PC frozen - Electronic Circuits Projects Diagrams Free

4electros · 8th September 2006, 06:29 PM

Another PC which I have , could be at freezing status at anytime!

I think that would be from a mechanical fault of hard drive, or from the motherboard itself but I think it's from the hard.

Or may just a gerneral problem from the operation system and so required for the pc to be formatted!

need your comments, guys!

regards!

justDIY · 8th September 2006, 06:35 PM

rule out the hard drive by booting the computer off the cd-rom ... download any number of free linux based "live cds" (knoppix = very popular and huge, dsl aka damn small linux is a much lighter live cd)

a live cd will also have a memtest option, so you can check your memory without booting into a full operating system.

also, get out your DMM and check the rails on your power supply, while it is powering the computer, they should all be within a few percent of the rated values.

4electros · 8th September 2006, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justDIY

also, get out your DMM and check the rails on your power supply, while it is powering the computer, they should all be within a few percent of the rated values.

How could I check those rails, and be sure about their rating values?

could you tell me please!

justDIY · 8th September 2006, 06:51 PM

plug the common lead of your dmm into a drive power connector's ground pin (black to black), now use your postive dmm lead to check out the +12v rail (yellow), +5v rail (red) and +3.3v rail (orange)

anywhere you can find those color-coded wires, you can test the voltage. It is important to do this while the psu is connected to the computer, this way the power supply is under load.

**Nigel Goodwin** · 8th September 2006, 09:37 PM

Try a visual examination of your motherboard - I've just had a new P4 at work

to replace my frequently crashing Celeron 667.

I striped the old computer, and noticed four electrolytics leaking from their tops - all 3300uV 6.3V. I changed them, rebuild the old computer from scratch, and it works fine now!.

So I've stuck a wireless network card in and now have two computers to play with!.

The Mad Professor · 8th September 2006, 10:53 PM

Better go for one the lighter Linux distro's as RAM capacity is sometimes an issue , otherwise try rumaging around the web for some DOS hard drive diagnostics and boot from the 3.5 floppy ...

Just out of curiosity .....

When did you last run antivirus and spyware removal tools , and how much of the task bar is covered by icons for memory resident programs ?

Styx · 8th September 2006, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Try a visual examination of your motherboard - I've just had a new P4 at work

to replace my frequently crashing Celeron 667.

I striped the old computer, and noticed four electrolytics leaking from their tops - all 3300uV 6.3V. I changed them, rebuild the old computer from scratch, and it works fine now!.

So I've stuck a wireless network card in and now have two computers to play with!.

You went from a Celly to a P4 !!!!
you do know that the P4 is an EXTREAMLY bad chip!!!

I have been benchmarking (will show results) and a 1.8GHz PentiumM (from the Celeron family) did a matlab:simulink sim in 15min
A 3.2GHz P4 (hyperthred enabled) did EXACTLY the same sim in 21min!!!

stay away from P4!!

dknguyen · 9th September 2006, 01:58 AM

Go AMD...they have cooler names for their chips like Duron and Thunderbird lol.

justDIY · 9th September 2006, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dknguyen

Go AMD...they have cooler names for their chips like Duron and Thunderbird lol.

their chips run a lot cooler as well!

**Nigel Goodwin** · 9th September 2006, 09:21 AM

I'm perfectly happy with the P4, it's nice and fast, it runs cool (certainly compared to many P4's I've seen), and the fan is varible speed, but it always spins nice and slow (except for a full speed burst when you power it up).

I run programmes, not bench mark tests, so bench mark results don't overly interest me.

Styx · 9th September 2006, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

I run programmes, not bench mark tests, so bench mark results don't overly interest me.

Funny that so do I..
With Matlab:SImulink sumulation taking upto 50% longer to do on a P4 (compared to a PentiumM) and this is a "relativily" simple model hte faster my sims get done the more work I can get done

**Nigel Goodwin** · 9th September 2006, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Styx

Funny that so do I..
With Matlab:SImulink sumulation taking upto 50% longer to do on a P4 (compared to a PentiumM) and this is a "relativily" simple model hte faster my sims get done the more work I can get done

I don't run sims anyway, and one particular program example doesn't make for a very good comparison does it?.

Styx · 9th September 2006, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

I don't run sims anyway, and one particular program example doesn't make for a very good comparison does it?.

ok horses for courses in yr case (P4 will do and they are cheap these day)
but for sims!!!

