odd crashes

I have a puzzling crash, thought maybe someone here might have an idea as to
what might be causing it.

This crash seems to occur whenever I use anything using DirectX (9, latest
release), DirectDraw, or anything having more graphic requirements than just
e-mail and word processing. For example, running the SETI@home client,
Half-Life/Counter-Strike, the nVidia demos, or even just Winamp will cause
this crash.

What happens when the computer crashes? Suddenly, without any warning at
all, the output to the monitor goes dead. So, the monitor clicks off and
goes blank (the light goes to orange, indicating there is no output from the
video card). Also, the hard drive activity light on the front of the
computer is on steadily. Other than that, there is no error message or any
other output. Every once and a while I will get a windows 2000 blue screen
with some obscure error message. I can't find any way to reproduce the error
page, it just seems to happen randomly every blue moon.

My hardware specs:

Alienware System - Custom
1.2Ghz AMD Athalon
384mb RAM
PNY 256mb nVidia GeForce 5900 Ultra


At first, I thought this problem might have been caused by IRQ sharing. When
I check this out, I found that my USB system, network card, modem, sound
card, and video card were all running on the same shared IRQ. I reinstalled
Windows 2000 and installed a different Hardware Abstraction Layer. Doing
this disabled IRQ sharing, and now all the devices are on separate IRQs.
Yet, the crashes still continued.

I should also mention that these crashes occurred on the machine before I
upgraded to the GeForce 5900. Previously I had a GeForce2 GTS 64mb. When I
first got my system it had Windows ME with it. Everything worked great
there. Once I installed Windows 2000 I started running into problems with
this crash. I found that using the drivers that shipped with my pc (on the
original CD) let me at least use my system for e-mail and listening to MP3s.
Using the newest version of the nVidia drivers made the crashes much worse,
almost to the point the system was totally unusable.

Now, under the GeForce 4 5900, the crashes are again much more frequent. I'm
using the latest drivers with DirectX 9 (also latest release).

So, I'm out of ideas as to what might be causing this. However, I'd really
like to be able to play Counter-Strike and the new Half-Life when it comes
out. I'd also like to be able to look at the nVidia demos with my new card.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Jeremy

Jeremy wrote:

When Ifirst got my system it had Windows ME with it. Everything worked great

there. Once I installed Windows 2000 I started running into problems with
this crash. Regards,
Jeremy

I would save whatever you can, reformat the Hard Drive NTFS and reinstall the
OS.
No charge for this advice.
Good Luck

I've done that multiple times, for various reasons. It has never changed the
crashing situation with my GF FX 5900 ultra, or with my previous GF2 GTS....

Could this be a hardware problem? Maybe a bad motherboard or onboard IDE
controller?

I just don't understand what else could be wrong....

-Jeremy

")-()-(" wrote in message
...
Jeremy wrote:

When Ifirst got my system it had Windows ME with it. Everything worked
great

there. Once I installed Windows 2000 I started running into problems
with
this crash. Regards,
Jeremy

I would save whatever you can, reformat the Hard Drive NTFS and reinstall
the
OS.
No charge for this advice.
Good Luck

Ed,

When I bought my Alienware system, I also got them to ship me a 21in.
Viewsonic GS815 CRT. Personally, I've never heard of bad monitor cables.
Now, I've heard of bad Ethernet path cables or bad IDE/SCSI cables, but
never monitor cables. At first though, that sounds kind of ridiculus. But,
when I stopped and seriously considered it... It makes more sense than
anything I've been able to come up with. The monitor is the only thing I
haven't changed.

I tried new IDE cables, new hard drives, a new IDE controller. I even
removed all the other hardware (NIC, modem, sound card, etc) and still
reproduced the crash.

So, at this point the monitor cable is sounding pretty promising. My only
other option would be to assume that there is something physically wrong
with my motherboard/processor/RAM, and try replacing those.

Thanks for the help.

-Jeremy




"Ed Medlin" wrote in message
...
"Jeremy" wrote in message
...
I've done that multiple times, for various reasons. It has never changed
the
crashing situation with my GF FX 5900 ultra, or with my previous GF2
GTS....

Could this be a hardware problem? Maybe a bad motherboard or onboard IDE
controller?

I just don't understand what else could be wrong....

-Jeremy

Just a shot in the dark Jeremy, but have you tried a different
monitor?
I had a very similar problem and it turned out to be a problem in the
cable
of the monitor.

Ed

On Wed, 01 Oct 2003 02:41:36 GMT, In this world we created "Jeremy"
wrote :

I have a puzzling crash, thought maybe someone here might have an idea as to
what might be causing it.

This crash seems to occur whenever I use anything using DirectX (9, latest
release), DirectDraw, or anything having more graphic requirements than just
e-mail and word processing. For example, running the SETI@home client,
Half-Life/Counter-Strike, the nVidia demos, or even just Winamp will cause
this crash.

What happens when the computer crashes? Suddenly, without any warning at
all, the output to the monitor goes dead. So, the monitor clicks off and
goes blank (the light goes to orange, indicating there is no output from the
video card). Also, the hard drive activity light on the front of the
computer is on steadily. Other than that, there is no error message or any
other output. Every once and a while I will get a windows 2000 blue screen
with some obscure error message. I can't find any way to reproduce the error
page, it just seems to happen randomly every blue moon.

My hardware specs:

Alienware System - Custom
1.2Ghz AMD Athalon
384mb RAM
PNY 256mb nVidia GeForce 5900 Ultra


At first, I thought this problem might have been caused by IRQ sharing. When
I check this out, I found that my USB system, network card, modem, sound
card, and video card were all running on the same shared IRQ. I reinstalled
Windows 2000 and installed a different Hardware Abstraction Layer. Doing
this disabled IRQ sharing, and now all the devices are on separate IRQs.
Yet, the crashes still continued.

