New PC boot problem :(

Acliff

Acliff

Acliff

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My computer is being rather erratic and freezing at the windows splash screen stage, where the progress bar stops and the computer stops responding. Very occasionally I can get through into windows, and when it does, the computer is perfectly stable.

I believe its a graphics card related problem, as when I built the computer, the graphics card drivers refused to install, and froze. I eventually got the drivers on after putting a newer bios on my motherboard, and it was fine for a while, but the problem has started again. The computer fails to load into windows maybe 7 times out of 8. If it is a graphics card problem, then it seems strange that when I get into windows, it easily handles heavy gaming, including oblivion, fear, farcry, half life 2 etc.

My computer specs are:
Antec p150
Asrock 775Dual-VSTA
Core2Duo E6300
1gb (512x2) Twinmos pc3200 DDR
74gb raptor
250gb seagate barracuda
Arctic cooling freezer 7
Gigabyte x800pro -> xt agp


What could this problem be, and how could I fix it? Its beginning to really fray my patience :(
 
It sounds like it could be a ram problem. Download memtest from here and follow the instructions on the website to get it working and leave it running for a while. If you get any errors during the tests, it looks like you have a ram problem.

If you need any help with memtest, just post back on here :)

Make sure you have everything at stock speeds if you haven't already :)
 
Tricky for sure as you`re using a lot of new technology,is everything new you have bar the gfx card?.
I`d go round your cabling and reseat everything firmly,mine did this when my hd cable wasn`t totally snug.
After this you`re down to basic troubleshooting one thing at time,try old agp or pci card,just use main os drive,unplug extra hd and dvd,try one stick of ram,another psu and see what boots.
 
Everything is new except for the RAM and the graphics card. The RAM is actually only in there till I get my DDR2 2gb, then the RAM is relegated to the secondary computer.

When I go home, if I'm still having problem, I will be stripping the computer and putting it back together. The cables needed better routing anyway.

The thing that confuses me the most is that when my computer boots, it works perfectly. I mean I haven't done any serious stress tests yet, but that would require me to actually boot into windows :/

Everything is currently at stock speeds (although I get the feeling the E6300 wants to be set free). Curse computers and their fickle ways!
 
Well it seems to be working with a geforce 2 mx... I hope to god my x800xt isn't borked.

Alternative things it could be:

PSU not being able to power all the components?

Its got the following: x800xt, E6300, a raptor, 250gb barracuda, and 1 gb of ram. No PCI cards. That shouldn't draw more than the 430watts the PSU gives out?

As safe mode works fine, does this mean the graphics card isn't completely broken? And just yesterday, I played 3 hours of Half Life 2 with no graphical glitches, slow down, freezes or anything. This freezing had happened before the gaming, and happens almost all the time now.

Since my reinstall of windows, I have yet had any crashes once it had booted into windows. Could it be graphics drivers, motherboard drivers, or something as simple as that?
 
Well i`m not sure what initially caused the freezing in the first place but with that happening there was a good chance your os would be borked too.
As far as power goes ocuks titan systems are running on 380w psus with a lot more than you,but nevertheless it could be the culprit.

I turned this up on another forum see if the `bios` trick works before you replace psu.

Mine turned out to be the power supply. I started pressing the "Del" key at boot up and going into the BIOS and letting the system sit for a few minutes to warm up. Then I would exit the BIOS without saving any changes and let it boot up and it did not freeze. So then I removed the power supply and replaced it with my old one that came with the case and there was no boot problem. So I sent my power supply to Antec and they sent me a new one. So far so good.
 
If it was your graphics card then surely it would crash during gaming as well, not just boot-up? I call foul on either the Ati drivers or Windows itself! Use DriverCleaner on your graphics drivers and then reinstall the latest ones from Ati's site. If that doesn't work, maybe reinstall Windows?
 
