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[Sophia]

Yea, my issue is that I don't have another computer, or access to another computer to really test anything using hardware.

Another issue is this problem only occurs maybe once every 2-5 days. Even if I swap in another video card, I wouldn't really know whether that specific action solved the problem because the problem usually resolves itself right away anyway.

Do you have any exceptionally demanding (by the standards of the hardware) game? Usually a bad video video card will start messing up once it's put under significant load. If it only happens at start up and not when the card is under load, something else may be at fault.

 

[kick51]

well, this is weird. Seems to be fixed, but I thought I'd share this anyway.

I go to plug in my headphones on the front jack, i see a tiny spark and my PC shuts down, reboots, asks if I want to go to safe mode, i try a normal boot, it gets to the win7 log in, I click my name, but the password prompt doesn't come up. the login icons disappear and it just sits there. I shut it down, booted in safe mode, ran chkdsk, both drives are fine, run ccleaner for what ever reason, reboot in normal mode and its fixed.

I guess it's worth noting the headphone jack is right next to the power button. Static shock just caused a little hiccup? How bad is this on a scale of say, in the spirit of the current front page, "eating a twix bar" to "the spider eggs are already hatching?"

 

[Sajjaja]

well, this is weird. Seems to be fixed, but I thought I'd share this anyway.

I go to plug in my headphones on the front jack, i see a tiny spark and my PC shuts down, reboots, asks if I want to go to safe mode, i try a normal boot, it gets to the win7 log in, I click my name, but the password prompt doesn't come up. the login icons disappear and it just sits there. I shut it down, booted in safe mode, ran chkdsk, both drives are fine, run ccleaner for what ever reason, reboot in normal mode and its fixed.

I guess it's worth noting the headphone jack is right next to the power button. Static shock just caused a little hiccup? How bad is this on a scale of say, in the spirit of the current front page, "eating a twix bar" to "the spider eggs are already hatching?"

Uhhhhhh that doesn't sound good to me at all lol. Though I'm no expert or anything, I'd backup your important shit just in case.

 

[Dreamgazer]

well, this is weird. Seems to be fixed, but I thought I'd share this anyway.

I go to plug in my headphones on the front jack, i see a tiny spark and my PC shuts down, reboots, asks if I want to go to safe mode, i try a normal boot, it gets to the win7 log in, I click my name, but the password prompt doesn't come up. the login icons disappear and it just sits there. I shut it down, booted in safe mode, ran chkdsk, both drives are fine, run ccleaner for what ever reason, reboot in normal mode and its fixed.

I guess it's worth noting the headphone jack is right next to the power button. Static shock just caused a little hiccup? How bad is this on a scale of say, in the spirit of the current front page, "eating a twix bar" to "the spider eggs are already hatching?"

Yeah, I would start backing up your data just in case of a ESD/short.

I've seen hard drive failures due to similar reasons on laptops (a static shock causes reboot and then a dead HDD in 48 hours.)

If you have the tools and know how, it also wouldn't hurt to test the front-panel to MB cables to see if there's a short.

 

[lednerg]

...

Pics of the problem below.

Don't take the red pill.

 

[Jindrax]

Guys, for some reason I can hear all my computer "working" through my headphones which I just bought (razer kraken). When I plug them into the front port on my box. LIke scrolling up and down a page makes this static sound... I don't know whats up.

EDIT: My old razer headset doesn't do it... wtf

 

[kick51]

Yeah, I would start backing up your data just in case of a ESD/short.

I've seen hard drive failures due to similar reasons on laptops (a static shock causes reboot and then a dead HDD in 48 hours.)

If you have the tools and know how, it also wouldn't hurt to test the front-panel to MB cables to see if there's a short.

I don't know how to do that (yet, actually a goal for this year to learn how to work with electronics on a deeper level like that), but I am def backing that shit up right now.

 

[lednerg]

Guys, for some reason I can hear all my computer "working" through my headphones which I just bought (razer kraken). When I plug them into the front port on my box. LIke scrolling up and down a page makes this static sound... I don't know whats up.

EDIT: My old razer headset doesn't do it... wtf

Maybe look into getting a ferrite core filter to put on the wire. Amazon has a bunch of them for under $10.

 

[ambientmystic]

Using an R7 260X. Catalyst 13.12. I don't remember if it was there since I built it (I don't think it was actually), but I do remember it there for a while. I built this last month. All the latest drivers.

Apparently this has been a problem for a while with Catalyst or something, existent during the 5000 series as well.

