I have capacitors that are leaking, but I'm posting the problems I've had so other people know what to look for.
The problem started around August 2004. The computer rebooted for no reason several times in one week. Several weeks later it rebooted for no reason again, then rebooted after rebooting. The third time it booted all the way to the desktop, the I got a BSOD with a Stop error. I looked up what I could about the error, didn't find much useful information and the computer continued to run ok, so I left it at that.
I normally leave the computer on at all times, but if I leave for a few days I'll turn it off. After coming home and turning the computer on I experiences the problem with it booting to the desktop, then a BSOD. This continued every time I booted the computer after it cooled down to room temperature. The Stop errors were different every time. Rarely they would point to a driver. The problem started occuring when I was using the computer with random stop errors, sometimes it would reboot.
Since the WinXP installation was three years old I thought it could be XP. I finally reinstalled XP last week because the problem was driving me nuts. I ran Memtest86 and MS Memory Diagnostic and memory appeared to be OK. I then ran Prime95 in the stress test mode and received errors within several minutes. My thought was this could be a bad CPU or possibly the chipset on the motherboard went bad. Since I had a spare Duron I thought I would swap that out to see if the problem would reoccur with another CPU. That is when I noticed the bad capacitors around the CPU and motherboard voltage regulators. In my troubleshooting the thought that I was having symptoms of a bad power supply did cross my mind, but I planned to swap that out after the CPU. Well, capacitors are an important part of voltage regulation, so it all added up.
The various random Stop Errors included: 0x0000001E, 0x00000050, 0x0000007A, 0x100000D1, 0x0000000A, 0x0000007E, 0x0000008E, with descriptions such as DATA_BUS_ERROR, SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED, UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP, PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA, IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, and an individual description was not tied to any particular Stop Error. It was completely random. More puzzling was receiving the same combination for stop errors and description several times in a row. For example, I would receive 0x100000D1 and IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL linking it to nv4_mini.sys for about five times in a row, then several hours later I would get a different combination blaming it on usbport.sys, or any other driver. Oddly, this would occur instantly if I click on something with the mouse. It doesn't matter if I click on a link or a drive in Explorer.
Now I need to decide if I want to replace the capacitors. I have the electronic background, but I'm not sure if I want to mess around with it. I sure do like the 8KHA+ though. Aside from the capacitors, it is an excellent motherboard. I guess I should see if I can find a source for good capacitors at a reasonable price. JDR Microdevices has them, but they don't list the brand on their website. I guess I can call around a few places locally tomorrow to see if they are available.
The problem started around August 2004. The computer rebooted for no reason several times in one week. Several weeks later it rebooted for no reason again, then rebooted after rebooting. The third time it booted all the way to the desktop, the I got a BSOD with a Stop error. I looked up what I could about the error, didn't find much useful information and the computer continued to run ok, so I left it at that.
I normally leave the computer on at all times, but if I leave for a few days I'll turn it off. After coming home and turning the computer on I experiences the problem with it booting to the desktop, then a BSOD. This continued every time I booted the computer after it cooled down to room temperature. The Stop errors were different every time. Rarely they would point to a driver. The problem started occuring when I was using the computer with random stop errors, sometimes it would reboot.
Since the WinXP installation was three years old I thought it could be XP. I finally reinstalled XP last week because the problem was driving me nuts. I ran Memtest86 and MS Memory Diagnostic and memory appeared to be OK. I then ran Prime95 in the stress test mode and received errors within several minutes. My thought was this could be a bad CPU or possibly the chipset on the motherboard went bad. Since I had a spare Duron I thought I would swap that out to see if the problem would reoccur with another CPU. That is when I noticed the bad capacitors around the CPU and motherboard voltage regulators. In my troubleshooting the thought that I was having symptoms of a bad power supply did cross my mind, but I planned to swap that out after the CPU. Well, capacitors are an important part of voltage regulation, so it all added up.
The various random Stop Errors included: 0x0000001E, 0x00000050, 0x0000007A, 0x100000D1, 0x0000000A, 0x0000007E, 0x0000008E, with descriptions such as DATA_BUS_ERROR, SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED, UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP, PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA, IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, and an individual description was not tied to any particular Stop Error. It was completely random. More puzzling was receiving the same combination for stop errors and description several times in a row. For example, I would receive 0x100000D1 and IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL linking it to nv4_mini.sys for about five times in a row, then several hours later I would get a different combination blaming it on usbport.sys, or any other driver. Oddly, this would occur instantly if I click on something with the mouse. It doesn't matter if I click on a link or a drive in Explorer.
Now I need to decide if I want to replace the capacitors. I have the electronic background, but I'm not sure if I want to mess around with it. I sure do like the 8KHA+ though. Aside from the capacitors, it is an excellent motherboard. I guess I should see if I can find a source for good capacitors at a reasonable price. JDR Microdevices has them, but they don't list the brand on their website. I guess I can call around a few places locally tomorrow to see if they are available.
Comment