CPU/Mobo Hardware problem still undetected

[renegade]

Alright so I decided to defrag my C: drive and instead fragged my PC.
The windows defrag stuck midway and said i should run a diskcheck. That was the moment I had this feeling that I should backup my C: drive but I did not.
Well after that each time I tried to boot I had a BSOD in my face which said non_page_error_in_page_area or page_error_in_non_page_area, something like that. After much booting and humping and cursing now it shows that the system file is missing.

Ok so i decided to format the drive, I dont panic I just format whenever something goes wrong, but I do panic when my cds dont run and I am panicking now.
The bootable XP disk asks me to hit 'any' button to boot from cd but when i hit the 'any' button (my keybd is multimedia and it has the 'any' button) the PC just hangs and nothing happens. Though when I remove the HDD the cd loads fine and takes me to the setup screen and all.

So I got my friends HDD which also needed tweaking ( NTLDR missing; something is always missing from windows) and again the same prob. I tried changing cables since I had a spare ATA, stil nothing.

I tried to run LiFY which is based on knoppix (CD run OS) but even that wont load completely and pause midway after showing me that it is configuring devices. SO I tried installing linux but the installation wont finish and would KILL everything and reboot.

( I formatted the C: first in ext3 and then in NTFS but still it show NTLDR missing, I wonder why :huh: )

I swapped my ram's slot but still nothing.

And now even when I run without my HDD connected the setup just hangs on a file or another from setup.c

I suspect that my RAM is gone. If that is the case then I would like to know the RAM prices for 256MB PC2700 and 512MB PC2700.

My Config:
1700+
M7VIG(KM266 via)
256MB PC2100
Quantum Fireball 20GB hyeah:
Ahyes and 275W PSU

>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Now also suggest me a decent mobo+proc which is as light as possible on my pocket and still better than my present one.

 

[Aces170]

Seems like you have shortlisted the prob accurately, its the RAM at culprit had a similar issue years back on a P2, Ram seemed to be faulty. Some more shortlisting steps.

1. Get a Win98 loaded HDD and check
2. Get a Ram stick from friend and check ( Pity you are not frm Mumbai as many ppl could have helped you here. )
3. Check your HDD on an another comp provided you havent formatted aldready.
4. Run the memtest tool, some kind soul will definitely provide a link.

 

[renegade]

will try with different RAM and memtest.
where will I get a win98 loaded HDD... i have made all my friends load XP with ntfs.

 

[Chaos]

Hanging after the press any key to continue is a guaranteed disk controller problem. I'm sure its the disk but u can try out a memtest just to be safe. you can just burn memtest86 on a cd and boot off it. Its either ur hard disk thats borked or the ATA channel on which its attached.

 

[renegade]

It isnt the HDD as I tried with my friends samsung 20GB too.

I shall try swapping the primary and secondary. My hdd is on secondary and cd-drive on primary.

 

[deejay]

Try resetting the cmos config data.
by either the battery removal method or by the jumper setting method.
since most of the obvious remedies are already posted above.

 

[renegade]

on second thoughts it isnt the controller too i think. i did connect my hdd to secondary master and then to primary slave but the same problems.

 

[Chaos]

If your drive is seagate, download SeaTools from their website (use some other comp ) and try running it. You'll know for sure if its a disk problem or not if it gives any error!

 

[renegade]

My Config:
1700+
M7VIG(KM266 via)
256MB PC2100
Quantum Fireball 20GB hyeah:
Ahyes and 275W PSU

...................................

 

[renegade]

man this is plain ####.
when i hit a key withn the first few msec of it displaying the prompt it loads fine to the setup but while copying setup files it says 'cannot copy from source' for many files in burst.
however if i am late on hitting the key then the pc just hangs.
on linux too it takes me to the graphicla configuring devices page but then just shutsdown after killing everything.
I couldnt check the RAM as there is hardly anyone here from whom i can borrow the stick. however i did donwload the memtest today, so lets see.

-edit-
memtest:
pass=1
error=300000 and still counting
so long... good bye...

now the dealer i talked to says that i get a 256MB PC2100 3 year warranty ram for 1450/-
what is your opinion on this.

