Take a look at your BIOS and make sure the HDD is being recognized.....
I can't remember the exact way is was read, but yes, the HDD is recognized as the SATA Master.
EDIT:///
Read your post more carefully. No, it didn't test the HDD. Did you download the ISO version of the diag. and create a bootable CD w/ it? or - did you download the floppy version?
I downloaded the ISO version onto a CD.
At the time of this writing, Memtest is going bonkers with red messages. So far, 130,000+ errors. It was found on test #7 of a Random number sequence. I'm going to take my memory to a shop today to get some official testing, but as for now, I'm going to assume the memory has crapped.
*edit* Could the BIOS be acting up?
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PterocarpousRosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA!New
I can't remember the exact way is was read, but yes, the HDD is recognized as the SATA Master...I downloaded the ISO version onto a CD.
At the time of this writing, Memtest is going bonkers with red messages. So far, 130,000+ errors. It was found on test #7 of a Random number sequence. I'm going to take my memory to a shop today to get some official testing, but as for now, I'm going to assume the memory has crapped.
*edit* Could the BIOS be acting up?
Wouldn't think the BIOS is at fault - rather, it's bad memory as you said. If you have more than one memory module then the next step is to narrow down which one is the culprit. Shut the system down. Remove one module. Then run the test again..... Do this for both modules.
Word of Caution:
Be sure to take ESD precautions when handling memory. It is extremely sensitive to electrostatic discharge. If you have a wrist strap, connect it to ground and put it on. If not, place your hand on the side of the case (metal) to place yourself at the same potential as the memory b4 touching it.
When transporting the memory to a shop to be tested, place it in an electrostatic dissipative bag/package. The material the bag/package is made of dissipates any charge that might develope on the surface of the bag. (I always save these bags/packages when I purchase new electronic equipment to have on hand)
Transported the memory to a shop as advised. They said memory is fine, but want to see processor and mainboard. Will update as details become more aware.
Sorry to be a pain :/
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PterocarpousRosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA!New
Transported the memory to a shop as advised. They said memory is fine, but want to see processor and mainboard. Will update as details become more aware...Sorry to be a pain :/
You're not being a pain at all. You're answering questions that are asked of you and you're providing very good detail when describing action you've taken and symptoms you're experiencing. That's all that we ask. If you're concerned about the thread running long, no worry. That's normal when trying to diagnose a difficult problem. You're doing just fine.
If your memory tested ok then I'd definetly be concerned w/ the mobo. Did you try the memory in different slots? Sometimes one bank or slot will go bad. (Still, that's ominous when it comes to the overall health of the mobo.)
Let us know what you find out....
EDIT:///
It could be your mobo is fussy about the type of memory it'll work w/. You might want to ask the shop tech(s) to try memory from a different manufacturer.
I'm this (____) close to chunking the whole system, and getting a loan to pay for another lol. Now the original problems in the post are persisting, and I've all but given up.
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PterocarpousRosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA!New
I'm this (____) close to chunking the whole system, and getting a loan to pay for another lol. Now the original problems in the post are persisting, and I've all but given up.
Sometimes you just gotta walk away from it for a while. Get your bearings - thentoss it out the window!! :bigggrin:
Just kidding (about the last part). It really is a good idea to walk away, though. You won't get anywhere if you don't have a cool head about you. You'll just dig a deeper hole for yourself. Ask me how I know this?!
When you've cooled off and are ready to tackle it again, let us know which of the earlier posts describe the symptoms you are experiencing now.
And......let us know what happened after you had the RAM tested. Did you go back to the shop w/ the mobo & processor?
Yes, I went back. Unfortunately, they found no flaws with my motherboard or my processor. I also took my hard-drive, and nothing was found. I'll run some more tests on it tonight, if it works, and update on the situation.
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PterocarpousRosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA!New
Yes, I went back. Unfortunately, they found no flaws with my motherboard or my processor. I also took my hard-drive, and nothing was found. I'll run some more tests on it tonight, if it works, and update on the situation.
I'm not so sure about that (the shop techs' findings). It's quite possible that that their means of testing these devices doesn't show the problem. In any case, could you have them go ahead and see if they can get the system to boot & load the OS (w/out errors)? They may be able to pin down the problem a lot more readily as they have equipment & spares at their disposal that you don't have.
I tried my roommates graphics card, just for the sake of seeing if anything was wrong with mine, but the errors were the same. Now the computer won't even POST. It just displays a BIOS Checksum Error where it is looking for the A: drive (I don't have one), and says the keyboard cannot be found.
