Possible Memory Problem

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 7:36 pm

Okay here's the deal. I have an AMD Athlon 1.1GHz with 512MB Ram and a GeForce4 MX 4000. Running XP Pro. Dunno if it's important but the Motherboard is an old ASUS A7V133 (KT133 chipset)

Okay, on my motherboard I have 3 slots for memory. This morning two were filled with two 256 sticks and I had just bought a 128 stick.

After installing the 128 stick everything went to hell. So of course I removed the new stick but the problems didn't go away. I get blue screens saying nothing much other than windows is dumping the physical memory but this is an intermittant problem. However, if I try to run VirusScan or try to update to service pack two (I've got it downloaded but haven't installed yet) it crashes to the blue screen and then it won't reboot unless I turn the power off completly and wait for a few minutes (odd, I know).

I guess that's a pretty good description of the problem. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Oh, and one more thing, the 128 stick worked by itself.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 7:44 pm

bad memory, diff types that caused problems. Some of those boards wouldn't allow diff size sticks in the slots, read your MB manual and see what config you can have in the slots.

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 7:49 pm

Ok, have you tried each stick individually to see if this happens?

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 8:28 pm

When I tried each stick individually, I could boot up but I'd get blue screened if I tried anything memory intensive.

And according to my manual my memory setup should work fine.

Tomorrow I'm going to buy a 512 stick and see if that works.

I appreciate the help.

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 8:38 pm

Just curious, but what error code did you get?

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 8:49 pm

Well here's one I wrote down:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Blah,blah,blah,blah,blah,blah

Tech Info:

Atapi.sys

I have no idea what any of this means.

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 8:53 pm

Unix wrote:Well here's one I wrote down:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Blah,blah,blah,blah,blah,blah

Tech Info:

Atapi.sys

I have no idea what any of this means.

ATAPI.SYS is your ATAPI Interface System Driver.

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL means that a possible hardware conflict exists between two devices. this BSOD always points to bad RAM, in addition to the device or file it specifies.

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 8:55 pm

So the first thing, obviously, is to get new RAM, and then what do I do about the atapi.sys? Or will that problem work itself out with new memory?

suicide eddie · Post by **suicide eddie** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 3:24 pm

i,av known asus av7 boards to be quite chanky but very overclockable `Crucial` mem works very well in these. often fitting bad or miss matching ram can damage the bios and the master file table just enought to make the o/s unstable so be prepared to reflash the bios and reformat/reinstall xp, i,av also seen these mbs die after changing the cpu so best to leave it alone.
can you let us know the exact error codes.

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 4:28 pm

AceCombat wrote: ATAPI.SYS is your ATAPI Interface System Driver.

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL means that a possible hardware conflict exists between two devices. this BSOD always points to bad RAM, in addition to the device or file it specifies.

Unix wrote:So the first thing, obviously, is to get new RAM, and then what do I do about the atapi.sys? Or will that problem work itself out with new memory?

suicide eddie wrote:can you let us know the exact error codes.

okay, let me be alittle more specific before you go out and start purchasing stuff and wind up screwing the new stuff up aswell.

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL <-- this BSOD Category is pointing most likely to a hard error in RAM caused either by a device specified in the driver file, or the driver file itself.

now, as Eddie asked here, if you can replicate this error again (make it happen again) can you give us the part of the Error that looks like this:

(Technical Info)

*STOP* #.######## ######### ######## ########

this is the specific address and error code that caused the BSOD Error in the first place. if you can get us this info, we may beable to point to exactly what caused the error, and how to exactly fix it.

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 6:06 pm

There's a common fault on A7V133 boards: putting a third stick in causes problems. Use only the first two slots unless you have matching sticks, and get lucky. I have the same board. 3 sticks = no good.

Jeff250 · Post by **Jeff250** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 6:57 pm

AceCombat wrote:DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL means that a possible hardware conflict exists between two devices. this BSOD always points to bad RAM...

Cover your ears. It just isn't true.

Avder · Post by **Avder** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 7:38 pm

Believe it or not I think Mobi is on to something.

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 7:54 pm

Mobius wrote:There's a common fault on A7V133 boards: putting a third stick in causes problems. Use only the first two slots unless you have matching sticks, and get lucky. I have the same board. 3 sticks = no good.

Hmm, well that's helpful

And that's exactly when the problem arose. I guess I'll just buy two 256 sticks.

I'll try to replicate the problem, but sometimes I get a different error. Where windows simply says there's been a big problem and I should remove new hardware etc. or turn off shadowing. But I'll give it a shot and see what I can come up with

Thanks for all the replies people

I love this board.

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 10:33 pm

Well, I got new memory and the problem seems to have been fixed. I appreciate all the help I received from everyone.

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 12:14 am

Unix: In the future, it would be more helpful if you actually posted the complete error message that appeared when you got the BSOD. That was information that I actually needed.

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 12:23 am

Gotcha

Hopefully, I won't have any other problems, but if I get a blue screen again, this is the first place I'm coming

And actually, I'm about to start overclocking so I'll probably be hanging around in the Tech Forum more often.

