05/99
Plug & Play Version : 1.00
SMBIOS/DMI Version : 2.00
ID : FC 01 00
(EE)PROM Size : 256kB (2Mbit)

General Capabilities
Can be Updated/Flashed : Yes
Can be Shadowed : Yes
Is Socketed : Yes
Supports Plug & Play : Yes
Supports ESCD : Yes
Supports Enhanced Disk Drive : Yes
NEC PC-98 Spec Compatible : No

Power Management Features
Supports APM : Yes

Boot Features
Supports Selective Booting : Yes
Supports CD/DVD Boot : Yes
Supports PCMCIA/CardBus Boot : No

Performance Tips
Tip 201 : System BIOS is old. Check for an update.
Notice 224 : SMBIOS/DMI information may be inaccurate.
Tip 207 : A SMBIOS/DMI 2.3 or later compliant BIOS is recommended. Check for a BIOS update.
Tip 212 : BIOS can be shadowed so check whether it is.
Tip 211 : BIOS is flash-able and socketed so it can be upgraded when needed.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

SiSoftware Sandra

ACPI BIOS
Version : 1.00
Manufacturer : QDIQDI
MP APIC : No
SCI ACPI IRQ : 9

APM BIOS
Version : 1.02
Program Support : 16/32-bit
System Status : Engaged
AC Line Status : On-Line
Battery Status : No Battery

APM Capabilities
Supports Clock Slow-down : Yes
Can Enter Global Standby : Yes
Timer Wake-up from Standby : Yes
Ring Wake-Up from Standby : No
PCMCIA Ring Wake-Up from Standby : No
Can Enter Global Suspend : Yes
Timer Wake-up from Suspend : Yes
Ring Wake-Up from Suspend : No
PCMCIA Ring Wake-Up from Suspend : No

APM System Status
AC Line Status : On-Line
Battery Status : No Battery

Performance Tips
Warning 1101 : Using APM on desktops may result in reduced performance or delays.
Warning 1102 : Clock slowdown may reduce performance.
Notice 224 : SMBIOS/DMI information may be inaccurate.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

SiSoftware Sandra

Device Information
Device Type : VGA Video Adapter
Device ID : bus 1, device 0, function 0
OEM Device Name : ATI Technologies Rage 128 PF/Pro AGP 4x (TMDS)
OEM Hardware ID : FUN_0, VEN_1002, DEV_5046, REV_00
Device Name : ATI Technologies Rage Fury MAXX AGP 4x (TMDS) (VGA device)
Product ID : VEN_1002, DEV_2000
Revision : A / 1 (0)

AGP Capabilities
Version : 2.00
Command Queue Length : 32
Fast-Writes Support : No
Over 4GB Addressing Support : No
Side Band Support : Yes
Data Transfer Modes Support : 1x 2x

Power Management Features
Version : 2.00
Supports Clock Slow-down : Yes
Supports D1 PM State : Yes
Supports D2 PM State : No
Supports PME# : No
Supports PME Clock : No

Device Capabilities
Line Cache Size : 8 bytes
Latency Timer : 64 clk
I/O port resources : Yes
Memory resources : Yes
Bus Master Capable : Yes
Special Cycle Recognition : No
Memory Write & Invalidate : No
VGA Palette Snoop : No
Parity Error Response : No
Address/Data Stepping : Yes
System Error Line : No
Fast back-to-back Transactions : No
Detects Parity Errors : No
Supports System Error Line : No
Supports Parity Line : No
User Defined Format : No
66MHz Bus Support : Yes
New Capability List : Yes
Device Select Timing : Medium
Multi-Function Device : No
Header : 00
Interface : 00

Hardware Resources
Memory Range : E0000000
I/O Range : 0000D000
Memory Range : EA004000
Irq. No. : 11
INT Pin : A#
Dynamic Management : Yes

SiSoftware Sandra

Video Adapter
Model : RAGE FURY MAXX (English)
Revision : 000
Total Memory : 32MB (32MB Video)
Texture Memory : 32MB

AGP Capabilities
Version : 2.00
Command Queue Length : 32
Fast-Writes Enabled : No
Side Band Enabled : Yes
Data Transfer Modes Support : 1x 2x
Current Data Transfer Rate : 2x

Video BIOS
Date : 00/02/08

VESA BIOS
Version : 2.00
VESA VBE/PM : 1.00
Manufacturer : ATI Technologies Inc.
Video Adapter : R128
Version : 01.00
OEM Hardware ID : ATI RAGE128
OEM BIOS Version : 1.00
Total Memory : 32MB
Current Video Mode : 06h
Linear Frame Buffer Support : 3584 - 3616MB

