Posts by Chaky

Did my attachment help?

I don't think that makes it stall.

It's like this:

I open, let's say 5 sites.
Terminate the connection.
Read stuff on sites, or write the post.
Connect to my ISP.
When it establishes connection (only) IE stalls. No connection activity whatsoever. I can see the activity in my tray and there is none.

One more thing:
The more sites opened, the longer is the stall.

But, now I'm back to the IE6. And not by my choice. Will write a new steam-blowing thread about it soon.

What theoretical capitalism would predict is that the consumer would choose an alternative that does not include 'spying'. However as we know, the average consumer does not act in this regard.

I think it's just a matter of consumer awareness. In 50's ppl were buying cars without seat belts. They were considered unnecessary by common ppl. But, even then, the studies have shown great hazardous flaws with the cars that were being sold. Thing is, those studies were known only to auto-industry's CE O's and ppl that made those studies. Ppl were buying those cars without knowing what they are paying for. It wasn't until (I think) early 70's that the seat belts became mandatory with all cars.

I ask you this: Would you buy a car without seat belts and with steering wheel with big spike in the center?

If you have an alternative MP3 player that is explicitly labeled as "not spyware", I think ppl would stop and think a little of what they're paying for. You can sue the manufacturer for fraud if they advertise the opposite. (so I've heard)

THX for advice.

Regarding the firewire...
I had to rebuild my windows from scratch yesterday, and when I did fresh install, it was again "connected". I specifically remember that when I first installed the system that the status was "disconnected".
Also, friend of mine came by my place with his laptop. HP something. I've noticed same thing with his laptop.

Coincidence?

If it was cpu, it probbably wouldn't give any sign, but then again, you can never know. I suggest (if possible) to send back mobo, memory and CPU, just to be on the safe side. Just tell them "Ain't workin'". Acting dumb allways works.

Think global, act local, I guess.

I use Audio CD's.

Hi. I just recovered from massive system meltdown. Guess my mobo vendor.... ASUS.
Ant it is not just reinstall-windows-meldown. It is get-IDE-HD-coz-SATA-won't-format-nor-boot-even-with-f6-drivers meltdown. Funny thing, I emailed ASUS yesterday asking them some info and automatic reply was "The system has received your query. We will process your query ASAP. However, due to vast number of queries (read: vast number of ppl having problems with ASUS products) waiting to be processed each day (!), we may not be able to respond your query immediately. If your query is not replied within 48 hours bla,bla"

Kind of, speaks for itself.

I'm thinking about returning it to the store (it's still covered by waranty). Nforce 4 has just too many bugs. Combined with XP bugs....BAM.

Also thinking aboul linux.

I support your decision to not deal with buggy mobo. But going for Dell... I think you should look at Dell's forums and see for your self what ppl talk about. I hear that Dell's DVD burners don't have real firmware support. That's what ppl complain about.

Microsoft says:

Troubleshooting "Stop 0x00000077" or "KERNEL_STACK_INPAGE_ERROR"

This issue can occur if a requested page of kernel data could not be read from the paging file into memory, or the master boot record is infected with a virus. To further determine the possible cause, you must properly interpret the error message. If both the first and third parameters are zero, then the four parameters are defined as:

1.0 (zero)
2.Page Table Entry (PTE) value at time of error
3.0 (zero)
4.Address of signature on kernel stack

If either the first or the third parameter is not a zero, (your first is 0xC000000E) then the following definitions apply:

1.Status code -->yours is 0xC000000E
2.I/O status code -->yours is 0xC000000E
3.Page file number-->yours is 0x00000000
4.Offset into page file-->yours is 0x014F2000

If this is the case, the cause of this issue may be determined from the second parameter (the I/O status code) by using the following information that is listed in a "value of second parameter" followed by "general cause" format:

0xC000000E, or STATUS_NO_SUCH_DEVICE: the drive went unavailable, possibly a bad hard drive, disk array, and/or controller card. <--- Your code!

0xC000009A, or STATUS_INSUFFICIENT_RESOURCES: lack of nonpaged pool resources.

0xC000009C, or STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR: bad blocks on the hard disk.

0xC000009D, or STATUS_DEVICE_NOT_CONNECTED: bad cabling, non-termination, or the controller is not able to obtain access to the hard disk.

0xC000016A, or STATUS_DISK_OPERATION_FAILED: bad blocks on the hard disk.

0xC0000185, or STATUS_IO_DEVICE_ERROR: improper termination or defective cabling of …

Interesting article (copy/paste)

DefectiveByDesign.org has declared Tuesday October 3rd a "Day Against DRM".