Since it's a new build, I've installed Office, Steam games and other normal stuff you'd find.

I think it might've been because I forced a non-native resolution before because I thought this screen was 1080p, but it wasn't (it's an HDTV). But I'm using the native resolution now and it should go back to normal so I don't understand.

Hmm.. do you have a normal monitor to test your system with? Just trying to rule out all the possibilities here.

Congratz on the R7 260X purchase by the way, you now have Xbone level GPU performance in your PC.

 

[PumpkinPie]

It's possible, but you're better off verifying whether or not your laptop is overheating via the use of a CPU and GPU monitoring program like HWMonitor in conjunction with GPUz whilst running your games. Run both programs and your game in windowed mode so that you can see it for yourself when and if the temperatures are reaching the critical threshold.

I took your advice and got both these programs. My CPU hit 100 degrees and my GPU hit 96 when the game crashed. That's bad, yes?

EDIT: This is a laptop I'm talking about. How can I cool it down?

 

[ambientmystic]

I took your advice and got both these programs. My CPU hit 100 degrees and my GPU hit 96 when the game crashed. That's bad, yes?

EDIT: This is a laptop I'm talking about. How can I cool it down?

Yeah, that's pretty bad. Acceptable upper limits for a laptop (taking into account the poorer nature of laptop based cooling systems) when running games are in the 75 - 80 C range for the CPU and 80 - 90 C range for the GPU.

(Before you proceed, is the laptop still covered until warranty? If it is, you may not want to void it by opening it up yourself, especially if the stickers are obscuring the panels.)

How long has it been since you've opened the back panel to check for dust and cleaned up the internals? The vents could also be clogged with dust.

Also, since you're using a laptop, definitely invest in a semi-decent cooling pad. The Zalman NC 3000 is an example of one

The last resort (if none of the steps above did anything) would be to manually replace the thermal pads/paste of the CPU/GPU yourself but this is highly unrecommended if you don't know what you're doing. Or just send it back to the manufacturer for servicing if it's still under warranty.

 

[PumpkinPie]

Yeah, that's pretty bad. Acceptable upper limits for a laptop (taking into account the poorer nature of laptop based cooling systems) when running games are in the 75 - 80 C range for the CPU and 80 - 90 C range for the GPU.

(Before you proceed, is the laptop still covered until warranty? If it is, you may not want to void it by opening it up yourself, especially if the stickers are obscuring the panels.)

How long has it been since you've opened the back panel to check for dust and cleaned up the internals? The vents could also be clogged with dust.

Also, since you're using a laptop, definitely invest in a semi-decent cooling pad. The Zalman NC 3000 is an example of one

The last resort (if none of the steps above did anything) would be to manually replace the thermal pads/paste of the CPU/GPU yourself but this is highly unrecommended if you don't know what you're doing. Or just send it back to the manufacturer for servicing if it's still under warranty.

So you think this is a likely candidate for the crashes? The laptop is out of warranty now, and I'm confident enough to open it up. I've never checked for dust inside it, I just assumed I'd know when the time was right to do it, I suppose now is that time.

I'll definitely look into buying a cooling pad for it though. I'm going to clean it out now and then run the game again and see what the difference is. Thanks


EDIT:
This was inside:

 

[SmartBase]

I think the latest update to my Lumia 920 fucked up its WiFi capability completely. If it works it's slower than my 2G connection, what a joke.

My question is can I roll back without having all my personal files deleted? Or is there another (or no) solution to this?

 

[Bleepey]

London laptop GAf does anyone know what I can do to fix my laptop screen cheaply? It's an Rv515 and it has these weird black lines running down the screen but other than that it works perfectly. I am connecting my laptop to my desktop monitor. I don't wanna spend more than £50 if more than that I think i may just buy a new desktop or laptop.

 

[ambientmystic]

EDIT: This was inside:

Yikes, it was most definitely due for a clean up. The vents are completely clogged up, I wonder how you managed to get it to run any simple application without it overheating.

 

[Sub_Level]

London laptop GAf does anyone know what I can do to fix my laptop screen cheaply? It's an Rv515 and it has these weird black lines running down the screen but other than that it works perfectly. I am connecting my laptop to my desktop monitor. I don't wanna spend more than £50 if more than that I think i may just buy a new desktop or laptop.

http://www.laptopscreenonline.com/samsung-rv515-replacement-laptop-screen-19813-p.asp

Fitting service seems way too expensive. It's worth just getting some screwdrivers and doing it yourself m8. Replacing a laptop screen is not too hard, you don't have to solder or anything like that, but I've never replaced something that fancy. You don't even have to take the laptop apart, just the upper lid (and you don't have to disconnect the lids from each other either) Maybe someone else can find you a better deal tho.

