BSoD

[galaxyAbstractor]

I am getting BSoDs quite often, most when I play games. I strongly believe it's a hardware issue, and not a software issue, as XP, vista and windows 7 does same. I even got linux to crash on it.

The most frequent error I get is IRQL_IS_LESS_OR_EQUAL or something like that, but I got other errors too from time to time.

Any ideas if I can fix this without spending any money on new computer/new parts?

 

[Livewire]

Last time I got that exact error, my power supply was failing.

Granted I'm not 100% sure that it was the power supply actually causing the bsod, but the same pc is now running for my parents with a new power supply, and it stopped BSOD'ing.


The other immediate possibility I can think of is the ram, but as a heads up I do NOT think that's an issue solvable without spending $. Trust me, I tried, and tried, and tried some more.

 

[galaxyAbstractor]

Last time I got that exact error, my power supply was failing.

Granted I'm not 100% sure that it was the power supply actually causing the bsod, but the same pc is now running for my parents with a new power supply, and it stopped BSOD'ing.


The other immediate possibility I can think of is the ram, but as a heads up I do NOT think that's an issue solvable without spending $. Trust me, I tried, and tried, and tried some more.

.

I might need to try to search for some sort of job so I can afford a new computer then... I don't like upgrading only one part of a computer xD

 

[Smith6612]

That BSOD error can mean so many things. Typically it's bad RAM or a bad driver, but it does indicate more serious errors to come. With this problem, start off with the cheapest fix first, which means update all your drivers by removing them out of the mix, check for faulty devices, clean out old drivers which may still be resident in the machine, and then start replacing the RAM and the hardware as you see fit.

 

[xmaverick]

First, get a Unix installation DVD or burn on an ISO MemTest, so you can quickly test your memory banks. You can download OpenSUSE, FreeBSD or Ubuntu, they all have memtest on. Also Vista have the memory test utility. It works well, but I prefer the old crazy Memtest.

After this, check out for a monitor software capable of read your GPU temperature. If it is more of 70 °C, you're burning your GPU, so it will crash after some time. Also, Video Mem banks can be ruined as well, but this is mostly true when you see video corruption on your screen output.

Check also for noises from hard disks. Download SEATOOLS from Seagate to try to get a full check on the storage.

Also a ruined northbridge on the mobo can do this BSoD issue.
Check, via Mobo monitoring, your power supply also as well.
For the CPU, a Core Duo cannot burn more of 70 °C, so if its temperature is greater than 70, probably you need to change your cooling fan.

Hope this helped.

 

[galaxyAbstractor]

First, get a Unix installation DVD or burn on an ISO MemTest, so you can quickly test your memory banks. You can download OpenSUSE, FreeBSD or Ubuntu, they all have memtest on. Also Vista have the memory test utility. It works well, but I prefer the old crazy Memtest.

After this, check out for a monitor software capable of read your GPU temperature. If it is more of 70 °C, you're burning your GPU, so it will crash after some time. Also, Video Mem banks can be ruined as well, but this is mostly true when you see video corruption on your screen output.

Check also for noises from hard disks. Download SEATOOLS from Seagate to try to get a full check on the storage.

Also a ruined northbridge on the mobo can do this BSoD issue.
Check, via Mobo monitoring, your power supply also as well.
For the CPU, a Core Duo cannot burn more of 70 °C, so if its temperature is greater than 70, probably you need to change your cooling fan.

Hope this helped.

Right now SpeedFan tells me my GPU is 50 *C. AUX is 122 *C. What's AUX? Also, there is a fire icon on GPU and AUX

I'll test MemTest tomorrow

 

[ichwar]

This guy claims to have solved it by putting in a different hard drive: http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=offtopic&message.id=13109

That's an expensive fix to try also though.

 

[Smith6612]

Right now SpeedFan tells me my GPU is 50 *C. AUX is 122 *C. What's AUX? Also, there is a fire icon on GPU and AUX

I'll test MemTest tomorrow

AUX could be a faulty sensor or a misreading. I personally use HWMonitor to check my system temps. It's pretty good. See if that shows anything such as CPU temp, GPU temp, and HDD temp. On some older systems Diode 1 is usually the CPU. If it's REALLY old the temp will usually be around ACPI's temp.

 

[galaxyAbstractor]

Now I'm getting "PAGEFAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA" too. I'm gonna do a memtest sometimes next week.

(btw, my hdd passed the long drive test in seatools)

 

[Smith6612]

Now I'm getting "PAGEFAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA" too. I'm gonna do a memtest sometimes next week.

(btw, my hdd passed the long drive test in seatools)

That BSOD can indicate bad RAM in the system, or a bad driver. Tried ruling out your RAM at all?

 

[galaxyAbstractor]

That BSOD can indicate bad RAM in the system, or a bad driver. Tried ruling out your RAM at all?

Haven't had time for memtest yet

 

[Smith6612]

Haven't had time for memtest yet

Just run Memtest overnight. When set up, it'll run infinitely and keep log of errors for you to see. If it's memory errors, it should show them. Of course, a big memory error or other hardware error will be shown by Memtest locking up or going into a Kernal Panic.

 

[galaxyAbstractor]

I ran memtest. After 6 hours, pass 7-ish, I got enough. By then, there were 1467 errors

 

[xav0989]

Ouch, type to upgrade RAM I think!

 

[ichwar]

Wow. How much ram do you currently have?

 

[galaxyAbstractor]

wow. How much ram do you currently have?

4 gb

 

[ichwar]

Ouch. ddr2? That's not cheap to replace. :/

 

[galaxyAbstractor]

Ouch. ddr2? That's not cheap to replace. :/

Yep. DDR2

 

[xav0989]

I found a website with not that expensive DDR2 RAM. I bot 2 1gb modules for 20$ each, and they work great (no shipping, but there were some taxes)

 

[ichwar]

I found a website with not that expensive DDR2 RAM. I bot 2 1gb modules for 20$ each, and they work great (no shipping, but there were some taxes)

That's expensive. I got ddr3 ram for the same price at newegg. I'm can only imagine that ddr2 would be cheaper.