Hardware Help Desk

[NejinOniwa]

ANGSWTZHS! o_o

Well, hello there.
I didn't see anywhere else to post this, and while I was at it I thought it might be nice to have an universal thread for these things, for the next couple of poor sods in this predicament.

SO!

Nejin has FINALLY gotten his computer to at least turn itself on. Took a damn 3 months, woo. But as he rejoices about this he finds that the computer wants to be a general ass, and kills itself after a while. Also annoying is that the computer hangs itself real much, and ALWAYS if you happen to have a CD in your drive when you turn it on.

So I'm totally perplexed at this problem, and need help. To get you a few more clues about what might be the snag, though, I'll post what few oddities I've figured out so far:

1: The "Killing" effect persists if you do a reset or quick power-off-power-on, and comes faster, so I figure this SHOULD be overheating. I DO have a good number of fans, though, and a quite good one on the processor as well.
1.1: I did NOT, however, brush on any thermal paste on the unit before I installed it - I dunno if it's that vital, but that might be the failing link here.
2: My ATX connector is split into a 20-pin and an additional 4-pin connector, for 2.x motherboards, which I have - and the fastener for the 4-pin jammed one of those cylinder things when I fastened it to the side. I tilted it back during the failsearch and hacked off the (somewhat unnecessary) fastener with a knife (what!?), but I dunno if it helped anything.
3: Installed Units:
E6400 2.13ghz Core2 Duo (processor)
2GB RAM
ECS NFSLIT-A 1.0c (motherboard)
Huntkey DHPower ATX 2.x PSU

That's about all clues I can give you guys off the bat.
So, conclusion:

[C-Chan]

*feels details SWOOSH past his head*

Holy HELL!  Wait a sec,.... @___@

Is this that system you were talking about AGES ago,... the one you and a bro/cousin/friend were planning to put together or at least fix (some might say "pimp") up?  ^^;

Don't mind me, as I'm just stalling for time till I try to hide my ignorance on the matter of custom hardware...... -v-;

*fidgets*

[cliche] In any event, when in doubt,... just follow your heart..... ^____^

*hears heart*  And it says something about "thermal paint" and "wutlol. -w-".  ^^;

[NejinOniwa]

HOLY HELL! Wait a sec,.... @___@
Is this that system you were talking about AGES ago,... the one you and a bro/cousin/friend were planning to put together or at least fix (some might say "pimp") up? ^^;

That do be right. Do-be-do-be-do be right. Oh shit, not this again...

Oh and also, did another failsearch today. On my brother's suggestion I unplugged some of the chassi lights and fans, to see if the PSU was the failing link - it wasn't. It still killed itself halfway through the windows installation. So I've still just got my thermal paste clue to go on.

...anyone...?

[C-Chan]

[imitates voice inside Nejin's head]  Thermal paaaaaaaaaaaaaste........  `v'

No but seriously, how hard (or should I say, "destructive" would it be to test that out?  If you apply the thermal paste, you won't be able to remove or something?

[NejinOniwa]

Dunno. I guess I'm just being a bit lazy - also tomorrows I'll be going upcountry for some skiing, so I have little time to try things out. Packing sucks -,-

[Tsubashi]

Oh! Looks like Nejin-san's been having lots of fun, ne? ^.^
Let see. Point of clarification:LGA775 socket motherboard, right? And then is it the ECS NF650iSLIT-A or the NF570SLIT-A? I'd assume it's the first one, but I'm not sure.
Also, when you "jammed" the four pin ATX connector, just the fastener was damaged, not any of the connectors? And what are the "cylinder things?" Is it the Auxiliary +12 V connector port, or just some capacitor (like the pic below).


What BIOS version do you have? You might try flashing it and updating if needs be.

One last thing, have you tried installing any other OS? I know XP has some problems on newer hardware. Try changing the BIOS translation method used to access the hard drive from the default setting “Auto” to “Large” (not LBA, not CHS).

You might also try using thermal paste '

[NejinOniwa]

Oh! Looks like Nejin-san's been having lots of fun, ne? ^.^
Let see. Point of clarification:LGA775 socket motherboard, right? And then is it the ECS NF650iSLIT-A or the NF570SLIT-A? I'd assume it's the first one, but I'm not sure.
Also, when you "jammed" the four pin ATX connector, just the fastener was damaged, not any of the connectors? And what are the "cylinder things?" Is it the Auxiliary +12 V connector port, or just some capacitor (like the pic below).


What BIOS version do you have? You might try flashing it and updating if needs be.

One last thing, have you tried installing any other OS? I know XP has some problems on newer hardware. Try changing the BIOS translation method used to access the hard drive from the default setting “Auto” to “Large” (not LBA, not CHS).