Chipset
8-bit Colour Width RAMDAC : Yes
VGA Compatible : Yes
Programmed RAMDAC with Blank Bit : No


Current Video Mode
Mode : 1280x1024 16M+ TrueColour (32-bit)

Video Driver
Model : ati2drau.DRV
Version : 4.12.01.7942
Expected Windows Version : 0.1024
Video Acceleration : Yes
Screen Saver Active : No
Low Power Saving Active : 15 minutes(s)
Power Off Saving Active : 15 minutes(s)

Supported Video Modes
Mode 0 : 640x480 16 colours (4-bit)
Mode 1 : 640x480 256 colours (8-bit)
Mode 2 : 800x600 256 colours (8-bit)
Mode 3 : 1024x768 256 colours (8-bit)
Mode 4 : 1152x864 256 colours (8-bit)
Mode 5 : 1280x1024 256 colours (8-bit)
Mode 6 : 1600x1200 256 colours (8-bit)
Mode 7 : 640x480 64K HiColour (16-bit)
Mode 8 : 800x600 64K HiColour (16-bit)
Mode 9 : 1024x768 64K HiColour (16-bit)
Mode 10 : 1152x864 64K HiColour (16-bit)
Mode 11 : 1280x1024 64K HiColour (16-bit)
Mode 12 : 1600x1200 64K HiColour (16-bit)
Mode 13 : 640x480 16M+ TrueColour (32-bit)
Mode 14 : 800x600 16M+ TrueColour (32-bit)
Mode 15 : 1024x768 16M+ TrueColour (32-bit)
Mode 16 : 1152x864 16M+ TrueColour (32-bit)
Mode 17 : 1280x1024 16M+ TrueColour (32-bit)
Mode 18 : 1600x1200 16M+ TrueColour (32-bit)

Enhanced Video Settings
Animation Effects Enabled : Yes
Full Windows Drag Enabled : No
Font Smoothing Enabled : No

Device Mode Characteristics
Physical Medium Width : 338 mm, 13 in
Physical Medium Height : 270 mm, 11 in
Recommended CRT/Panel Size : 21 in
Horizontal/Vertical Resolution : 96x96 dpi
Colour Bits/Planes : 32 / 1 bit(s) pp
Brushes : 4294967295
Pens : 4294967295
Colours/Shades : 4294967295
Pixel Width/Height/Diagonal : 36 / 36 / 51

Driver Clipping Capabilities
Can Clip Output to Rectangle : Yes
Can Clip Output to Region : No

Driver Raster Capabilities
Supports Banding : No
Supports Fonts Larger than 64Kb : Yes
Can Transfer Bitmaps : Yes
Supports Bitmaps Larger than 64Kb : Yes
Supports Device Bitmaps : Yes
Supports DIBs : Yes
DIBs on Device Surface : Yes
Flood Fills : No
Supports Windows 2.x : Yes
Stretch/Compress Bitmaps : Yes
Stretch/Compress DIBs : Yes
Supports Scaling : No
Palette-Based Device : No
Saves Bitmap Locally : No

Driver Curve Capabilities
Can Draw Circles : No
Can Draw Ellipses : No
Can Draw Pie Wedges : No
Can Draw Chord Arcs : No
Can Draw Wide Borders : No
Can Draw Styled Borders : No
Can Draw Wide, Styled Borders : No
Can Draw Rounded Rectangles : No
Can Draw Interiors : No

Driver Line Capabilities
Can Draw Polylines : Yes
Can Draw Styled Lines : Yes
Can Draw Wide Lines : No
Can Draw Wide, Styled Lines : No
Can Draw Markers : No
Can Draw Polymarkers : No
Can Draw Interiors : No

Driver Polygonal Capabilities
Can Draw Alternate-fill Polygons : Yes
Can Draw Winding-fill Polygons : No
Can Draw Rectangles : Yes
Can Draw Scan Lines : Yes
Can Draw Wide Borders : No
Can Draw Styled Borders : No
Can Draw Wide, Styled Borders : No
Can Draw Interiors : Yes

Driver Text Capabilities
Supports Stroke Clip Precision : Yes
Supports Stroke Output Precision : No
Supports Character Output Precision : No
Supports 90° Character Rotation : No
Supports Any Angle Character Rotation : No
Supports Independent X-Y Scaling : No
Supports Doubled Character for Scaling : No
Supports Integer Multiples for Scaling : No
Any Multiples for Exact Scaling : No
Can Draw Double-Weighted Characters : No
Can Italicise : No
Can Underline : No
Can Draw Strikeouts : No
Can Draw Raster Fonts : Yes
Can Draw Vector Fonts : No
Cannot Scroll Using BitBlt : No