 

[BigJonsson]

Anyone have any input on my issue I posted last page?


I leave the laptop idle for a medium-long period and when I come back the power is still on but the screen stays black and I have to hold the power button down until it shuts off so I can power on again

Sometimes I come back and the power is off but the clock settings are reset when I turn it back on, get a warning about it at the initial startup screen




Lenovo Ideapad Y560

 

[ambientmystic]

Anyone have any input on my issue I posted last page?

This is strange

A couple times this week I have left my laptop running, walked away for a few hours, came back and it was completely off

Hit the power button and it took me to the press f1 to resume, f2 to setup bios screen and the clock settings were showing july 9, 2009, 00:00.....

This is most likely caused by a dying or dead motherboard CMOS battery.

Refer to your laptop's service manual for the make and model of the battery for replacement, or just open it up yourself (if out of warranty), take out the CMOS battery (it looks like an enlarged circular battery used for wristwatches) and have a look at the model number for replacement.

 

[BigJonsson]

This is most likely caused by a dying or dead motherboard CMOS battery.

Refer to your laptop's service manual for the make and model of the battery for replacement, or just open it up yourself (if out of warranty), take out the CMOS battery (it looks like an enlarged circular battery used for wristwatches) and have a look at the model number for replacement.

The CMOS battery would cause the first problem as well?

 

[ambientmystic]

The CMOS battery would cause the first problem as well?

The first issue could be caused by it. You could always replace the battery and then see whether it still happens.

I assume that you don't have any standby/sleep options engaged in the OS when trying to reproduce the issue, yes? If you do, disable them to remove those variables from the issue reproduction.

I'm 100% sure that the BIOS clock reset issue is caused by the non-functional CMOS battery. Especially if it happens on a regular basis upon reboot.

 

[BigJonsson]

The first issue could be caused by it. You could always replace the battery and then see whether it still happens.

I assume that you don't have any standby/sleep options engaged in the OS when trying to reproduce the issue, yes? If you do, disable them to remove those variables from the issue reproduction.

I'm 100% sure that the BIOS clock reset issue is caused by the non-functional CMOS battery. Especially if it happens on a regular basis upon reboot.

No sleep, hibernate options enabled

I'm trying to find out how to get to the CMOS battery


Geeze, if I want to get to where it looks like the battery is I'm going have to take almost EVERYTHING apart.....

Yup, looked under the keyboard and couldn't see it, don't think I have the technical skills to unplug everything and remove more screws to get to the motherboard

 

[Canon]

So I got a Kingston SSD Now V300, and I'm not too impressed with the speeds. I set it to AHCI, reinstalled Windows, and I get about 250 MBps reads and 220 MBps writes. My old HDD is about 100-150 MBps less. So it's an upgrade but I feel like it's not that big of a deal.

I'm running on SATA 2 since my computer doesn't have SATA 3. So, are these speeds normal and only if I upgrade to SATA 3 will I see its real speed?

I just want to know if I can make an SSD faster on SATA 2 without buying anything extra. Oh, and it's the Taiwan 505 firmware so it's not that issue.

 

[mt1200]

Halp gaf.

My PC: Win7 64 bit Sp1. HDD1: Western digital - 40GB, HDD2 1TB Hitachi, 2 partitions per disk drive, Vcard: Amd 5770, Mobo: 890gpa -ud3h, Ram: 4Gigs.

I've been trying to repair my windows installation since yesterday, but still no luck.

I get a BSOD with PROCESS1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED / STOP: 0x0000006B code, pc wasn't booting even in Safe mode, and I have no restore points.

Ive tried the following:

• Boot win7 dvd, System Restore option didn't work, it turned into a loop (reboot-> system restore -> fail -> reboot -> system restore ->....)
• Boot Win7 dvd, ran CMD, CHKDSK and SFC, both found no problems at all.
• After some googling, I found that I had to delete a bootcat.cache file from system32/Codeintegrity, so Windows would automatically re-generate the corrupted file, right?. Wrong, didn't work either.
• Last resort: People from internet forums said that you have to replace a folder named "{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}" inside system32/catroot with the same folder from another computer with the same or very similar hardware, I don't have more computers but I had a spare HDD, so I clean-installed W7 on this HDD and copied the {F.......} folder, didn't work (I guess there should be differences in installed drivers, HDD and such).