With more than 10,000 technologists having joined the campaign, and pledged to take direct action to stop DRM, and with more than 200 "actions" planned across the globe on October 3rd, we aim to raise the level of awareness to the threats posed by DRM technology.

DRM technology is a growing problem for all computer users, by extension all of society. DRM is typically used to restrict individuals' use of their own copies of published works. To enforce these restrictions, DRM software, and now hardware, must monitor and control a computer users' behavior. Frequently it reports on what it sees.

You might be aware that iPod users are restricted from transferring their music to other non-Apple devices because the music downloaded from iTunes is encrypted - locked with DRM. It allows you to write an audio CD, but if you ever want to take your music to a new portable device in a compressed format, you will end up with very lousy sound quality. These drawbacks are of course there for a reason: customer lock-in. Apple inconveniences its customers into binding themselves to Apple products.

This type of nuisance is but the foreshadow of greater ones to come. Standing behind the technology companies, the film and music industry (Big Media) loom large. To increase their control, they demand technology companies impose DRM. The technology companies no longer resist. Of course many of the technology …

That site basically says that if you're not OCing than something is toasted.

I'll just brainstorm you a little here.

- Floppy disc - maybe it's write-protected? Look at the top right corner. If it is a see trough hole, it is write-protected. Move that thing to cover the hole.

- memtest86 - it can be run in windows. Only the results are not 100% accurate.

- BIOS settings - some bioses have setup default and bios default presets. In general bios default (or just default) is safe-mode kind of setup. All enhancements are turned off and all detection is automated (HD memory and such). Setup default is one that the mobo manufacturer have set. That one should work if all is OK.

Check that the quick post is disabled. This way bios will do all the tests when booting.
I had problems with memory settings on my own. HAD to set it manually, hence the bios would set it all wrong.

I suspect that memory is either faulty or the timings are wrong.

Hey, dragon. catch this *throws something toward you*.

I've looked it up. It is LG product and there's no firmware upgrade available.

I've also learned that... well, read this and you'll be the judge:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_cdrom&message.id=109223

There is one workaround for unsupported CD/DVD formats.
It requires burning software like Nero 7 and deamontools-like virtual drive.

Basically, you have to copy DVD image with, for example, Alcohol 120% to your HD and mount that image on the virtual drive (also in alcohol 120%). You can download trial version here:

http://trial.alcohol-soft.com/en/

You will have to enable virtual drive in Alcohol settings.

Things I would change on my machine is memory. Go for the ones listed in mobo manual (they cost 10-20% more). My biggest mistake was letting the salesman convince me otherwise. And 2048 M would be a better choice for gaming. (4x512, not 2x1024)

My HD is SATA II. If you plan on OS older than Windows XP SP1 you will need to do some pre-installation things. And you will need a floppy drive. (f6 drivers)
I must say that nForce4 chipset has one debilitating bug with SATA II HD's. Had to flip the jumper on HD degrading it to SATA I. Even then I had ALLOT of troubles getting it even to format the HD. Turns out that there is a firmware upgrade for my HD to meet the nForce4 bug. So, I suggest you look up on the internet whatever you choose to buy.

And for the HD performance... it is really up to the drive's capabilities. In theory nForce4 SATA controller can transfer 3 GB/s total (SATA II generation - 4 SATA HD's + 4 IDE drives). But my HD can do 65 MB/s tops. I can't really see for what would nForce4 be capable of such high rates.

I don't overclock. I don't need to yet, and I find my system unstable enough as it is (memory to blame) and top CPU speed I got was ~2700 MHz. (default is 2200 MHz, AMD claims it can go up to 3700). …

Looks to me like "customer support" for the Geil, nvidia and asus reads "customers not supported here"

Geil - every email fails to reach them
Asus - You should see the form to fill in. Only thing they left out is shoe size.
Nvidia - I'll copy-paste one reply (juicy parts) on different topic:

Thank you for contacting NVIDIA Customer Care.

NVIDIA does NOT build graphics cards, motherboards or PCs. While our partners and customers all choose NVIDIA's technology as a core component for their solutions and they do implement them differently.

Please feel free to contact us, if you have any further questions.

Regards,
NVIDIA Customer Care.

Hmm... feel free to contact us, but don't ask any questions about nForce4 nor GeForce?

Aghh... I'm off the topic.

Hi Mike.