The only two unchanging factors of my system are the proc and the motherboard. I've tested everything else myself. I did, however, see the proc and motherboard post twice with their equipment. Then, if the mobo and proc are ok, the only other thing I can think of failing is the power supply, but it should be ok, since I tested my roommates too.
*edit* About 30 minutes ago, I dismantled my computer and put the components on a cardboard box. Same issues. At least I know I didn't screw anything in wrong in the case.
Same errors persist. Posting only occurs after a CMOS battery reset, and only happens once before I have to do it again.
Found a bank for student loans. Hopefully, I can get one. :/
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PterocarpousRosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA!New
edited January 2007
This may seem out there, but I'd move everything to where your roommate's computer is plugged in and working and plug it in there (w/out the UPS). You may have an issue w/ power that is being supplied to your computer or your UPS may be bad... In any case, this will rule out (or in as the case may be) both your UPS and your power source.
I think everything is working fine, right now. I took my PSU to Best Buy, and they said it was toasted. So I bought another one (which is soon to return when another PSU comes from newegg.com) and installed it. I had the same errors. No post, no boot, nothing but beeps. I figured I'd try out an old Jetway motherboard, that I thought had gone bad when it started the PSU fail beeps, and see how it handled the new PSU. It posted perfectly. I was able to reset BIOS, have the BIOS recognize the USB keyboard, and start the installation of Windows x64. The installation is at 19%, and everything is performing as it should.
I should have listened to my gut, when I first diagnosed the problem to myself, and listened to the many people who had recommended solutions. I could have sworn that the ASUS was good, and that my PSU was fine, because I got the same results from another PSU, and I had thought my other Jetway motherboard failed.
I will say that that was my last ASUS board. There is nothing in the world that can persuade me to buy another. It was 40 dollars more expensive than the Jetway, and the Jetway outperforms and actually works. I don't, however, recommend Jetway, unless you're in dire straits.
Thanks for your time guys, and gal , and the effort you put into seeing that my computer would again work. Short-media PWNZ! I will update with more information as it becomes more readily available.
Success! I'm posting from my newly reformatted computer! Hoorays!
Congratulations, Mal51! :celebrate
I still think the issue was power-related at the outset. The failed motherboard may have been a consequence of that. We touched on the issue of power in post # 20. If the power supplied TO and the power supplied FROM your computer's power supply is in any way subnormal then NO motherboard's gonna stand up to it in the end.
So, not only do you need an quality and sufficiently rated UPS to monitor the power coming IN to your computer but you ALSO need a quality and sufficiently rated PSU to supply power to your motherboard and devices. One w/out the other isn't enough.
You use an UPS already. And you have a quality PSU on the way. Hopefully this will prevent any future issues.
Here we are again...non-bootable problem. Huzzah for more computer trouble.
Earlier today, I was playing WoW and all of a sudden, the computer restarts. When I boot Windows, an error message says that Windows has recovered from a serious error. No biggie, I've seen it before. Little did I know, that this was a hint for events to come.
Before I was about to go to school, I figure that I could play some WoW while some clothes washed in the laundry room. I was in the middle of playing, and boom, another random restart. Except this time, I get a message that my NTLDR file is corrupt so I need to repair windows. Again no problem. I boot from CD, and another crash, except this time, some letters and words on the bios screen are a dark grey, while others are white. I manually restart, and the computer freezes mid-bios with a white background with pink letters.
Thing is, now the computer won't even post. And if it does, it gets stuck midway through the BIOS. Then if I somehow get past all of that, which I've only done once, Windows tries to boot, but fails and restarts the computer. Then it gets stuck in BIOS with all of the characters on the screen changing from white to dark gray slowly.
I think power is the issue again. I think that the outlet that my UPS is connected to is faulty, sending "dirty electricity" through my UPS to my PSU, killing the PSU. I also think my UPS is fubar. I will try other outlets in the room to test the theory once I get home, and I should have a PSU from newegg today. If this is solves the issue, the complex I'm living in is getting an ear-full, and a about a 3 hundred dollar bill.
But first, I'm going to pick up an electrical outlet tester at Home Depot, and test my outlets. If I'm getting bad power, it's better to get that addressed first rather than blowing up PSUs. I would get a Voltmeter too, but I'm not entirely comfortable messing with the ground, common, and hot wires, nor will I know which ones they are.
An item like the one shown in the picture I've attached is handy to see if the outlet is wired correctly, but won't tell you if you have voltage fluctuations.
PterocarpousRosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA!New
edited January 2007
Nice prof! Great link and pic.
Mal51, you definetly have a power problem. You need to get that resolved b4 even pursuing troubleshooting and repairing your computer again. Otherwise, it's $ down the drain again and again.