I too ran Windows memory test, no problems at all.

Unfortunately, the MBR/bootsect was in my spare disk drive, and I figured out right after I formatted it in order to clean-install W7 just to copy the {F......} folder, so I had to remove it and install the MBR/bootsect on the Hitachi disk drive, I wasted hours trying to do it, but it worked in the end.

Right now I have:

- WD 40 GB HDD with a clean installation of W764 bit (No SP1).
- Hitachi HDD with a broken W7 catroot folder.

I really think that I've tried everything, if anyone knows any workaround please let me know. The last thing I want to do is to format my Hitachi hard drive.

 

[kick51]

any tips on cleaning out a GPU fan? The qtips + compressed air don't seem to be doing much. I think the dust is stuck in there from when I was a smoker.

 

[Bleepey]

http://www.laptopscreenonline.com/samsung-rv515-replacement-laptop-screen-19813-p.asp

Fitting service seems way too expensive. It's worth just getting some screwdrivers and doing it yourself m8. Replacing a laptop screen is not too hard, you don't have to solder or anything like that, but I've never replaced something that fancy. You don't even have to take the laptop apart, just the upper lid (and you don't have to disconnect the lids from each other either) Maybe someone else can find you a better deal tho.

I found a guy who'd do it for £50 which ain't too bad. At the moment, I am thinking of just giving it to my brother, it's more powerful than my shitty desktop, and it might bemore cost effective for me to buy a new laptop or desktop. Failing that I could fix it and sell it or just sell it.

 

[Ultryx]

Is there a way to force RealTemp to load on boot, like I have GPU temp do?

I have Windows 8.1.

 

[Rufus]

Is there a way to force RealTemp to load on boot, like I have GPU temp do?

I have Windows 8.1.

Drop a shortcut for it into this folder.

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

 

[Ultryx]

Drop a shortcut for it into this folder.

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Thank you so much!

 

[Chairhome]

cross post from Win8.1 thread (should have posted here first, sorry):
I had a crash that gave me a winload.exe error when i tried to start up. I tried doing some stuff with bcdedit, bootmgr and some other stuff from command line that ended up giving me a different error: pci.sys. I'm pretty much giving up now and going to just try to do a reinstall for Win8. Trying recovery options "refresh PC" and "Reset PC" both fail. So I will just do a manual install, but I can't find my product key.

Is there anyone here who upgraded to Windows 8 from Windows 7 and has some sample language from the email so I can search for it in my inbox? I know I paid for the upgrade from Win 7 to Win 8, but I can't find any email with the product key. I need it to reinstall win 8 on my pc, which crashed and won't let me recover through the traditional methods. I called MS and the tech had no idea what she was talking about, and said I would have to pay another $40 for another key. No thanks.

From my understanding, the win 8 upgrade utility pulled my product info from my BIOS or something, so it never asked me for the information. I have tried to do some command prompt magic to find my product key but it keeps coming up blank, even looking at the registry. Any help is appreciated.


------------------
Never mind, found the key, hopefully I can fix this now.

 

[Futureman]

I have an idea for a website I want to make for my friends.

It would need:

-a log-in system
-a main page with a new question each week. The log-in system is to keep track of users answers to the questions. Every question will be a YES or NO question, and after they answer it will update and show a live percentage of the answer ratio.
-Once a user answers, if they come back to the page and they are logged in, it should show their questions answered

I know (actually more like knew) HTML/CSS. Been a few years but I could brush up for this project.

what would I need? A web server for the log in and learn some php or something?

 

[1cmanny1]

I can't download anything from mediafire for some reason. The page loads, I click the download button and it seems everything is fine but the download just doesn't start. I have tried IE and firefox on my laptop and desktop, deleted cache and cookies, stopped firewall and virus programs, deactivated addons, yet still get the same result.

My brother, who is on the same connection as me, can download them however. What is going on? I can't even send the download to burnbit or anything, because you have to click that damn button.

 

[kittoo]

Having a PC trouble guys. My brand new PC (specs below) shuts down for no reason. Sometimes it shuts down without making any sound at all (as if the power chord has been pulled), and sometimes the screen goes black and it shuts down after a few seconds (and after making screeching type of sounds from speakers). The most weird thing is, it wont boot again until I unplug the chord and put it back in! I keep pushing the power button and nothing! And when I take the chord out and put it back in, it starts (only to shut down automatically after a while). I have checked the temperatures, they are fine. I also tried stress-testing on PSU and GPU, and they did fine. What could be wrong?