The gaming PC one of the priciest PC's you can buy. All I can tell you is how much I paid for my machine:

Mobo (ASUS A8N Sli) - $150
CPU (AMD Athlon64 +3700) - $300
Graphic Card (PCI-E GeForce 7800 GT with 512 MB ram) - $500
HD (Maxtor DiamondMAX 160 G) - $100
Memory (Geil Value ram 2x512 M) - $120
PSU (MS Industrial 550W) - $30
DVD Burner (Pioneer DVR 110D) -$50
Keyboard - $20
Mouse - $5
Casing - $40
Monitor (second hand NOKIA 447 Pro) - $40
CPU cooling (Thermaltake Golden Orb II) - $50
VGA cooling (ArticCooling NV Silencer) - $30
Windows XP - Had it before.
Speakers - Had it before
Floppy - Had it before

Gaming purposes only.
(add to this $90 for second hand Pinnacle PCTV Sat (satellite receiver))

All of this was in February, so CPU Mobo and VGA prices went down considerably. I don't really keep track. Also have in mind that my graphic card was the newest model I could find then.

Beeper is one small basic speaker. The connection for the beeper is usualy in a same row of pins where you connect the leds, reset button and on/off switch. And, yes, the manual has the "how to" ilustrated. If you have some old PC lying around, you can use one off it.

Depending on a BIOS manufacturer, (Award, AMI... you can see which one you got in the manual) some beep codes are described here:

http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml

BTW, you rma'd the P4800 SE, and now your mobo is....?

Also try this:

- disable boot logo
- disable quick POST

This way you will make BIOS do more test when it boots, and you will see some progress on the screen instead of logo. One time is enough (with all the stuff plugged in). Afterwords you can re-enable those

If your current PSU is anything under 500W, get the new PSU while you're at it. $30 tops. Unless you like typing in the repair console.

To clarify:

When your power fails, for that split second all kinds of WRONG things go on. Your CPU power fails, it does something wrong... Memory power fails.. it stores something wrong... HD power fails.. it writes something wrong.. and if it is in boot sector, it's format time. Also power failure with HD sometime causes one drive's head to scrape the surface of the disc. I have one with bad sectors just because of that. Only, in my case, whole city block was out. If the bad sector appears in the "system area" or boot sector you can throw the thing away for it can not be formated ever again.

So, $30 for 500W or $100 for a HD?

My IE7 is really getting on my nerves. Every time I connect to the internet it stalls. Up to 10s. Really frustrating.

Not really asking questions or seeking help. Just blowing off steam.

AC97 - Add Cash $97

Dispel, read this:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=329284

(Directed to the manufacturers) Whatever happened to putting the damn jacks on the other side of the case?

I've downloaded the manual for your mobo. It looks like it's world standard not to give any expalnation nor what to plug where when it comes to front audio panel. I think that's what the AC97 stands for.

Did you try pins 1 and 3 as the manual suggested? Bare in mind that 1 wire per channel is enough. Ground can be mutual.

And for the white noise, get used to it. PC is one big noise generator. I have my PC hooked to Hi-Fi and, believe me, if I increase the volume high enough on my Hi-Fi (90%), I can hear CD spin up, HD's clicks and even some noise when I'm scrolling the web page. And it's all being picked up by the analog CD Audio cable. Wires work like an antenna.
But all that wouldn't be heard on the headphones. Unless they are $1000 or more headset and you have acute hearing of a bat.
If you're hearing loud constant noise, it's connected wrong.

You should try to find correct connections on channel by channel basis.

Here's my layout:

BLINE_OUT_L . . Line out_L
(empty one) . NC
BLINE_OUT_R . . Line out_R
+5VA . . MICPWR
AGND . . MIC2

(The dots represent the pins)
This is supposed to be standard.

My very descriptive mobo manual says (quote):

Front panel audio connector (10 - 1 pin FP_AUDIO)

This connector is for a chassis-mounted front panel audio I/O module that supports legacy AC '97 audio standard. Connect one end of the front panel audio I/O module cable to this connector. (end quote)

(comment: might as well say "here is where you plug it in")

If your computer RECORDS clicks when you plug in headphones, that usually means you connected the headphone's line to where the mic's line should go.

Also check the volume control.

Note that in volume control default one is playback control. To switch to recording control click "Options" in the menu and select properties.

To rough-test if your headphones are connected where the mic should be, you can record a sound via sound recorder (type sndrec32 in the run.. thing) and yell at your headphones. Your voice will be recorded. I know this sounds ridiculous, but it is true. Believe it or not, headphones work both ways. That way you'll know for sure that the mic should go there without poking inside the PC.