Programs I use at work:

Matlab:Simulink
SABER
Xilinx synthasis (with modelsim)
Actel synthasis (with modelsim

All 4/5 programs (high number crunching programs) all have similar ratio of job-finish time when compared with a 1.8GHz Pentium-M to a 3.2 P4

so not a simple case of one program, it is any number-crunching program
If I have to wait for 40min for a Actel VHDL code to synthisis on a PentiumM, its a hell of alot better then over an hour on a P4. I can do my job

4electros · 9th September 2006, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justDIY

plug the common lead of your dmm into a drive power connector's ground pin (black to black), now use your postive dmm lead to check out the +12v rail (yellow), +5v rail (red) and +3.3v rail (orange)

anywhere you can find those color-coded wires, you can test the voltage. It is important to do this while the psu is connected to the computer, this way the power supply is under load.

I did! The results was so bad:
0v (yellow)
2.1v(red)
0v(orange)

And another when i've forgotten to refer:somtimes which I swtich the pc on, it becomes off soon and not be able to boot unless after I unplug the power
switch and replug it again many times.
My DMM is maybe of an old quality digital one's, so those bad results might be shown due to the DMM itself, or....what do you think?!
But anyway it's obvious that this pc is not well work, there are many doubts about its work.

need help please!
regards

justDIY · 9th September 2006, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4electros

I did! The results was so bad:
0v (yellow)
2.1v(red)
0v(orange)

those are pretty bad results ... I'd try measuring some source of voltage that is known good, to verify your dmm is measuring correctly. I can't see how the computer would turn on at all with those numbers.

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8th September 2006, 06:29 PM	(permalink)
4electros	PC frozen Another PC which I have , could be at freezing status at anytime! I think that would be from a mechanical fault of hard drive, or from the motherboard itself but I think it's from the hard. Or may just a gerneral problem from the operation system and so required for the pc to be formatted! need your comments, guys! regards! __________________ Tourism in syria website: http:///www.syriatourism.org

8th September 2006, 06:35 PM	(permalink)
justDIY	rule out the hard drive by booting the computer off the cd-rom ... download any number of free linux based "live cds" (knoppix = very popular and huge, dsl aka damn small linux is a much lighter live cd) a live cd will also have a memtest option, so you can check your memory without booting into a full operating system. also, get out your DMM and check the rails on your power supply, while it is powering the computer, they should all be within a few percent of the rated values. __________________ If you don't have a planet, what good are gold bars? want to contact me directly? gmail gordonthree check out my project website: http://projects.dimension-x.net Favorite numbers: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

8th September 2006, 06:51 PM	(permalink)
justDIY	plug the common lead of your dmm into a drive power connector's ground pin (black to black), now use your postive dmm lead to check out the +12v rail (yellow), +5v rail (red) and +3.3v rail (orange) anywhere you can find those color-coded wires, you can test the voltage. It is important to do this while the psu is connected to the computer, this way the power supply is under load. __________________ If you don't have a planet, what good are gold bars? want to contact me directly? gmail gordonthree check out my project website: http://projects.dimension-x.net Favorite numbers: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

8th September 2006, 09:37 PM	(permalink)
Nigel Goodwin	Try a visual examination of your motherboard - I've just had a new P4 at work to replace my frequently crashing Celeron 667. I striped the old computer, and noticed four electrolytics leaking from their tops - all 3300uV 6.3V. I changed them, rebuild the old computer from scratch, and it works fine now!. So I've stuck a wireless network card in and now have two computers to play with!. __________________ PIC programmer software, and PIC Tutorials at: http://www.winpicprog.co.uk

8th September 2006, 10:53 PM	(permalink)
The Mad Professor	Better go for one the lighter Linux distro's as RAM capacity is sometimes an issue , otherwise try rumaging around the web for some DOS hard drive diagnostics and boot from the 3.5 floppy ... Just out of curiosity ..... When did you last run antivirus and spyware removal tools , and how much of the task bar is covered by icons for memory resident programs ? __________________ It may seem like a good idea at the time , but never stir your cold coffee with a soldering iron.

9th September 2006, 01:58 AM	(permalink)
dknguyen	Go AMD...they have cooler names for their chips like Duron and Thunderbird lol.

9th September 2006, 09:21 AM	(permalink)
Nigel Goodwin	I'm perfectly happy with the P4, it's nice and fast, it runs cool (certainly compared to many P4's I've seen), and the fan is varible speed, but it always spins nice and slow (except for a full speed burst when you power it up). I run programmes, not bench mark tests, so bench mark results don't overly interest me. __________________ PIC programmer software, and PIC Tutorials at: http://www.winpicprog.co.uk