Used to get this on two occasions, firstly when the processor was OC'd more than the mobo or CPU could handle, would freeze on the loading bar and reboot, and secondly if my RAM timings were pushed too hard, try running on a divider, or slacking the timings a little, or the one that always worked for me se the RAM to 2T

All these times, when it did eventually load ok it was as stable as you like

May not work but worth a try a least ;)
 
I'm buying new the new Geil DDR2 2gb pc6400 kit tomorrow, so maybe that will help matters. If it doesn't, driver cleaner + reinstall of drivers, if that doesn't work, reinstall of windows.

When there are no drivers for a graphics card on bootup, it should say that there is a new plug and play device shouldnt' it? Until I finally managed to install my graphics card, it didn't ask for any drivers, and on the right click properties/settings it said 'default monitor on ' instead of the 'Plug and play monitor on Radeon X800pro / gt

I'm able to type this, as having pulled out my geforce 2 mx from my computer again, and reinstalling the x800, it started working again. Its been on for 4-5 hours constant use and game playing, but its still feels completely stable.
 
Ok, so I don't think its the graphics card, as it works in my second computer. It is either a driver problem or a windows problem.

As I'm doing a saturday delivery order from overclockers later, I'm thinking I might buy a new graphics card while I'm at it, and sell the x800 at a later date. If this doesn't solve the issues then I'm going to cry.

Which budget card, agp or pcie would you suggest that would be comparable to the x800pro (with 16 pipelines) or better, for say, 100? I see the 7900gt in the deal of the week, what are your thoughts on it?

Speedy replies would be much appreciated as I want to order my stuff during my lunch break.

Thanks!
 
Dude, try drivercleaner and reinstalling the drivers before buying a new card!

The 7900gt is apparently a good card though if that's what you want to do.
 
So having tested various combinations of components, I've found the sequence of events that causes the freezes.

Everytime I install Catalyst drivers, it freezes from then on. When I start windows with the 'last good configuration' it rolls back these drivers, and the computer works fine, in VGA mode asking for graphics drivers.

I've tried 4 different revisions of catalyst, with/without wdm and cc. Still doesn't work. The annoying thing is, on the odd occasion it does boot into windows, it is as stable as you like.

Am I right in saying that its a graphics card related problem? Is the graphics card broke, or does it look like drivers only? Motherboard is not compatible with catalyst drivers and my graphics card? Or could it be something completely different causing it, like my RAM?

I am getting frustrated and confused :(
 
Is it possible there's some additional or custom drivers provided by your card's manufacturer that you should be installing as well or instead of the Catalysts?
 
I don`t know much about the x800 pro card,but did you flash it to unlock it to an xt or some other bios?.If so might be worth flashing back.
 
Mine was the Gigabyte x800pro VIVO that was sold with all 16 pipes open. At the time, and it still is an absolute screamer.
My Geil pc6400 ram turned up, maybe that will solve some problems, otherwise i'm going to have to spend some money...
 
Well my x1900gt is bought and it appears to be working. However when I was installing it appeared to have a similar problem to the x800pro. For some reason it wouldn't install the WDM drivers. How bizarre.

Without them, the graphics card worked fine in oblivion 1680x1050 HDR.
I haven't restarted since the install so we'll see whether it loads.
 
Found this on ati site

Knowledge Base
ATI Customer Care > Solve a Problem > Installation > Errors / Messages >
737-20576: WDM Integrated Drivers do not install during the initial setup.

The information in this article applies to the following configuration(s):


* WDM Integrated Drivers
* Windows XP

Attempting to install the WDM integrated drivers under Windows XP may result in an error message being displayed indicating that the hardware is not installed because the install wizard cannot find the necessary software.
Are you booting ok now with a fresh install of xp?

ATI Engineering has been advised of this issue and is investigating. Any updates will be published when they become available.



EPR128321

This issue is supposed to be fixed in 6.2 cats and above.I don`t use wdm drivers myself as i`m using the special 6.6 oblivion cats and ati tray tools and they work fine.Some guides recommend disabling vpu recover in the tray.
Are you booting ok now with a fresh install of xp(pre sp2 might be a good idea)?
 
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