Erratic problem, sometime no boot-picture

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Per Hansson

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I was doing a review that was due for posting this week...

I was finnished with the review on Friday, but I wanted to do another lookover at it before I sent it to Julio...

So I saved the document but left it open in Word... Then I went to bed, and the next morning when I woke up my computer had got a blue screen...

This in itself is very strange becuase this computer I have now have been working for a really long time without problems...

However I think I know what the problem was due to, a molex conector was not making good contact so one of my two harddrives in my RAID-0 array quickly started and stopped like 10 times...

When I ran chkdsk it found a large number of errors (this was on the Thursday...)

Well, forward to Saturday, when I restared the computer after the blue screen I got a message during the text-mode startup that ntoskernel.exe couldn't be found...

No biggie, I've seen this problem on other computers... But just to be sure I restarted my comp and this time it loaded the OS before I got a blue screen...

So I figured my RAID-0 array had probably got a bit corrupt... So I tried to figure out a way to copy the files off the array, first I tried a Windows 2000 disk and went into the recovery console, however ín this console you don't get access to everything and the review was of course one of those things...

So next up I tried to boot my comp with Knoppix v3.1 (A linux dist run off a CD...) that found another NTFS harddrive I have alone in my system but not the RAID-0 array...

So during the whole Saturday I tried to find drivers for Knoppix so it could find my RAID array... well, I didn't...

So I gave up on that and on the Sunday started trying again, now the computer would not boot at all, no screen...

So I started pulling out things, I got down to the needed parts, started swapping them out, nothing worked...

Started to get quite pissed at this moment... Reset the CMOS, tried another BIOS via the BIOS Saviour but nothing...

Then I just sat there starting the comp like 10 times, and then it just worked, I tried it like 5 times and the computer was starting...

So I put everything back but then it would not start again...

What's strange is that I hear the "ok beep" from the BIOS and I see that it accesses my disks. But I get no picture...

So, this is where I am right now... I have no clue at all what the problem is...

specs:
Abit NF7-S v1,2 < this is my prime suspect. it has been givig me lots of problem ever since I bought it...
It uses a beta BIOS that fixes the RAID-0 data corruption issue... And the setting is 1ms and it has been working for months without issues...
I use two BIOS chips via a RD1 BIOS Saviour, if I try with just one BIOS chip the same thing happens...
I have tried resetting the BIOS...

I have a Barton 2500+ CPU, it's modded in a few different ways (L11 to mention one) but this has also been working forever and since I get an "ok beep" every time I do not think this can be it...)

I standard crappy copper heatsinks that's "good enough"

Two maxtor D740X harddrives connected via serillel adapters to the Serial ATA RAID-0 Silicon Image RAID controller on the NF7-S mobo...

Tried with both a Radeon 9800 and 9500 GFX card...

Edited due to type'o Nexus NX3000 PSU

some other stuff: SB Audigy2, two optical drives, another 20GB drive in a cage and some fans....
 
Well, I just had time for a quick test yesterday...

But I swapped the 9800 GFX card for an old Matrox PCI board and then I could start the computer 5 times without problems...

Didn't have time to do more than see the boot-screen though...

Will see if I get some time tonight to test it more...

What's strange is that this PSU has been running my computer for like 4 months without problems...

There is another possibility and that is that my AGP slot has been damaged or that the mobo's power-circuit for the AGP slot has been damaged but it feels kinda far-fetched...
 
It sounds kind of like a Power Supply Issue, maybe the PSU has been overheating and has suffered some kind of minor damage, and with the extra load of a AGP R9800/R9500 then maybe it just pushes it over the limit.
 
Yea, well, as I said, the funny thing is that it has been working fine for so long...

Furthermore I have the computer connected to a APC Smart-UPS 700 so it can't have been due to any power surge or spike either...

(I killed my old Enermax PSU that way)

I bought this PSU specifically because it was the most quiet PSU according to www.silentpcreview.com and also performed up to spec on it's voltage lines...
 
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