Performance Tips
Tip 2221 : Driver is not certified.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

SiSoftware Sandra

General Information
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 98 Version 4.10.2222 A
Full Name : 4.10.22224.10.2222 A

Registered Owner : ME
Registered Organisation : HUH?
Enhancement Pack Version : IE 5 5.00.2614.3500
DOS System : Microsoft MS-DOS Version 7.10 A

Session Settings
Host Name : ME
User : ME
Time Since Start-Up : 9 minutes(s) 29 seconds(s)

OS Properties
Debug Version : No
Security Present : No
Remote Terminal Session : No

Boot Features
Boot Type : Normal
Boot into Windows GUI : Yes
Multi-Boot Enabled : Yes
Boot Windows by Default : Yes
Start-up Delay : 2 s
Show Boot Menu : Yes
Boot Keys Enabled : Yes
Default Menu Item : Default
Default Menu Select Delay : 30 s

Start-up Settings
Show Windows Logo : Yes
Auto-load Double Buffering : Yes
Auto-load DoubleSpace : No
Auto-load DriveSpace : No
Load Command Interpreter in HMA : Yes
Network Drivers Enabled : Yes
Safe Mode Start-up Warning : Yes
Logging Disabled : No

OS Folders
Windows Folder : C:\WINDOWS
System Folder : C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM
Application Data Path : C:\WINDOWS\Desktop
Programs Path : C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND
Temporary Folder : C:\WINDOWS\TEMP

Regional Settings
User Default Locale : 2057
Country : United Kingdom
Language : English (United Kingdom)
Currency : £
Time Zone : GMT Daylight Time
ANSI Code Page : 1252
OEM Code Page : 850

Performance Tips
Tip 1313 : Consider upgrading to Windows 2000/XP/2003.
Tip 1308 : Boot without the Windows logo to reduce boot delay.
Tip 1302 : Double-Buffering is only needed for real mode SCSI devices.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.


Whew!

BTW Gary I've been giving the old case a tip and a shake but so far when the machine is behaving itself the tipping case phenomenon seems not to reappear.

thanx

[GaryRouth]

Hi again - [Sandra does pack an information overload wallop, huh :) ]

Found the motherboard's manual, it's over at http://www.qdi.nl/download/BX1.htm

The manual mentions it supports modules of 4,16,64, & 128Mbit devices (the type of memory chips on the module's circuit board). Your 32mb module lists in Sandra as a 2Mbit device: so you might try life without that one in the system, and see if BSODs become a thing of the past. The manual also list 384 as the max memory for your board, which sounds to me that each slot's maximum module would be 128mb: which makes me wonder about your 256mb module.

If you try everything over again one more time (! - I know, a royal pain - !) with just the 128mb module in, I believe everything will run smoothly. Then you'd see about trading with someone for 2 sticks of 128mb for your 256mb module and you'll be at the recommended max mentioned in the manual.

Everything you've been seeing just seems to be memory-related. It's just the kind of craziness that goes on when the memory is "close but no cigar".

I might be wrong - I think Hal, reboot, and glc have some experience with the QDI boards (whereas I've never seen one up-close -- just from spec sheets and manuals). . . so if they happen upon this thread, I'm sure they'll correct me.

What surprises me a bit is that if the memory is as out-of-spec as the manual points it to be, why does it work somewhat well for periods of time? . . . then again, you haven't had to wait too long for trouble at least some of the time...

Take a look at the manual, and see what you think.

Hal, reboot, or glc (or any other techs with QDI experience) - if you drop by this thread - what do you guys think?

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[mike breck]

Sorry I missed this thread. It's a masterclass in troubleshooting and you've all (including you chandr) put in a lot of hard work in trying to solve the problem.

Tell me chandr, after you installed Win98, did you install the mobo drivers? Do you have them on CD?

Did you disable any anti-virus option in the BIOS?

My natural inclination is to go back to basics with this problem. That is, clear the BIOS, re-Partition and format the Primary Master with minimal hardware installed i.e. mobo, cpu, one HD, one stick of Ram, floppy drive, and CD-Rom. Then install the mobo drivers.

Then run Win98 (no third-party software at this stage - basic VGA drivers) for a day and see if the BSODs occur.

With this minmal setup, I would re-run Doc Memory and Maxtor PowerMax to doublecheck that the Primary Master and Ram are OK.

