Computer shutting off?

[Deneb]

cygnus, please don't be offended, I wasn't being rude to you.

Cygnus, also, the first LOUD power supply is hardly insufficient. 600W. I had it in an old (2 yrs ago) koolance case. The reason it's loud is because it has super fans it in for extra cooling.

Dr.Doug, I checked out he mobo, and no buldged caps or antying. I'm using one of my other computers, and I am running a memory test on the other computer. The only other things I can think of are, sound card (have another known good product to swap it with) and then just software, like a driver clash or some such nonsense.

I'm going to try and record on this computer, and if this one works, then the other more than likely has a serious software maladay. I'm trying to narrow it down, but man, you know how frustrating it is when you don't feel like tinkering with computers.

Cygnus, again, I apologize for sounding harsh, I really don't mean to be. I'm actually rather chipper when I don't want to smash everything computer related in a 10 mile radius.

[Axewielder]

What brand of power supplies are we talking about? Some of those "600 W" Chinese made ones are a joke. You can tell by how light they are. Get an Antec. Those are quite heavy and very solid. They bring the peace of mind that you don't have a PS issue (which are the most god awful kinds of issues to have).

[Inazone]

Well, I learned the hard way that the most easily overlooked component can be the chipset fan. I made sure to have a good heat sink/fan on my CPU and lots of ventilation for my video card, but my chipset fan seized up and my mainboard cooked. In my experience, overheating has been the main cause of reboots. Run your system with the cover off, and make sure ALL fans are spinning without interruption. If you don't already have this, download a utility that tracks temperature and fan RPMs.

[Freehill]

Using support tools (dumpchk.exe and pstat.exe) and minidump files could help.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315263

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315271/

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/192463/en-us

The last link is for Windows NT/2000 but pstat.exe works the same in XP. The support tools can be installed from the Support\Tools folder on the XP CD, or just extract the files dumpchk.exe and pstat.exe from support.cab.

[Deneb]

what do these tools do Free?

[Freehill]

Well dumpchk.exe lets you examine the memory dump file after a kernel stop occurs. These files are usually located in %systemroot%\Minidump (C:\Windows\Minidump in most default installations) unless it was changed. You would look for the ExceptionAddress, make a note of it, then run pstat.exe to see what process is using that Load Address. Usually this will tell you what is causing the problem. That's assuming it's a device driver, dll, etc. and not failing hardware.

How long do you have before your PC restarts, or does it only restart when you do certain things?

[Axewielder]

Well dumpchk.exe lets you examine the memory dump file after a kernel stop occurs. These files are usually located in %systemroot%\Minidump (C:\Windows\System32\Minidump in most default installations) unless it was changed. You would look for the ExceptionAddress, make a note of it, then run pstat.exe to see what process is using that Load Address. Usually this will tell you what is causing the problem. That's assuming it's a device driver, dll, etc. and not failing hardware.

How long do you have before your PC restarts, or does it only restart when you do certain things?

Sounds like it's rebooting instantly, in which case there won't be a log file of any kind created. Dang I hate those!

[JACKSONFREAK]

Try uninstalling and reinstalling the software. It could just be a software conflict. save all the stuff you have already recorded to a disk so you dont lose it when you uninstall.
Just a thought.
Gil

[Deneb]

Okay, I'm about ready to smash this computer. It's really frustrating me.

Rehash of the sequence of events.
Removed a power supply from the tower because it was loud. Removed other devices from it too, because I didn't use them, and I "thought" it would pull a little less power draw. I then installed my Line 6 POD XT Live drivers, tried to run the comp, and it crashed (more on this later). I swapped out video cards, thinking that the Gainward FX5900 pulled to much power, and instead swapped in an FX5500. Problem still exists.

I tried uninstalling both the drivers, and Cool edit pro, reinstalling and running. No dice.

I also tried the 600W power supply again, no dice.

So now, I just formatted the computer again. All that is on it is CEP2K, Line6 drivers, video card drivers, and everything windows installs. I've not even changed my resolution yet.

This is the sequence that causes the shut down of the system,


Plug in POD XT Live, through a USB port.
Turn on XT Live.
Open Cool Edit Pro 2K, with just the main and the studio packs.
Go to settings, input device, and set the POD
Go to the track, click Stereo, Same for all channels, Record.
Record one track (length doesn't matter, 1 second, or 10 minutes).
Go to the second track, click record, IMMEDIATELY system restart. It's as if hitting the record button would be hitting the "restart" button.

