Official GIGABYTE Forum
Questions about GIGABYTE products => Motherboards with AMD processors => Topic started by: savawa on September 07, 2010, 08:10:01 am
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I just put together my new computer from parts about two weeks ago. I've been having constant problems where it will restart either when the windows logo comes up or at the login screen or, sometimes, after I log in.
After going through the Startup Repair and two or three system restores it'll boot up and run fine. After shutting down for a few hours the restarts will happen again. It seems to need at least 30 minutes.
I've gone through several reinstalls of Windows and installed all the up to date drivers that I can find. I've read about problems caused by the Realtek Audio driver so I let Windows install it's own generic driver and left it there. There is another sound driver for the ATI DV output.
What I've read about the Realtek audio driver makes me think that maybe the Realtek Lan driver may be the problem.
I've replaced the CMOS battery. I've set the ram to 1066 from the 1333 it defaulted to. The ram specs say it should run at 1.5V but the BIOS shows it running at 1.6V. CPU-Z shows it running at 1.5V and 7-7-7-20 timings. One thing I'd like to do is set the voltage but I don't know where to do that.
This is actually an improvement. On the second day after I assembled everything it only booted up and ran fine when there was only one stick of ram in it. This problem seems to have stopped.
Here's a link to the most recent bsod minidumps. I don't have any others because I never heard of this program before.
http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b314/fated_circle/bsod%20minidumps/ (http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b314/fated_circle/bsod%20minidumps/)
My specs are:
motherboard: GA 880GM USB3
Bios: F4
hard drive: 650 gb Western digital (SATA running in IDE mode)
CPU: AMD Athlon 2 X4 635
ram: g skill 2x2GB
graphics: asus radeon 5770 CuCore
OS: Windows 7
I also wanted to ask about the BIOS and CPU compatibility. According to the gigabyte site my CPU is supported on F6 and later but my computer still runs. Should I upgrade to F7 or not? I've never done a BIOS upgrade so I'd rather solve these issues without doing that.
Sorry if it sounds like I'm rambling. I'm at my wits end with this and it's late at night here.
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Hi there,
From the symptoms you are describing I think the first thing to do is run Memtest on your RAM to make sure you haven't got a faulty module. I would suggest testing each stick individually and for at least 2 passes. You can download Memtest here: http://www.memtest86.com/download.html
A memory fault is the most likely cause of your problems but, unfortunately, it could also be caused by other things, for example, if the PSU is not working properly or has insufficient constant power.
At the moment I would hold off of updating BIOS.
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I've run memtest on each stick individually with 7 passes on each and no errors.
Just this morning the Intellitype software stopped working and it rebooted.
During the startup repair it attempted to do a system restore and it crashed with a PFN List CORRUPTED error and 0x0000004E code.
Here's the screenshot for today's bsod
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b314/fated_circle/bsod%20minidumps/5.png (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b314/fated_circle/bsod%20minidumps/5.png)
I'm going to get the Intellitype software and hope that solves at least one problem.
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OK, so we can assume that your RAM is fine. The error that you have posted normally points to either memory or Hard drive problem so.....
You say that your Hard drive is: 650 gb Western digital (SATA running in IDE mode) Can you give a few more details of the model number is it Green, Blue or Black? Also what SATA port do you have it attached to?
Do you have S.M.A.R.T. enabled in BIOS?
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It is a Caviar Black 7200RPM 32MB Dual Proc 3.5IN SATA. I have it plugged into the SATA0 port. S.M.A.R.T. is not enabled.
Edit: I forgot to add my power supply earlier. It's a Coolermaster Extreme Power Plus 700W ATX 12V V2.3 Silent Power Supply 20/24PIN
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OK
your HDD should also be OK so the problem is probably due to the BIOS version you are running.
As you say, according to the Gigabyte Website, your CPU is not officially supported until BIOS version F6.
I know from your earlier post, that you are not too sure of how to flash BIOS so I would suggest you check out the FAQ here: http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,2441.0.html before you do it.
If I were going to flash your BIOS I would go straight to F7. You can download that from here: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3412&dl=1#bios
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Ok. I've updated the BIOS. It restarted fine but from past experience I know that's not a sign of anything. I'll shut down fora few hours and post back later.