If that goes well, I would install the graphics driver and DirectX.
Test for a period.

If it doesn't go well, then you're looking at substituting, the basics one at a time i.e. Ram, PSU, video card, CD-Rom, Floppy Drive, HD, cables etc.

I'd certainly like to try another PSU in this unit, just to make sure this isn't a power problem.

Then add the peripherals back, one at a time, testing each stage for a day, as you go.

The last thing I would do is install third-party software and test each program for a time period before installing the next one.

I just think you need to start from scratch again, simplifying the troubleshooting, and testing each component in a methodical way.

HTH

[David_Jones]

Hi Chandr,

I noticed above that something led you to expand that VMM32.vxd file into its compenent parts.

What led you to that? Was it by any chance due to the BIOSXLAT.VXD causing errors?

If so, you might want to check the Int13 settings in your BIOS, since that could be causing problems. Search through every page / sub-page of the BIOS settings for any reference to Int13 or Int13h and post back with the options you have.

Stick with it - Gary, Mike, Jim, et al are some of the best people you will find here or anywhere else for helping you through this type of thing logically, and you learn so much from the process!

With you,

David.

[chandr]

Hi Guys,

Thanx for your replies.

With regards to trying out some of your suggestions, I?m in a bit of a quandry at the moment. Right now the machine is behaving ok with no BSOD so if I try anything out then obviously I won?t be able to tell if it helps or not. So I guess I have to wait until the first BSOD before trying some of the advice you?ve given me. At the rate things are going this shouldn?t be too long! J
Like you gary, I?m mystified as to why the machine works well at times (the longest continous good spell lasted weeks ? the shortest about a few hours)

Gary, I visited the site you listed (thanx) and was hunting around for a bios update. I?m a little confused at to which one is the correct one. Am I right is assuming that it is the second from the top? Ie - B1_v20sl.zip?

I?ll try to answer the questions I can :

Q Tell me chandr, after you installed Win98, did you install the mobo drivers? Do you have them on CD?

I don?t have a Cd for the Mobo and since it is a 400BX I kinda assumed that windows would be happy with it as it is. Therefore I have never installed Mobo drivers. I can?t seem to find Mobo drivers at QDI?s site although I came across this at intel?s site:

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df/Detail_Desc.asp?agr=N&ProductID=816&DwnldID=5811

dos this sound right?

Q Did you disable any anti-virus option in the BIOS?

Yes

Q My natural inclination is to go back to basics with this problem. That is, clear the BIOS, re-Partition and format the Primary Master with minimal hardware installed i.e. mobo, cpu, one HD, one stick of Ram, floppy drive, and CD-Rom. Then install the mobo drivers.
Then run Win98 (no third-party software at this stage - basic VGA drivers) for a day and see if the BSODs occur.

When I originally put this together the machine was as follows:

QDI Mobo
Floppy drive
128MB RAM
1 x 2GB IDE HD (Seagate)
CPU / fan / PSU
CD Rom
Voodoo 3 AGP Graphics card

I installed windows and sometimes it would seem fine and at others I?d get BSOD. When it finally seemed to calm down for a few days without BSOD I gradually added the rest of the hardware. I changed the Graphics card as quite often the BSOD would appear after I installed the Voodoo drivers (although this might just have been my imagination).
I kept getting BSOD until I switched off dual chip support in the ATI software. It then ran fine for some weeks before the dreaded BSOD reappeared. Curiously as I rack my brain trying to find a pattern to the occurrence of BSOd it quite often started after I installed some piece of software such as the Voodoo drivers, sandra, a game etc.
Since the machine is fine at the mo I?ll have to wait until it BSOD?s on me again but rest assured that as soon as it does I?ll open up the case and follow your suggestions Mike.

Q I noticed above that something led you to expand that VMM32.vxd file into its compenent parts.
What led you to that? Was it by any chance due to the BIOSXLAT.VXD causing errors?

I did a search on this forum for VXD errors and this site came up:

Although the advice it gave was sketchy I figured I had nothing left to lose so I tried it out!

Q If so, you might want to check the Int13 settings in your BIOS, since that could be causing problems. Search through every page / sub-page of the BIOS settings for any reference to Int13 or Int13h and post back with the options you have.

I?ve hunted thru the BIOS and can?t find anything referring to Int13 or Int13h. I may have missed it but I?ve been thru it a few times now. Is this a problem?

[mike breck]

Sorry I forgot. Win98 has the BX chipset drivers. You shouldn't need to install mobo drivers.

I would try uninstalling the Voodoo drivers and running in standard VGA mode for a couple of days.

