Forum Home
Press F1
Thread ID: 57854	2005-05-14 10:17:00	Dell precision 330 random problems	NZWeasel (6982)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
355076	2005-05-14 10:17:00	hey got a few weird problems with my Dell 330 P4 1 . 4Ghz 10G SCSI (boot drive) 40Gig IDE, 512MB RAM PCI: Sound card, modem and SCSI controller . I bumped the powerplug with my foot 1 day and it flicked off the power . when i turned it back on it started doing weird things on the screen, like it would get to the desktop and then it sometimes it would turn on and off (like when it does when u change resolution or refesh rate) and keep turning on and off, and other times it would get to the desktop and then lock up with these thin red/green in the bottom 1/4 of the screen . I have changed graphics cards worked for abit and then did same thing . I also found that it no longer reconised the 40Gig IDE drive so i made sure all the cables were in and then i rebooted and it wouldnt boot off the system BIOS only the SCSI card BIOS and then just say "NLTDR (or somthing like that) is missing press cntrl + alt +del to reboot" i did some research on this error and have checked all the motherboards capacitors for bulges and cracks ect . . . . . . all look sweet as . also 1 time when booting up it said "System memory has changed" like it only picked up 1 256 MB stick? then i rebooted and it has never said it again . Im thinking poked motherboard possibly? the motherboard has no model numbers on it exept the DELL logo and some long as numbers . it has a socket 423, Intel chipset and a VRM, no on-board graphics . any help would be appreciated other wise im gonna get another motherboard off trademe . does dell have weird form factors for its cases so only takes certian models on motherboards?? thanks for anyones help	NZWeasel (6982)
355077	2005-05-14 23:13:00	So far as I am aware (I may be wrong), Dell doesn't use proprietary form factors (it would bump the manufacturing cost up too much). As for your random issues, have you tried flashing the BIOS?	Myth (110)
355078	2005-05-14 23:21:00	before yougo buying a new board, firstly reset the BIOS. 2nd, check power supply. 3rd, check you havn't bumbed any cards, ram etc loose. yes DELL have made proprietary form factors over the years. check what will fit in your case otherwise you may need to get a new case as well.	tweak'e (69)
355079	2005-05-15 02:49:00	And DON'T "try flashing the BIOS" . It worked before your "foot trouble . " How many times do we have to say that BIOS code updates are done only to fix known problems which have occurred on the machine? It's not something you "try" . It looks as if you managed to corrupt the stored BIOS setup "CMOS" . The memory "problem" went away . . . that was because the POST recognised that there was more memory present than the BIOS "thought" . The stored value was changed accordingly, so now the POST doesn't complain about that . The disk not being found might be fixed when you reset the BIOS . (Or you could go through the BIOS setup routine, and autodetect the disk . ) Anyway, that shouldn't affect the boot, since it's not your boot disk . You used to have to specify "no IDE disks present" in order to boot from a SCSI disk, but that has probably changed . If the boot disk doesn't, you could well have clouted the NTLDR file, as that error message says . The XP recovery thingy should be able to restore that .	Graham L (2)
355080	2005-05-15 10:54:00	cheers for the help i let u know how i go didnt think dell used any of those standards which is dum.	NZWeasel (6982)
355081	2005-06-15 23:41:00	heyas just thought id give an update to where im at with my PC dilemma, I decided to upgrade and i was planning to do so anyway before I had these problems. I purchases and new case that does make use of ATX form factor! and a ASUS p4p800 SE not the new board but it does me. Also got a celeron 2.6 cheap off my mate which ill hock off soon enuff and get a P4. Also got brand new stick of 256 MB Memory. have same CD ROM's and Hard disks. The thing is I've got the same problem as i had with the old machine! The screen having all these weird colored lines over the screen but still displaying the desktop then it freezes after about a min loading the desktop, the lines arnt the same pattern every time you boot up, sometimes it freezes before it gets to the desktop, and other times it just a blackscreen quite random. I taken the SCSI contorller and drive out and using my old ME hard disk. Ive tryed diffrent power supplies, graphics card and diffrent monitor with no effect. Sometimes it doesnt reconise my 2nd IDE hard drive. Also the CD-ROMs dont get reconised, the drives wont eject but are getting power. I changed the memory into another slot and with the diffrent graphics card i have managed to get windows to load and its going ok. Device manager says the USB 2.0 contoroller isnt working properly, along with Primary and Secondary IDE Contorllers. I cant get drivers off the CD which is stuck in the CD-ROM which wont eject or get reconised. any ideas??? the whole things random as to me. Cheers	NZWeasel (6982)
355082	2005-06-16 03:33:00	I purchases and new case that does make use of ATX form factor! and a ASUS p4p800 SE Also got a celeron 2.6 cheap off my mate which ill hock off soon enuff and get a P4. Also got brand new stick of 256 MB Memory. have same CD ROM's and Hard disks. I taken the SCSI contorller and drive out and using my old ME hard disk. Ive tryed diffrent power supplies, graphics card and diffrent monitor with no effect. Sometimes it doesnt reconise my 2nd IDE hard drive. Also the CD-ROMs dont get reconised, the drives wont eject but are getting power. I changed the memory into another slot and with the diffrent graphics card i have managed to get windows to load and its going ok. Device manager says the USB 2.0 contoroller isnt working properly, along with Primary and Secondary IDE Contorllers. I cant get drivers off the CD which is stuck in the CD-ROM which wont eject or get reconised. Cheers Format the hard drive. Reinstall from scratch. MAke sure you have the correct motherboard drivers. Install them. In fact the correct drivers for everything. Use a different CD drive as well.	pctek (84)
355083	2005-06-16 10:10:00	I have tryed with my original SCSI drive with XP on it and get the same problem with the IDE Windows ME Hard disk from my old computer. I have to CD-ROMs and they both dont work, there no CD-ROM heading showing up in device manager or the BIOS. Its like the IDE channel that my CD-ROMs and on never exists	NZWeasel (6982)
355084	2005-06-16 13:21:00	I would suggest that either one or both of the CD-ROM drives may be at fault.	BIFF (1)
1