Thanks for your help absic115.
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OK, Good luck & I'll keep my fingers crossed foryou. ;)
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Ok, I shut it down for about 7 hours. It started up alright with none of the usual bsod's so I think the BIOS update worked. The only thing is just after login Windows Explorer crashed and forced a restart. On the second start up Kaspersky failed to start properly.
I read somewhere that it had something to do with how programs stored on the hard drive are processed on startup. Like, the instructions were too slow getting there and were not there when the startup procedure expects them to be. Could this have something to do with an SAT drive running in IDE mode instead of ahci?
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Could this have something to do with an SATA drive running in IDE mode instead of ahci?
In a word no. I have never had an issue when running SATA drives in IDE Mode in fact, I have had more problems with certain makes of HDD when trying to run in AHCI.
The problem is more than likely due to the issues you have been facing previously. Updating the BIOS has obviously resolved the problem with the CPU but, it could also have changed the configuration of your PC enough for windows 7 to have a few hiccups. These problems normally resolve themselves after a few startup/shutdown cycles so I wouldn't worry too much. If it is a real cause of concern for you, then the best option would be to do a clean re-install of Windows 7.
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I hope it'll resolve itself. This morning the restarts happened again, even when trying to start in safe mode. I ended up doing a repair from disc.
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I would recommend that you do a clean install of the OS. It seems as if something has become corrupted in the windows registry and it is what I would do in your situation.
If the problems persist after you have reinstalled the OS then we would have to look deeper at your PC configuration but, from the specs you have posted there really shouldn't be a problem.
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Ok, I did a clean install yesterday. Today Windows Explorer crashed after I logged in and restarted itself. A bit after that the computer rebooted and restarted at the login screen. It did a system restore but the start up procedure never made it past the login screen.
I tried a repair from disc but it hung while loading the files. I forced a restart and told it to start windows normally and here I am now.
All drivers I let windows detect and install itself with the exception of the USB3 driver, which I got from the gigabyte site.
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I think I may have solved it. I had attached a 3.5 floppy drive because my parents still use them. I forgot to put it in my specs list, sorry. I took it out and it booted fine after 30 min of powering down. A little faster than usual too. I'll power down for longer. Hopefully this was the cause.
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Ah yes, the dreaded Floppy Drive, this could well be the cause of the problem. When you removed it from the system did you remember to disable it in BIOS too? If not, I would suggest that you do so.
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It seems the floppy was the problem after all. So that issue is fixed. It booted fine this morning but crashed with a classpnp.sys error. Various forums say it's a hard drive issue with the type being selected in the BIOS. I checked and it's set at IDE. On restart it booted fine. I'm not sure what that error came up but I hope it doesn't come up in the future.
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I've been getting constant bsod's again. The latest wouldn't even let me get to the login screen. I tried to do a start up repair but that crashed with a fatal error.
I did a clean reinstall and this morning it was giving me Bad Pool Header errors. I ran memtest on one stick before I left and came back to see 17 passes and no errors. I'll run the other before I leave but I just remembered that the board has an onboard Radeon video card I forgot about. I only installed the 5770 driverfor the seperate card.
What I'm wondering is would the missing onboard video driver have caused these errors?
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The classpnp.sys errors you were getting is normally from having "write behind cacheing" enabled on a disk that doesn't like it. Your Bad Pool errors could well be from not installing the drivers for the card or installing the wrong drivers will also give it.
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I installed the onboard video driver and it was fine at first. After starting it up the next morning it wouldn't take my password and restarted.
There was an IRQL not or less equal error and it loaded into safe mode. That crashed with Bad Pool Header. Load up again and crashed with PFN list corrupt. Load up again, get into safe mode and Startup repair crashed with a Bad Driver error.
I took a stick of ram out and started it up fine. I downloaded the chipset drivers from the gigabyte site. I must have missed them earlier. It installs a NorthBridge filter driver and a USB filter driver. I put the second stick in. It takes longer to load but it does. It runs fine all day until this morning when I started it up after shutting down overnight.