Specs-
Intel Core i7 4770k 3.5GHz Haswell.
Gigabyte Z87-D3HP.
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 16GB.
Samsung 840 Series 250 GB SSD.
Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650 Watts PSU.
Nvidia Geforce GTX 780 Hall of fame edition.

 

[kick51]

Ok, it happened again. Went to plug in headphones and there was a small spark, then reboot. this time, it almost didn't make it back, was asking for a boot device until I shut down/rebooted a couple times.

I can think of two things I changed just prior to this happening twice:
--new foam pads on headphones that I'm plugging in
--just hooked up a powered USB hub


would either of these be a potential issue. I've had this PC going on two years and the headphones for most of that time too, never happened before.

 

[Megasoum]

Hey guys I have a question.

So I used to have 1 120gb SSD and a 1tb HDD. Now this morning I added a 240gb SSD to the system, formated the 120gb and installed windows 8.1 on the new 240gb.

Everything is working fine but I now have two "System Reserved" drives on my system. One on my old SSD and one on my 1TB (and none on my new SSD).

I assume there's at least one of those that I can get rid off?

Now obviously that's only 200mb total of "wasted" space so it's really not a big deal but the ton of drives that I see now in "My Computer" is bugging my OCD side lol.

Here's a screenshot of my Computer Management screen.

 

[FireChip]

Fix my firefox. Higher quality videos on youtube the colors are all over. But sound still works. And websites like vimeo black screen on videos. But sound still works.

I tried with google chrome and it works. Fix my firefox please.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

Hey TechGaf, I'm about to ask an incredibly stupid question but I feel the need to before I drop a lot of cash.

I bought a stock PC and then upgraded it myself and as it was stock it's idea of 'wifi' is this little USB stick of a thing. Of course this means that being on the third floor (router is on bottom floor) my PC has the worst connection imaginable.

On my laptop however I grab around 20mbps and on my PS4 I get around 15mbps, I basically just want to know for sure that buying a new powerful (but cheap) wireless adapter (this one) I will get a decent connection speed.

 

[Jedi2016]

Hey TechGaf, I'm about to ask an incredibly stupid question but I feel the need to before I drop a lot of cash.

I bought a stock PC and then upgraded it myself and as it was stock it's idea of 'wifi' is this little USB stick of a thing. Of course this means that being on the third floor (router is on bottom floor) my PC has the worst connection imaginable.

On my laptop however I grab around 20mbps and on my PS4 I get around 15mbps, I basically just want to know for sure that buying a new powerful (but cheap) wireless adapter (this one) I will get a decent connection speed.

Offhand, I would say yes, those little USB things get the job done, but aren't really top of the line. Most of my stuff is hardwired, though, so I'm not really the authority on wifi.

I actually came in here to ask a question myself.. hehe. I want to install a cable splitter on my incoming cable line, between the wall and the router, so I can run off cable to the television. Any time I try to research the effects of splitting coax, all the websites I've found assume I'm referring only to TV reception, and go on and on about signal loss and all this other crap. I'm not interested in what my cable TV signal will be like, I need to know what the effect will be on my internet bandwidth. Because if hooking the TV into cable is going to have even the slightest effect on my internet connection, then I just won't do it, period.

I've also heard about powered/amplified splitters that can alleviate these issues. Recommendations? Tips? Thoughts?

 

[mrmisterwaa]

Fix my firefox. Higher quality videos on youtube the colors are all over. But sound still works. And websites like vimeo black screen on videos. But sound still works.

I tried with google chrome and it works. Fix my firefox please.

Get back to me when that doesn't work.

Hey TechGaf, I'm about to ask an incredibly stupid question but I feel the need to before I drop a lot of cash.

I bought a stock PC and then upgraded it myself and as it was stock it's idea of 'wifi' is this little USB stick of a thing. Of course this means that being on the third floor (router is on bottom floor) my PC has the worst connection imaginable.

On my laptop however I grab around 20mbps and on my PS4 I get around 15mbps, I basically just want to know for sure that buying a new powerful (but cheap) wireless adapter (this one) I will get a decent connection speed.

If you have any PCI slots, I would recommend this: T-Link PCI Wireless card.

Offhand, I would say yes, those little USB things get the job done, but aren't really top of the line. Most of my stuff is hardwired, though, so I'm not really the authority on wifi.

