Have strange PC problems

[jeepz]

Hey guys,

First of all, here are the specs for the system that is givnig me a headache.

-Abit BE6
-Celeron2 566 on slotket(not overlocked)
-128mb PC100 ram
-SB Live Value version 1
-Adaptec 2940W scsi card
-Creative TNT2 Ultra
-3 Seagate SCSI harddisks of various sizes, 1 Yamaha 6x cdrw connected to scsi controller
-DLink nic
-Mitsubishi Diamondscan 20 monitor

Here is the problem:

At random, the computer seems to 'lock up.' The monitor will go blank and the system will freeze up(I know this because the keyboard becomes unresponsive, ie. caps lock wont turn on the LED etc).

I have changed the power supply, tried another video card, removed the scsi card(and hense drives) and it still happens. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? The bios has been updated to the latest version and I set it to defaults and disabled the power management. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[Hebenon]

I would test the RAM. Try sticking a different stick in and seeing if it still locks up. If that doesn't work, try the method of elimination, that seems to always work.

[Auric]

I would test RAM as well, and check the temperature, maybe the system is overheating. I would also boot the system with bare minimum and running a few tests..
does it happen during any specific programs or games or anything or just randomly?

[jeepz]

It seeems to happen at random. I pulled out everything but the soundcard and changed the video card. It still happened(this was in DOS). It seems to happen at random. I checked the temp in the BIOS, it reads as 25 degrees C for the CPU & 35 degrees C for the motherboard, so I dont think thats an issue.

[jbar1]

What OS/ Have you checked device manager for conflicts. Have you checked sys info for memory conflicts. ? If it locks up in DOS(not from a windows prompt} then it sounds like a memory fault. Have you tried it with an IDE configuration? The ABIT BE6 is a well proven and reliable MoBo. This can also be caused by heat or improper cpu settings.

[Tech41]

I'd also check the monitor Video cable for bent or loose pins on both ends of the cable if it is not hard wired to the monitor, you may also may want to swap out the keyboard and take look at the Keyboard connector on the MOBO.

[zanzibuz]

I have a BE6-II motherboard with very similar problems, and here are a few things that I learned:

Are you using windows 2000?

try moving the SB Live card to another PCI slot. I believe that your motherboard has a UDMA66 controller on it, and resources for that controller are shared with one of the pci slots.

2) do you have a maxtor harddrive? I remember a specific incompatibility with the UDMA66 controller for the BE6-II and maxtor harddrives. The way that I got around this was to disable my UDMA66 controller in the bios, and buy a pci controller card. no problems since then.

hope this helps...

[clascomp]

Check the system resources. How much stuff do you have running as Windows starts? If you have messenger, realplayer, cdrw software, etc.., running in the system tray your computer may be trying to do to much at one time.

Move stuff out of the Startup folder, and disable stuff from starting when the computer starts. You can start most of these things as you need them anyway.

We find system resources to be the problem in many situations.

[bigj]

I would check the Slocket Card. I personally work for a company that built several. Alot came back with that EXACT problem...Trying swapping out the riser card

[jeepz]

Thanks for all the tips guys.

Well, seeing as the problem happens in pure DOS, Im leaning toward some kind of hardware problem. Im going to try and systematically remove/replace everything in there till I can nail the little bugger down. The slotket is an Asus slotket and temps seem alright. I'll let you know(and of course if you have anything else to add, please do).

[AmeriDan]

jeeepz,

Check the power supply unit...

Peace

[jeepz]

The PSU was the first thing I swapped out. Im waiting on getting some extra memory to test. Its either the motherboard, cpu or memory, Ive ruled out everything else.

[Chupaweed]

I realy think its the memory