Random Crashes (hard lock)

[Albuquerque]

Depending on the setup, Pete has it correct in that it should be visible as a voltage drop. A multimeter may not be sufficient to catch it though; you only need a few milliseconds of very low voltage to completely whack out a complex solid state device. A standard consumer "voltmeter" could stumble right over the top of such an instantaneous drop without ever showing it. You would probably need something far more enterprise-grade like a proper oscilliscope with the ability to record and freeze frames.

 

[davis.anthony]

Without any special testing equipment is there any way I can tell if the PSU is faulty? My PSU tester will basically say that it works but maybe something bad is happening under load. I really hope it's the PSU. If not I'll be messing with the RAM and possible swapping in my GTX970

Downclock everything to reduce power consumption and test.

 

[homerdog]

I've swapped in my old Seasonic S12II 520W and so far so good. I ran the memory test for 2 passes and it didn't freeze. Been gaming for a couple hours and it's been good. I did have to use a 6 pin to 8 pin PCIe adapter but I'm confident 520W Seasonic watts are enough for this PC.

 

[Albuquerque]

Well, boo for your new powersupply if I was right. But also yay if you've figured it out

 

[homerdog]

Well, boo for your new powersupply if I was right. But also yay if you've figured it out

I have access to an oscilliscope but I don't know how to use it. Hopefully I won't have to mess with any of that. The computer hasn't crashed since I swapped the PSU. I'll use it for a couple more days to make sure and then RMA the new PSU.

 

[Albuquerque]

That sounds pretty solid. Glad I was able to provide a useful suggestion at least.

 

[homerdog]

That sounds pretty solid. Glad I was able to provide a useful suggestion at least.

I'll be honest, I thought there was 0% chance it was the power supply. If you guys hadn't suggested it I would have never swapped it out.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I'll be honest, I thought there was 0% chance it was the power supply. If you guys hadn't suggested it I would have never swapped it out.

Always, always test the PSU if you run into hard locks or even random reboots. I always keep a spare good quality (Seasonic for me) PSU that is lightly used for just such a purpose. If it turns out a PSU has gone bad, I'll use that Seasonic until I get a new one to replace the faulty one. Always, always (IMO) have a good quality PSU laying around as a backup.

I also mention lightly used because you want to be sure that it's a good PSU. Even Seasonic can occasionally have quality issues in their components, so my backup is always one that's been used for a bit to ensure that the components aren't going to fail within the first month of use.

Regards,
SB

 

[homerdog]

Always, always test the PSU if you run into hard locks or even random reboots. I always keep a spare good quality (Seasonic for me) PSU that is lightly used for just such a purpose. If it turns out a PSU has gone bad, I'll use that Seasonic until I get a new one to replace the faulty one. Always, always (IMO) have a good quality PSU laying around as a backup.

I also mention lightly used because you want to be sure that it's a good PSU. Even Seasonic can occasionally have quality issues in their components, so my backup is always one that's been used for a bit to ensure that the components aren't going to fail within the first month of use.

Regards,
SB

My Seasonic PSU is about a decade old and heavily used. It still seems to work fine. At least the computer doesn't crash when I use it unlike the new Corsair. Nothing against Corsair but I really should have spent the extra $10 and gotten another Seasonic. Seasonic is a brand that has never ever let me down.

 

[homerdog]

Okay it crashed again, but this time there are events in the log. These were logged after I turned the computer back on.

This one is a Warning:

A corrected hardware error has occurred.

Component: PCI Express Root Port
Error Source: Advanced Error Reporting (PCI Express)

Primary Busevice:Function: 0x0:0x1C:0x2
Secondary Busevice:Function: 0x0:0x0:0x0
Primary Device NameCI\VEN_8086&DEV_7A3A&SUBSYS_50011458&REV_11

This one just says Information:

A hardware event has occurred. An informational record describing the condition is contained in the data section of this event.

 

[Man from Atlantis]

Check the device name, could be Intel ethernet drivers.

 

[homerdog]

Check the device name, could be Intel ethernet drivers.

Will do. I decided to check the BIOS version and found something strange. The latest BIOS on Gigabyte's site is F4. The version I updated to a couple weeks ago was apparently F4b. I don't know what the b stands for (beta?) but there is no mention of an F4b BIOS on Gigabytes site now or anywhere else on the Internet for that matter. Like it never existed. I just updated to the current F4 BIOS.

Oh now the Gigabyte Control Center software works. It didn't function properly before and I couldn't figure out why so I removed it. After the BIOS update it actually shows me all the options and doesn't freeze constantly.

I found the old F4b BIOS in my downloads folder. I'm keeping it since this is apparently a ghost BIOS that never existed.

 

[Man from Atlantis]

Will do. I decided to check the BIOS version and found something strange. The latest BIOS on Gigabyte's site is F4. The version I updated to a couple weeks ago was apparently F4b. I don't know what the b stands for (beta?) but there is no mention of an F4b BIOS on Gigabytes site now or anywhere else on the Internet for that matter. Like it never existed. I just updated to the current F4 BIOS.

B stand for beta but, after some time if there are no major problems they turn the beta to stable by removin the b. Update all Intel drivers including chipset as well just in case and fingers cross it fixes everything.

 

[homerdog]

B stand for beta but, after some time if there are no major problems they turn the beta to stable by removin the b. Update all Intel drivers including chipset as well just in case and fingers cross it fixes everything.

At this point I'm not confident that I've solved the problem, but something was clearly wrong with the F4b BIOS. The Gigabyte software simply wouldn't work with it. After updated to F4 it immediately started working.

 

[homerdog]

BTW when I was swapping the PSU I removed the USB3 header cable and the whole fucking plastic socket came off of the motherboard. I had to pry it off the connector with pliers. Fortunately the pins were undamaged so I was able to stick the connector back onto the naked pins and the ports still work. Totally whack. This is the worst luck I've had with a computer since my dog pissed in my Pentium II and it exploded.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Glad you're getting it sorted. I hate it when a PC turns all weird and possessed, I've had a couple.

 

[milk]

Okay it crashed again, but this time there are events in the log. These were logged after I turned the computer back on.

This one is a Warning:


This one just says Information:

Found the issue:


Your device name is a smiley face sticking its tonge out, which means its mischeveous. Discipline it to avoid further crashes.

 

[homerdog]

No crashes for the last 2 days since I updated the BIOS. Fingers crossed.

 

[Albuquerque]

Sounds like a multi-factorial problem, which always makes it harder to pin down. Great job troubleshooting and I'm crossing my fingers that you've found and solved the problems

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Man, all of this reminds of being a Windows Technician back in the 90's and how difficult it was to explain to some people that the problem wasn't with Windows it was with some aspect of their hardware or hardware drivers.

Regards,
SB