A Disgusting Problem .......

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abhishekkulkarni

Journeyman
Hey guys I do not mean to classify users as "Advanced" on the basis of their post count but on the basis of their knowledge.Hope I did not hurt anybody's feelings. :wink:
This is an extremely disgusting problem.And the reason is that I am beginning to lose faith in the ever stable Linux Kernel......... :cry:

Please help me to solve it...... :)


My Rig Configuration -


Processor - P IV 1.7 GHz Willamette Core
Mobo - Krypton M7TDA,Onboard Sound
Ram - 256 MB SDRAM , 133 MHz Frequency
Hard Disk - Samsung SP0802N , 80 GB , 7200 Rpm
Optical Drive - LG CD RW ( 32X 10X 40X )
Graphics Card - Nvidia Riva TNT2 Pro 32 MB onboard memory,AGP 4X,Max Resolution Supported - 1280 X 1024 pixels
Input Devices - Microsoft Optical Mouse , Samsung Standard Keyboard
Monitor - Samsung 753s , Flat Screen
Partitions - Two , 68.5 GB on which I have Win 98 installed & 6 GB for Win XP
OS Patches - Win XP Pro -> SP1 , SP2 installed , Win 98 SE


The Problem -

Whenever I boot in to Windows XP , the welcome screen appears and the monitor becomes blank ie the LED on it starts blinking . There is nothing on the screen.It is very interesting to note that however that the Hard Disk activity indicator ( Red LED) glows at full tilt and the CPU is *ON*.All the fans are also on.

The Catch -

This does not happen in Windows 98 . :shock: It runs blazingly smooth and without any problem .
Now it is interesting to note that the same thing also happens in Mandrake ( Mandriva ) Linux 10.1 as well as Ubuntu , Knoppix 3.9 Live CD , SuSE Live CD , Debian , Simply MEPIS & of all bullsh*t even in FreeBSD .
By god , it so sickening to see that the OS which runs the International Space Station does not run on my PC.

What I Tried -

Being an experienced user I tried to investigate what was happening.So I did the following -->

1.Opened the cabinet , checked each and every cable , the RAM chip , the heatsink , the voltages , mobo temperature , whether the Graphics was loose or not and found that everything was in place.

2.This is however of no consequence since Win 98 runs without any problem.

3.The CPU temperature was a decent enough 49 Deg and the HDD temperature was 41 Deg.

4.And no , if you were thinking the same , reinstalling any of them does not solve the problem.
I deleted *ALL* the partitions and repartitioned the HDD from scratch using Fdisk.Installed Win 98 first & then Win XP Pro , but the problem still persists.

5.The partition for Win XP is 6 GB . So there is no question of there being less space for the Windows Swap file.And then even the Live CD OSes face the same problem.

A Strange thing I noticed -

Well I am not able to access the CD RW Drive.What I mean is that whenever I press the eject button on it nothing happens and no LED blinks.The Tray does not come out.This may have some relation to the problem.

The Indications -

Once 3 Months ago when I was installing Mandrake Linux , the installation program came up to the point of "Custom Disk Partitioning" and gave me an error which was something like this --->

Cannot read the partiton table of HDD A . MBR may be corrupted
If you proceed all data may be lost.

I obviously installed it then and everything was fine.This began happening yesterday and so I am confused whether HDD MBRs are moody or what .......

But if they are , then how come I was able to reinstall both the OSes without any hitch and *one of them works just fine.*
And a Live CD does not even access the MBR since it is just a temporary software..... :shock:

So guys what do you think I should do now ?
 

Huzefa

Journeyman
Super system u have, unfortunate that it seems to have such a problem, Solution could be very simple.
3 things could be a source of your problems
First and foremost change your memory all of it and get a new stick , hynix or ken . 512 MB would be better but 256 MB is also enuff.
Second, The CD Drive power cable or the drive itself may have a internal short, will create problems in the CD Drive, could create problems in the PC by sucking up the available power
Third, The SMPS , What is that max wattage ? If it is low for your system, U need at least 350 W then too the system will have problems.
Also Connect your monitor directly to the power supply, not thru the SMPS.
Otherwise All u can do now is a low level format with calibration , Ordinary format cannot remove all data.
Try This and see........
 

siriusb

Cyborg Agent
1.Change the irq for your vid card in bios and then try it out.
2.Boot into xp in safe mode and then reset any video related in display properties, including agp fast write, spread spectrum and any overclocking. Try to boot in normally and see if it works. Then enable each setting one by one.
 
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abhishekkulkarni

abhishekkulkarni

Journeyman
Super system u have, unfortunate that it seems to have such a problem, Solution could be very simple.
3 things could be a source of your problems
First and foremost change your memory all of it and get a new stick , hynix or ken . 512 MB would be better but 256 MB is also enuff.
Second, The CD Drive power cable or the drive itself may have a internal short, will create problems in the CD Drive, could create problems in the PC by sucking up the available power
Third, The SMPS , What is that max wattage ? If it is low for your system, U need at least 350 W then too the system will have problems.
Also Connect your monitor directly to the power supply, not thru the SMPS.
Otherwise All u can do now is a low level format with calibration , Ordinary format cannot remove all data.
Try This and see........

