BSOD Stop Errors on ASUS system

[Powertrip]

Client's Computer Overview:

P4 2.66GHZ CPU S775
ASUS MATX P5RD2-VM Motherboard (Onboard Snd/Lan/Video)
1x512MB Crucial Rendition DDR2 (PC4200) Memory Module
Seagate 160GB SATA or SATAII Hard Drive (Not sure yet)
Creative PCI CT4830 Sound Card
Generic PCI TV Tuner Card
LG DVDRW Drive
Generic Floppy Drive
Codegen 400 Watt Pwr Supply (14A +12 Rail)

Problems Reported:

1)System peridocially fails to boot when cold with blue screens Stop 0x400000080 (0x84709E0,0x8054FFX,0x000000001) and Stop 0x400000080 (0x83FA2A80,0x8054FF6C,0x00000001).

(Client reported this information, yet to have a blue screen at my workshop)

2)System sometimes Blue Screens after it has been operational for some time especially when checking email.


Observations:

Few Application Hangs in Event Viewer, System event log shows 20 or more System Error's 1023 I believe (Can't check right now doing full read scan of hard drive)


System had onboard audio disabled through device manager only, and software is still installed but not in use for the onboard audio. PCI audio is using windows native drivers and seems to work fine dispite the onboard sound still enabled in setup.

I would like to disable and uninstall the onboard sound for sure, but not until I Get a stop error so I can check for more clues.

The Soundmax 4 Hangs on shutdown (Onboard audio software driver I believe)

Tests Completed:

Several cold boots (No BSOD's yet)
Memtest (Not the +) 2 passes Error Free (Although Memtest and Memtest+ did not detect chipset)
Windows Prime 95 RAM/Max Heat tests error free (Several Hours)
Basic windows functions (Browsing, music playback, emails) No Problems
Full Read Scan of Hard Drive (Seatools IN PROGRESS)


I have to go drop a new system off, plan to run some 3D benchmarks and check the SATAII jumper on the hard drive (Could be running at the SATA3G interface and the board is probably only 1.5)

Looking for some opinions on solutions. I want to A) Get a blue screen or 2 to verify my clients coments, B) Resolve the problem.

How would I irritate the system into giving me a blue screen? What steps should I take to source and resolve the issue? (Do the BSOD codes relate to audio driver problems?)

[moodyblues100]

My kids computer has an ASUS mb. We recently tried replacing two 512 MB sticks of ram with two 1 gig sticks. All Crucial, all appropriate for the board. Couldn't get the 2 - 1 gigs to work without BSOD. It would run fine until we plugged in his USB wireless adapter. The machine would work flawlessly with the 2 - 512's and 1 - 1 gig (which is ultimately how we left the configuration). I updated everything softwarewise, Flashed BIOS, Flashed Video card and updated its' drivers, as well as the drivers for all other devices. Nothing worked so we sent the 2 - 1gigs back and ordered 1 - 1gig. Works fine with all devices plugged in, but we were never able to zero in on the exact cause (other than the USB)

I guess my point is, Does he have anything else plugged in to the box that you do not?

[Powertrip]

I can certanly ask. Perhaps a troubled USB printer or periphiral could be causing this? I have not used the TV tuner yet but would like to work it during my tests as well.

[alfie2]

use pstat.exe
it in your XP CD disc....under \support\tools
it will run in DOS prompt, pipe output from it to a text file and open the text in notepad.
the second column is the 0x80000 code for the drivers and stuffs that is running in your machine. you then can id the problem from there.

[flanzig1]

The Codegen PSU could be not working correctly when it is cold. That brand is on the bad PSU makers list.
I looked for the 0x40000080 error and couldn't find it.

[Powertrip]

Attached are the results from the PSTAT program:


pstat.txt


I also got my first 1003 System Error (Not a blue screen but a windows saying your system has recovered from a serious error) after placing the computer outside for 10 minutes at about -2 degrees (Risky I know because of condensation).


Also had no less than 80 Service Control Manager Errors on October 6th all within 4 seconds of each other.

There are several EVENT 1003 (Catagory 102). Probably the blye screens that he was getting on a cold boot.


Hard drive is certified error free, sound playback and 3Dmark2001 ran at the same time for an hour no problems.

[glc]

Uninstall the Soundmax and all onboard audio drivers and disable the onboard sound in the bios. Download and reinstall the latest ATI chipset drivers from the Asus site - taking care NOT to reinstall the onboard sound drivers. Seriously consider replacing that Codegen power supply - even without a video card you should be using a true ATX 2.0 power supply with a 24 pin main connector. 14 amps on a single +12v rail is not enough for any PCI-E board, with or without a video card.

[Powertrip]

Thanks alot GLC, I disabled the onboard audio last night from cmos (Had a heck of a time finding it). I'm going to mosey on over to the ASUS site and pull everything down but the audio drivers.