I actually came in here to ask a question myself.. hehe. I want to install a cable splitter on my incoming cable line, between the wall and the router, so I can run off cable to the television. Any time I try to research the effects of splitting coax, all the websites I've found assume I'm referring only to TV reception, and go on and on about signal loss and all this other crap. I'm not interested in what my cable TV signal will be like, I need to know what the effect will be on my internet bandwidth. Because if hooking the TV into cable is going to have even the slightest effect on my internet connection, then I just won't do it, period.

I've also heard about powered/amplified splitters that can alleviate these issues. Recommendations? Tips? Thoughts?

There has been a lot of controversy regarding the use of splitters... some people will throw big numbers out there and show that they work. The one thing that we can all agree on is that when you split any electrical signal there will be some losses. (Everything we built isn't perfect) - Now everything after this is based on the quality of the product and I have limited experience in but I have used multiple splitters for cable & DSL (in terms of internet speed not cable TV quality) they barely have an influence.

The biggest factors are:
Electrical signal
Distance of cabling to and from any of the points you are receiving it from
Your modem

Splitters will reduce the strength of your internet connection but buying a good splitter will only reduce it by a smaller amount.

 

[Arren]

Recently I've been experiencing a bizzarre problem on my setup, which is leaving me quite clueless and progressively angrier.

Basically what happens is that whenever I make use of any application / game / movie / multimedia software that requires a somewhat intensive use of my GPU, there's a high probability that the PC will reboot itself all of a sudden.

There is no preceding or subsequent message of warning whatsoever. All it does is blank the screen suddenly, then reboot itself like nothing specific happened.

I have checked my system thoroughly, especially the Windows Event Viewer, but the only report I find on the matter reveals an 'ID 41 Event' with lots of zeros on the corresponding description. Needless to say, I've tried all possible solutions: temperatures are seemingly alright and I've tried updating and reinstalling the display driver, still to no avail.

I'd love if some fellow gaffer helped me shed some light on this situation, as this is driving me insane. I can't even play the simplest of emulators, or watch 1080p movies, because whenever I attempt to do such things I can lose whatever progress I had going on in a heartbeat.

My setup:

Motherboard - ASUS P5QC
CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
GPU - XFX Nvidia 9800 GTX
RAM - Kingston DDR3 8GB 1333 MHz (4x2)
Soundcard - Asus Xonar Essence ST
SSD Samsung 840 Pro 128 GB
WD Caviar Green 3 TB
WD Caviar Black 1 GB

Bumping up this thread and quoting myself, because I would really love some further insight into the problem I'm experiencing.

I have now further evidence leading to postulate that it's videocard issue. Not only the whole system has been rebooting itself, in the same istances as described in my first post, but now the video is quite acting up.

All of a sudden, what happens is that the screen completely freezes. No response, no cursor movement, no signal whatsoever. I can still hear the whole system functioning correctly "underneath" the video, as music is still playing and everything appears to run properly, but the video is frozen.

When this occurs, I need to reboot my PC manually through the Power button and whenever I do this, there's a high chance that the motherboard will emit one long beep followed by three short ones, with the screen remaining completely blank. Again, when this happens, I can hear Windows loading perfectly fine but the video remains frozen or totally absent.

So, is it safe to assume it was the videocard all along? I guess all signs point to it slowly but steadily dying on me...

 

[mrmisterwaa]

Bumping up this thread and quoting myself, because I would really love some further insight into the problem I'm experiencing.

I have now further evidence leading to postulate that it's videocard issue. Not only the whole system has been rebooting itself, in the same istances as described in my first post, but now the video is quite acting up.

All of a sudden, what happens is that the screen completely freezes. No response, no cursor movement, no signal whatsoever. I can still hear the whole system functioning correctly "underneath" the video, as music is still playing and everything appears to run properly, but the video is frozen.

When this occurs, I need to reboot my PC manually through the Power button and whenever I do this, there's a high chance that the motherboard will emit one long beep followed by three short ones, with the screen remaining completely blank. Again, when this happens, I can hear Windows loading perfectly fine but the video remains frozen or totally absent.

So, is it safe to assume it was the videocard all along? I guess all signs point to it slowly but steadily dying on me...

This can be several issues. I will list all of them and try to help you diagnose each problem.

It will fall into one of these categories.

