I Think, Therefore I Am... In Trouble

[Kov-Ice]

Ahh... where to begin?

I got a BSOD a few weeks ago. I looked up the Hynix memory module referenced to be sure that it belonged to my Radeon 9500 video card. I had been experiencing some dimming of brightness during a game (and having to readjust the level each time), so I've been expecting the worst.

When XP froze up a few days ago while opening a window with images, and then did so again 15 mins later, and then continued to freeze in a loop after that, my assumption was that the vid card had expired. It ran in Safe Mode with no problems, ran Folding@Home in SM overnite at 100% cpu load no problem, and had no errors running MemTest+86 for several hours.

Ran Driver Cleaner Pro and installed newly purchased GeForce card. XP freezes before install can even begin. Maybe it's just XP maybe having registry issues with the change in vid card maker (or a faulty new card), so I tried a known good Radeon 9250 and it froze XP before install as well.

This is where I'm obviously over my head... I read somewhere that it's maybe a good idea to try a Repair Install of Windows to see if this clears it up. It didn't. Now, I'm unable to even boot into SM. Nice job, me, but I figured if this didn't work, I'd be doing a reinstall, anyway.

I think I went out of order here, tho. I had just finished making a UBCD4Windows and prolly should have tried it first before doing the Repair... Now, even that boot CD was freezing before reaching Windows.

In your far greater experience, does that mean my mobo (P4P800) / AGP slot is the true culprit? Or could a ruined install really be the problem?

If you got this far, thanks for reading along! To follow my reinstallation saga, visit THIS thread. Thx!

[glc]

I wonder if you have a zapped Southbridge? That's a known issue on 865PE boards if you have been using the front USB ports.

If you think you may need a new motherboard, Geeks has some Intel D865GLC boards with no onboard lan. It has onboard video, but it has an AGP slot and 3 PCI slots.

[Kov-Ice]

Any way to test that? I've used the front ports occasionally, but I've always used the Remove function in the task bar.

[Panama Red]

Examine the Southbridge chip closely. Even use a magnifying glass if you have one. Look for any discoloration or blistering, typically in the center of the chip.

Make sure you have all usb devices disconnected before you attempt the reinstall, especially any card readers. Do you have a pci video card you could try? That would possibly ID the AGP slot as the culprit. If the UBCD won't even boot, double check your bios for the proper boot order. If the bios is correct, you either have a bad disk or a bad CD drive.

[Kov-Ice]

I'll take a look at the Southbridge this evening to see. I don't have any USB stuff permanently plugged in.

Dunno about the UBCD4Win, as it's the first time I've used it. I'll have to try it in a different box to see if the image was good, but it booted to it and got past the Windows splash screen. It froze up before Windows could populate, tho, much like the last few freezes I had originally.

I guess I'm trying the reinstall, and if probs persist, I need to secure a PCI card to see if the mobo dunnit...

[Panama Red]

You shouldn't even get to the Windows splash screen. It should go from the Asus splash screen directly to the UBCD options.

[Kov-Ice]

I can use a regular UBCD and get to the options no problem still. I was trying to use UBCD4Windows, which is basically a BartPE boot disc. I was hoping that would take me into Windows to see how the hardware responded under a clean install, but didn't get that far...

Edit: Well, the good news is that my UBCD4Windows works! I'm on my lil' 98 box, and it's really a handy interface and everything.

Bad news - I tried the reinstall on my troubled comp, and about halfway through it BlueScreened on me... That would point to hardware problems, I assume. That cannot be good...

[Kov-Ice]

Each of the times I've tried the reinstall, I crash out as it's about two-thirds of the way through "Installing Devices" in the XP installer. This last time, I had only the vidcard, hdd, optical, and memory (still in case tho... haven't had the time to pull everything out yet). Does it with new vid card and proven older one. Is it worth grabbing a cheap PCI vid card to see if the slot is the problem, or is that highly unlikely?

[GaryRouth]

Hi Kov-Ice

Might be best to borrow one rather than to put out any dollars.

You mentioned that the UBCD4Win CD doesn't boot on the troubled computer --- but did you say that the UBCD (the Linux-based CD) boots OK? If the Southbridge is a bit wrecked, it's possible that transfers over the ATA and IDE interfaces, which I believe are controlled through the Southbridge (called ICH5 on your ASUS) - would likely act up. Were that the case, I'd expect that neither the UBCD nor the UBCD4Win (nor any other CD-based bootdisk) would work. The AGP slot works in tandem with the Northbridge (called MCH on your ASUS) . . . but if you've had a power surge or other electrical surprise, any component could have been thrown for a loop.

By the way, how old is your P4P800? Some of them had three-year warranties -- so you might have a chance to send it back for a replacement, if it proves to have damaged components. If it's wrecked, it can't hurt to try contacting ASUS.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[Kov-Ice]

Well, I swapped motherboards (HERE is that thread), and everything is working. Both comps... go figure.