Win 7 random lock-ups, no BSOD's

[autotran]

I have been having Windows 7 Home Premium (x64) Service Pack 1 (build 7601) lock-ups for about 6-7 weeks. Never BSOD's, it just stops and leaves the latest screen showing. Nothing then works, mouse, keyboard, nothing. I then have to use the reset button to reboot. The lockup can occur at any time, doing nothing, moving the mouse, using the keyboard, it has even locked up on start-up. I have never went a full day (24 hours) without this happening.
It seemed to start around the time I installed a new Crucial 64GB C300 SSD (boot) drive and a 3TB Hitachi hard drive. It turned out that the Crucial drive was defective with jittery reading and writing specs, Smart status was showing 28%. It was replaced with a refurbished C300 which, out of the box, couldn't be recognized on start-up. Due to this, Crucial replaced it with a new M4 drive which seems to be OK. (By-The-Way, Great service from Crucial) I also have a Kingston 64GB SSD drive for back-up, and if I use this in place of the Crucial, it still locks-up.

I have tried quite a few things to isolate the problem.
1. New OCZ ZX Series modular 850W power supply (had a low priced 650W unit)
2. Tested the 6GB of memory several times
3. Un-Plugged, re-plugged and reseated all cards (more than once)
4. Removed any new programs that I had installed around this time

Any advice would be welcome. Based upon my description of the problem, what is the most likely cause, hardware or software?

Thanks, Dave

Some of my specs:

Board: ASRock X58 Deluxe
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. P2.10 08/31/2009

List of all drives:
11706.20 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
3137.37 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

DVD drives: 3 (on 4 port 150 Sata card)
ATAPI iHBS112 2 SCSI CdRom Device [Optical drive]
NQV 745UBC1E7 SCSI CdRom Device [Optical drive] (Daemon Tools)
Optiarc DVD RW AD-7240S SCSI CdRom Device [Optical drive]
PLEXTOR DVDR PX-880SA SCSI CdRom Device [Optical drive]

Hard drives: 8 (6 on motherboard, and 2 on 2 port 3.0 GBs SATA card)
Canon MX860 series USB Device [Printer] -- drive 8
Hitachi HDS5C3030ALA630 [Hard drive] (3000.59 GB) -- drive 4, s/n MJ1321YNG0AS1A, rev MEAOA580, SMART Status: Healthy
M4-CT064M4SSD2 [Hard drive] (64.02 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 00000000113303179F70, rev 0009, SMART Status: Healthy
SAMSUNG HD203WI [Hard drive] (2000.40 GB) -- drive 6, s/n S1UYJ1RZ602889, rev 1AN10003, SMART Status: Healthy
SAMSUNG HD203WI [Hard drive] (2000.40 GB) -- drive 2, s/n S1UYJ1BZ203009, rev 1AN10002, SMART Status: Healthy
SAMSUNG HD203WI [Hard drive] (2000.40 GB) -- drive 7, s/n S1UYJ1RZ602889, rev 1AN10003, SMART Status: Healthy
ST31000528AS [Hard drive] (1000.20 GB) -- drive 3, s/n 9VP1GY5Y, rev CC35, SMART Status: Healthy
WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B0 [Hard drive] (1000.20 GB) -- drive 1, s/n WD-WMATV0226295, rev 05.00K05, SMART Status: Healthy
WDC WD6400AAKS-00A7B0 [Hard drive] (640.13 GB) -- drive 5, s/n WD-WMASY0918135, rev 01.03B01, SMART Status: Healthy

Controllers
ATA Channel 0 [Controller] (3x)
ATA Channel 1 [Controller] (3x)
Intel(R) ICH10 Family 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 2 - 3A26
Intel(R) ICH10 Family 4 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 1 - 3A20
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller

Bus Adapters
ATWSDJ73 IDE Controller
JMicron JMB36X Controller
Microsoft iSCSI Initiator
Silicon Image SiI 3114 SATARaid Controller
Silicon Image SiI 3132 SoftRaid 5 Controller
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3A3A
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3A3C
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A34
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A35
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A36
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A37
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A38
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A39
Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller
Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Root Hub

[Nuclear Krusader]

Your motherboard was made by the lowest bidder.

Have you run manufacturer diagnostics on the hard drives?

