Strange occurances

Also update the video drivers. The Catalyst 3.10 and higher have a "VPU
recover" setting that will eliminate reboots caused by occasional video
glitches. Sometimes a small voltage bump to the AGP slot can help.

Above all, when you switch from an Nvidia card to an ATI card, or vice
versa, scrub the system and the registry of all traces of the old stuff.
There is an app called Detonator Destroyer designed for just that purpose.

"TomG" <tgeery-NOSPAM- DeleteThis @cox.net> wrote in message
news:WfVSb.1688$Yj.103@lakeread02...
 > what voltage is being used for the ram? most often, the IC7 boards like
to
 > see at least 2.7 volts on the DDR, sometimes more with some types of ram.
 >
 > --
 >
 > Thomas Geery
 > Network+ certified
 >
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="ftp://geerynet.d2g.com</font" target="_blank">ftp://geerynet.d2g.com</font</a>>
 > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="ftp://68.98.180.8" target="_blank">ftp://68.98.180.8</a> Abit Mirror <----- Cable modem IP
 > This IP is dynamic so it *could* change!...
 > over 120,000 FTP users served!
 > ^^^^^^^
 >
 >
 >
 >
 > "MacGyver" <time_bandits DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
 > news:y62dnUXv4L_WhoHd4p2dnA@adelphia.com...
  > > My computer based on an IC7-G has been acting strangely. It will reboot
 > by
  > > itself and sometimes the monitor will go black and the computer does not
  > > respond to anything. When Windows comes back on, I get "computer has
  > > recovered from serious error". Report to microsoft. I do. Microsoft
 > tells
  > > me a device driver error caused the crash. Doesn't tell me which one.
I
  > > haven't changed drivers or added new hardware since I built it. Pretty
 > new
  > > computer. No overclocking.
  > >
  > > I was thinking maybe a CPU temp. thing, but that is all good. Case is
 > dust
  > > free. All parts have been reseated, contacts cleaned. Using a 430 WATT
  > > Enermax PSU, so plenty of power. A suspect I have is my ATI Radeon
9700.
  > > My first video card that was not a NVIDIA since my Matrox in 1996. I
 > might
  > > get another NVIDIA when I have the money.
  > >
  > >
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Strange occurances 

Thanks for the info everybody. I'll give some of those things a try and
report back.

"MacGyver" <time_bandits RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:y62dnUXv4L_WhoHd4p2dnA@adelphia.com...
 > My computer based on an IC7-G has been acting strangely. It will reboot
by
 > itself and sometimes the monitor will go black and the computer does not
 > respond to anything. When Windows comes back on, I get "computer has
 > recovered from serious error". Report to microsoft. I do. Microsoft
tells
 > me a device driver error caused the crash. Doesn't tell me which one. I
 > haven't changed drivers or added new hardware since I built it. Pretty
new
 > computer. No overclocking.
 >
 > I was thinking maybe a CPU temp. thing, but that is all good. Case is
dust
 > free. All parts have been reseated, contacts cleaned. Using a 430 WATT
 > Enermax PSU, so plenty of power. A suspect I have is my ATI Radeon 9700.
 > My first video card that was not a NVIDIA since my Matrox in 1996. I
might
 > get another NVIDIA when I have the money.
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Strange occurances 

On Sun, 01 Feb 2004 15:42:33 GMT, "Skid" <skid2 RemoveThis @comcast.NOSPAM.net>
wrote:

 >Also update the video drivers. The Catalyst 3.10 and higher have a "VPU
 >recover" setting that will eliminate reboots caused by occasional video
 >glitches.

How interesting.............what does it actually do ? Repeatedly
reset the GPU when it overheats ? Not at all funny if so,
particularly if it executes such a reset silently without a clear
user-warning.

And if the VPU recover setting is left OFF, is the end result
of such a VPU glitch always "the system has recovered from
a serious error" (which normally is preceded by a disk-
scan)? That's not at all good... if the video driver is potentially
expecting such an error from the hardware it should handle the
error gracefully with a clean exit/appropriate message
and not just throw it at the OS with no indication of the
problem-source. Well designed hardware drivers anticipate
and handle hardware-errors gracefully.

I have not found such a setting in my nVidia driver (53.03), but I
have never experienced any GPU-stimulated reboots either, unless
I am deliberately and viciously over-clocking --- thus narrowing the
timing margins by simultaneously raising the clock frequency and the
GPU and memory temperatures.


 > Sometimes a small voltage bump to the AGP slot can help.
 >

Placebo, in my experience.........


 >Above all, when you switch from an Nvidia card to an ATI card, or vice
 >versa, scrub the system and the registry of all traces of the old stuff.
 >There is an app called Detonator Destroyer designed for just that purpose.
 >

Use Driver Cleaner (v2.7) which is kept up-to-date and deals with both

Ati and nVidia drivers, so you can completely clean out your system
of all old video drivers. A google search for Driver Cleaner gets
an immediate hit.


