Computer completely shuts down!!!

[BlueBeard]

Ok folks, here are the specs:

Enlight 7237 (300W PS)
900mhz Athlon T-Bird (Retail)
Gigabyte GA-7ZX
(1) Crucial 256 meg DIMM
Western Digital 40 gig
All-in-wonder Radeon
Soundblaster Live! Platinum
Actiontec PCI Call-waiting modem
Pioneer DVD
Acer CDRW
Viewsonic G810
Creative FPS2000
Windows Me/Windows 2000 dual boot

I built this system about 2 months ago and everything went relatively smooth (with the exception of having to upgrade the power supply). It was built with (1) Crucial 128 meg DIMM because I was waiting for the
256 meg DIMM.

Now on to the problem:

When booted into Windows Me, the computer will occasionally shut down completely. No power what-so-ever. This has happened while burning cd's, gaming, playing video cd's and when moving or deleting files. This only occurs in Windows ME not Windows 2000.

Last week, my son got into my computer and really fouled it up, so I decided to start from scratch and reinstall everything (aren't children wonderful).

Now, when installing Windows Me, the computer will completely shut down (not the normal restarts either). My first thought was "okay, the 256 meg DIMM was faulty", so I swapped to the 128 meg Dimm that I used the first time and the install went perfectly fine.

I decided to use the 128 meg DIMM for awhile to see if the symptoms returned and, sure enough, they did. Only in Windows Me not Windows 2000.

I have tested both DIMM's in two other systems that have the same CPU and motherboard and they seem fine.

Of course, the easy solution would be to boot into Windows 2000 but I would really like to use Me too.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[sleddog]

Is it maybe overheating? Assuming that motherboard has temperature sensors, do you have software to monitor temperatures? It is possible that Windows 2000 is doing software cooling (HLT instructions to the CPU) that Windows ME is not, and this may account for the difference.

An excellent program for monitoring temperatures is Motherboard Monitor: http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

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sleddog
[sleddog.f2s.com] (http://www.sleddog.f2s.com)

[BlueBeard]

I don't think the CPU is overheating. It's only mildly warm to the touch. The system health status in the bios displays the temperature to be 43c, but don't know how reliable that is. I'm also having a hard time finding operating range on AMD's website.

I also tried switching DIMM slots and the problem still persists.

Thanks for your response!

[Randy_tx]

I doubt overheating is the problem...if an AMD Athalon overheats it's a gonner anyway (there is NO warning on AMD's) 7-10 seconds & poof.......but your problem could easily be Win Me......it is a buggy OS and fixes so far havent cured the myriad of problems. It could well be that Athalon's/your mobo and Win Me dont get along(not that ANY system does with Me). You can save yourself a TON of grief and change over to Win 98 SE.....it's a faster OS anyway.
I'm running an AMD Athalon 900 in a system now that is very stable under Win 98 SE....however, I do have to boot twice sometimes to get into Win...a timing issue i think with AMD & Win that I've never figgered out.

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

[hacker]

You could try, if you haven't already, to run your comp with the side panel off. More than likely let you know if there is a heat problem.

Although, if it happens in one OS and not the other, it's probally not a heat problem.

The latest VIA 4in1 drivers are also important to have installed if you haven't done that.

I believe I have read that ther are sometimes problems with the
VIA KT133/Radeon/ME combination.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck!

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I was called "hacker" before there was a HeathKit.

[BlueBeard]

Hacker:

Yeah, I have the case open with fan blowing across the CPU. Doesn't seem to change anything.

As far as the drivers go, I am using VIA 4.25, but the shutdown problem appears while installing ME...before I even get the chance to provide the drivers. It shuts down towards the end of the install wher it's setting up the control panel and two progress meters are shown on the middle of the screen. The lower overall progress meter gets about 25% before it shuts down. When I restart, the install picks up where it left off and completes but when it's finished nothing is displayed on the screen. All of this is while using the 256 DIMM and not the 128.

I am pretty sure that the ram settings in the bios are correct but maybe I have something else configured wrong? I'm not sure if it's relevent but when I initially built the system the bios would not auto-detect my hard drive. I had to configure it manually. There is a bios upgrade so maybe I should flash it and see what happens.