It restarts before the logo. Going into startup repair it said it was an AutoFailover with No Root Cause. I chose not to do a system repair and shut down. When I turned it on again it constantly goes into startup repair saying it's an AutoFailover. It doesn't let me have any options other than Startup Repair now. The number in Signature 06 has been incrementally going up. It was at 5 before I did a startup from disc. Startup repair from there didin't work and neither did a system restore. It fails because of something in the registry. So now I'm about to do a clean reinstall for the umpteenth time. I want to get this working because I've already started school. I have to back up my work on usb because I can't rely on this.
the last time it had an autofailover it posted some files
windows/system32/logfile/srt/srttrail.txt
windows/temp/startuprepair.etl
windows/system32/logfile/srt/disklayout.txt
windows/system32/logfile/srt/bcdinfo.txt
windows/system32/logfile/srt/bootstat.txt
windows/system32/logfile/srt/bootfailure.txt
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Well I would advise you to run Memtest86+ on each module one at a time for several loops and if you get any errors at all then the RAM is faulty. It will at least prove your memory.
http://www.memtest.org/
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That has already been tried earlier DM. But I have to say that everything seems to point to a problem with either the RAM, CPU or possibly the Graphics Card. :-\
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Hi there Savawa,
I have to admit to being a bit puzzled by your problem and it must be very frustrating for you. I know that you have run Memtest and that your memory modules seem to have passed but the kind of constant BSOD's that you are having would point to them being the problem. I am also a little concerned when you say that installing the 2nd RAM module makes things slower, it should speed them up and again points to a problem with the RAM. You say that the RAM is running at 1.5V and at 1066 at default settings but what are the full specs for your RAM? If the RAM is running under powered, this could by why your system keeps crashing. It could also be just a timing issue with the RAM.
A couple of other things to check:
Have you disabled the On-Board Graphics? Although there shouldn't be an issue between the On-Board graphics and the ATI 5770 there could be and disabling the On-Board graphics chip might help.
Do you have another add-on cards installed? If yes what are they?
What USB Devices do you have plugged in?
Are your Mouse and Keyboard new? (You would be surprised how often a dodgy Mouse or Keyboard can cause these kind of problems.)
Can you test your RAM in another PC or, better still, borrow a couple of sticks of RAM from a friend and see if they work in your system?
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Fair enough absic. This advice is for you because I am not sure on this platform how it is enabled so I will leave it up to you.
I have just been going over the thread and picked up on this I read somewhere that it had something to do with how programs stored on the hard drive are processed on startup. Like, the instructions were too slow getting there and were not there when the startup procedure expects them to be.
It might help if this is to do with the problem to put a delay for the hard drive to start up when booting. I know how it's done on an Intel platform but not here.
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I am aware of this DM but, unlike Intel, there doesn't seem to be an option in BIOS to Delay HDD start-up in the AMD BIOS.
It is possible to make changes to the Windows Registry which impact on the programmes that are processed at start-up but, making such changes can cause more problems than they solve, especially if the system is unstable from the beginning.
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Yes I agree absic it would have to be implimented on booting to be of any value. Never mind all good ideas but they don't all work :-\
I can't understand why they don't incorporate it as an option into the AMD platform's BIOS. It is after all only a delay loop.
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Hi there Savawa,
I have to admit to being a bit puzzled by your problem and it must be very frustrating for you. I know that you have run Memtest and that your memory modules seem to have passed but the kind of constant BSOD's that you are having would point to them being the problem. I am also a little concerned when you say that installing the 2nd RAM module makes things slower, it should speed them up and again points to a problem with the RAM. You say that the RAM is running at 1.5V and at 1066 at default settings but what are the full specs for your RAM? If the RAM is running under powered, this could by why your system keeps crashing. It could also be just a timing issue with the RAM.
A couple of other things to check:
Have you disabled the On-Board Graphics? Although there shouldn't be an issue between the On-Board graphics and the ATI 5770 there could be and disabling the On-Board graphics chip might help.
Do you have another add-on cards installed? If yes what are they?
What USB Devices do you have plugged in?
Are your Mouse and Keyboard new? (You would be surprised how often a dodgy Mouse or Keyboard can cause these kind of problems.)
Can you test your RAM in another PC or, better still, borrow a couple of sticks of RAM from a friend and see if they work in your system?
I don't remember seeing an on-board video control in the bios. I'll check.