I should also mention that these crashes occurred on the machine before I
upgraded to the GeForce 5900. Previously I had a GeForce2 GTS 64mb. When I
first got my system it had Windows ME with it. Everything worked great
there. Once I installed Windows 2000 I started running into problems with
this crash. I found that using the drivers that shipped with my pc (on the
original CD) let me at least use my system for e-mail and listening to MP3s.
Using the newest version of the nVidia drivers made the crashes much worse,
almost to the point the system was totally unusable.

Now, under the GeForce 4 5900, the crashes are again much more frequent. I'm
using the latest drivers with DirectX 9 (also latest release).

So, I'm out of ideas as to what might be causing this. However, I'd really
like to be able to play Counter-Strike and the new Half-Life when it comes
out. I'd also like to be able to look at the nVidia demos with my new card.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Jeremy



Does the mother board require an AGP drivers pack to be installed.Both
my older VIA based system did and my present SIS chip set mother board
does.



--
Free Windows/PC help,
It's a G not a J in jmx to reply
http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/trouble.html
Free songs download,
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/nomessiahsmusic.htm

Jeremy wrote:

I've done that multiple times, for various reasons. It has never changed the
crashing situation with my GF FX 5900 ultra, or with my previous GF2 GTS....

Could this be a hardware problem? Maybe a bad motherboard or onboard IDE
controller?

I just don't understand what else could be wrong....

-Jeremy

My logic is that if everthing ran fine with the previous OS, the hardware should
be OK.
That leaves a the OS or drivers ??. Since you already reloaded the OS and tried
different
drivers, I would maybe look into any BIOS upgrades for the motherboard or even
look
for a 'Default' setup in the BIOS that may be more stable. Those type problems
are
tough to track down. Good Luck.

What is your PSU rated at? They spec'ed power supplies different for Older
athlon/p3 systems... the 5900 must have ample power on both the 5 volt and
12 volt rails to function properly. Older cards only used the 5 volt rail.
The symptoms your describing sound like that is the most likely suspect.

"Shep©" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 01 Oct 2003 02:41:36 GMT, In this world we created "Jeremy"
wrote :

I have a puzzling crash, thought maybe someone here might have an idea as
to
what might be causing it.

This crash seems to occur whenever I use anything using DirectX (9,
latest
release), DirectDraw, or anything having more graphic requirements than
just
e-mail and word processing. For example, running the SETI@home client,
Half-Life/Counter-Strike, the nVidia demos, or even just Winamp will
cause
this crash.

What happens when the computer crashes? Suddenly, without any warning at
all, the output to the monitor goes dead. So, the monitor clicks off and
goes blank (the light goes to orange, indicating there is no output from
the
video card). Also, the hard drive activity light on the front of the
computer is on steadily. Other than that, there is no error message or
any
other output. Every once and a while I will get a windows 2000 blue
screen
with some obscure error message. I can't find any way to reproduce the
error
page, it just seems to happen randomly every blue moon.

My hardware specs:

Alienware System - Custom
1.2Ghz AMD Athalon
384mb RAM
PNY 256mb nVidia GeForce 5900 Ultra


At first, I thought this problem might have been caused by IRQ sharing.
When
I check this out, I found that my USB system, network card, modem, sound
card, and video card were all running on the same shared IRQ. I
reinstalled
Windows 2000 and installed a different Hardware Abstraction Layer. Doing
this disabled IRQ sharing, and now all the devices are on separate IRQs.
Yet, the crashes still continued.

I should also mention that these crashes occurred on the machine before I
upgraded to the GeForce 5900. Previously I had a GeForce2 GTS 64mb. When
I
first got my system it had Windows ME with it. Everything worked great
there. Once I installed Windows 2000 I started running into problems with
this crash. I found that using the drivers that shipped with my pc (on
the
original CD) let me at least use my system for e-mail and listening to
MP3s.
Using the newest version of the nVidia drivers made the crashes much
worse,
almost to the point the system was totally unusable.

Now, under the GeForce 4 5900, the crashes are again much more frequent.
I'm
using the latest drivers with DirectX 9 (also latest release).

So, I'm out of ideas as to what might be causing this. However, I'd
really
like to be able to play Counter-Strike and the new Half-Life when it
comes
out. I'd also like to be able to look at the nVidia demos with my new
card.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Jeremy



Does the mother board require an AGP drivers pack to be installed.Both
my older VIA based system did and my present SIS chip set mother board
does.



--
Free Windows/PC help,
It's a G not a J in jmx to reply
http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/trouble.html
Free songs download,
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/nomessiahsmusic.htm

"Jeremy" wrote in message
...
Ed,

When I bought my Alienware system, I also got them to ship me a 21in.
Viewsonic GS815 CRT. Personally, I've never heard of bad monitor cables.
Now, I've heard of bad Ethernet path cables or bad IDE/SCSI cables, but
never monitor cables. At first though, that sounds kind of ridiculus. But,
when I stopped and seriously considered it... It makes more sense than
anything I've been able to come up with. The monitor is the only thing I
haven't changed.

I tried new IDE cables, new hard drives, a new IDE controller. I even
removed all the other hardware (NIC, modem, sound card, etc) and still
reproduced the crash.

So, at this point the monitor cable is sounding pretty promising. My only
other option would be to assume that there is something physically wrong
with my motherboard/processor/RAM, and try replacing those.

Thanks for the help.

-Jeremy


Jeremy,
Actually, cable might have been the wrong word. It was actually the plug on
the video card end of the cable. It had one of the pins broken and it would
make intermittent contact and almost drove me nuts before I found it.

Ed