[glc]

Even top tier X58 boards are very fussy and tricky to get running stable, and Asrock is far from top tier.

Lockups like this can be either hardware or software, and with all that hardware you have your job cut out for you to narrow it down. I wish you luck. It could be a motherboard issue, a ram issue, a CPU or GPU overheating issue, or a hard drive/SSD issue. It could be any add-on controller card, and it could even be a defective video card.

With that many drives and 8tb of data, I think you are a candidate for some kind of external storage array or a NAS.

[autotran]

10/27 The 1st thing I did was upgrade 2.10 Bios to 2.50 Bios. Computer would not start and couldn't be fixed. Used Win7 disk and it couldn't find the operating system!
I had to use my Win98 comp to download 3.00 BIOS - Upgraded bios OK, computer wouldn't boot.
Removed 2 port SATA card, re-arranged hard drives, computer booted OK now.
11/28 about 8:35 AM, Removed HD5670 video card, installed my ATI Radeon HD4670 card - software is up to date
11/29 about 7:56 AM 1st lock-up:
locked up: 10-29-2011 about 15:08
locked up: 10-29-2011 about 18:04
locked up: 10-30-2011 about 01:54
locked up: 10-30-2011 about 08:01
When it locks up now with the HD4670 video card, the screen goes black after 1 or 2 seconds. Before it just stopped where it was, never went black.
10/30 Sunday about 9 AM - removed HD4670 card from the top slot, re-installed HD5670 card in the bottom orange slot (nothing in top blue slot right now)
10/30 M4 SSD drive and all other drives installed and working OK.
1st slot 2 port SATA card (640GB and 2.0TB drives)
2nd slot PCI white empty
3rd slot orange slot empty
4th slot PCI white 4 port SATA card (3 DVD drives) one connection empty
5th slot USB 3.0 2 port card, blue slot
6th slot PCI white empty - has bracket for tape player, therefore slot is un-available
7th slot HD5670 video card, orange slot
11/01 this morning - locked up about 06:36 - had run for two days, a new record!
I then moved the HD5670 video card to slot 5 (blue), moved USB 3.0 card to slot 7 (orange) - had trouble on start-up, wouldn't identify the 2 port SATA card, stopped there!
Rebooted, started OK this time
Going to shut down and start up using my 250GB Seagate SATA drive for boot. Will remove the Crucial M40 for the time being.

11/01 About 8 AM, the 250GB Seagate drive is now the C: boot drive, M40 & Kingston SSD's are disconnected. The WD 640GB drive is on a SATA port on the motherboard. Two 2TB Samsung drives are on the SATA card.
Also the HD5670 video card was moved to the 5th slot (blue), the USB 3.0 card is in the 7th slot (orange), the 2 port SATA card is in the 1st slot (blue).
Computer is running OK at the moment, no lock-ups yet.

Possibly a conflict between the motherboard and using SSD drives! Maybe I should change/upgrade the motherboard? It doesn't appear to be software related as I removed all programs that I had installed around the time I had installed the SSD drive, none of them made a difference. Also, it has looked up on start-up, before any software programs have started.
I never had a problem like this until I installed the Crucial C300 SSD (which was defective), then the Kingston SSD followed by the M4 SSD drive.

So, if I need a new motherboard, can anyone recommend an inexpensive, quality board, for my Intel i7 920 LGA-1366 processor and the memory I have? I don't care about over-clocking or any extra special features. I would like it to have at least 8 SATA ports though, if available.
Thanks, Dave

[glc]

I can't honestly recommend *ANY* socket 1366 boards, but I understand the Asus Sabertooth is the least unstable of the whole mess.

[autotran]

Thanks GLC. If my computer can run for at least 3 or 4 days without locking up while not using the SSD drive(s), I will then probably purchase this ASUS Sabertooth board (Newegg.com - ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard), $200.00 will be cheap to get rid of this problem. It appears to have all the features that I believe I need or require.
Dave

Edit: I just checked the warranty on my ASRock X58 board, it was 1 year, Asus is giving 5 years on their boards, I guess that should tell me something about quality.

[jdeb]

I do not think you have an ssd problem but I could be wrong since it has not happened since you disconnected them. I also trust you had the latest Chipset drivers installed as well.

