System freeze or reboot.....need help

[jpnlln]

I am having trouble with the computer as it is just starting do get into windows98 it will reboot and go through an improper shutdown process. It will do this rebooting ritual up to 3 times sometimes before properly booting. Other times is will boot into windows and lock up right off the bat and will place little green vertical tick marks across the top off the screen. If anyone has had a similar experience or knows the solution to this please let me know.

 

[edfair]

Would be suspicious of memory problems.

Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[Alacrity]

I would go one step farther and suggest Video memory problems. A flaky video driver will also cause the tick marks.. but if you get into safe mode and the marks are gone i'd look into the video ram again. either way it's memory related
Alacrity

 

[Guest_imported]

What about drivers for the video card? What kind of video card is it and what are the driver versions?

 

[nandas]

this could be a warning of short circuit of motherboard. or wheather the restart button stucked inside, continuesly.
this can be clear by fixing the motherboard without causing shortcircuit or realse the restart button. this is the fist step before opening the pc.....

 

[nlm9802]

I am having the same problem with my home built pc

its got a tyan trinity 2390 mb, athlon tbird 900, 3 sticks of 128 mb pc133 kingston RAM, a 30 gig ata66 hd, and a ati radeon 32 mb ddr vid card. some other stuff too, but shouldnt matter.

It was hand built, the motherboard isnt touching anything but the rubber stands. havent checked the restart button, but it only does it on startup anyways. there's no tick marks in the display, but sometimes it reboots 2-3 times.
I cant see it being a problem since the memory is supported by the motherboard. is there anything else it could be?

I overclocked the cpu and ram to 1000 mhz and 145 mhz respectively, and now it seems to do it less often, but still occasionally will reboot as it gets into starting windows (98)

 

[prime]

Ok, My friend and I have been through all of this - You're either looking at faulty RAM, Faulty Video/VRAM. I know this as when I bought a new video card, I got ticks all over the win98 boot screen as well as all over the POST screen. Similarly with RAM - one of my ram sticks was on the way out on a machine - random colors would appear on the screen in bands. You could be looking at drivers, but I doubt it as drivers don't usually cause memory data loss (that's what causes the "noise" that appears on the screen)

All of you who are having trouble, Try swapping video cards, as in replacing it with an older one, even if it's PCI and use it for a bit. Failing that, Take the RAM sticks out/Reseat them, and even see if you can use one stick at a time to see if you can get rid of them - If you've only got one stick, ask your friends for a loan. If you have friends that are willing, ask them to even try your video card and RAM.

Also, if you have just upgraded one or more major components on your board, IE Video, I always suggest to do a clean install of windows - Everyone knows how unpredictable it is when it comes to changes!

If you're still unclear, or think I haven't answered the question, please give me more info! You're welcome to email me as well (address below)

Hope it helps.
--=| Rªhn |=--
rahn@i.am

http://i.am/rahn

Age 17.

Love networks (especially my own) and tinkering around with my home machines and enjoy a good LAN Party. Program in Delphi, Linux Freak. FEAR THE PENGUIN!!!!!

 

[Guest_imported]

I am having a similar problem where computer would hang or shutdown unexpectedly. I went into CMOS setup mode and found that my CPU temperature is higher than normal ( in the red zone). I replaced a new dual fan and still didn't help cooling down the CPU. I wonder if this is a manufacturing defect of the Pentium III CPU or is it something else.

I have Pentium III CPU 600Mhz and windows 98 installed.

thanks.

 

[1970chag]

Everyone came up with good answers, I would also add that reseating the AGP video card might cure this as well. Sometimes the hold-down screw for the video card will cause the card to be seated slightly off center in the slot, especially if it is very tightly screwed in. The pins on an AGP card are very close together, if the card is slightly askew, it may cause problems.
Ensure the power is off, and try removing the screw entirely and seating the card firmly, ensuring it is perfectly vertical in the slot. Take precautions that connecting the monitor cable does not put mechanical stress on the video card, and then power up.
It is not necessary to put the screw back in while testing this unless you cannot keep the card in the box otherwise. When you do put the screw back in, make sure it does not cause the card to move in the slot as it is tightened down. Some minor bending of the mounting flange on the card might help prevent this.
I actually saw this problem in a PII system, it prevented the system from booting up sometimes, but as the case was jostled about it would occasionally boot.

 

[MRBOps]

Referring to the post by NLM9802:

I'm glad I'm not alone. I home built a system with a Tyan S2390 board and have had this problem from day 1 (when there was very little hardware or software on the card). I've tried all the solutions listed above. I've replaced the memory, I've replaced the video card (from a PCI to an AGP). Some of the things seem to help for a while but then the problem comes back. It got significantly worse when I upgraded from an 800 Mhz Duron to a 1Ghz Athlon. Evidence of a weak motherboard.

Also, if you look at the reviews posted at TCComputer for this board you will find a few similar complaints of this type. They are buried however, amongst all the rave reviews about what a great board this is. Sounds like they had a small run of bad ones.

Another interesting comment on this board. The manual warns that not all memory chips will work, even if they work in other boards, because the Tyan is a more "high performance" board. You're supposed to purchase chips from one of the very limited and expensive list of "tested" suppliers on their web site. This sounds like an excuse straight out of Dilbert for a poorly designed motherboard.

By the way, NLM9802, can you tell me how you overclocked this board. It has autodetection of chip speed and voltage with no ability for manual settings.

 

[Guest_imported]

hi...can someone plz help me...my computer freezes for bout 10 secs after i do a search or if i try to login somethin...my computer will freeze between the login name and password part...if some knows how to fix this plz help me...thx alot...bye.