May even flash the bios for good measure (making sure that the o/b audio stays off). I got 2 power supply in stock I can fire in today;,

a slightly used Thermaltake 430 TR2-430W (30 Amp max on +5, 28 Amp max on +3.3, 18 amp on the + 12)

And a coolermaster 380 Watt (32 Amp on the +5, 20 Amps on the +3.3, 16 Amp on the +12)

That 380 even says it cannont exceed 330 Watts, although I would trust it over the codegen but I'll pull the thermaltake out and dust it off, I know it can run my ABIT 939 ATX board with my 3500+ 2x hard Drives, 2xDVDRW's, a floppy and my 7300 LE Nvidia PCIx card and give me no problems.


Back to work, and all I can do is update his drivers and power supply and let him take it home and try it.

Thanks again GLC, keep you posted!

[glc]

Neither one of those PSU's are really suitable. You need to start stocking ATX 2.0 units. Most of them have dual +12v rails.

[Powertrip]

I really don't think the 430 Watt will have any problems, Prime95 maximum power consumption drops the +12v rail only by .04 volts from 11.98 to 11.94. I know the newer boards use a lot more juce but this is a MATX board with one SATA hard drive (Less power than IDE) 1 floppy, and one DVDRW, 1 stick of ram and 2 PCI Cards (Probably what put the Codegen over the edge).

I'd love to have $100 to throw at power supplys every time but people want bottom dollar stuff. I can get enermax power supplys in but even the 450 Watt's are $78 Canadian wholesale. Can get some Antek stuff in the $60 range, but thats still a chunk of change to fire at a entry level system.

[Powertrip]

I ran a SFC/ scannow and had to click retry several times, then media player wouldn't work so I had to reinstall that.

I also had a slew of new errors in the Event Viewer, most of witch are called SideBySide

"Resolve Partial Assembly failed for Microsoft.VC80.CRT. Reference error message: The referenced assembly is not installed on your system."

"Syntax error in manifest or policy file "C:\Program Files\SiSoftware\SiSoftware Sandra Lite 2007.SP1\Microsoft.VC80.MFCLOC.MANIFEST" on line 5."

"Component identity found in manifest does not match the identity of the component requested"

Service Control Manager Errors:


"The Application Management service terminated with the following error:
The specified module could not be found. "

[glc]

It may be time to back up the customer's data and start from scratch with a fresh Windows and software install.

[Powertrip]

Thanks GLC, thats exactally what I did this morning. I had to go pickup a spare hard drive to back things up onto.

After several hours of nail biting and diagnositics (and everyone here's help) I came to the following conclusion.

The original power supply was not able to provide enough power to all devices especially on startup. Eventually this lack of power lead to file corruption, system instablity and eventually cripled the original install of windows.

Although no data was lost the windows system files themself became corrupted and criss-crosseed.

Every component in this computer was problem free except for the power supply which would probably run fine in an older system.

If I learned one valuable lesson it's never to skimp on your power supply, although were all on a tight budget it has the most important job of all (Giving everything life, and keeping it alive!)

Dual 12 volt rails are a good investment as well as slightly higher wattage than you'll initially need (Incase expansion happens after the sale). Don't let an onboard MATX system with only 3 drives fool you, GLC said it best, PCIx boards suck the juce back! Its not the same as the Socket 478 stuff that just had the 20 Pin and the 4 pin, you now have the 24 pin and the 4 pin, dual core CPU's, power sucking video cards, espansion cards, higher voltage memory, list goes on!

A fresh install of windows onto the same drive fixed all my problems and I am currently benchmarking and testing just to be sure, I found myself asking "Was it worth 3 days to troubleshoot a insuficient power supply when $25 less profit 6 months ago would have saved me the hasstle?"

Thanks again all, hope someone finds this a valuable lesson, I sure did!

[glc]

Like I've been saying all along - cheaping out on any components can be problematic - especially power supplies and motherboards. You generally get what you pay for. I won't even use generic unbranded ram any more, been burned too many times. It's very possible to build with quality components and still keep the price down, you just have to research carefully. There *ARE* low priced components out there that are quality, you just have to know how to find them. Unfortunately for beginners, experience is the best teacher. I look back at some of the crap I built years ago before I knew any better and I shudder. Yep - I've used PC Chips motherboards and L&C power supplies. NEVER again. When I see system builders using stuff like that, there's only 2 reasons in my mind - they don't know any better or they don't care, they just want the sale. Either way, they are not people I want to do business with. If a customer doesn't want to pay my price for a system, I refer them to Dell. They are the only name brand prebuilts I'm comfortable with, and I'm far from comfortable with their new AMD-based systems.

I'm glad you got the problem solved, and I apologize for being scarce around the IRC channel the past couple days - I'm heading out of town this morning for a few days and I've been kinda busy. Catch ya when I get back, you are welcome in the channel any time.