1. Hardware:
   • CPU
     • Bent Pins
     • Overheating
     • Not seated properly
     • Defective
   • GPU
     • Overheating
     • Not placed properly
     • Defective
   • RAM
     • Not placed properly
     • Defective
   • Power supply
     • Not powerful enough
     • Defective
2. Software:
   • Drivers
   • Incompatible OS/Conflicting software

Now since you included the beep codes - according to the ASUS website the beep code indicates that the following:

1.4.2.2 Graphics card issue: Beep (1 long 3 short)

A. Clean the Golden Finger of graphics card

B. Clean the graphics card slots

C. Try to test the onboard graphics card if there is onboard VGA integrated

D. If convenience, please change different graphic cards to test again

I made the list at the top so you understand the diagnostic process you should usually follow.

So, Yes ... it is most likely your GFX card.

 

[Shorty11857]

Edit: Nevermind it was the wall socket that was causing the issue, plug in my PC to the socket in my bedroom no problem, plug it in in the living room and everything is underclocked

 

[Chie Satonaka]

Help me, GAF. You're my only hope.

I recently opened up my PC to dust it out, and when put the side panel back on, I found my computer was running really hot. Specifically, the Northbridge.

I opened it back up and saw that one of the two black plastic pins holding the heatsink in place was on the bottom of the case. It broke off. After calling every PC repair place in my crappy little town, I find out that the pin (apparently) can't be replaced, and I need to just buy a new heatsink for the motherboard. However, I don't have any clue what fits. I've searched all over and can't seem to find any information; most of the forum posts I've seen on various forums just talk about the board running hot or custom solutions that won't work for me.

Any thoughts?

This is my motherboard: http://www.ascendtech.us/asus-61-mib852-01-cg5290-motherboard_i_mbasu61mib852cg.aspx

 

[mrmisterwaa]

Help me, GAF. You're my only hope.

I recently opened up my PC to dust it out, and when put the side panel back on, I found my computer was running really hot. Specifically, the Northbridge.

I opened it back up and saw that one of the two black plastic pins holding the heatsink in place was on the bottom of the case. It broke off. After calling every PC repair place in my crappy little town, I find out that the pin (apparently) can't be replaced, and I need to just buy a new heatsink for the motherboard. However, I don't have any clue what fits. I've searched all over and can't seem to find any information; most of the forum posts I've seen on various forums just talk about the board running hot or custom solutions that won't work for me.

Any thoughts?

This is my motherboard: http://www.ascendtech.us/asus-61-mib852-01-cg5290-motherboard_i_mbasu61mib852cg.aspx

LGA1366.

What is your budget?

Best Price/Decrease in Temperature: Cool Master Hyper 212 Plus

One of the best cooling solutions for closed loop systems: Only worth it if you plan to overclock.

I personally will not suggest anything else as they are all about preference and budget. The cool master definitely is the cheapest in regards to how much it gives you but IT IS SO PAINFUL TO INSTALL AND I RAGED AND STABBED 2 PEOPLE AFTER I INSTALLED IT.

 

[Sajjaja]

Hey guys, I'm hearing this faint clicking kind of sound coming from my PC. It's not the HDD or the CPU fan so I think it's the PSU. Any idea what it is? Is it safe?

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the sound fades a way after a while after bootup.

 

[ambientmystic]

Hey guys, I'm hearing this faint clicking kind of sound coming from my PC. It's not the HDD or the CPU fan so I think it's the PSU. Any idea what it is? Is it safe?

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the sound fades a way after a while after bootup.

It'd be really helpful if you could get and upload a short soundclip of the clicking using your phone/mic etc when it happens so that we can accurately determine what it is.

Also, if it really concerns you, open up the PC casing to better localize the sound.

 

[neurosisxeno]

Hey guys, I'm hearing this faint clicking kind of sound coming from my PC. It's not the HDD or the CPU fan so I think it's the PSU. Any idea what it is? Is it safe?

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the sound fades a way after a while after bootup.

If it fades away it's probably a bad case fan--or at least ones that the bearings are getting a little wonky in. After it spins for a bit they get back into the flow of things and stop making noise.

 

[GraveHorizon]

My desktop, which I kept at my friend's house for watching movies and letting him play his Steam games, suddenly stopped working. It turns on, and tries to go through the startup, but stops when two dots of the logo appear; normally it loads the Welcome screen when the four balls loop around before they meet. Here are some shots of the current order it starts up in.

After freezing the logo and flashing a blue screen, it'll ask if I want to start up normally or attempt a system repair. Starting up normally just repeats the process, while the system repair just tells me it couldn't fix anything. Weirdly, it mentions the E: drive. I have a 64GB SSD as the C: drive with the OS on it, and a 1TB HDD as the E: drive for storage. The clr CMOS button on the back was lit up red; after pressing it, it restarted and went back to the cycle.

