Return of the cold boot crash.

[woel]

Hi!

A couple of months ago I started a thread in this forum about a cold boot problem. The advice I got was to replace my motherboard which I did. Since then the problem seemed to partly disappeared. But now when it's getting cooler outside it seem to have returned again.

Short description of problem:
After Windows has started when computer is cold booted the computer crashes after a while. After a restart computer is stable.

The motherboard I replace was my abit kr7a. It was replaced with a abit kr7a-133. I think now that it seem that the motherboard wasn't the problem.

Anyone have any ideas?

(It is not the psu, graphic card, sound card or network card.)

The only remaining parts is the cpu, memory, hard disk, dvd and cd-r.

/Leo

[MultimediaMan]

And the power supply....check that first.

[K6-III]

He said its not the PSU, but I'd have him check it anyway...

[Technoid]

Had the same problem with a hdd that was formated in the summer....

In the winter it woulden't boot belowe a certin temp, a repartition and format solved it....

[rugger]

Computer troubles

Originally posted by Technoid
Had the same problem with a hdd that was formated in the summer....

In the winter it woulden't boot belowe a certin temp, a repartition and format solved it....

That sounds awfully screwy. Unless you are talking about old seagate monsters from 15-20 years ago. For those old clunkers, they used stepper motors, and expansion/contraction of the drive due to temperature changes would require a low level format to correct.

However, virtually all harddrives from the last 10 years have used voice coil head motors. These automaticly align themselves to the tracks on the hard drive, and don't suffer from the problems drives with stepper motors did.

Furthermore, the low level format applied to modern hard drives cannot be reproduced outside of the hard drive factory. The servo information (that allows the head to correctly position itself over the data track) cannot be changed by the drive, so reformatting the drive really has no effect on how the drive reacts to tempurature.

Well, thats the theory anyway

For the original problem, WTF are you using ANOTHER abit motherboard for? I thought you would have learnt by now.

[woel]

Hi!

Since I returned my abit motherboard and said that it wasn't working they replaced it with a similar board.

About the psu... I used to have a 300W Aopen and I bought a new 353W Enermax. So that is why I don't blame the psu.

Perhaps the repartitioning is as good idea as any other.

/Leo

[rugger]

woel,

Go out, buy a Sis 735 board (ECS make them) and use that instead.

And do the repartition

[K6-III]

The 353 watt Enermax isn't any better than the PSU you were using before. Get something proper, like a 400watt Antec or Sparkle...

[woel]

Hi!

Well maybe I buy a new motherboard. Seen the Asus A7S333 for a cheap price where I usually buy my computer stuff.

I can't really accept that my psu isn't good enough. I spent about 100 euro on it. Some of my friends use cheap 300W psus and their computers are stable. And I don't have a lot of parts in my computer.



/Leo

[dZeus]

you replaced the original Abit motherboard with another Abit one.. that's where the problem lies

Seriously, cold boot problems often are the result of blown caps on the motherboard, and if there's one thing that Abit is famous for, then it would be....

[DentyCracker]

A7S333 is a SiS745 based mobo. Go for it. In any case check the current rating on each of the lines of the PSU. Some manufacturers lie about the overall wattage, but they usually tell the truth about the current rating on the 5V, 12V, and so on. For example my Macron that came with the random case I'm using gives 30A on the 5V line, 10A on the 12V line, 0.5A on the -5V line 0.8A on the -12V line 1.4A on the 3.3V line and 2A on the 5Vsb. Granted I'm using a Duron at 900MHz. Oh and I'm still using my Abit KT7 for now. Haven't blown any caps yet (I think). Will upgrade this winter to something non-VIA. Most likely to a SiS solution, 120GB Maxtor HD, Parhelia of some kind and the cheapest Audigy I can find. Girlfriend will be the recipient of my current system, except for the monitor. She's getting an elcheapo monitor.

[woel]

Well since I rma:d (is that the "word"?) my abit motherboard they reseller changed it for a new one. Don't think I had a choice...

I tried both my psu:s and I have the same problem with both. Didn't have that problem with my old psu with my old athlon 600MHz but perhaps my athlon xp 1700 takes a little more power. Anyway I don't have my computer stuffed with parts.

Here is my system:
Abit kr7a-133
Amd athlon xp 1700
crucial 256MB
IBM Deskstar 120GXP 80GB
Creative Sound Blaster Live player 1024
3com 905c
Ati Radeon 8500
Pioneer DVD
Plextor CD-RW
Enermax 353W PSU

About the caps...
I can't see that anyone of them have blown. Not on my old motherboard either...

[woel]

now I know that it isn't the memory that is bad. Got a second crucial 256MB today.
Have to try the repartitioning. Too bad I need to backup 75GB of data.

Anyone still thinks it's my new motherboard?

[rugger]

Originally posted by woel
now I know that it isn't the memory that is bad. Got a second crucial 256MB today.
Have to try the repartitioning. Too bad I need to backup 75GB of data.

Anyone still thinks it's my new motherboard?

(I was kidding about the repartition before, I don't think it will help, but by all means, try it)

Yes, we still do think it is your motherboard :P

It has Abit written on it, and hence will make any chance of you getting any real though put into the problem null and void.

If a computer has a problem and an abit motherboard, we can only blame the motherboard (because of its brand) until you try a known working board (non abit, working perfectly elsewhere)