[Cialug] Hardware Problem

Wed Aug 10 12:52:36 CDT 2011

OK, this isn't Linux specific, but I'm still hoping that one of you experts with more PC hardware experience that I have can give me a clue what I'm up against and what to do about it.

My main home computer runs Windoze XP and is usually up 24 X 7.  I reboot it about once every 3 weeks or so.  It's up all the time because it's running the radio equivalent of Myth TV, to record shows we aren't able to listen to when they're broadcast.

I had a problem a month ago where some procedure with a long name returned an unacceptable error and caused the system to go to a blue screen with the long procedure name on it and a bunch of other text.  If I rebooted the computer it would come back to the same screen with a multiple other procedure names, one each time it came to that screen.

I took it in to have it repaired and a bad memory card was discovered and replaced.  The CD / DVD drive was not writing anymore and it was replaced at the same time.

In less than a week it happened again.  This time they ran the memory check for 36 hours and discovered nothing.  SO they concluded it must be a software problem.  The hard drive was reformatted and the OS reinstalled and patched up to date.  Fortunately the drive was backed up to an external (USB connected) disk so I didn't lose data.  I've been reinstalling applications and restoring data since then, although nothing in the last week - 10 days, we were out of town for several days, returning Monday evening.  I'm still not done reinstalling yet.

Last night it was at the same blue screen indicating that the computer had stopped to save the system.

I got out my Ubuntu 8.04 CD and ran memory check for 30 minutes and it found nothing.  It said _MEMTEST86+ v1.70 on a green background in the upper left hand corner of the screen and the underscore and plus sign were blinking red.

I tried rebooting Windoze again and before the desktop appeared it would go back and reboot again, and again, and again . . .

So I tried booting from the CD and after the "loading Linux kernel" went from 0% to 100% the screen went black and there was a blinking cursor in the upper left hand corner, but the computer did not respond to either the keyboard or mouse.  OK, not responding to the mouse was not surprising, but no matter what I typed, nothing on the screen changed.  The hard drive had spun down to a stop before I tried to boot Linux and did not spin back up during this process.

I hit the interrupt button on the front of the tower to force a reboot again and restarted the memory test, and let it run all night.  When I looked this morning it had run almost 9 hours and reported no errors.

Being a glutton for punishment I poked the interrupt button again and rebooted Windoze and it came up and I was able to dial the modem and download e-mail again.  Before when this happened I'd have to leave it shut off for several hours before windoze would boot again.  It didn't occur to me to run the memory test on my own before.

I have used this CD to boot this computer before and it has worked.  Although I have not tried to run Linux from the CD since I replaced the CD / DVD drive.  I've been too busy reinstalling and restoring.  But it will load and run the memory test from the CD.

So, based on the memory testing, I'm thinking this is not a memory problem, and since it dies under both OSs it's not a software problem.  And since the OSs are on different devices it's not a hard drive or CD drive problem.  Both are IDE.  I think the boot order is floppy, CD/DVD, USB, hard drive if that makes any difference.

My wife doesn't want to learn Linux so I didn't try rebooting Linux this morning.  I left Windoze up so she could check her e-mail when she got a chance.

What would be not running and cool off while a memory test was continuously running so that it would work when I tried it this morning?  Or is there some other explanation that I haven't thought of?  How would I check it to see if that's the problem?

I'm sorry about being so long winded.  I thought I'd pass along all that seemed pertinent to give you the best chance of success at diagnosing my PC's problem.  Any assistance you can render would be much appreciated.
Murray McKee
Operating Systems Engineer
TPF Systems
Wells Fargo Mainframe / Midrange Services
800 Walnut Street
MAC F4030-037
Des Moines, IA 50309-3605
WORK (515)557-6127 Cell (515) 343-6630  FAX (515) 557-6046
MurrayMcKee at WellsFargo.com
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