Arrgggg!

[Mattc0m]

Well my computer has been crashing quite a bit. I'm not really too sure what it is, but while I'm playing I'll hear a loud noise from my computer, and then it will crash. When it crashes, it brings up a blue screen o' death. It mentions something about drivers and stop commands and preventing hardware damage. One time it also mentioned IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_TO_OR_LESS or something like that.

This leads me to believe something is wrong. My ideas of what is broken are the following:

- Video card (mention of drivers, and the driver name that is causing the error is an Nvidia one, so it's either the mobo or video card driver) - It's BRAND new so I doubt it
- RAM (the error also mentions dumping memory, so that could be part of it)
- HardDrive (they are the most notorious for causing problems)
- Mobo (who knows, could also be the mobo)
- Power Supply (who knows, doubt it, but the video card might not be getting the power it needs)
- Operating System (this is likely the problem, as I did a big upgrade recently w/o reformatting or reinstalling windows)

So, that's the summary. What I need help is

- Diagnostic / testing programs for vid card / ram / harddrive ?
- Good backup tool ?
- Ideas as to problem ?

Only time I've got the crashes so far has been in BF2142 as well - Oblivion, Company of Heroes, and other graphically intense games run fine, so far. I also played for about 5 hours yesterday without a hitch, but today I've crashed 6 times in the matter of 2 hours.

[Shoat]

Next time you get a blue screen, write down the entire screen's worth of info (you may need to disable auto-reboot to see it).  Also, make sure your computer is setup to write debugging information (Control Panels>System>Advanced>Startup and Recovery) - Specifically, select "Small memory dump (64 KB)" and note the directory they are written to.  Next crash, grab those files, zip them and post or email or otherwise let me know where they are.

Remember that 2142 has been causing a lot of people a lot of trouble, so you may want to check the EA site for advice.  Don't rule out hardware issues, because even new hardware can be damaged.  I assume you have the latest drivers, so next step would be to contact tech support.

[Major Tom]

What sound card are you using?
That loud sound normally indicates a sound card malfunction, driver or possible hardware IRQ conflict or pci bus not servicing the soundcard quick enough (PCI Latency).

Try running dxdiag.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/190900
Create a before and after report to see if anything changes after you rerun directx setup.

2142 needs the latest version of Direct X.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/
Rerun the setup even if you think you have the latest Direct X - very possible another game installer installed an older version.

Good Luck!

[Mattc0m]

Sound is onboard... my next step was actually to research it, uninstall it's drivers (if it has any), and install the latest mobo drivers for it. I think it's the same as my last onboard sound (AC-97 or something).

The message differs every so often - sometimes it crashes w/o the loud sound. The "sound" is coming from the actual PC btw, like a fan or something, but it seems too loud. It's hard to explain - could be an actual loud beeping, I'm not sure (I'll try to think of a better description next time I hear it. I don't always hear it, though, the last crash I had did not have that sound.

Anyway, looking through "EventVwr" (a run command, which I think you were referring to Shoat), I've got a few "Save Dump" messages under "System".

The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck.  The bugcheck was: 0x1000008e (0xc0000005, 0xbfb1480f, 0xf3752a1c, 0x00000000). A dump was saved in: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini112506-07.dmp.

All the other Save Dumps look like that is well, and though I'm not 100% certain I'd say there's about 1 Save Dump for every crash, so it is likely related. I tried opening the file in textpad, it was all garbled. So if you need it, I'll try to just upload it directly.

Tom, I'm not exactly sure how you uninstall DirectX, either. I'll try it, but I kind of doubt that is the problem (dxdiag pins my version at 9.0c, which is the latest). But I'll put it on my to-do list, as well as finding those updated sound drivers.

Also, just completely wiped and reinstalled the latest video drivers today, so that isn't the problem.

[Audio]

Sound is onboard... my next step was actually to research it, uninstall it's drivers (if it has any), and install the latest mobo drivers for it. I think it's the same as my last onboard sound (AC-97 or something).

The message differs every so often - sometimes it crashes w/o the loud sound. The "sound" is coming from the actual PC btw, like a fan or something, but it seems too loud. It's hard to explain - could be an actual loud beeping, I'm not sure (I'll try to think of a better description next time I hear it. I don't always hear it, though, the last crash I had did not have that sound.

Anyway, looking through "EventVwr" (a run command, which I think you were referring to Shoat), I've got a few "Save Dump" messages under "System".

The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck.  The bugcheck was: 0x1000008e (0xc0000005, 0xbfb1480f, 0xf3752a1c, 0x00000000). A dump was saved in: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini112506-07.dmp.