You might also try using thermal paste '

Lots of stuff o_o
Um. Your assumption is correct, the 650i is the one I've got. And it's one of those capacitor that was slightly jammed when i inserted the 4-pin.

My BIOS is some...um...it was something Phoenix, i think. Don't remember much.
And I haven't tried any other OS, but as it failed before without having entered the setup I don't think that's the case either.

Yeah, I think I should just go get some thermal paste.

That's for when I get home, though - I'm off skiing tomorrow morningssu...
RIDGE RACER!!! >w<

*zooms out of thread*

[Tsubashi]

Well, check to make sure the capacitor is okay.

Phoenix, eh?
*Thinks*
I'm fairly certain it's AwardBIOS. If so, the latest version for your board is 07.09.28 (Though it might not show up as that.) ECS names updates by release date, so if you've updated your BIOS since September 28, you'd have the latest. Otherwise... ^.^

And I haven't tried any other OS, but as it failed before without having entered the setup I don't think that's the case either.

Well, since it is a hard drive access translation problem, it could occur any time XP tries to read/write to the disk including the period right after POST completes but before anything show up.

Added after 1 minutes:

Oh! and have fun skiing tomorrow! I was invited to go skiing, but term papers and such prevent me from going. T_T

[NejinOniwa]

Oh! and have fun skiing tomorrow! I was invited to go skiing, but term papers and such prevent me from going. T_T

Never pass out on skiing, my boy. My trip was just half-assed - although this isn't really the place to speak about that - and I still came home feeling like I'd won a million. Speed is my Speed...or something. Er.


Oh, and also, CRUD, I had to use this thread again.
I don't know if the capacitor is ok - I'm not very knowledgeable on this area (as I've noticed over the course of building this infernal thing), and I don't know how to tell. Regardless, something IS wrong still, though.

Situation:
My hunch was right - it WAS a case of lacking thermal paste. I say lacking, because there actually was a layer of it on the bottom part of my fan, but it didn't cover the whole unit, and also was paper-thin. I smeared on quite much more (oh, whatever) and now it at least doesn't die by itself anymore. Rejoice...
...but my problems aren't over yet.
I managed to partition and install Windows XP Pro 64 on the machine, so now it's an official computer. Problems remain, though - this infernal thing has got a runtime of some 30 minutes, tops - then it freezes, forcing you to hardboot the thing. If you reset or turn it on again immediately, it freezes after mere minutes, or even seconds. After waiting for a while you can use it pseudo-properly again, but not over the 30 minute scale, where it freezes AGAIN.
I've double-checked the connectors on the board and such, to the best of my knowledge, and find nothing wrong, with the possible fault being two things: One capacitor just by the ATX 4-pin (which I mentioned earlier) and one other capacitor just by the processing unit, which I noticed might have been slightly dented on the top as I fixed with the fan and thermal paste.

I ask you once more for help, my friends - I'm lost in space at this, and not a single damn idea on how to fix this shit - except for buying a new motherboard - has popped up in my head.
HALP. NAO.

Also, tomorrow I leave for a cruise to Estonia, so I'll have to hope for answers until then.

[C-Chan]

Well I'm glad my subliminal messaging [regarding the thermal paste] worked,...

But by GAWD, you seem to be a magnet for trouble, aren't you?  ^^;

*goes off to research with futility*

[NejinOniwa]

But by GAWD, you seem to be a magnet for trouble, aren't you? ^^;

As true as it's said. ALL pieces of hardware that I own or have owned always end up with some really, really weird problems and issues - my iPod occasionally disconnects itself from the computer, ALPHA (this computer) crashes explorer.exe all the damn time when I open my media folders, hael, even my GBA and old stereo had problems! Yes, I AM a magnet for hardware troubles, sempai. That's one big time truth. Unfortunately so.

[Tsubashi]

Gomen nasai, I'm traveling at the moment, so I can't give you a detailied response at the moment, but since it does boot up consistently, I'd doubt that either of those capacitors are broken. Might be a software error, if it were me, I'd try booting a liveCD to see if it demonstrates the same problems. I promise I'll give or more thought when I get home.
Gomen Nasai! ^^'

[NejinOniwa]

I could try booting up my Puppy - but I doubt that's the case, however. As i stated earlier it showed the same problems when in BIOS mode, and even before i could install Windows.

[C-Chan]

I take it your back from your cruise/trip/whatever, no?  ^^
Can't say I've found anything useful during the interim,... hardware, especially custom hardware, is "hardly" my specialty.  [bad pun intended]  ^^;

[NejinOniwa]

-_-;
Yup, back from Tallinn. I'm suffering Reverse Seasickness now, and it sucks.