Hi ppl.

When it comes to stripping down ya' hardware and getting it back together in 10 min or less, I'm your guy. Also counts for intentionally crushing OS and rebuilding it.

But when it comes to networking I usually say:"Net..what?"

I have 2 Q's:

1. I have 2 PC wired via LAN (cross-wire) - my farmost achievement in the world of netw..something.
PC No. 1 has Pinnacle PCTV SAT card installed (Satellite receiver). There's software too (ProgDVB). With that software I am able to watch and transmit video stream to PC No. 2 which is more like home entertainment system (hooked on TV).
I have an option of:
- unicast
- broadcast
- multicast

Which one do you recommend? And why?
Have in mind that all of the software settings, regarding the broadcasting, have to be typed in manually and there's little or no documentation for the software, and that documentation that is there, is in some alien language.

Also have in mind that I'm using ActiveArmor, and I'm not too sure of how to configure it so it wouldn't prevent the flow.
This concludes Q no.1.

Q #2:

My mobo has "1394 Net Adapter" on (quote) "Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller" along side with NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller. All that is on-board.

Later one is in use.

IEEE 1394 isn't.

When I first installed OS there was …

MSI s478 motherboard for 1/10 the cost of the conroe...

Reminds me of a saying that goes something like this:"I'm not rich enough to afford cheap stuff."

Dragon, check if you have theese: (I use windows media Player 10)

qasf.dll v10.0.0.3802 (..\System32)
wmvdmod.dll v10.0.0.3802 (..\System32)
wmadmod.dll v10.0.0.3802 (..\System32)
quartz.dll v6.5.2600.2749 (..\System32)

Gspot told me this.

Also look if you have any YUV codec. (Gspot mentioned something like "MEDIASUBTYPE_YV12")

I have in system32:
huffyuv.dll v2.1.1.1 (Huffyuv lossless video codec)
iyuv_32.dll v5.1.2600.2180 (Intel Indeo(R) Video YUV Codec)
msyuv.dll v5.3.2600.2180 (Microsoft UYVY Video Decompressor)
tsbyuv.dll v5.1.2600.0 (Toshiba Video Codec)

Correction to my previous:
Part that says:
- shut down PC
- plug in HD's
- upon booting enter BIOS
- disable the 2 HD's in BIOS (you'll still have them in windows)
- boot to windows

should be :
- shut down PC
- plug in second G HD
- upon booting enter BIOS
- disable the second HD in BIOS (you'll still have it in windows)
- boot to windows

I thought, for no apparent reason, that you had 3 HD's.

Tip:
- Make sure there is only one (primary master) HD plugged in when Installing XP. (this does not apply to optical drives)

- Make sure booting sequence starts with CD. If this fails you, try disabling HD in BIOS. (worked for me)

If that fails to start windows setup then something is not working. HD, controller (mobo) optical, memory, CPU, PSU ... it's anybodies guess. Or I'm not that smart:p.

- (If you get to this point) delete the partition(s) and make single partition to cover 100% of the drive. The 40 G limit can be overridden software-wise and probably is with windows setup program. Do not be concerned with it.

If your PC wouldn't boot after file copying, try enabling the HD in BIOS. Otherwise enable the HD in BIOS after the installation is completed.
This should help you jump-start you PC.

Now, try …

Windows cannot not read from this disk. The disk might be corrupted, or it could be using a format that is not compatible with Windows.

Don't confuse custom-burned data DVD's with movie DVD's.
If you can't play movie DVD's then it is a missing CODEC or ASPI layer. Files are still accessible.
If your DVD device is having trouble reading from DVD in general(other than scratched surface or poor copy) then the problem is more likely of hardware nature.

First thing to do is get some free tool like http://www.cdspeed2000.com/files/NeroInfoTool_403.zip
that would give you some in-depth info about your hardware and software, along with the disc in question.

First thing that comes to my mind to remedy this is firmware upgrade. Almost every optical drive has some flaw which are fixed by upgrading the firmware.
You must know EXACT model of your optical drive and Firmware version. Easiest way to learn this is by that tool above.

In the "drive" tab you will see supported read and write features (and notice the number of different CD/DVD formats!) and in the "general" box at the top right corner you can see firmware version.

Also, insert the DVD in question and click on the "disc" tab to see some details about that disc. "Type" should be DVD-ROM or DVD+ROM.

If you're not confidant with flashing the optical drive, you can always post here drive's specifications (manufacturer, exact model and firmware version) …

I say you have battery issue.

