System no response.

Off topic chat and stuff that doesn't fit elsewhere.
Post Reply
Quincy

System no response.

Post by Quincy »

Found this site last week.
Very impressed with the knowlege of people on this site.
Not sure this is the right forum to post; Please move if not.

I put together a system last year (been working on it off and on) with some acquired parts & some of my own parts; Hopefully to give my k6 going forever :-).

I have connected the following only at this moment:
Gigabyte GA-5AA mobo, k6s-500 cpu, ati 8mb agp card, Maxtor fireball 20gb 7200rpm drive, 24x cd & floppy drive, 300watt psu.

The symptom is:
System has no response intermittent while working.
When persist, it doesn't response to the keyboard nor the mouse.
Have to reboot it.
Just found out recently; When persist, press control, alt, delete then bring up the Windows Security screen, wait a couple seconds. Then press cancel, system is back & continue on.

At first, i thought it was software conflict. It is not.
Try Windows 2K & XP, no change.
Persist even when i was loading the OS.
Right now, no application install, just Windows 2000.
Persist even if i perform the OS setting.


Tried different psu, the cpu's heatsink & the fan is approx. 3/4" tall each.

Any idea?
Thanks in advance.
Jim
K6'er Elite
Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by Jim »

Not familiar with "K6s 500" . "Q": What voltage does it run at ? What voltage is it set at ? - Heatsink seems a bit small for K6-2 processors, unless of K6+ type. Even then small; - 1 7/16 high, (for just the heatsink, never mind the fan), is more normal. "Q" : Did you use thermal transfer compound between the processor and heatsink ? "Q" : How much ram have you got in it ? - What kind ? (SIMMS, DIMMS, - if latter single sided ? double sided ? - PC ???)

Sounds like an instability problem. Possible causes : 1) Insufficient voltage for processor. 2) Insufficient or marginally compatable ram. 3) Processor overheating. 4) Unstable motherboard. 5) Software problem of some sort.
User avatar
His Royal Majesty King V
Veteran K6'er
Posts: 444
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2001 4:06 pm
Location: New Jersey

Post by His Royal Majesty King V »

Particularly to elaborate on the RAM issue, in addition to possible defective RAM, I've heard of a few people having instability problems with two different SIMMS/DIMMS. For whatever reason, different brands don't always work well together.

One person once instability even though he had 1 100MHz DIMM, and 1 133MHz DIMM installed. When he removed the 133MHz DIMM, everything worked fine, even though the higher speed memory is supposed to be compatible with lower speeds.

But Jim has covered a number of issues that might be the source of the problem.
FIC PA-2103 E-O036, K6-2+ 450 2.0V @ 500 1.9V
FIC PA-2013 E-O036, K6-III 450 2.2V @ 500
Acer quasi-proprietary Mid-tower, P-II 266
Jim
K6'er Elite
Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by Jim »

Another possible cause that I missed is too agressive bios settings. I.E.- ram timing, enabling features that overload processor etc.
Jim
K6'er Elite
Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by Jim »

Jim wrote:Not familiar with "K6s 500" . "Q": What voltage does it run at ? What voltage is it set at ? - Heatsink seems a bit small for K6-2 processors, unless of K6+ type. Even then small; - 1 7/16 high, (for just the heatsink, never mind the fan), is more normal. "Q" : Did you use thermal transfer compound between the processor and heatsink ? "Q" : How much ram have you got in it ? - What kind ? (SIMMS, DIMMS, - if latter single sided ? double sided ? - PC ???)

Sounds like an instability problem. Possible causes : 1) Insufficient voltage for processor. 2) Insufficient or marginally compatable ram. 3) Processor overheating. 4) Unstable motherboard. 5) Software problem of some sort.

I have no idea, how could i sign in as "Jim"
This is Quincy.

Oops,
- Should read k6-2 500 not K6s 500.
- Voltage set @ 2.2v, try 2.4v, no change.
- Huumm, the heatsink is what recommended by the shop when i bought my cpu awhile back, used on the previous mobo.
- I used silicone grease for thermal transfer compound, i have Arctic grease, will try. Don't think heat is the cause, the heatsink is very cool.
- I have 2 sticks of 128mb each pc133 sdram, single sided. Tried difference ram, no change.
- Unstable mobo, beside trying another one, any otherway?
- Software conflict, persist even only the OS installed, while setting OS.
- By the way, tried different power supply, no change.
- Bios set @ default right now.

Any ideas, appreciated.
Thanks.
Post Reply