Hi in need of help trying to figure if my MB is dying. Running XP sp3 x86...Noticed yesterday that my on-board nick card no longer works.(tried restore, Bios reset and many options.) Anyhow if figured since I have some nick cards laying around I would try them out installed fine drivers updated fine working fine. Then all the sudden middle of either browsing or just idle pc freezes and and only way out is to hold the power button. Tried two different nick cards tried on all pci slots removed ram re inserted ram tested ram with memtest also removed video card out of agp slot and reinserted. So basically im still getting this freezing up problem. hoping someone might be able to help me read a minidump. Thanks
Freezing problems
- Thread starter miketwan
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Route44
Posts: 12,015 +82
What is the make and model of your system?
As per your minidump file Your issue is with memory corruption. Therefore you’ll need to run Memtest on your RAM.
1. Go to www.memtest.org and download the latest ISO version which is 4.20. It is free and perfectly safe.
2. Burn ISO to a CD.
3. Place CD in your drive and reboot with CD in drive. (You might have to place your drive as first bootable in your BIOS) The test will take over.
There is a Tutorial: How to use Memtest in our Guides and Tutorials forum; follow the instructions. There is a newer version than what is listed; use the newer. If you need to see what the Memtest screen looks like go to reply #21. The third screen is the Memtest screen.
Step1 - Let it run for a LONG time. The rule is a minimum of 7 Passes (not hours; this test is not measured by hours); the more Passes after 7 so much the better. The only exception is if you start getting errors before 7 Passes then you can skip to Step 2.
There are 8 individual tests per Pass. Many people will start this test before going to bed and check it the next day.
If you have errors you have corrupted memory and it needs to be replaced.
Step 2 – Because of errors you need to run this test per stick of RAM. Take out one and run the test. Then take that one out and put the other in and run the test. If you start getting errors before 7 Passes you know that stick is corrupted and you don’t need to run the test any further on that stick.
* Get back to us with the results.
As per your minidump file Your issue is with memory corruption. Therefore you’ll need to run Memtest on your RAM.
1. Go to www.memtest.org and download the latest ISO version which is 4.20. It is free and perfectly safe.
2. Burn ISO to a CD.
3. Place CD in your drive and reboot with CD in drive. (You might have to place your drive as first bootable in your BIOS) The test will take over.
There is a Tutorial: How to use Memtest in our Guides and Tutorials forum; follow the instructions. There is a newer version than what is listed; use the newer. If you need to see what the Memtest screen looks like go to reply #21. The third screen is the Memtest screen.
Step1 - Let it run for a LONG time. The rule is a minimum of 7 Passes (not hours; this test is not measured by hours); the more Passes after 7 so much the better. The only exception is if you start getting errors before 7 Passes then you can skip to Step 2.
There are 8 individual tests per Pass. Many people will start this test before going to bed and check it the next day.
If you have errors you have corrupted memory and it needs to be replaced.
Step 2 – Because of errors you need to run this test per stick of RAM. Take out one and run the test. Then take that one out and put the other in and run the test. If you start getting errors before 7 Passes you know that stick is corrupted and you don’t need to run the test any further on that stick.
* Get back to us with the results.
Route44
Posts: 12,015 +82
Since the last minidump do you have you received any more Blue Screens? If so then attach them in your next post.
Are any of the mobo capacitors bulging?
If the motherboard is dying often the peripheral hardware will begin to have issues such as a wireless card. I've experienced it myself.
* Does the voltage specs of your RAM match the voltage specs in your BIOS?
Are any of the mobo capacitors bulging?
If the motherboard is dying often the peripheral hardware will begin to have issues such as a wireless card. I've experienced it myself.
* Does the voltage specs of your RAM match the voltage specs in your BIOS?
Well so far after 3 hours of just browsing seems to be running ok....Never had blue screens it was just freezing freezing up and nothing i can do except hit the power button. Capacitors look fine.
As far as the integrated stuff only thing that really stopped working two days ago was the nick card. Voltage specs does match the bios. But also keep in mind that this freezing problem started when i installed new network card i tried both and they both seem to do the same thing. Anyhow since you talking about Memory corruption im going to watch tv on it and see if it will freeze. I guess its possible that video card memory goes corrupt. ill get back to you after a few hours of tv viewing.Thanks
As far as the integrated stuff only thing that really stopped working two days ago was the nick card. Voltage specs does match the bios. But also keep in mind that this freezing problem started when i installed new network card i tried both and they both seem to do the same thing. Anyhow since you talking about Memory corruption im going to watch tv on it and see if it will freeze. I guess its possible that video card memory goes corrupt. ill get back to you after a few hours of tv viewing.Thanks
Ok i did clean the pc up from alot of junk unused anymore uninstalled flash, adobe reader, java, and video card driver. Cleaned all traces of them restarted and looked for more traces and got rid of what i found then i restarted again and installed one by one with with rebooting after each program install. It froze 7 times since then. The two most recent ones were a little different the first one when it froze heard a long low pitched beep coming from the motherboard speaker and it only stopped when i hit the power button. The last one i was just entering zynga poker in Facebook all the sudden monitor turned off and back on with a blue screen displaying Hardware malfunction call your hardware vendor for support The system has halted. Still no minidumps generated
Route44
Posts: 12,015 +82
That one long beep is a BIOS code. Find the make of your BIOS and look up the Beep code. It will point to where the problem lies.
Also, run with one stick of RAM and tell us if that brings stability. Switch out your sticks.