The RAM defaults to 1333 and 1.5V. On the NCIX forums someone mentioned that g.skill may be a bit unstable at higher speeds. That's why I lowered the speed.
I have a USB mouse and a USB Microsoft Natural 4000 keyboard. They're both running on generic drivers. The last time I installed the driver for the keyboard the zero button stopped working for some reason.
I can't use RAM from another system because none of them use DDR3. Same with friends.
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There's no option in the bios to disable onboard graphics. There were other onboard settings like audio and LAN.
I ran the CD that came with the motherboard. It scanned my computer and only recommended I install the USB, LAN and audio drivers. I guess I don't need chipset drivers?
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Hi, does the GSkill RAM you're using need slightly more voltage?
For example the Corsair Dominator I use likes 1.65V and if I bring the voltage down to 1.5V it can become a little unstable but still passes Memtest. What is the FULL Specification for your RAM or can you post a link to the ones you have?
The On-Board Graphics Chip can be disabled under the IGX settings, that's why you may have missed it. Installing the ATI Drivers for your 5770 would probably have also enabled the On-Board Graphics.
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Yes, the BIOS shows it running at 1.6, or something similar. However, the bios doesn't let me set it to 1.6. the next level goes to
1.75 1.65
The ram I have is these:
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=30384&vpn=F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ&manufacture=G.Skill (http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=30384&vpn=F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ&manufacture=G.Skill)
Edit: I found the IGX settings. For the Internal Graphics Mode it's set at UMA. Should I set it to disable?
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Yes, if you disable the On-Board Graphics you will probably find that you get better results from your 5770. Make sure your monitor is attached to the 5770 not the On-Board ports first. You will probably find that you have not been getting the full performance from your 5770 as it would have been throttled back to match the On-Board chip.
Let's try that first and see what happens then we will look at the RAM settings.
EDIT: Ooops! I forgot to mention, when you disable the On-Board Graphics don't forget to set the INIT Display to PEG2 (sorry)
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Alright, the onboard graphics has been disabled. I put in the second stick of ram and it caused the same error as this morning. It went into startup repair and tried to do a system restore. I canceled that, shut it down and changed the ram settings.
It was originally at 1333 with 1.65V
I changed it to 1333 and normal voltage where I think it runs at 1.6 .
That had an error on startup as well so I changed it to 1066 and normal voltage. It booted up fine this time. I'll have to shut down for several hours to be sure since it seems to fail after a good night's rest.
By the way do you know any good places for linux hardware questions? I'm looking for a way to get my infrared port on my IBM T23 laptop working on Linux Mint.
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There are some dedicated Linux Forums around. I would suggest googling for them.
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Yes, if you disable the On-Board Graphics you will probably find that you get better results from your 5770. Make sure your monitor is attached to the 5770 not the On-Board ports first. You will probably find that you have not been getting the full performance from your 5770 as it would have been throttled back to match the On-Board chip.
Let's try that first and see what happens then we will look at the RAM settings.
EDIT: Ooops! I forgot to mention, when you disable the On-Board Graphics don't forget to set the INIT Display to PEG2 (sorry)
I have PEG and PCI Slot in my list. No PEG2. It's already set to PCI Slot.
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You must set it to PEG not PCI.
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Ok, I set it to PEG and then shut it down for about an hour. When I started it up it restarted at the logo screen. Going into startup repair it crashed with a Paged Fault in Non Paged Area; highlighting ACPI.sys was the problem.
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Well I would advise changing to IDE mode because I find it more stable but to be honest absic is the expert on the AMD platform and he might not think the same so I would say wait and see what he says.
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It's already in IDE mode, I think. The SATA controller is enabled and mode is set to Native IDE.
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The latest thing that's happening is it's giving me AutoFailOver errors whenever there's two ram sticks in it.
Sometimes it'll load Windows before it crashes, other times it'll crash at login.
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Hi there Savawa,
from the problems you are describing I think the problem could be, either with the RAM modules or the CPU's Memory controller. The fact that the system seems to run OK with just one stick of RAM but falls over when you add the second would point more to the CPU rather than the RAM, especially as both sticks have passed Memtest when you have run it. It is very unlikely to be a motherboard error but, of course, this can't be discounted and the options you are left with, to try and solve the problem yourself, are becoming more limited.