Try reinstalling windows without battery. (A/C only)

You guys might want to look here:

http://www.partition-recovery.com/

There are some essentials that are freeware like boot floppy image with some tools.

Try playing it with this (classic media player):

http://www.afterdawn.com/software/dawnload.cfm?mirror_id=0&version_id=1420&software_id=518

or try codec pack + classic media player:

http://www.free-codecs.com/download_soft.php?d=2270&s=95

(off the topic)
"beta" means "work in progress" regardless if it is bios or some media player. But, then again, ASUS must confident to a certain level that it is usable if they make it available for download.

(on the topic)
I seriously doubt that this BIOS is rendering mobo useless, but I still think that it is not wise to use beta BIOS while troubleshooting.

You don't have to jump to conclusions right away.

I can tell you from my expiriance that corrupted windows XP registry can render your HD (and the rest of PC) useless, unless you have a spare one to install another copy of XP.

Having said that, (I take we're talking about IDE HD's) if you installed XP on one HD and installed XP on another HD you are making athe cofusion for your PC. Thing is, when you create partition in Windows setup program, and the HD is only HD plugged in and operational at the time, win. setup program marks that partition as "active". Without "active" mark your PC couldn't boot from that partition regardless if it is NTFS, FAT16, FAT32... and regardless of the OS. So, when you plugg in another HD with active partition already on it, you make the confusion for the BIOS and for the windows setup program. So it's no wonder your PC wouldn't reboot after copying the files to the HD if another HD with active partition was plugged in when rebooting.

My suggestion is to install (or resume installation) on single drive, install all the drivers that didn't came with XP, make the system happy and comfy, and then:

- shut down PC
- plugg in HD's
- upon booting enter BIOS
- disable the 2 HD's in BIOS (you'll still have them in windows)
- boot to windows

Try this, might just …

Think of it as a van with a lot of accessories.

300W?? Are you sure? Haven't seen 300W psu since 386-es. Man, replace it with 500W MINIMUM. No wonder you have shutdowns.

P.S. Don't let that retailer find out abut your PSU. Might just void the warranty.

Before you spend the money, try to reduce the load on your PSU or borrow some stronger one (yeah, that's real simple and casual) just to make sure that that's the issue.

Ironically several more were downloaded as I upgraded my Ad-aware Spy protecton and the AVG Virus protection.

True.

Some "anti-spyware" software actually infects you PC and reports that it found spyware. It reports the locations of where it is in reg. and on HD but you have to remove it manually or buy the software.

Hmm... Malicious software as the marketing trick....

Oops, did I just type that out loud? :eek:

Yes, you did.

Thanks for the info.

I guess it's the story of my life. Always at the end of the line.

If I were you, I would switch to windows + Nero showtime.
It is simple and, in general made for watching TV, pics, vids and movies on a TV and not on monitor. Only flaw with showtime is lack of support for sat cards.

Could be Norton's speed disk running in backgrond. That would lock the drive. Look at the tray if there's a speed disk icon. It tends to keep on running in the background when you press the "x" on it's window.

It would also keep CPU at 100%. It is defragmenting the disk.

Try installing K-lite codec pack.

Here's a Q.

I had an awkward experience couple of days back.
I PM-d Dani asking her to delete a certain thread that I started (hope you're reading this, Dani). She replied me saying that she forwarded it to happygeek, for he is the one to talk to, because the thread is in this forum (I think that was the reason....memory access error...memory could not be read....:confused: ).

So, does every forum have designated mod/admin?

How is the hierarchy organized here?

I know this sounds blunt, but did you try to turn the monitor off and back on? Or did you check the monitor - vga connection?

Could be dying mobo, or just CPU overheating. With old PC's it could be just about anything. Goot thing would be if you can provoke such event. That would give you a testing method for troubleshooting.

Bios Version 1006.003 ... that is BETA version!
I suggest you flash your BIOS with non-beta version. (without .00x)

1006 is the latest non-beta: http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock478/p4p800s-se/P4p8sse6.zip

If you feel lucky, latest one is 1007.005 (beta): http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock478/p4p800s-se/1007-005.zip

Also if you want to learn about beep codes check this out:

http://www.pcmech.com/show/troubleshoot/14/1/

The dying battery?

You didn't specify the PSU power. Might just be the lack of it.

Try running things without 80 G drive to reduce the load on PSU.

Try clearing the CMOS. Maybe the BIOS set the memory timings wrong. That would make sense with Ballistix. It is a quality memory, but not recognized by most BIOS-es. You might need to set it manually.