Enabling Minidump Files for XP:
1. Right click My Computer > click Properties > click Advance tab
2. The Advance Screen at the bottom right has Error Reporting. Click this on.
3. Click Enabled error reporting and also check both boxes underneath: Windows operating system and Programs.
4. Now click Choose Programs and click All Programs. Then click Okay and that screen will close. At the next screen click Okay and that will close.
5. You are back to the Advance screen. Find the Start up and Recovery which has underneath it System startup, system failure, and debugging information. Click the Settings box.
6. Another screen will open. You want the System failure section. Enable all three boxes.
7. Under these boxes is Write debugging information. Choose the option Small memory dump (64kb). Click OK and that screen will close.
8. Click OK one more time and you'll be finished. Now the ability for your system to write minidumps should be enabled.
* Also, Start > Run > Eventvwr.msc > Okay Take note of any Yellow Triangles or Red Xs and what they flag.
Also, run with one stick of RAM and tell us if that brings stability. Switch out your sticks.
Enabling Minidump Files for XP:
1. Right click My Computer > click Properties > click Advance tab
2. The Advance Screen at the bottom right has Error Reporting. Click this on.
3. Click Enabled error reporting and also check both boxes underneath: Windows operating system and Programs.
4. Now click Choose Programs and click All Programs. Then click Okay and that screen will close. At the next screen click Okay and that will close.
5. You are back to the Advance screen. Find the Start up and Recovery which has underneath it System startup, system failure, and debugging information. Click the Settings box.
6. Another screen will open. You want the System failure section. Enable all three boxes.
7. Under these boxes is Write debugging information. Choose the option Small memory dump (64kb). Click OK and that screen will close.
8. Click OK one more time and you'll be finished. Now the ability for your system to write minidumps should be enabled.
* Also, Start > Run > Eventvwr.msc > Okay Take note of any Yellow Triangles or Red Xs and what they flag.
I found another network card laying around installed it and PC still freezes. The beep code came way after the pc was running for an hour or so. So that wouldn't be exactly a POST test bios code. "Phoenix Technologies 6.00PG". on the other hand i removed one stick of ram and it still froze up right now im testing it with the other stick in different slot to make sure. As far as minidumps yes its all enabled and haven't got one since my first post, event viewer doesn't show anything wrong except for the dhcp and tcip faild to renew which is a normal thing if your behind a router.
or maybe not it restarted once again froze up a couple of times and gave me same blue screen as before. While all that happened i had my phone plugged in usb for charging which makes me now suspect that it could very well be either a driver or usb controller problem. I always have my phone plugged in usb for charging. i know it doesnt make sense since it all started when integrated lan card stopped working and threw in a pci card. but if its not a usb thing or driver that would leave it out to one final conclusion the mother board. anyways thanks for your help i will keep testing it and i will let you know the final conclusion.
Well I guess that was not USB driver issue have not been plugging my phone in at all but I did run into a couple freezes restarts and a blue screen not as much as before though. But with the most recent blue screen it came up as wdmaud.sys and it generated a minidump this time. Minidump attached.
Route44
Posts: 12,015 +82
The error code is 0xD1 and these are usually caused by faulty drivers. The driver cited is the Microsoft wdmaud.sys which is a MS WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility driver/Soundcard Driver originally for Win 98 & ME and then again on XP.
When XP rolled around it caused many people issues and at the time MS directed people to update to latest Service Pack to fix the issue. Well you already have SP 3 so then another possibility is that many have reported a trojan disguised as this file thus a security scan is something to try.
The first thing I would do though is go to your motherboard manufacture's website and update the latest onboard audio drivers that they provide.
When XP rolled around it caused many people issues and at the time MS directed people to update to latest Service Pack to fix the issue. Well you already have SP 3 so then another possibility is that many have reported a trojan disguised as this file thus a security scan is something to try.
The first thing I would do though is go to your motherboard manufacture's website and update the latest onboard audio drivers that they provide.
Well motherboard manufacture's website has the old outdated drivers from 2007 wouldn't it be better for me to get the latest driver from Realtek? As far as security nothing is to be concerned about gets fully scanned daily for viruses and spyware, and just to be on the safe side i just ran hijackthis all seem to be fine. ill give it a shot i guess with either driver that is from realtech and the old driver from the motherboard manu site.
Well tried both drivers and neither one brought stability, did some testing and benching on audio and video card but they all seem fine. I had also disabled the on-board Audio but that still didn't make a difference. Removed Firefox and installed again did not make a difference either. Got a new minidump that also logged in the even viewer.
Route44
Posts: 12,015 +82
Yes, it did say ntfs.sys and the error code is 0x24. It would be a good idea to run a hard drive diagnostics.
Also in the mix was the driver amon.sys not being able to load. This belongs to your Eset NOD32. I run it myself; have been doing so for the last 6+ years.
First update and see what happens and then do the diagnostics as well.
Also in the mix was the driver amon.sys not being able to load. This belongs to your Eset NOD32. I run it myself; have been doing so for the last 6+ years.
First update and see what happens and then do the diagnostics as well.
Yesterday i did system file checker, i also did checkdisk today. Nothing really changed. Then i figured i would do a repair on sp3 done that and seems to be stable haven't had a problem yet so i figured i could try out the onboard network card to see maybe if that was solved. When i plugged the cable i saw that it was trying to acquire Ip then it would say cable disconnected and it continuously did that. Which before it was saying it that the cable was disconnected when it stopped working. So i figured i would go in the net card settings and experiment. only way it worked was changing the connection type to 10BasteT, Full duplex dropped my connection down to half and half duplex dropped it down to a quarter of what it normally is. Since im not seeing any problems so far i decided to disable that and use the PCI card. Seems fine so far, keeping my fingers crossed.
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