All the other Save Dumps look like that is well, and though I'm not 100% certain I'd say there's about 1 Save Dump for every crash, so it is likely related. I tried opening the file in textpad, it was all garbled. So if you need it, I'll try to just upload it directly.

Tom, I'm not exactly sure how you uninstall DirectX, either. I'll try it, but I kind of doubt that is the problem (dxdiag pins my version at 9.0c, which is the latest). But I'll put it on my to-do list, as well as finding those updated sound drivers.

Also, just completely wiped and reinstalled the latest video drivers today, so that isn't the problem.

http://www.alienware.com/product_detail ... KU-DEFAULT

[Shoat]

Yes, zip those files and send...you need to use a MS debugger to view those, but they usually have great info about what is failing.

[Mattc0m]

Okay, well, After Action Report.

Yesterday I decided I'd reformat and start fresh. Taking the safe route, I started the setup off of my current installation of Windows onto a new harddrive. However, it attached my boot information to the current harddrive, instead of the new one. So once I removed my old HD (giving it to an older computer), it wouldn't boot. So, I put it back in and played 2142 w/o any crashes luckily last night.

Today I got an early start... at 11am. I figured I wouldn't need to post in No Show, since even with some troubleshooting and driver installation I should be done way ahead of time. Not.

I was getting a blue screen error like mentioned above, with no real message other than a relation to some memory location. The error message mentioned disabling Caching and Shadowing options for your RAM in Bios. There was an "Internal" and "External" cache option... but only did I find out later that was in relation to my CPU. But, I turned those off for the installation, but also choose to do a Quick Reformat instead of the full one... so it may have been the full reformat that was causing the problems with the error message before.

Anyway, without CPU Caching... Windows XP took 12 hours to install. 

But I'm running on a fresh installation of Windows XP right now, and I'll be downloading and installing all my drivers, games, tweaks, ulities, and programs tommorrow after school.

Let's hope I've solved my problems...

[liltechdude]

Well see if you are having problems installing windows like that, and it mentions a memory problem, you could possibly have a dead stick of RAM. I would try doing a test like SuperPI or prime95 when you are idling in windows. If you get errors after say 30 mins, you probably have a memory problem. Ill give ya a link....here: http://files.wc-server.com/Misc.%20Programs/SuperPI/
Just download that, run it, and tell me if you have problems

Liltechdude

PS- In Super PI try to run the biggest test they have, i think its 2MB's....not sure

[Mattc0m]

Well it's back again. A huge beeping sound, but this time it just crashes (no blue screen). I'm not sure if it's from my mobo (which case its mobo, cpu, or RAM related), or if it's from the video card (don't think a video card can beep, but the sound is really WEIRD).

I'm pissed off beyond belief. This computer is so FRACKING STUPID!!! ARRGH!!!!

[Zappy540]

dont know what to tell u but that sucks

[Jester]

Do you have any USB devices such as a HP printer connected? What I would do is disconnect everything except the essentials mouse KB and only have the video card installed and sound card. If you have already done that you may have a PSU that is resetting itself because it is either overloaded or overheated. I once had the same problem it came down to a add on USB card that was causing the problems I moved it down another slot and all was well. Sometimes certain cards in PCI slots the MB doesnt play well with and simply by relocating it works. If you have a sound card in a PCI slot try moving that to another one as well.

[Mattc0m]

Nah I only got the minimum. I've got an external HD harddrive, but this problem started before I even had it. It might be a PSU issue... didn't even think of that. It might not be giving out enough juice or something.

I don't know, at this point, and that's what's so annoying. And I don't have enough free parts to switch out and find the culprit.

[Jester]

What kind of board do you have I might have an extra PSU laying around I can send you in the 24 pin flavor 420 watt.

[Mattc0m]

At this point, I'm going to make an educated guess and say it's my video card (or some other component, perhaps CPU) overheating. For two reasons:

1. The beeping. The motherboard may give off a "warning" before shutting down if the temp exceeds a certain thershold. This would make sense to me.

2. It happens a lot in succession, but not often. Once I start crashing, I keep crashing again every 10 minutes after a restart. Other times, I can play for hours on end without a crash.


I'm going to start logging my temp levels ASAP (especially around when I start crashing). Any recommendations on a good program to do this would be great. I think I can log my GPU temps just w/ Nvidia Cpanel, but I would like to check on my CPU temp as well.

I may take you up on that PSU offer in the future, so thanks a lot Jester. Don't get rid of it just yet.

[Jester]

I wonder if your board has a thermal shutdown if it does see at what temp it shuts down at and if it is like 50c or something low raise it but I wouldn't go over 60C.