PC finally broke down

[kensuguro]

After a long wait for xite-1, my pc finally broke down. I guess I could fix it but it's just too much of a drag to figure out what the offending part is. I think I'm going to have to get a new pc, and hope it'll work with xite-1 and the new software.. I'm actually pretty fine with not using scope at this point though.. there's plenty of native plugs that sound good. I wonder what the benefit is of being tied to hardware unless it offers something very unique. I like the scope mixer.. and, oh ya, that's right, I use the mod platform all the time for my drum dirtifier effect.

I'm not very happy about having to tie myself to soniccore too.. I mean, it's fine if the company was very stable, but unfortunately that's not the case. It's a tough question.. plus, all of my past projects need the scope boards to be worked on again.. hmm..

[braincell]

I love my new computer. You have to build it yourself and research all the parts unless you have a lot of money to spend. The computers in the stores are crap.

[Shroomz~>]

Chances are always pretty damn high that it's just the power supply that's packed in. It's not like it would go to waste if you got a PSU first to check.

[kensuguro]

guess so. It's acting very strange, not like any problems I've had before. It reboots at the same place during xp bootup, during when the bitmap XP loader is showing. And when I try to boot from Ubuntu from an external hd, it hangs randomly during boot. I tried installing a newer version of ubuntu, and the the machine hangs at random points in the install process. I suspected RAM, and ran all sorts of tests, but it seems fine. What's strange, is that XP boot sequence causes a reboot at predictable timing, whereas the Ubuntu errors are more erratic and seemingly random. It would be nice to be able to get it back up and running so I can use it as a host for the scope boards.

[braincell]

You could try removing and switching RAM if possible. It could also be the CPU. I think he's right that it could be the PSU. They always go bad eventually.

[Shroomz~>]

I'd definitely try another PSU in there. They're the most common part to fail on a PC & when they decide to go belly up they can have a whole range of symptoms depending on what component has died (I assume). Sometimes they'll just be completely dead & the PC won't even switch on, but I've also seen them causing a reboot at predictable timing over & over like you're seeing. Another one I've seen is it causing the old blue screen at predictable timing. My sequence of component checks (replacement) is now PSU > GFX card > Scratch head > rub chin while brain ticks. Haven't had ram die on me for many years now & the last time I experienced a CPU going bonkers was because the CPU fan had died (bad thing to happen with a hot running Athlon XP)

~Mark

[Shroomz~>]

Btw, if you haven't already done it, a great (and free) test to do is unplug your drives one by one, booting up after unplugging each one. Start with CD/DVD drives etc before moving on to HDs. I'd probably always check the PSU before going as far as checking drives, but I have experienced a dodgy CDRW causing reboots during boot sequence.

[netguyjoel]

You can also remove the PSU, and at a local shop, have it tested...replacements are very cheap...BTW. I have seen the RAM issue myself. Remove one at a time, use different RAM slots, and do rfemove the drives...the load the drives draw, might kill the power supply.

All my best..

Joel

[kensuguro]

so I guess it was my memory that was the culprit. Of course, as with these things, I only found out after I bought the power supply and replaced it.. lol. I ran memtest86 which fails every time without finishing even 1 pass. Sort of irritating, as it's the second time I've had RAM fail on me within the past 4-5 years. That's pretty frequent since I've never had that happen for nearly 10 years before that.

But anyway, I got a new power supply which is more quiet. It was about time I switched it anyway. I'm still going to get a new machine though. P4-3ghz is definitely not cutting it these days. It's slower than my notebook! haha.

[braincell]

What brand is the memory?

[kensuguro]

they were corsair XMS. Aren't they supposed to be pretty good?

[netguyjoel]

so I guess it was my memory that was the culprit. Of course, as with these things, I only found out after I bought the power supply and replaced it.. lol. I ran memtest86 which fails every time without finishing even 1 pass. Sort of irritating, as it's the second time I've had RAM fail on me within the past 4-5 years. That's pretty frequent since I've never had that happen for nearly 10 years before that.

But anyway, I got a new power supply which is more quiet. It was about time I switched it anyway. I'm still going to get a new machine though. P4-3ghz is definitely not cutting it these days. It's slower than my notebook! haha.

I'm glad you found the problem...I have a 3.0 P4 and it's time for mee to upgrade too.

Hooray!

Best wishes...

Joel

[braincell]

I heard that too about corsair.

[netguyjoel]

Should we start a new thread on RAM...good vs bad...opinions???

Joel

[iSiStOy]

When I bought me a new PC, I had troubles like BSODs, random freezing, savage reboots... As I mounted it, I asked myself so many times: what did I make wrong with this & that.
Then, my graphic card went down: no more display when booting (Asus 8800GT). Changed it. Still I had bugs like previously described...
I then went through the RAM switch tests, then Memtest and found that the problem was with two sticks of the same set (2set of 2x1Go dual channel Crucials ballistix etç...)
Even with known Brand-new RAM, you're not avoiding troubles.

[braincell]

Motherboards are so cheap, they ought to come with the RAM built into them. Maybe then we could avoid some problems.

[iSiStOy]

Motherboards are so cheap, they ought to come with the RAM built into them. Maybe then we could avoid some problems.

Cheap is the word!
I conversely think we should still have to pay the price for some viable devices: quality might be expensive, most of the time. It looks better that way!
I know globalization is sensed to offer us the opportunity to get cheap and quality stuff but the facts are that actual running competition won't do us any good at the end: being forced to buy 2 times a graphic card or ram is regrettable, even if it's afforded by any insurance!

Denis

[braincell]

A lot of the onboard stuff can be disabled and replaced. I don't buy Ethernet cards anymore.

[iSiStOy]

neither do I nor do I think it still would benefit to my scope cards in terms of PCI bandwidth.

[kensuguro]

oh, and guess what, I ordered wrong ram from newegg.. I got pc2 3200 instead of pc3200, which gave me a DDR2 instead of plain ddr. And the item was non-refundable so I just screwed myself. So confusing.. I have to run to b&h tomorrow morning and get proper ram, so I can get the pc up by Sunday, when I need to mix stuff. The process really sucks! I guess I was lucky the useless ram I ordered was like $30 a piece. (so, $60 damage total)