Re: [vox-tech] Persistant hardware problem kicking my butt

["Mark K. Kim" <lugod@cbreak.orMAPSg>]

Is the computer overclocked by any chance?  Or has it ever been
overclocked in the past?

-Mark


On Wed, 9 Mar 2005, Peter Jay Salzman wrote:

> I'm emotionally drained by a persistant hardware problem, and when I become
> emotionally involved with a problem, I tend to not think clearly.  So I'd
> like to bounce something off the list.  Any thoughts greatly appreciated.
>
>
> Relevent Hardware:
>    Abit NF7 (NForce 2 chipset)
>    Athlon XP 2200
>    2 DDR-400 DIMMs.  512MB each.
>    Mad Dog something-or-other DVD/CD writer.  Writes DVD9.  USB 2.0.
>
>
> 1. I was burning a bunch of DVDs under Win2k.  Nero's verification
>    consistantly failed.
>
> 2. I switched to Linux and used k3b.  Verification of burned image
>    failed as well.
>
> 3. Certain programs under Linux were segfaulting out of the blue.  They
>    never segfaulted before (Quake III and Unreal Tournament).  I didn't
>    detect any GPF under Windows, but who knows what really goes on?
>
> 4. Ran memtest86 three times.  All three times, memtest86 segfaulted.
>    It indicated that DIMM 0 was the problem.
>
> 5. Removed DIMM 1.  Reran memtest86.  It segfaulted.
>
> 6. Removed DIMM 0.  Placed what used to be DIMM 1 into slot 0.  Reran
>    memtest86 for about 8 hours.  No errors.
>
> 7. Ran Quake III / Unreal Tourn. in Linux for a while.  No segfaults.
>
>
>
> At this point, I thought the problem was fixed.  I was wrong.
>
>
>
> 8. Burned a CD with k3b.  It was a collection of text and binary files.
>    Here were a collection of md5sums of what I burned:
>
>       p@lucifer$ md5sum /dvd/*
>       ec17179683b1ec7c584371d52d482dc7  2004_suprnova_april_fools.jpg
>       2a35dd12706e6a109aa5d51a5b7414d6  ballmerwindows.wmv
>       1969446ec71b76c01a852ffabcba7b83  Call Of The Wild.txt
>       76319f20a91df19621a2c6ed0144803f  common_passwords.txt
>       7fe852ab7b3609657aa3c7e633ba7c02  Imagine (John Lennon).mp3
>       611759e7fa9455f2cdc574da4eb875bf  Leonardo.txt
>       83681d4c6c34e5c9f924c3b0ea732038  Makefile
>       bda631d8fac719f1efb741a61f2f4902  Metamorphosis.txt
>       0f3a64e11edc97f32e089d07e8bee7bc  polygons.c
>       cacbcb3cf986d1cf658c8b8fff6f6ce6  rip.pl
>       8a72cd8e4e59263f4813892c3ab3b91f  roth.zip
>       e8bc0afb5ab15a10ab233ceab86936bf  sid.bmp
>       3136b05433e0c0e6877699bcd4e603dc  The Complete Ninjas Handbook.pdf
>       1a715e61acf7a1bae7f87af03687f11b  tomsrtbt-2.0.103.tar.bz2
>       b879804716164d24f92519f33774e9f4  try.c
>       bb4416e6db326f9f30e4c73953cbcadf  vmlinuz-2.6.9
>       dc6921500007d1b305cc9b583352ef2c  War And Peace.txt
>       f9436029f9e7bfd3800860e768a1febd  write_errors.txt
>       a553f7a13fb2a0f02c8ff53ae7c378f9  Zarathustra.txt
>       5f363e0e58a95f06cbe9bbc662c5dfb6  zero
>
>    Roth.zip is an old DOS game in a zip archive.  The md5sum is different
>    from the md5sum of the hard disk copy:
>
>       p@lucifer$ md5sum /dvd/roth.zip
>       8a72cd8e4e59263f4813892c3ab3b91f  /dvd/roth.zip
>
>       p@lucifer$ md5sum ~/Desktop/files/roth.zip
>       db144e6264cfd84d6276b9488e57a279  /home/p/Desktop/files/roth.zip
>
>    I umount, remount the DVD.  The md5sum changes but is still wrong.
>
>       p@lucifer$ umount /dvd/; mount /dvd/; md5sum /dvd/roth.zip
>       a1fc154848aa932a7cf44e723ebc6082  /dvd/roth.zip
>
>       p@lucifer$ md5sum /dvd/roth.zip
>       a1fc154848aa932a7cf44e723ebc6082  /dvd/roth.zip
>
>       p@lucifer$ umount /dvd/; mount /dvd/; md5sum /dvd/roth.zip
>       169e7a2327a054f7859066f91b485f45  /dvd/roth.zip
>
>       p@lucifer$ umount /dvd/; mount /dvd/; md5sum /dvd/roth.zip
>       51d5d96a4108285080f16261916f6e74  /dvd/roth.zip
>
>    I finally get the correct md5sum.
>
>       p@lucifer$ umount /dvd/; mount /dvd/; md5sum /dvd/roth.zip
>       db144e6264cfd84d6276b9488e57a279  /dvd/roth.zip
>
>    When I mount the burned DVD on a drive connected to a different system,
>    the md5sum appears to be consistantly correct.
>
>
> 9. Sometimes, when the machine boots up, POST freezes right after it says
>    "checking RAM" but just before it starts to check the RAM.  This is a
>    new development.  I can make this problem go away only by shutting off
>    the power supply (not powering down.  actually shutting the PS off).
>
>
> 10. I still detect no segfaults that were present before I removed DIMM 0.
>
>
> 11. I've been running memtest86 for a couple of hours now without errors.
>
>
>
> I think that's all the data I have.  It's imperative that I have a reliable
> fast machine right now to run physics simulations.  That's crucial.  To me,
> the available clues seem contradictory.  Somethings points to RAM.  Other
> things point to something resident on the mother board.  Still other things
> point to the DVD drive.
>
> Help?
>
> Pete
>
> --
> Save Star Trek Enterprise from extinction: http://www.saveenterprise.com
>
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-- 
Mark K. Kim
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