Guest Damo Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 Might be a jumbled up lengthy post this but here goes!:I've had an athlon 1300 for around a year and a half now and for the last 7 to 8 months i've been having problems.Oh where to start!...............Basically It's very tempremantal! It's and 1300, 384mbs ram, 40gig Hdd, ge-force 3 ti-200.For my sins it's a Tiny manufactured machine running ME!I get frequent crashes (BSOD) but also whilst playing or loading games the machine just restarts, no warnings nothing! Also on start up It pauses whilst loading the few items I have into the system tray and I have to restart!ANYTHING that I download refuses to install (patches, mods...) coming up with the file corrupt error OR I/O Error.It also won't autoplay cd's/dvd's etc........and sometimes doesn't even recognise dvds.I have Windows XP on my other machines but this pc won't even install it, comes up with error messages again during install.I have a friend who I see every now and then and he's doing his MCSE and he thinks my problems stem from the cd drive. I don't know why he thinks this, but he belives getting a new one will solve the problem.When I have in the past tried to install XP I tried it from my CDRW aswell, but still got the same errors.I'm more tempted to think its my PSU, I think at the moment its running a 300W, but I could be wrong. Last year I stuck some more memory in it and the Ge-force 3 and I'm pretty certain the problems started just after that.So, if it does turn out to be the PSU, what wattage do you recommend and also don't forget the Machine is a Tiny, therefore it is a Micro case!Well have fun!Damo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankus Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 It also won't autoplay cd's/dvd's etc........and sometimes doesn't even recognise dvds.I have the same problem on mine too (XP) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Damo Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 I would say my machine starts up and runs ok around 1 outta 4 times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent Smith Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 Damo, on what you've told me, the psu is more than capable (unless it has developed a fault, but it dosn't sound like that). I think the first thing to do is to check your memory.1st, is the ram you added of the same type and speed as the original? What happens if you remove some and try them module by module, one at a time?2nd, I have attached a small zip file to this message. It contains a small linux boot setup for testing memory. Extract it to a folder, then with a blank floppy in your drive run the instal.bat. Put in your floppy drive letter and it will make the bootable disc for you. This disc will be unreadable in windows, and will claim to be unformatted, but if you boot your pc with it in, it will load and run a memory tester. Fairly basic, but good enough for a fair idea as to the state of your memory. The zip also contains readme if you want to know more about it.3rd, a wild idea this, but have you got onboard sound as well as a sound card? If you have, is the onboard sound enabled in your bios. If it is try disabling it.Regards Mr. Mouse.memt30.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Damo Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 Thanks Mr Mouse, I will try that memory tester in the morning when I get home.As for the sound, all i have is onboard, same as how it came from Tiny.I will also try running the Pc with a stick of memory taken out then swap.Thanks for the info and file!Damo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Damo Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 Tried the Memory tester, copied to floppy, booted and the mem test ran....and ran...and ran........It got to an hour and a half before i'd had enough of it....nothing changed on screen, just the same set of numbers that initially came up on boot up.And the floppy drive was runing constantly for the 11/2 hours!Oh well.......back to the laptop instead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent Smith Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 Hmmm, that's not good. Normally once the disc has loaded, and the prog is running, you can remove the floppy disc. I would suggest trying again with another disc. On your specs, I would expect the tester to take about 25 mins to run 1 full pass.Of course your fdd could be screwed!! But that shouldn't cause the other problems you have.Mr. M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Damo Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 Cheers Mr Mouse...will do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LB Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 got to agree, doesn't sound like the PSU, i am running an XP1800+ on a 230W with a Geforce 4mx and have no problems at all, stability is good and temperatures have settled down nicely. The Input/Output error suggests some data integrity problem, have you checked that all of the IDE cables are seated correctly and that they are all fine, IE no nicks etc?Mr Mouse's idea about the RAM seems spot on and it is well worth checking with just one module.You say your other machines have XP installed, have you tried using a CD drive from one of the other machines to see if this cures your problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Damo Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 Yup, You guys may have been right!Ran the test and it suggested that there were errors on my 256mb stick of ram!Errors at points 208.8mb and 144.8 mbs. HmmmmHave to get myself some more methinks!Will that explain the I/O Errors and the File corrupt errors I receive when installing something I've downloaded though?I'll have to see tomorrow when I get home!ThanksDamo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LB Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 it would as the data on the stick of memory would be corrupt.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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