I ran windows memtest 3 times, full tests. Not a single memory failure. I've tried 2 video cards, 2 power supplies, and it still does it. I've tried old, and new drivers for the XT live. I've tried it with SP1, SP2, and all updates, or just the SP1 no updates.

I am completely baffled as to what the hell it can be. As for system resources, I've got a gig of Kingston ram, and the processor is a Pentium 4, 2.0Ghz. It's out of a Dell Dimension 4500.

I have run very intense items on this, photoshop, games, et cetera. I experience no lag, no anything bad.

So, just for shits and giggles, I went over to my other computer, which is a Dell Dimension with a 1.6Ghz Pen 4, and the shitty year where the ram was like 700$ for 512mb, so it only has 386mb ram in it. I've had both video cards in it too, it also has a turtle beach santa cruz sound card.

I installed CEP2K, and the Line6 POD XT live, was expecting a crash, and nothing. No crash what so ever, on a lesser machine.



Without jumping to conclusions, but I will anyway, either the memory tests lie, or my processor is failing on this computer. It doesn't quite make sense though, because NOTHING causes a system crash on this.

Cyg, I apologize again for jumping at you, I'm just really frustrated with this machine, and even though I don't think what I typed was ignorant, I can see as how text would come across that way, and I don't want my anger at this computer to be a problem for you. I've spent 7+ hours today dicking with this stupid computer, and for the life of me, I can't figure it out.

[Axewielder]

Sounds like a possible USB driver incompatibility. You could try the following (cheapest and easiest listed first):

1) Motherboard BIOS update
2) Pod XT firmware update (even possible to do?)
3) Put a USB hub between the PC and POD
4) Put a USB card from a totally different manufacturer in the PC, plug the POD into that, and disable the onboard USB

[Deneb]

Axe, thank you. Where would I go for a motherboard bios update? It's a dell dimension mobo.

[Axewielder]

Looks like BIOS updates are on their support site. I'd also apply any other relevant updates here (chipset, patches + fixes, etc). This link is for the Dimension 4500, not the 4500S (not sure of the difference).

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&ServiceTag=&SystemID=DIM_PNT_P4_4500&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=

[Spivonious]

Okay, turn off the auto reboot first. You sound somewhat computer literate, so I won't give you the steps. This will let you know if it's getting an error and windows is rebooting for you (i.e. a driver/hardware issue), or if the computer is simply rebooting (i.e. power supply/overheating issue).

300W should be fine for what you have, but if the power supply is crap then it could still be the culprit. Cygnus knows what he's talking about.

*edit - after reading your latest post, have you tried swapping CPUs? A computer at a company I do freelance tech support for they just had a computer that was performing very strangely (would randomly log out of windows) and it turned out the processor was going bad (it eventually refused to even POST).

[Spivonious]

Sounds like a possible USB driver incompatibility. You could try the following (cheapest and easiest listed first):

1) Motherboard BIOS update
2) Pod XT firmware update (even possible to do?)
3) Put a USB hub between the PC and POD
4) Put a USB card from a totally different manufacturer in the PC, plug the POD into that, and disable the onboard USB

Just some comments on this list.

1. Not likely to help, but can't hurt.
2. Again, not likely, since the XT appears to work.
3 and 4. If the USB on the motherboard is going then the whole northbridge chipset is going and you'd notice a lot more problems (video, memory errors, etc.)

Deneb, list all of the differences between your two computers. It could be that some piece of your hardware doesn't like CoolEdit, or trying full-duplex sound is messing something up. Search for some soundcard drivers too. This might be a known issue that was fixed.

Oh, also, does your motherboard have built-on sound? If so, make sure it's disabled in the BIOS. Also, try removing every PCI card from the machine except for the soundcard and see if you still get a reboot. I'm smelling an IRQ conflict.

[Deneb]

Spiv, there is no onboard sound on this, and the only PCI card in it is the sound card.

I'm going to try new sound card drivers, and then I'm going to circuit city, and best buy to look at computers.

As Dane Cook says, "f))) this game!"