I should also mention that originally, my friend notified me that it wouldn't display anything when turned on. After powering it up, neither VGA nor HDMI showed anything, and it made none of the normal startup sounds. That is until I unplugged and replugged several cables inside, and removed the CPU fan. It started displaying stuff after that, and gave me a message about having a camera plugged in or something, and also broke the thermal paste which I'll need to replace.

Specs:
Windows 7
i5-2500K
64GB SSD (OS)
1TB HDD
8GB RAM

I'd really appreciate help figuring out what's wrong with it, since there are some games I'd like to play while I still have the chance. I guess I could take it to the mom and pop computer repair store downtown, but I'd rather not spend more money than the cost of thermal paste.

 

[mrmisterwaa]

My desktop, which I kept at my friend's house for watching movies and letting him play his Steam games, suddenly stopped working. It turns on, and tries to go through the startup, but stops when two dots of the logo appear; normally it loads the Welcome screen when the four balls loop around before they meet. Here are some shots of the current order it starts up in.



After freezing the logo and flashing a blue screen, it'll ask if I want to start up normally or attempt a system repair. Starting up normally just repeats the process, while the system repair just tells me it couldn't fix anything. Weirdly, it mentions the E: drive. I have a 64GB SSD as the C: drive with the OS on it, and a 1TB HDD as the E: drive for storage. The clr CMOS button on the back was lit up red; after pressing it, it restarted and went back to the cycle.

I should also mention that originally, my friend notified me that it wouldn't display anything when turned on. After powering it up, neither VGA nor HDMI showed anything, and it made none of the normal startup sounds. That is until I unplugged and replugged several cables inside, and removed the CPU fan. It started displaying stuff after that, and gave me a message about having a camera plugged in or something, and also broke the thermal paste which I'll need to replace.

Specs:
Windows 7
i5-2500K
64GB SSD (OS)
1TB HDD
8GB RAM

I'd really appreciate help figuring out what's wrong with it, since there are some games I'd like to play while I still have the chance. I guess I could take it to the mom and pop computer repair store downtown, but I'd rather not spend more money than the cost of thermal paste.

Thermal Paste is cheap you can buy that on-line for like 8 - 10$ for a tube that will last several uses (10+ uses).

1. Hardware:
   • CPU
     • Bent Pins
     • Overheating
     • Not seated properly
     • Defective
   • RAM
     • Not placed properly
     • Defective
   • SSD
     • Not installed properly
     • Power surge damaged SSD
     • Defective
   • Power supply
     • Not powerful enough
     • Defective
2. Software:
   • Drivers
   • Incompatible OS/Conflicting software

Your issue would most likely fall into these categories. Please try checking if all cables are connected right and that everything is installed properly. From there I can help you diagnose other problems.

I expect this problem to be either the SSD or the RAM since those are usually the main culprits. Memtest to check if the RAM is working properly.

Once that is done we can jump over to the SSD and do a repair using a rescue disk. (Many different ones out there I have never gotten to the point where the Windows one fails).

So trying a USB/DVD-based rescue disk can fix that problem.

 

[GWX]

GAF, my PC is borked.

Every time I try to watch a flash video with graphics acceleration turned on or a HTML5 video on the web, my PC just locks up. Also happens with some video files I open: generally, .mp4 causes lock up, .mkv doesn't.

Here's my rig:
Core 2 Quad Q6600 @2.4GHz
Nvidia Geforce 9800GTX+ 512MB XFX
4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM
Windows 8 64-bit

What I've tried:
Reinstalled video drivers (multiple times)
Formatted HDD (multiple times)

It didn't to happen when running Elementary OS (I dual booted it with Windows 8 a couple of months ago). The problem exists for almost 3 years, and I can't buy a new PC right now.

Here's one of the logs Windows created when it crashed recently: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?res...345&authkey=!AGEFIxGTVoCK4m0&ithint=file,.rar

Help =(

 

[perryfarrell]

Networking question:

Suppose I have a shitty all-in-one modem + router + wifi device.

I'd like to expand its wifi range, so buy a nice & fancy Asus Dark Nite router.

What is then the best set-up:

1) Turn old modem+router into modem only, by using 'bridge mode' and using the new router as wifi-provider. OR
2) Keep old modem as it is, and putting new router in 'Repeater mode,' where the new modem merely repeats the old wifi (same network name + password, only on a different CHANNEL).

1) or 2)?