I'm just wondering if the Voodoo Drivers may be causing the problem.

[chandr]

Hi Mike,

My mistake, I should have been clearer. Although the PC had a voodoo in it originally, I suspected that this might be a prob so I uninstalled it, removed the card and replaced it with an AGP ATI Rage Fury MAXX and the latest drivers. I was then still getting the BSOD until I went into the ATI software and disabled dual chip support. After that I had the longest continous run so far without a BSOD - until recently!

thanx

[mike breck]

Well if it's working at the moment, then don't change anything. Only proceed with troubleshooting if the BSODs start appearing again.

However, in the meantime, some other points.

Are you using the most recent Rage Fury MAXX drivers? If so, what version of DirectX are you running - 8.1?

Everytime you update or change video drivers you should always reinstall DX over the top of itself.

Did you uninstall the Voodoo Drivers from Add/Remove Programs before installing the ATI drivers? I wrote down the complete way to uninstall Voodoo drivers in a long, distant Post:

"Go into Safe Mode and remove the Voodoo from Add/Remove Programs and Device Manager. Delete the Voodoo setup file in C:\WINDOWS\INF\. Also delete the "inf." file in C:\WINDOWS\INF\OTHER. The "INF" folder is a hidden folder in Windows, so you may have to go to VIEW>FOLDER OPTIONS>VIEW and tick "Show all Files".
Then go to START MENU>RUN and type REGEDIT.

Left-click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the Regedit Window. Click on "Find" and type in "Voodoo". When regedit finds a reference to Voodoo, right-click on it and select DELETE. Then left-click on the EDIT tab at the top again and click on FIND NEXT. Regedit will find the next entry for Voodoo.
Some single line entries may appear in the right-hand pane and some complete Voodoo folders will appear in the left-hand pane. Delete them all, but be careful you only delete Voodoo entries. Take your time.

When Regedit tells you it has finished searching the Registry, then you know that you have deleted all entries and can exit Regedit."

Also, boot into Safe Mode and check in Device Manager that the Rage Fury MAXX is the only listed Video Card (it will be a double listing because of the dual GPUs, I know).

If there is more than one Rage Fury MAXX listed (not the double listing), then remove it. If Voodoo is listed then remove it. If you have more than one monitor listed, then remove the extra listings.

These extra listings are called Ghosts and can cause problems.

It might also be worthwhile checking to see if your Rage card has jumpers.

"RAGE FURY MAXX VGA jumper settings
Some RAGE FURY MAXX cards come with two VGA enable/disable jumpers. These jumpers are labeled JU101 and JU201 on the card.

For correct operation
For correct operation the jumpers on the card must be set as follows:

JU101 set to the DISABLED (D) position
JU201 set to the ENABLED (E) position

If the jumpers are not set correctly the following symptoms may occur:

At boot the system will beep three times and there will be no visible display.
The system may only function normally in DOS. Attempting to boot to Windows 98 yields a Windows protection error."

http://mirror.ati.com/support/infobase/3550.html

In reviewing all the details again, if the problem reoccurs, I do think it would be worthwhile getting another good, known compatible stick of Ram from Crucial, so we can hopefully eliminate incompatible Ram from the equation.

But in the meantime, sit tight and see what happens.

Good luck.

:)

[chandr]

Hi Mike,

In answer to some of the issues in your last post:

Q Are you using the most recent Rage Fury MAXX drivers? If so, what version of DirectX are you running - 8.1?

The drivers I am using are the latest ones from ATI downloaded less than two weeks ago. I am running DX version 8.1b

Q Did you uninstall the Voodoo Drivers from Add/Remove Programs before installing the ATI drivers? I wrote down the complete way to uninstall Voodoo drivers in a long, distant Post:

Yes. in the end with continuing BSOD I booted from a floppy, formatted the c drive then shut down. then I removed the voodoo card and inserted the ATI before restarting from a floppy and reinstalling windows 98se. I installed the DX 8.1 followed by the ati drivers after that.

Q Also, boot into Safe Mode and check in Device Manager that the Rage Fury MAXX is the only listed Video Card (it will be a double listing because of the dual GPUs, I know).

It is the only agp device listed although as you pointed out it is a double listing

Q It might also be worthwhile checking to see if your Rage card has jumpers.

I have checked and the jumpers are set up as advised

I'll be back as soon as the first BSOD occurs although strangely (and infuriatingly the machine seems solid a as rock at the mo!)

thanx

[mike breck]

That's PCs for you.

:D

[GaryRouth]

Maybe this is the surprise happy ending ;)