Well all I would like to say is , that you have to understand that I can use the CD Writer perfectly in Win 98.
As far as the ram is concerned , well I cannot possibly buy one right now as my dad won't be giving me any bucks .And I don't suppose replacing it would solve the problem, would it?

2.Boot into xp in safe mode and then reset any video related in display properties, including agp fast write, spread spectrum and any overclocking. Try to boot in normally and see if it works. Then enable each setting one by one.

The same damn thing happens in safe mode as well as command prompt mode....... :cry:
 
Also Connect your monitor directly to the power supply, not thru the SMPS.
Hey... My Monitors' Power Supply Is Drawn Thru SMPS... Although I've A Seperate Power Cord... But At Present I'm Not Using It...
Well, I Just Wanted To Ask Dat Does It Make Any Difference... Or U Just Said It In Relation To abhishekkulkarni's Problem... Coz Its Workin Perfectly Fine Here...
 

sba

Journeyman
abhishekkulkarni: check whether DMA is working on your HDD. you can check it from Win 98. I had a similar problem where both WinXP and Linux wouldn't boot. Later I found out a problem with DMA on my HDD.

«TechnoPhile»: It is always recommended to connect monitor directly to your main power supply or UPS for that matter instead of SMPS.
 
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abhishekkulkarni

abhishekkulkarni

Journeyman
Yes my HDD is currently in UDMA Mode 2.The HDD supports up to UDMA Mode 5 .But the fact is that I am using a 40 - Conductor Cable.So the limit is UDMA Mode 2.

@sba

Can you elaborate your problem with DMA on your HDD?
 

sba

Journeyman
I don't know wat I screwed at that time but when I was trying to boot it didn't do anything after the welcome screen. Similar thing was happening in Linux but at least there I was getting an error about DMA.
 

g_goyal2000

Youngling
If u'r problem has been fixed by the time of this reply, then congratulations & ignore this post.

I am an advanced user & u'r problem is, byfar, one of the worst problems I have ever read/seen/encountered.

All the advices/suggestions I could thought of/give for u'r problem have already been posted by other users.

But wait. I have one advice/suggestion left.

U can try running u'r hard disk at u'r friends/cousins or whoever's machine. U'r XP won't boot but maybe Linux (any) would (if installed).

If even that doesn't work, then all I can suggest is to send u'r problem to the Digit SOS team (probably a copy-paste of this entire post-replies) at sos@thinkdigit.com . Maybe they can solve u'r problem.

If u'r problem is then also not solved, then my heartly condolences.

The only solution left, then, is to take u'r PC & throw it from u'r building's terrace (if any) & buy u'rself a new PC.
 

icecoolz

Cyborg Agent
well since you have tried a lot of the standard stuff yourself w.r.t fixing the issue the real problem might lie with your HDD. It might be loosing its stability. There is a program called spinrite which checks the integrity of HDD's and for bad sectors and moves the data away from bad sectors. Its a very good program. Run and it see what happens. Hope this helps.
 

spyder

Broken In
RAM PROBLEM

U mentioned u hav 256 MB RAM ::133 Mhz
that seems to be a problem
Try with 256 MB ::266 Mhz
 
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abhishekkulkarni

abhishekkulkarni

Journeyman
g_goyal2000 said:
The only solution left, then, is to take u'r PC & throw it from u'r building's terrace (if any) & buy u'rself a new PC.

Will do that happily , only if you are ready to finance my new PC dude... :wink:

well since you have tried a lot of the standard stuff yourself w.r.t fixing the issue the real problem might lie with your HDD.

Hmmmmm..... Yes mate,I am thinking the same myself.My HDD is a Samsung one having a 3 years *replacement* warranty.So I can get a new one anytime..

But have 60 GB of data ( music,movies & stuff) on it.Now that is surely very difficult to part with.Still not given up on the problem though.Will find out the solution for sure... :) :)

Holy !! Don't use spinrite It destroyed my old HDD It threw the servo motor out of sync

Hmmmm....... seem apprehensive about doing this mate... :wink:

U mentioned u hav 256 MB RAM ::133 Mhz
that seems to be a problem
Try with 256 MB ::266 Mhz

But it was fine for two years when I was running XP and Linux . And even now Win 98 detects it smoothly.
Anyway I brought over my friend's 266MHz DDR Ram and still the same problem...
So I learnt one thing from this anyway... That the problem does not lie with the Ram... :lol:
 

icecoolz

Cyborg Agent
huh ? dude whoever is telling you not to use spinrite is an isolated case. Check out its reviews all over the net and its all good. I personally have used it till now and its a very effective tool to identify such issues with the HDD. Or another way is to get a second HDD and see if that works properly. If it does then the HDD is your issue. Sony products are the best but if somoene comes and tells u that it burnt my house down are u not gonna buy a sony the next time...think abt it.
 
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