I suspect a voltage problem on the board itself as ASRock is notorious for that or unstable voltage regulation. You may want to turn off the Intelligent Energy Saver, If I recall correctly you get into the smart screen inside of BIOS and toggle with an F key, maybe F6?


Also, what brand and speed is your triple channel memory?

[autotran]

Jdeb,
My computer ran rock solid for two days, it was perfect, no lock-ups at all. Then - I shut it down to get the info you asked about. I went into the BIOS, looked around for the info, made no changes, then allowed it to re-start. I came back about 10 minutes later and it was locked up while updating AdAware, unbelievable!

If you go into the "Advanced CPU Setups", you have 5 choices, two of which are, F9 "Load Bios Defaults and F6 "Load Power Saving Setup Default"
Any of the 5 choices always enables "Intel SpeedStep tech" and "Intel TurboMode tech". I had used the "Bios Defaults" setup and then disabled both of these above choices. I also disabled my floppy and changed the video card type. I also have to make sure the boot drive C: is set correctly. I make no other changes.

"Also, what brand and speed is your triple channel memory?"
OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800

[jdeb]

It sounds like either a voltage problem or software. Have you checked for malware?

Is that memory on the QVL list? I have never used it.

Are you sure there are no blue screens? Have you checked your event viewer?

[autotran]

jdeb,
I have no malware, I have used many different programs to check for it, both from on-line and installed on my computer. I just ran AdAware a day or two ago, it came up with only two or three minor things.
Here is what the OCZ site says about the memory:
"OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800/ 1600MHz / Platinum Edition / 6GB or 12GB / Triple Channel Kits
The OCZ PC3-12800 triple-channel memory kits are designed specifically for the Intel® Core™ i7 processor / Intel® X58 Express Chipset. Optimized for the Core i7’s triple channel mode, these new 6GB and 12GB kits ensure optimal performance via an ideal combination of low voltage requirements, speed, and latency.
Developed for enthusiasts, the low voltage OCZ Triple Channel solutions are the choice counterparts for leading-edge performance that won’t inhibit the functionality of Core i7 CPUs. In addition, modules are tested in matched triplets ensuring superior compatibility." from here: OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 Platinum Low-Voltage Triple Channel *EOL - OCZ
I have tested the memory also, could find no problems.

Yes, no BSOD's, just the screen showing from where it stops. My event viewer basically shows that the critical events that occur are because I have to shut-down the computer with the power or reset switch, that's it.

I forgot to mention, the chipsets are all up to date also, the very latest version.

I also have Process Lasso installed, every time it locks-up and I restart my computer, I look at the log and the last event. It varies always, nothing consistant.

With the SSD drive(s) installed, I have had 100's of lock-ups, I have had only one with my any one of my regular SATA hard drives.
Also, I just remembered, I was using the only IDE drive I had in my computer as the boot C: drive. When I went to the SSD drive for booting, I removed it from my system. I never had a lock-up with that drive. Since I have installed Win 7, I have had some BSOD's, but this happened very rarely, much less than I ever had with Win XP.

It almost sounds like it has to be a motherboard/voltage problem. I believe that the only way I am ever going to know for sure is to replace it with the Asus Sabertooth MB which was mentioned previously.
Thanks, Dave

[autotran]

It locked up twice this morning, at 6:41 and 8:03. No BSOD, just the screen I was looking at.
I loaded Knoppix DVD v6.4 after this just to see what might happen. It loaded OK and then, after about 2½ minutes, it just locked up like Win 7 while I was testing it with Freecell. I rebooted into Knoppix again, and this time it stopped while loading at "start hardware abstraction layer". No lock-up, just stopped. I tried once again, it started OK and I tried Freecell again for about 10 minutes, no problem, so I shut down and rebooted into Win 7. Twice it wouldn't identify my two Samsung drives connected to my SATA card. The 3rd boot is where I am now, everything is working OK.

[Devastator]

I had locking problems with a build I did recently, I was pretty sure it wasn't the components because I'd used the same ones previously with no issues - I then remembered that I had used an SSD in the build.

I don't know if your drive is affected but it'd be my guess (especially since you said it locked up far more with the SSD). You want to look into updating the firmware on the SSD, I did this and problems went away.

