FYI: Just wanted to add something to this debug checklist. Download a copy of MemTest-86, load it on a floppy and let it perform all it's tests overnight. (see the readme that comes with it to make sure it runs ALL tests, and not just defaults) This just takes the Memory out of the list of possible issues. This also checks the cpu to an extent, but a good heavy load test would be much more accurate for that. I've had a few Athlon XPs not work with the DDR at full clock, so I had to run the CPU on 1Ghz rather than 1.33Ghz. Something about AMDs and DDR, ocasionally get errors reading the ram. And having bad sectors in RAM can lead to really funny errors, and crashes. Chris Frederick Sam MacDonald wrote: > This is a little long but it's the best hardware trouble shooting > process I know of. > > It's not only the motherboard that has BIOS on it. The Video, NIC, > Sound, and other adapters have BIOS on them. The BIOS on these > adapters communicates with the BIOS on the motherboard telling it what > they are and what they need to work. > > It _"sounds like_" you have a BIOS on an adapter that is causing the > machine to hang. In other words, object X tries to talk to object A > and hangs the machine. However it's usually the line, following the > last line you see, that hangs the machine. The objects could be > hardware, software, or both. > > First; you will need a log book, write everything down. > Look at the motherboard book and find out what order (direction) the > slots enumerate in1,2,3, etc > Obviously an AGP video card has it's own slot. > > Strip the machine of un-needed hardware. > If it hangs on AGP you need to make a change in either the speed > and/or memory of the AGP adapter in the motherboard BIOS. 2x, 4x, 8x > speed reducing and try reducing the amount of memory it is allowed to > use. > > <process> > Boot > if it works, shutdown > Add 1 adapter > Boot > if it works, shutdown > Add another adapter > Boot > and so on until something _doesn't_ work > </process> > > Some adapters need to be in low order slots to work properly, start > with sound, sound cards are notorious for causing problems. Then move > on to Network, Modem, USB, Firewire, etc... if you have them. > > Put the sound card in the first slot. (slot 1 from the book) > <process> > Put the NIC in the next slot (slot 2 from the book) > <process> > and so on... > > If you find an adapter that fails after the NIC, move the NIC to the > next to the last slot on the motherboard. (slot 5, on a 6 slot > motherboard, and move the non-functioning adapter to slot 2) > <process> > If it works after that move on to the next adapter. > If it doesn't then you know what hardware to replace. > > BIG HINT - don't close the case until it all works. > > On a different note, I've had W2K installs hang because the processor > was over clocked. Slow down the processor if all else fails or if it > hangs on AGP after changing its speed and memory. > > Good luck, write everything down, then share your findings with the > TCLUGers. > > Sam. _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list