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 12:51 pm

Jeff250 wrote:
AceCombat wrote:DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL means that a possible hardware conflict exists between two devices. this BSOD always points to bad RAM...
Cover your ears. It just isn't true.

oh really......then you tell me what "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_OR_LESS" Means?

everything i have searched out says this is a hardware conflict or hard error that is damn near 100% referring to RAM and a specific device which is listed by the device's driver

fliptw · Post by **fliptw** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:18 pm

well, not always.

Basically, its the system complaining that its trying to read memory with a kernel process whose IRQL is too high.

its generally a bad driver.

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 2:47 pm

*sigh* So I guess the memory I bought was only a temporary fix. Now I'm getting this:

STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC000001D, OxF8695667, OxF898CE74, 0x00000000)

CLASSPNP.SYS - F89695667 base at F869500

I think the mobo might be fried. When I was installing the new memory I noticed that when I turned on the computer the fan below the cpu fan, which I think is a cooler for the memory, wasn't going. I powered down and cleaned it out with canned air and the next time it started up no problem, but maybe it's been going bad and that's the reason for the problems.

One other thing. This message occurs with regularity when I try to reinstall windows although a couple of times the blue screen has listed a USB port as a problem. Windows, btw, is missing/or something is corrupt from the sytem folder which is why I'm trying to reinstall.

Thanks in advance.

fliptw · Post by **fliptw** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 3:10 pm

You might want to check the power circuit you are plugging your machine into.

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 3:42 pm

or get a small UPS that has a filter circuit built in

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 7:30 pm

Unix wrote:I think the mobo might be fried. When I was installing the new memory I noticed that when I turned on the computer the fan below the cpu fan, which I think is a cooler for the memory, wasn't going. I powered down and cleaned it out with canned air and the next time it started up no problem, but maybe it's been going bad and that's the reason for the problems.

That was probably the fan for your northbridge. Your problems probably started when the northbridge was overheating. I'd look into a replacement as soon as possible. It may be working now, but it might crap out again in the future. I'm suprised you didn't fry the motor on it.

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 7:46 pm

I tried moving to a different power socket, but no dice.

As for the fan, I can' seem to find any way to remove it. I think (though hopefully I'm wrong) that it's soldered onto the board. Do you think if I could replace the fan that that would fix the problem? Because although the fan is working now, the computer still shuts down at almost the same point everytime. Here are some more BSOD's that happened while trying to install windows:

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
Tech Info:
Stop: 0x00000050 (0xF95D4000, 0x0000001, Dx8081F441, 0x00000000)

And this one too:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Stop: 0x000000D1 (0x9D85B758, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0xF98Fcc64)
USBPORT.sys - Address F98FCC64 base at F98F2000

Fun

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 8:00 pm

They're not soldered on, trust me. Its probably just attached on via plastic pins through a steel clamp. The pins go through the PCB.

As far as the errors go, do you have anything plugged into your USB ports? If not, turn them off temporarily in your BIOS. Then try to re-install.

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 8:41 pm

Have you tried Unix, Unix? Just had to ask

My computer is very unstable in Windows, can't figure out why either. In linux, it runs flawlessly. It's annoying as heck though because I still need windows for some things.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 8:45 am

I have windows machines that run for weeks to months on end without restarts on overclocked CPUs. If your system crashes it isnt windows, its the computer. Linux is just more forgiving of hardware errors.

fliptw · Post by **fliptw** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 9:40 am

Krom wrote:I have windows machines that run for weeks to months on end without restarts on overclocked CPUs. If your system crashes it isnt windows, its the computer. Linux is just more forgiving of hardware errors.

nah, linux has better coded drivers(for the stuff it has drivers for).

If you've overclocked too much, linux will just not load at boot.

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 11:22 am

Krom wrote:I have windows machines that run for weeks to months on end without restarts on overclocked CPUs. If your system crashes it isnt windows, its the computer. Linux is just more forgiving of hardware errors.

I think you are dead on there. Something is wrong on my system and Linux seems to put up with it just fine. Windows has a fit.

STRESSTEST · Post by **STRESSTEST** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 11:58 am

Something no one has touched on here is the age of the board.

Unix, how's the capacitors on it?

www.badcaps.com

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 2:02 pm

Well the board does fall into the time frame of the badcap era. I'll look at the caps when I get home. In the meantime, I got so frustrated with it I bought some a new board, mem, and fan from new egg. and a new chip from pricewatch.

Here's a list of what I bought for everyone to criticize

Motherboard
Memory
Fan
CPU - AMD Athlon XP 3000+ 2.167Ghz [AMD Channel Partner] 400FSB AMD Athlon XP 3000 Socket A 400FSB CPU - 98.05 from Pricewatch

Defender · Post by **Defender** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:18 pm

With the memory, I would have stuck with either Crucial or Corsair memory.

I got dual 512 sticks of Corsair XMS... Good stuff.
It's pricier, but you get what you pay for!

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:35 pm

Well you're right about the memory but the memory that I bought has a lifetime memory so I should be okay...knock on wood.

Also, I got the northbridge fan off and found a replacement. If that fixes the problem, I'll just build another computer.

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 11:50 pm

Unix wrote:Well you're right about the memory but the memory that I bought has a lifetime memory so I should be okay...knock on wood.

Ehhh, my Visiontek GF3 Ti200 had a lifetime warranty too....that is until Visiontek went bankrupt.

Good luck with the new rig though. Be sure to post pictures when you get it all setup.