Also make sure you have the SSD set as AHCI in BIOS. I'm not sure if it's impossible to do it with the IDE setting, but if it isn't, you might want to check that.

Also make sure you have the latest Intel RST drivers installed. Should be available from the downloads section for your motherboard under 'SATA' or similar.

Hope that helps a bit

[autotran]

Final Update:
Problem has been fixed. I have been running for over a week now with no lockups at all.
It was my original ASRock X58 Deluxe motherboard (bought from NewEgg on 4/20/09 for $219.99).
I have owned and worked on computers since 1987, I have used several different Motherboard's during this time and I have never had a MB fail or have any known MB problem. Since the problem started right after I had installed the defective Crucial SSD drive, I made a poor assumption that it was causing the problem. But, after installing both the Kingston SSD and then the replacement Crucial M40 SSD, which both seeming to work OK, it must be something else. My regular hard drive, that I was now using as the boot drive, was now locking up just as much as the SSD's had been.
It turned out not to be none of the hard drives, power unit, memory, video card, wiring or any other card that I had installed. After testing/moving and/or changing all of these components and nothing helped, it only left the Motherboard.

I ordered a ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA1366 motherboard ($199.99 delivered) from NewEgg on Monday morning, Nov. 7th, it was delivered Tuesday at 5 PM. I was back up and running at about 8 PM after many reboots. Almost everything was identified and worked properly, the only exception was the Marvell controller for the two 6.0 SATA ports. I had installed two of my Samsung 2TB 6.0 drives on these two 6.0 ports. On start-up, the computer would stop at this point and say it was initiating the Marvell controller, I couldn't even get into setup and it never would proceed beyond this point. I then installed my two port eSATA card and attached these two drives to it. All drives were then identified on start-up.
Later on, I tried to put the two Samsung drives on the 6.0 ports again, no luck. I then pulled the 2 port SATA card, tried again, this time both drives were identified. My computer has all of my 12 drives working properly, 8 on the MB and 4 on the SATA PCI card.

I use this computer as my main one, I am lucky that the MB just didn't die and end up leave me hanging for a couple of days.
Thanks to everyone for all their help and advice.
Dave

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by autotran Final Update: Problem has been fixed. I have been running for over a week now with no lockups at all. It was my original ASRock X58 Deluxe motherboard (bought from NewEgg on 4/20/09 for $219.99). I have owned and worked on computers since 1987, I have used several different Motherboard's during this time and I have never had a MB fail or have any known MB problem. Since the problem started right after I had installed the defective Crucial SSD drive, I made a poor assumption that it was causing the problem. But, after installing both the Kingston SSD and then the replacement Crucial M40 SSD, which both seeming to work OK, it must be something else. My regular hard drive, that I was now using as the boot drive, was now locking up just as much as the SSD's had been. It turned out not to be none of the hard drives, power unit, memory, video card, wiring or any other card that I had installed. After testing/moving and/or changing all of these components and nothing helped, it only left the Motherboard. I ordered a ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA1366 motherboard ($199.99 delivered) from NewEgg on Monday morning, Nov. 7th, it was delivered Tuesday at 5 PM. I was back up and running at about 8 PM after many reboots. Almost everything was identified and worked properly, the only exception was the Marvell controller for the two 6.0 SATA ports. I had installed two of my Samsung 2TB 6.0 drives on these two 6.0 ports. On start-up, the computer would stop at this point and say it was initiating the Marvell controller, I couldn't even get into setup and it never would proceed beyond this point. I then installed my two port eSATA card and attached these two drives to it. All drives were then identified on start-up. Later on, I tried to put the two Samsung drives on the 6.0 ports again, no luck. I then pulled the 2 port SATA card, tried again, this time both drives were identified. My computer has all of my 12 drives working properly, 8 on the MB and 4 on the SATA PCI card. I use this computer as my main one, I am lucky that the MB just didn't die and end up leave me hanging for a couple of days. Thanks to everyone for all their help and advice. Dave

Glad to hear you are behind it. If have seen that many times with ASRock boards and is why I never recommend them. Enjoy the Sabertooth, it is the only X58 board I recommend and it is very stable out of the box when combined with good memory. It is faster than that ASRock too if you haven't noticed already.