If you're not comfortable futzing w/ the power (And I don't blame you if you are. A healthy respect for electricity is a good thing - so is recognizing your limitations) then perhaps you want to have an electrician come out and take a look. At least diagnose the problem for you. Then you can decide what action to take.
The reason I'm making this suggestion is the problem may actually pose a threat to you and your family. If the problem isn't odviously a bad outlet then it likely will require a professional to sort it out. (didn't you say you'd moved this system around to different locations in the house and the problems persisted?)
I installed the other PSU today, and tried it on an outlet in the living room, and I got a POST code.
Consecutive long beeps.
BEEEEEP.........BEEEEEEP.........BEEEEEEP...etc, etc.
Any ideas?
Did you take a look at what's going on w/ your power coming into the computer? This is just going to be a vicious cycle I think unless that gets sorted out 1st.
As for beep codes. What they mean will depend upon your bios and their frequency. (the specific combination of long and short beeps)
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PterocarpousRosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA!New
I will have to get my land lady to schedule an appointment with an electrician. If it's not that, it's for safety reasons.
I guess I also failed to mention that when my first power supply was crapping out, the Jetway I have now was inside. It is theoretical, and probable, that the replacement motherboard that I put in (at the beginning of the thread) was fubar to begin with. Of course, the PSU was gone, but, could it have been that the Jetway was on the verge of dying, and that the day before yesterday was when it gave up?
I am also taking the motherboard and cpu back to the shop, to see what they can tell me.
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PterocarpousRosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA!New
I will have to get my land lady to schedule an appointment with an electrician. If it's not that, it's for safety reasons.
I guess I also failed to mention that when my first power supply was crapping out, the Jetway I have now was inside. It is theoretical, and probable, that the replacement motherboard that I put in (at the beginning of the thread) was fubar to begin with. Of course, the PSU was gone, but, could it have been that the Jetway was on the verge of dying, and that the day before yesterday was when it gave up?
I am also taking the motherboard and cpu back to the shop, to see what they can tell me.
I guess I also failed to specify that the "Jetway" is a off-brand motherboard. I bought it out of desperation about 5 months ago when I first built my system. I had originally bought an ASUS board, but it was DOA, so I RMA'ed it.
I knew the mobo would take a month to get back to me, and I needed the computer for school, so I bought a Jetway mobo to keep my needs at bay until the ASUS arrived. Feeling good about my system, I didn't install the ASUS board, because everything was running optimally. 5 Months later, my PSU dies, I think the Jetway has died instead, thus beginning the first post of this thread.
I took my mobo, ram, vid card, and cpu to the shop today, and it turns out that my first two DDR slots are busted. But I'm on the "snake-bitten" computer, as we speak, using the last two DDR slots on the motherboard. What's weird, is that my memory is running at the stock speed that it's supposed to, but when I was using the other slots, the motherboard wasn't allowing stock speeds. All is well it seems.
The electrician came and found no voltage errors. Just a series of unfortunate events. Thanks for your help, as always.
Comments
Sorry to be a pain :/
If your memory tested ok then I'd definetly be concerned w/ the mobo. Did you try the memory in different slots? Sometimes one bank or slot will go bad. (Still, that's ominous when it comes to the overall health of the mobo.)
Let us know what you find out....
EDIT:///
It could be your mobo is fussy about the type of memory it'll work w/. You might want to ask the shop tech(s) to try memory from a different manufacturer.
Just kidding (about the last part). It really is a good idea to walk away, though. You won't get anywhere if you don't have a cool head about you. You'll just dig a deeper hole for yourself. Ask me how I know this?!
When you've cooled off and are ready to tackle it again, let us know which of the earlier posts describe the symptoms you are experiencing now.
And......let us know what happened after you had the RAM tested. Did you go back to the shop w/ the mobo & processor?
The only two unchanging factors of my system are the proc and the motherboard. I've tested everything else myself. I did, however, see the proc and motherboard post twice with their equipment. Then, if the mobo and proc are ok, the only other thing I can think of failing is the power supply, but it should be ok, since I tested my roommates too.
*edit* About 30 minutes ago, I dismantled my computer and put the components on a cardboard box. Same issues. At least I know I didn't screw anything in wrong in the case.
You can also try to set it to Halt on no errors and see where that gets you.
Found a bank for student loans. Hopefully, I can get one. :/
Exactly which components did you take to the shop and which did you leave home?
IOW, when the shop tech(s) told you "everything" tested ok, which devices did they test?
Did they test these devices together?