Like you have suggested, I have also heard that it may be an issue with the KT133/Radeon/ME combination.

[hacker]

BlueBeard,

You know what your doing so this might be redundunt.

If you haven't already, try setting your Bios to "Default", "Normal" whatever the non-Optimal settings are.

Also, try seting your memory to CAS 3, and your AGP port to 1x, or 2x.

In other words, slow the baby down.

I'm not too familiar with ME. I have 98SE. Decided to skip ME and wait for Whistler, now WinXP(?).

Also, did you use FAT 32 for the format of the ME partition? I believe Win2000 uses another type (NFTS? or something like that).

Once again,

Good Luck!

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I was called "hacker" before there was a HeathKit.

[BlueBeard]

Hacker,

Ram is set to CAS3 and all my partitions are Fat 32. Good idea on the AGP setting...don't know why I didn't think of that. I will have to try it as soon as I get home from work.

Not sure if it would help, but can't I disable ACPI in the bios?

At this point I am seriously thinking about using Win 98 instead of Win Me, but my stubborness is holding me back, lol.

Thanks for your help.

[BlueBeard]

Well, I changed the AGP setting from 4X to 1X and so far so good. Just for S&G, I might reformat and install ME yet again using the 256 stick and the AGP 1X setting. Thanks for the nudge in the right direction, Hacker.

[BlueBeard]

Well, I went into the bios and changed the AGP setting from 4X to 1X. I'm trying to run ME through the paces to see if the problem returns but so far, so good. Just for S&G, I might reformat and reinstall ME using the 256 stick and with the AGP setting at 1X to see what happens.

Thanks for the nudge in the right direction, Hacker. I'll let you know the outcome.

[Randy_tx]

I disabled ACPI on my system (Athalon 900) without any problems...not sure if it will help your situation though.

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

[BlueBeard]

Well, changing the AGP setting did not solve the problem. I'm sick and tired of f&*#ing around with ME. I'm going to try installing 98SE and see if I fair any better. I'll post my results. Thank you all for the help.

[bassman]

Someone please let me know if I am way off base here. Could there be a boot sector virus in the ME partition? If so and you are not getting this cleared in your format proceedure.... I would say from what Blue has described, this is to consistant to be just a buggy OS. Some other kind of conflict here. Good luck

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If your not living on the edge, your taking up to much space!

[Reid]

You might also try try installing ME with a command line of setup /p i which will install Windows as if there were no ACPI and Plug & Play support in the BIOS. This is usually a troubleshooting step/fix for shutdown problems. Using "j" instead of "i" will re-enable ACPI and P&P.


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reido@my-deja.com

Friends don't let friends install Windows ME

[Reid]

Originally posted by BlueBeard:
I don't think the CPU is overheating. It's only mildly warm to the touch. The system health status in the bios displays the temperature to be 43c, but don't know how reliable that is. I'm also having a hard time finding operating range on AMD's website.

My Thunderbird 850 runs at 42C, which is in the safe range, with a Chrome Orb (I bought it before reading about more efficient ones). It didn't run any cooler with Arctic Silver II than with the "white stuff" (I removed the original phase change "patch").



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reido@my-deja.com

Friends don't let friends install Windows ME

[BlueBeard]

Eureka!!! I tried reformatting and installing Windows 98 and was getting the same problems. Windows just would not install. Here's what happened:

When I first built the system, the bios would not auto-detect my hard drive. I ended up having to configure it manually and thought no more about it. Well, while I was going through and inspecting everything I got to the hard drive and guess what I found? There was a small steel chip wedged inside the jumper block and it was touching 2 pins. I have no idea how it got there. I removed it and the bios auto-detected the hard drive just fine. I threw the 256 stick in and proceeded to install ME without a hitch. I have been running it for 36 hours now without shutting down. It looks like I've won this round!!! Thanks to you all for your help.

[hacker]

Hey BlueBeard,

GREAT CATCH!!

I thought it was odd that the auto-detect didn't work, but went right by it.

Only goes to show, if something's odd, it might be a problem.

Well, good going and hope to see you around here.

Goog Luck!

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I was called "hacker" before there was a HeathKit.