new motherboard problems

[mosie]

My friend put in a ECS EliteBoard and the computer keeps rebooting and the blue screen with these errors==c:\windows\minidump\mini030404-02.dmp

c:\DOCUME~1\LUANNM~1.COX\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER2.tmp.dir00\sysdata.xml
wondering if settings in bios are wrong or has to do with memory or what,can anyone help please

 

[mainegeek]

Did he do a clean install of the OS or did he just swap out the board?

 

[jsauce]

That's a dump. It means the computer was shutdown to prevent further damage to the system and it dumps the contents of memory into a file so you can look at it and try to figure out why. You haven't given a lot of info here so I cannot tell you much more than that. Its possible that you need to reinstall Windows to get it working. I'm assuming your OS is either Windows NT, 2000, or XP. If its 2000 or XP you could try a repair install. Boot with the cd and when asked choose to repair the installation. You don't want to repair using the recovery console but rather reinstall using the repair option so that it replaces all the system settings and such, but won't replace your files. It could be bad memory it could be anything. You have tried pulling hardware out and starting it up adding new hardware until it crashes?

John D. Saucier
jsauce@magicguild.com
Certified Technician
Network Administrator

 

[alleykatzchic]

I'm the friend she was talking about and this is the story. I recently upgraded my ECS Eliteboard P425A, Intel Pentium 4, 1.6 GHz cpu with an Intel Pentium 4, 2.4 GHz cpu. Ever since this installation, I get the "System recovered from serious error" message. When i report it to Microsoft i get the message ....

C:\Windows\Minidump\Mini030404-02.dmp
C:\DOCUME~1\LUANNM~1.COX\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER2.tmp.dir00\sysdata.xml

I found a post in Google when searching for "sysdata.xml" (if you search Google Groups, it's the first post) and it stated to do several things ... the final of which is disable memory dumps ... this is what i've done as a last resort and now i'm not crashing. I removed the minidump files but could never find the sysdata.xml file.

I made sure my memory is PC133, since earlier, my 128 mb SDRAM wasn't (probably PC100). This didn't correct the problem.

I checked the BIOS and onboard sound is disabled because I use a SoundBlaster PCI soundcard.

The CPU PnP Setup Page in the BIOS is as follows:

CPU/DRAM Speed = 133/133 ... originally was 100/100 (1.6 GHz CPU)
CPU Ratio = Locked ... i can't change this setting for some reason ...
CPU Frequency = 133 ... originally was 100 (1.6 GHz CPU)

I tried to set the CPU/DRAM Speed to 133/100 but this isn't an option.

I've run out of options ... I'm wondering if it's safe to leave the memory dump disabled ... System Properties - Advanced - Startup and Recovery - Settings - Write dugging information - NONE

 

[alleykatzchic]

i'm setting this for email notification

 

[jsauce]

You do not have to have memory dump. In fact as a practice I do not use it. The purpose of memory dumping is so that if a serious error occurs you may be able to decipher the crash based on the information contained in memory at the time of the crash. I do not think that simply by disabling this, this should somehow repair the problem you would be having. Afterall, the dump itself only takes place after the crash, its not the cause of the crash itself. Like the crash is caused because you swapped the system board. Even with pnp, the system keeps a list of devices and hardware installed in the system and lists that in the device manager. When you replace the system board some of that information is going to change, in fact most of it will change unless the board is similar. This by itself can cause the system to crash the first time it boots. Try booting into safe mode and make sure all the devices are being detected correctly. Now I couldn't find anything on your board so I can't advise you on it. But PC133 ram with a pentium 4? Pentium 4 chips should be using the newer DDR ram.

John D. Saucier
jsauce@magicguild.com
Certified Technician
Network Administrator

 

[alleykatzchic]

I never switched out the motherboard .. it was the CPU that was switched out ... I didn't have any of these problems unti i installed the new 2.4 GHz CPU ... Right now, I have it set back down to 1.79 GHz, re-enabled the memory dump, and haven't experienced a single crash .. It's only when i run a the CPU's full potential of 2.4 GHz and have the memory dump set at Small memory dump (64 KB). So there's obviously something going on ... maybe my Windows XP Pro has some corrupt files? I was planning to try a Repair Installation and see if this helps ... Is it possible that my motherboard is not handling the new CPU even though the manual documentation states it can? I consulted the manual prior to purchasing the CPU. I am also running the latest BIOS available for my motherboard from

http://www.ecsusa.com

...