Have you tried running with your RAM in slots 1&3 or 2&4 on the motherboard? This would use only one channel of the CPU's Memory controller, rather than both and would be a good indication if the CPU is at fault. If the system runs OK in either configuration then it would seem likely that you have a faulty CPU.
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I just tried it with the ram in 2 & 4 after a power down of 4-5 hours. It allowed me to login but crashed when I started Mozilla. I did this twice to make sure it wasn't a fluke.
The first time was a memory management error and the second time was a driver irq not or less equal error.
After the last time I did a clean reinstall I didn't install the chipset drivers from the gigabyte site. I was afraid they might have cased some errors last time.
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I think it might be time to RMA the CPU as it would seem to me that you have a bad memory controller.
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Damn. I was hoping it wouldn't be that. This build is only about a month old.
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Hi Savawa,
going back through the whole of this thread there are only two things that I can think of that would be creating this problem. One is the memory modules the other the CPU.
You say that you have run Memtest and that the RAM Modules have both passed but, something I have overlooked, is the RAM on the QVL for the motherboard. It could be that you need to swap the RAM for another type that is on the list or that is known to work. The only other item I can think of is the CPU's memory controller hence my previous post.
It might be worthwhile double checking the RAM modules before RMA'ing the CPU as this might be easier for you to do.
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Just a comment on your post absic. Surely if the OP has run Memtest without any errors then that must preclude the faulty CPU scenario? As the memory controller is now on chip if it was faulty Memtest would fail. :-\
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Not necessarily. As the RAM is running on one channel but not on two it could be that the memory controllers are not talking to each other properly. That's why I suggested trying to run the RAM in slots 1&3 or 2&4. By putting both sticks of RAM onto the same channel it would show if one or other of the memory channels are not working properly. The fact that the OP tried in slots 2&4 and the system fell over could well point to a faulty memory controller, hence the reason I suggested RMA'ing the CPU.
But, the problem could also be due to the RAM itself. Although it has passed Memtest individually it may not be fully compatible with the system and we all know how fussy the memory controllers are these days. That's why I made my last post asking if the RAM is on the QVL. If it is then the probable cause is the CPU, if it isn't then the best advice would be to swap the RAM to a couple of sticks that are known to be compatible.
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No, fair enough on your comment regarding the seperate channels of the memory controller. I only read the last couple of posts and it didn't ssem to male sense. My bad. Teach me to read the whole thread. ::)
I totally agree with your asking the OP to find compatible RAM as with DDR3 it is extremely important to have sticks that will work well with your motherbopard/CPU.
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According to the list it is supported.
http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_ga-880gm-usb3.pdf
It's the F3 12800CL9D-4GBNQ
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According to Gigabyte's own QVL it is supported ok. It looks like it is down to the CPU then. Maybe one of the memory controllers is heading south. I guess you will have to RMA it. :-\
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I sent an RMA ticket in yesterday and they promptly got back to me today. They believe it's still the ram since they believe there is still a chance they could be the problem. My situation where the sticks work individually but not as a pair isn't unheard of to them.
Do you guys think chipset drivers have anything to do with this problem? I skipped installing them this time. Do you think it would make a difference if I installed them?
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It is possible that the memory is faulty but if I remember rightly you have run Memtest on it earlier didn't you? If you did so and everything was OK then it is almost certainly the CPU.
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Individually they ran fine. Together they failed within the first test. For now The place I bought the parts at say it's the ram and aren't RMAing my cpu.
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All I can suggest is that you run memtest again on the RAM and let it run for 10 loops. If it doesn't fail then you can be fairly sure that it is ok. You can then go back and present them with this information.
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I sent the RAM off for RMA about two weeks ago and just got it back today. Both sticks are in and none of the restarting nonsense I had before. So far it seems to have been a RAM problem.
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Well fingers crossed that has fixed the problem then ;)
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Hi Savawa,
thanks for the update and it is useful to know how your issue has been resolved. Obviously your Supplier knew of an issue with the RAM that we are not aware of, hence the fact that they wanted you to RMA the two sticks.
Hopefully now, you will not suffer from the BSOD's and reboot problems. ;)