-OR-
Did they test them in seperate machines (or at seperate times in the same machine)?
IOW, I want to know if they were able to get these components working together (as you must do in one computer).
I should have listened to my gut, when I first diagnosed the problem to myself, and listened to the many people who had recommended solutions. I could have sworn that the ASUS was good, and that my PSU was fine, because I got the same results from another PSU, and I had thought my other Jetway motherboard failed.
I will say that that was my last ASUS board. There is nothing in the world that can persuade me to buy another. It was 40 dollars more expensive than the Jetway, and the Jetway outperforms and actually works. I don't, however, recommend Jetway, unless you're in dire straits.
Thanks for your time guys, and gal
I still think the issue was power-related at the outset. The failed motherboard may have been a consequence of that. We touched on the issue of power in post # 20. If the power supplied TO and the power supplied FROM your computer's power supply is in any way subnormal then NO motherboard's gonna stand up to it in the end.
So, not only do you need an quality and sufficiently rated UPS to monitor the power coming IN to your computer but you ALSO need a quality and sufficiently rated PSU to supply power to your motherboard and devices. One w/out the other isn't enough.
You use an UPS already. And you have a quality PSU on the way. Hopefully this will prevent any future issues.
Good Luck!
Earlier today, I was playing WoW and all of a sudden, the computer restarts. When I boot Windows, an error message says that Windows has recovered from a serious error. No biggie, I've seen it before. Little did I know, that this was a hint for events to come.
Before I was about to go to school, I figure that I could play some WoW while some clothes washed in the laundry room. I was in the middle of playing, and boom, another random restart. Except this time, I get a message that my NTLDR file is corrupt so I need to repair windows. Again no problem. I boot from CD, and another crash, except this time, some letters and words on the bios screen are a dark grey, while others are white. I manually restart, and the computer freezes mid-bios with a white background with pink letters.
Thing is, now the computer won't even post. And if it does, it gets stuck midway through the BIOS. Then if I somehow get past all of that, which I've only done once, Windows tries to boot, but fails and restarts the computer. Then it gets stuck in BIOS with all of the characters on the screen changing from white to dark gray slowly.
I think power is the issue again. I think that the outlet that my UPS is connected to is faulty, sending "dirty electricity" through my UPS to my PSU, killing the PSU. I also think my UPS is fubar. I will try other outlets in the room to test the theory once I get home, and I should have a PSU from newegg today. If this is solves the issue, the complex I'm living in is getting an ear-full, and a about a 3 hundred dollar bill.
But first, I'm going to pick up an electrical outlet tester at Home Depot, and test my outlets. If I'm getting bad power, it's better to get that addressed first rather than blowing up PSUs. I would get a Voltmeter too, but I'm not entirely comfortable messing with the ground, common, and hot wires, nor will I know which ones they are.
See this.
An item like the one shown in the picture I've attached is handy to see if the outlet is wired correctly, but won't tell you if you have voltage fluctuations.
Mal51, you definetly have a power problem. You need to get that resolved b4 even pursuing troubleshooting and repairing your computer again. Otherwise, it's $ down the drain again and again.
If you're not comfortable futzing w/ the power (And I don't blame you if you are. A healthy respect for electricity is a good thing - so is recognizing your limitations) then perhaps you want to have an electrician come out and take a look. At least diagnose the problem for you. Then you can decide what action to take.
The reason I'm making this suggestion is the problem may actually pose a threat to you and your family. If the problem isn't odviously a bad outlet then it likely will require a professional to sort it out. (didn't you say you'd moved this system around to different locations in the house and the problems persisted?)
Consecutive long beeps.
BEEEEEP.........BEEEEEEP.........BEEEEEEP...etc, etc.
Any ideas?
As for beep codes. What they mean will depend upon your bios and their frequency. (the specific combination of long and short beeps)
I guess I also failed to mention that when my first power supply was crapping out, the Jetway I have now was inside. It is theoretical, and probable, that the replacement motherboard that I put in (at the beginning of the thread) was fubar to begin with. Of course, the PSU was gone, but, could it have been that the Jetway was on the verge of dying, and that the day before yesterday was when it gave up?
I am also taking the motherboard and cpu back to the shop, to see what they can tell me.
I knew the mobo would take a month to get back to me, and I needed the computer for school, so I bought a Jetway mobo to keep my needs at bay until the ASUS arrived. Feeling good about my system, I didn't install the ASUS board, because everything was running optimally. 5 Months later, my PSU dies, I think the Jetway has died instead, thus beginning the first post of this thread.
The electrician came and found no voltage errors. Just a series of unfortunate events. Thanks for your help, as always.