 

[jsauce]

Even with the address you provided I was unable to find your motherboard. The closest I found was the P4S5A. And its not specific enough about what chip speeds it handles. Have you considered that the chip is either overheating, or you do not have the proper ram for the chip? If its overheating it could explain the crashing when the chip is at a higher speed. Obviously the faster it processes the hotter it gets and more likely to crash. If the ram is not the correct ram for the chip I suppose it could cause a crash, though again this is a weird issue because again the dump wouldn't cause a crash. The dump is a response to the crash. There is no dump withot the crash. The system doesn't randomly dump, if it did then I'd say okay it could then crash when dumping. The dump doesn't happen until the system has crashed. But I'd say turn the dump off if you don't need it. Most people don't have it on. Unless you know how to debug memory addresses there is no use for the data in the dump.

John D. Saucier
jsauce@magicguild.com
Certified Technician
Network Administrator

 

[alleykatzchic]

Sorry for the typo .. the motherboard IS P4S5A .... and it didn't say in the manual that i need to use DIMM instead of SDRAM ... I have two slots of each ... on that website you can find the manual ... I just was hoping that i didn't have to go out and buy new memory.

http://www.ecsusa.com/downloads/manual/p4s5a51aeng.zip

I don't think it's overheating ... i paid close attention to installing it using Artic Silver, and all my burn-in tests i've run show no errors ..

As i mentioned earlier ... if i disable the memory dump, i don't crash .. i understand what you're telling me but that's it ... maybe there's a problem with my Windows XP installation and I'll try to do a Repair Installation over the weekend.

 

[alleykatzchic]

Here's the post i found in Google that I was telling you about ...

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=s...10d9bllqs11vnibhfv0580e1nu2ml3@4ax.com&rnum=1

 

[jsauce]

Reading that, it seems like it could be just a normal blue scrren dump except you get more specific info that most. I never see the sysdata.xml info, though I don't dump but to screen. The problem is lets say its a general error. That means it could be one of like 30,000 things that are causing the error. Here is what I say, you said that by disabling the system dump the system doesn't have this crash. Then I think you have already found the fix, at least in this case. Windows is one of those operating systems that I take a if it aint broke don't fix it stance with. And if duct tape works use it. I will say that trying the repair might also be a good thing which you are going to try. If anything it will replace any system files which might have been corrupted which is always a good thing. In the section of memory dumps do you have it set to automatically reboot? If you do you should disable this so you can get the dump to screen along with the official (if there is one) error. That error might help in finding out exactly what the problem might be, as to whether its a memory issue, a driver issue or something else.

John D. Saucier
jsauce@magicguild.com
Certified Technician
Network Administrator

 

[alleykatzchic]

I do have the automatic reboot unchecked .. but as mentioned before, I get conflicting reports from Microsoft when it asks me to send the report to Microsoft. They state they cannot pinpoint the resolution but that it is either a hardware or software issue, one time it stated it was a memory issue ... this is a real broad area to try to zero in on the problem. Thanks for your help. I'll post another reply once i try to Repair the Windows XP Installation and let you know what happens. If this doesn't correct the problem, then my next step would be to reformat and reinstall from scratch, although i'd like to avoid that if possible ... i have 30 GB of stuff on this drive! Alot to have to backup ...

 

[jsauce]

Okay just a quick tip. Never send the error reports to microsoft, they don't help. In fact I turn error reporting completely off. When you have it on, the first time after a crash your system can sit there for 5 minutes while Windows builds information to send to microsoft. And as you've discovered you get a message thats says they dont know what the problem is. Useless I recommend everyone not use Error Reporting, it doesn't help and neither does Microsoft.

John D. Saucier
jsauce@magicguild.com
Certified Technician
Network Administrator

 

[alleykatzchic]

This motherboard supports both PC133 RAM and DDR RAM (two slots of each), so today, I bought two 256 mb DDR RAM PC2700 and will see what happens. I put the settings back for the memory dump and set the BIOS to read RAM at 133 mhz (says it can go up to 166 mhz). I think i may have been straining the CPU by running the old type SDRAM memory.

 

[micker377]

PC 2700 is for 333 (166)FSB. For 266(133) you need PC2100.

 

[alleykatzchic]

Well IT WORKED!!! Replacing the SDRAM with DDR RAM did the trick ... I put in two 256 mb DDR RAM PC2700 and haven't had a single crash ... computer has been on all day and under load burning DVDs and not one single crash!!! I have the speed set to 133 but noticed I could crank it up to 166 ... I just didn't want to press my luck.

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME WITH THIS FRUSTRATING PROBLEM ....