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Thread ID: 47367	2004-07-24 02:57:00	Identifying mobo for BIOS update	Jen C (20)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
254996	2004-07-24 10:36:00	I would have a look at the drivers currently installed. A bad or corrupted driver will make XP behave strangely because there is no memory protection for drivers so anything can get messed up. Try reinstalling all of the drivers (or rolling back to older versions). Check out the hidden devices in the device manager too. Running the system file checker might turn up something too (run "sfc /scannow").	bmason (508)
254997	2004-07-24 10:56:00	> Using Merlin's cpuinfo tool, it has the motherboard manufacturer as THEPCCOMPANY Yes, I figured out last year that this is the technique they use to link the recovery cd to that hardware. If you can make the BIOS contain that specific string 'THEPCCOMPANY' it will run any of their recovery cds. ]:) If you update to the Chaintech BIOS you will definitely lose the ability to use the recovery cd that came with the PC. I seem to remember they kept a list of the BIOSs on their site somewhere. Search PF1 for the link. If you are confused about the motherboard version, just go with whatever Everest Home edition says, or try getting a hold of Sisoft Sandra which may get some more details. For example, 7AIA5/AIA5E are the same version, so either of the BIOSs will work. I think you'll find that they only release a BIOS for one side of the / sign anyway. I wouldn't trust whatever the manual says, they could have easily given you the wrong one.	kiki (762)
254998	2004-07-24 14:28:00	Going by the BIOS string you have a Chaintech 7A1A. I suggest you check that board on the Chaintech web site and see if it matches. Still won't help with the PC Company BIOS though unfortunately.	Elephant (599)
254999	2004-07-24 23:38:00	Well getting nowhere fast here. Brett > I had already updated the mobo drivers but I hadn't done the nVidia ones. Got all excited because the system ran for an hour smoothly and I thought we were onto a winner ... until it froze again. For the drivers I have been getting the older ones because it has a nVidia RIVA TNT2 Model 64 card so I used the 44.03 driver set, and for the mobo I had used the VIA 4in1 set which was recommended for the older chipsets. All the service packs and critical updates for XP have also been installed now. Running sfc /scannow was impossible, the system constantly froze after a few minutes (tried at least 5 times to run it, and each time had to reset the PC again). I have checked out the hidden devices in the Hardware Manager (also under Safe Mode) and nothing is flagging as a problem. kiki > > I seem to remember they kept a list of the BIOSs on their site somewhere. Search PF1 for the link. Found the ftp url for the PC Company, but that site is now long gone ... Elephant > > Going by the BIOS string you have a Chaintech 7A1A. That BIOS ID string is confusing, it also says that the manufacturer is Matsonic from the C0 portion. I have also gone over all their boards and nothing matches there either. The Chaintech 7AIA which is what Aida32/Everest report also does not match. Seeing as the sfc won't run without locking up the system, I decided to do a repair of the OS. Unfortunately the repair utility is not recognising the Admin password, even after I booted into the hidden Admin account under Safe Mode and made a password for it. Just hitting "enter" as the password prompt doesn't do anything either ... so I can't even use the Recovery Disc for a repair of the OS at the moment. I might suggest to them that I do a complete reformat and reinstall of the OS seeing as the PC did work fine for the first year of its life. Thanks everyone for your comments :)	Jen C (20)
255000	2004-07-24 23:44:00	Just watch out if the new install aborts halfway through the process,then you get to return a non-functioning PC back to them,....never goes down well.	metla (154)
255001	2004-07-25 00:47:00	Also, check out the recovery disk. I had a look at the brother-in-laws one and it is an XPsp1 install disk. Tried it on another PC, and it installs XP home OK.	Pheonix (280)
255002	2004-07-25 20:43:00	I have another idea that might fix your problem. I had a PC company PC look alike that had a locking up problem the other day and I finally found that if I swap some of the pc cards around it then was ok after that, I think the main culprit was the modem, sometimes they don't put the pc cards in the best places. Also, is the freeze a solid lock up meaning you cannot even move the mouse if that is the case it is usually a video card or driver problem, if not it will be something else.	tech_meister (5509)
255003	2004-07-26 10:24:00	Hi tech_meister, Wouldn't the modem have to be in use to be a contributing factor in these lockups? The machine normally connects via dialup with an internal modem, but I have it hooked up to my network via a USB connection to my ADSL modem/router at the moment and it still displays the same problem (with or without being on the network). The lockup/freezes are complete with no mouse or keyboard response at all and you can only use the reset button. Anyhow, I have tried the modem in a different PCI slot and it made no difference. I am currently running Knoppix Live-CD on it to see whether it will lock up under this OS ... and it hasn't so far but I will leave it running overnight. The system actually ran for nearly 24 hours today under XP before it froze again. As a BIOS update is no longer an option, I will go ahead with the reformat and reinstall, and if that fails to solve this issue I will suggest they take it to a repair shop for more thorough hardware testing ... also any doom and gloom news might be better coming from experienced techies :p	Jen C (20)
255004	2004-07-26 11:18:00	> Hi tech_meister, > > Wouldn't the modem have to be in use to be a > contributing factor in these lockups? The machine > normally connects via dialup with an internal modem, In my experience the modem or any other hardware will not have to be "in use" to cause a problem. The reason I say this is that all hardware is connected to the motherboard in one way or another via various ports, slots etc. The O/S will poll through the BIOS, interrupts, drivers, CPU, RAM etc to figure out what key presses, mouse movements etc are going on. Just because the modem is not being used does not mean to say that the O/S does not access it. The O/S will check on all devices all the time otherwise how will it know if something is being used? The O/S will in fact monitor all hardware all the time. That is the job of the O/S. The O/S also runs application software like the word processor etc. Just thought everyone would like to know that. > As a BIOS update is no longer an option, I will go > ahead with the reformat and reinstall, and if that > fails to solve this issue I will suggest they take it > to a repair shop for more thorough hardware testing Sounds OK to me Jen_C but I am sorry we have not been able to resolve this issue. > ... also any doom and gloom news might be better > coming from experienced techies :p Who said you weren't experienced? I, for one, think you have heaps of experience in computers.	Elephant (599)
255005	2004-07-26 20:32:00	> > Wouldn't the modem have to be in use to be a > contributing factor in these lockups? Yes, it would more likely to happen when the modem is in use . I have a few more suggestions that you may want to try . Go into computer management right click device manager and select view resources by type and expand the + there you will see which devices use what IO's see if you can find the one with the illegal IO addresses, you might be able to pin point the device giving you trouble, if you can remove or uninstall the device and see if you lock ups are gone . As I mentioned before Hard lock ups are often video card related (although maybe not in your case) so to that end updating video card and direct x drivers is a good idea, If you think it might be the video card you could try a pci video card and see (if you have one) if that helps, although I'm not too sure if it's got onboard video or not, if it has just disable it in the bios, somtimes they just disable themselves if another card is installed . A couple of bios settings: make sure Plug &play aware OS is enabled and also while your there enable reset config data and resoures controlled by auto, assuming your bios has these settings, usually in PNP/PCI config .	tech_meister (5509)
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