John Lewis

 >"TomG" <tgeery-NOSPAM- RemoveThis @cox.net> wrote in message
 >news:WfVSb.1688$Yj.103@lakeread02...
  >> what voltage is being used for the ram? most often, the IC7 boards like
 >to
  >> see at least 2.7 volts on the DDR, sometimes more with some types of ram.
  >>
  >> --
  >>
  >> Thomas Geery
  >> Network+ certified
  >>
<font color=green>  >> <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="ftp://geerynet.d2g.com</font" target="_blank">ftp://geerynet.d2g.com</font</a>>
  >> <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="ftp://68.98.180.8" target="_blank">ftp://68.98.180.8</a> Abit Mirror <----- Cable modem IP
  >> This IP is dynamic so it *could* change!...
  >> over 120,000 FTP users served!
  >> ^^^^^^^
  >>
  >>
  >>
  >>
  >> "MacGyver" <time_bandits RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
  >> news:y62dnUXv4L_WhoHd4p2dnA@adelphia.com...
   >> > My computer based on an IC7-G has been acting strangely. It will reboot
  >> by
   >> > itself and sometimes the monitor will go black and the computer does not
   >> > respond to anything. When Windows comes back on, I get "computer has
   >> > recovered from serious error". Report to microsoft. I do. Microsoft
  >> tells
   >> > me a device driver error caused the crash. Doesn't tell me which one.
 >I
   >> > haven't changed drivers or added new hardware since I built it. Pretty
  >> new
   >> > computer. No overclocking.
   >> >
   >> > I was thinking maybe a CPU temp. thing, but that is all good. Case is
  >> dust
   >> > free. All parts have been reseated, contacts cleaned. Using a 430 WATT
   >> > Enermax PSU, so plenty of power. A suspect I have is my ATI Radeon
 >9700.
   >> > My first video card that was not a NVIDIA since my Matrox in 1996. I
  >> might
   >> > get another NVIDIA when I have the money.
   >> >
   >> >
  >>
  >>
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Strange occurances 

"John Lewis" <john.dsl.DeleteThis@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:401e870b.867562@news.verizon.net...
 > On Sun, 01 Feb 2004 15:42:33 GMT, "Skid" <skid2.DeleteThis@comcast.NOSPAM.net>
 > wrote:
 >
  > >Also update the video drivers. The Catalyst 3.10 and higher have a "VPU
  > >recover" setting that will eliminate reboots caused by occasional video
  > >glitches.
 >
 > How interesting.............what does it actually do ? Repeatedly
 > reset the GPU when it overheats ? Not at all funny if so,
 > particularly if it executes such a reset silently without a clear
 > user-warning.
 >
 > And if the VPU recover setting is left OFF, is the end result
 > of such a VPU glitch always "the system has recovered from
 > a serious error" (which normally is preceded by a disk-
 > scan)? That's not at all good... if the video driver is potentially
 > expecting such an error from the hardware it should handle the
 > error gracefully with a clean exit/appropriate message
 > and not just throw it at the OS with no indication of the
 > problem-source. Well designed hardware drivers anticipate
 > and handle hardware-errors gracefully.
 >
 > I have not found such a setting in my nVidia driver (53.03), but I
 > have never experienced any GPU-stimulated reboots either, unless
 > I am deliberately and viciously over-clocking --- thus narrowing the
 > timing margins by simultaneously raising the clock frequency and the
 > GPU and memory temperatures.

Short version:
VPU RECOVER, a patent-pending innovative software recovery feature that
enables the display driver to gracefully recover from graphics hardware
hangs. This feature also offers a direct feedback and bug report mechanism
and marks a major step towards crash-proof PCs;

Long version:

<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://mirror.ati.com/products/catalyst/whitefaq.html" target="_blank">http://mirror.ati.com/products/catalyst/whitefaq.html</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Strange occurances 

It looks like a BIOS issue. Well a hardware issue between Abit and ATI. I
updated BIOS to v2.1 and no reboots or blank screens, yet. I had a stretch
a while back where I had no problems. BIOS v2.0 was the worst, so far.
Constantly rebooting.


"MacGyver" <time_bandits.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ZoydnTOiKKjGUoPdRVn-uQ@adelphia.com...
 > Thanks for the info everybody. I'll give some of those things a try and
 > report back.
 >
 > "MacGyver" <time_bandits.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
 > news:y62dnUXv4L_WhoHd4p2dnA@adelphia.com...
  > > My computer based on an IC7-G has been acting strangely. It will reboot
 > by
  > > itself and sometimes the monitor will go black and the computer does not
  > > respond to anything. When Windows comes back on, I get "computer has
  > > recovered from serious error". Report to microsoft. I do. Microsoft
 > tells
  > > me a device driver error caused the crash. Doesn't tell me which one.
I
  > > haven't changed drivers or added new hardware since I built it. Pretty
 > new
  > > computer. No overclocking.
  > >
  > > I was thinking maybe a CPU temp. thing, but that is all good. Case is
 > dust
  > > free. All parts have been reseated, contacts cleaned. Using a 430 WATT
  > > Enermax PSU, so plenty of power. A suspect I have is my ATI Radeon
9700.
  > > My first video card that was not a NVIDIA since my Matrox in 1996. I
 > might
  > > get another NVIDIA when I have the money.
  > >
  > >
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Strange occurances 

On Thu, 5 Feb 2004 18:45:03 -0500, "MacGyver"
<time_bandits DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote:

 >It looks like a BIOS issue. Well a hardware issue between Abit and ATI. I
 >updated BIOS to v2.1 and no reboots or blank screens, yet. I had a stretch
 >a while back where I had no problems. BIOS v2.0 was the worst, so far.
 >Constantly rebooting.

You sure it's not that stupid GAT that Abit has in the bios? Those
settings can make your PC unstable as they tweak the ram timings.
I've set mine to:
Auto
Normal
Auto
Disabled
Disabled

Defualt is Auto on all of the settings.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Strange occurances