[Petrarch of the VBB]

Over the past week or two my PC has becmoe very unstable, to the extent that if I use it for about one hour or so the Keyboard and Mouse cease to function. however, things still run in the background, such as music, or games.

The system is not overheating, as teh overall temperature isn't above about 40'C, and teh CPU about 50'C.

I ran the system tune up on Sandra 2002, and I will post the most worrying part.

Code: [Select]


*****  Start of Report  *****
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<<< PCI, AGP, CardBus Buses Information >>>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Warning W1206:                        Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) SiS5513 EIDE
                                          Controller (A,B step) : PCI latency too high. Device
                                          could hog the bus for too long.
    Warning W1203:                        Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) 5591/2 Virtual PCI to
                                          PCI Bridge : VGA palette snooping seriously reduces
                                          video performance. Disable it if you don't need it.
    Tip T1202:                            Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) SiS630 GUI
                                          Accelerator+3D : Device does not support bus
                                          mastering.
    Warning W1209:                        Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) SiS630 GUI
                                          Accelerator+3D : Video card does not have an interrupt
                                          assigned.

*****  End of Report  *****


can anything be done?

[karajorma]

Originally posted by Petrarch of th VBB
Over the past week or two my PC has becmoe very unstable, to the extent that if I use it for about one hour or so the Keyboard and Mouse cease to function. however, things still run in the background, such as music, or games.
 

I`ve had exactly the same problem with my second PC. I`d be interested in an answer to this one too.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

Nice to know I'm not alone. what's your machines spec?

Mines:
Athlon XP 1600
288Meg SDRAM (64Meg share)
40Gig UDMA100 HD
Onbard SiS graphics
Onboard SiS sound
SiS some horrid chipset (mobo is PCChips M810LR)
Win 98SE
On board LAN
Some AMR modem.

[an0n]

If you've had your computer long enough for such problems to occur, chances are it's obsolete and outdated (as well as ****ed). Buy a new computer.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

its only 3 months old!

[Galemp]

I'd watch out for adware spyware, and viruses, which can do horrible things like this. I would suggest doing a full reformat. This will clean out any bugs and let you know whether the problem is with the hardware or the software.

Or you can solder all the openings in the case shut and fill it with water.

[an0n]

Originally posted by Petrarch of th VBB
its only 3 months old!

Exactly. It's outdated.


*hides his 4 year old machine*

[karajorma]

Originally posted by GalacticEmperor
I'd watch out for adware spyware, and viruses, which can do horrible things like this. I would suggest doing a full reformat. This will clean out any bugs and let you know whether the problem is with the hardware or the software.

Or you can solder all the openings in the case shut and fill it with water.

Okay here's the strange thing. My system worked fine. It stopped working so I used norton ghost to restore the drive as it was 3 months before the problem appeared and still the problem continues so it seems more likely to be caused by some sort of hardware problem

[Ulundel]

Originally posted by GalacticEmperor
I'd watch out for adware spyware, and viruses, which can do horrible things like this. I would suggest doing a full reformat. This will clean out any bugs and let you know whether the problem is with the hardware or the software.

Or you can solder all the openings in the case shut and fill it with water.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

if it's spyware then that's what you need

[Stealth]

hmmm, for once i'm stumped!  i KNOW this has nothing to do with how old your computer is (ignore an0n ) but it may be .... hmmm.....

i'm going to do some research on this... i suggest you do too though.

a good thing to do:

type some of the error messages or their codes/names in a search engine and results will come up

[CP5670]

Have you tried just a full hard drive format (if convenient)? I have had these kinds of random stability problems solved a number of times by doing that...

[Stealth]

awww c'mon... the ultimate advice... fixes any computer problem that's not hardware

:

"HAVE YOU TRIED FORMATTING?"

well DUH that's going to work, but that takes too long, and it's very inconvenient... i always recommend using this only as a last resource

[CP5670]

well hey it works...

[IceFire]

I recommend reformatting as the only resolution to system wide problems.  Face it, if the system isn't performing very well as a whole...then why not back up that data and reformat...its not like its a sound driver issue that your formatting for....this a major system problem.

So, do the format.  Forget the ghosts and the system backups....sometimes it works, sometimes not.

If the format has no effect whatsoever.  Then you can almost be certain that its a hardware problem (run with minimal drivers when you start).  Quite possibly....from the error messages (and combined with a reformat proving no help) its the motherboard.  Maybe its cracked...maybe its just not built like it was supposed to be....

[phreak]

i haven't had many positive experiences with onboard cards.

my "soundcard" blows.

[Stealth]

Originally posted by IceFire
I recommend reformatting as the only resolution to system wide problems.  Face it, if the system isn't performing very well as a whole...then why not back up that data and reformat...its not like its a sound driver issue that your formatting for....this a major system problem.

So, do the format.  Forget the ghosts and the system backups....sometimes it works, sometimes not.

If the format has no effect whatsoever.  Then you can almost be certain that its a hardware problem (run with minimal drivers when you start).  Quite possibly....from the error messages (and combined with a reformat proving no help) its the motherboard.  Maybe its cracked...maybe its just not built like it was supposed to be....

i disagree... often a "system wide problem" is caused by just one little error in the BIOS or one jumper setting (if it's hardware)... quite often in my area there are surges, and when this happens it changes a variable in the BIOS, causing my modem, sound card, and many programs to not work.  just a simple change, and voila!

and this happens quite often, like once a month.  it's very possible a surge screwed your system.  i have a surge protector, but it cuts the power for a second or something, and screws it up.  i'd say do more research, and if you HAVE to... format

[Nico]

meh, you can't say that. It could be just anything.
I know these kind of pbs, and I know reformating is a pain, sometimes it's just not possible.
you'd have to go through the usual thing: updating ( or sometimes, d'uh, getting older ) drivers, disabling pc components, the whole crap.

[IceFire]

I've never heard of surges causing "variable" changes in the BIOS.  I suppose its possible....but its probably just as possible for the surge to actually fry the electronics on the motherboard in a more permanent fashion.

[Liberator]

Have you recently installed any PCI devices?
That first error indicates that one of your PCI devices is screwed up.  If you haven't installed any new hardware recently try removing each component one at a time and retest.

Another major problem that I see is something is stealing the IRQ from your Videocard.  Try reassigning it to another IRQ.

[Stealth]

Originally posted by IceFire
I've never heard of surges causing "variable" changes in the BIOS.  I suppose its possible....but its probably just as possible for the surge to actually fry the electronics on the motherboard in a more permanent fashion.

nonono, the surges don't actually get through to the computer, since i've got a surge protector... but surges happen really frequently in the area i live in, and every now and then for that split second of the surge, the protector cuts off power to the computer (it's like pulling a plug out of the computer)... and so it 'resets' itself... this often causes the BIOS to screw up, and set the ports or something wrong...

i've gotten so used to fixing it i've forgotten exactly what i change, but i'll check in the next few days... i know it'll happen again.

The first time it happened i called the company that provided this PC, and they said it's not uncommon for this to happen.  they directed me through fixing it, etc.