 

[renegade]

please please help me please........
I bought a new RAm today and the memtest is finding errors with that ram too and I am facing the same problems (setup not running properly and now linux is booting but it says it needs minimum 82 MB ram I have 256)
However when i installled the RAm on my friends computer it is running fine. even my previous ram is running fine. I even played the game harry potter on my ram.
But on my PC it isnt running and showing all kindsof erors.

 

[bottle]

have you tried memtest on your friends pc with your ram ? sounds like you have mobo issues, either disk or memory controller problem .

 

[deejay]

as mentioned previously by me , did you reset the cmos values by "removing the battery " route ??? and upon restarting immediately going into the bios and then selecting "load Default Values". then save and exit.

Generally the errors that you have mentioned means something is wrong with the memory sub-system of your m/b. this includes everything from the memory controller ic , to the traces, and banks of resistors and capacitors, to dirt on the contacts of the memory slots. hence it is difficult to exactly diagnose unless it is actually in the hands of a well trained technician.

The first thing to do under such circumstances is to clear and reset the cmos values so that the default values (memory and other timings) settings for your m/b are restored , if they had become corrupted and maybe the cause of the errors.

also take a real close look at and around the small capacitors , near the memory slots. do any one of them have a brownish residue (leaky caps) ?? or do any of the caps on the m/b look bloated or bulging on the top. if it is then this could be the cause of the memory errors too. especially if they are on the rail supplying vDimm to your rams.

Also check for any earthing or grounding problem , on the underside of ur m/b. (near the memory area), u know those metallic struts into which you insert the screws (if it is applicable in ur case). check whether it is touching some part of the circuit on the m/b.

also the more details (however irrelevant it may seem) you can give about the problem, and the steps you have taken to rectify it, the better it would be for us to diagnose and suggest remedy.

hence before giving up on your m/b give these tips a thought.

ps: these may not be the cause of ur problem but there is no harm in checking them out ....

 

[renegade]

Well my previous steps are all there and yes I did reset the CMOS removed battery, shorted jumper and all.

Last day I tried a few more things as follows.....

1] installed XP twice on my friends PC frm the same CD from my drive Asus CDRW(5224A) and his LG CDR. it ran flawlessly. His drive was smooth as anything but my drive has very slow access time and would accelelreate and slow down alternately.

2] used his 300W SMPS and used my 250W on my setup. both time same problem. ie setup shows all kinds of problem with copying files and error 32768.
(the voltage which was supposed to be 3.3V was 3.02V and 12V was 11.60V for both SMPS)

3] memtest was failing on last two percentage in test 5 in both cases on my DDR and his SDR.
however with my 266Mhz DDR it is failing in every test for some small address range.

4] connected my CDRW, my HDD to his setup i.e. his intel810 and P3 and SDR and the installation was smooth except for the slow access time of my CDRW

5] as mentioned in previous post the new RAM is running fine another friends PC but the old one kept restarting if i opened too many things. It was loading XP and all fine, I even connected tyo the internet with only the old ram. ( but that could be coz his PC is 333Mhz and my old RAM is 266Mhz but the new one is 333Mhz)

6] I also tried discharging the setup and also brushed the RAm slots real long with a toothbrush.

there is also one other problem on my CDRW if i am late in hitting any key for the setup to run then the PC just hangs when i hit a key.

 

[Aces170]

It seems either your DIMM slots or the chipset might be having issues. You will need to replace your mobo.

 

[~HeadShot~]

Yeah, replace your mobo! Its abvious after these observations that your mobo is at guilt!

 

[renegade]

Hmmm recent update. Linux installs fine and runs absolutely fine. The service centre guy said flash the bios, did that no change.
WIndows gives error 32768 while installing and linux runs fine.

Interceptor posted 18.58 minutes later:

Some guy on some other forum told me to slipstream my cd as he solved his prob by that. But I tried to instal on a HDD (friends) which had Win2000 in it and still got the same prob

Interceptor posted 0.73 minutes later:

So i wonder/think that slipstreaming wnt work for me