[SOLVED] Computer crashing after not using for two months

TooTall · 02-05-2023, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

Two months away, and you're in Canada... I'd be thinking of damp.

When I was fixing hardware I used to keep a glass fibre brush from RS. It was adjustable and would clean up contacts without leaving residue. I made a lot of money by cleaning things like DIMM edges where they sit into sockets, and the sockets too.

Listen for capacitor noise. degraded electrolyte will leak current, and put spikes on a voltage line. Getting the offending capacitor warm often fixes it, but replacing is better.

Another area that hasn't been mentioned is power supply plugs. Sometimes reseating them helps. I wouldn't go with the 'dying part' approach of many posters, because the thing boots, doesn't it? I would check individual voltage on each power line if you can.

If you're still in trouble, think about socketed chips, if you can safely move them. And if it's frozen, get it warm!

While I was away the humidity in the house became very dry due to it being dry because of winter and no one in the house generating moisture from cooking showering, etc.

TooTall · 02-05-2023, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxdaddy

Does it run a live ISO of linux good, might be the HDD getting errors as ROKY said. I
recommend a base or full antiX 19 or 21 iso for that quick test. If it boots and runs.

I doesn't run a live ISO since when I try to install Mint, it ends up freezing. Now this could be due to something else and could well be the HDD.

I was able to get Mint 20 installed and graphics are good, everything looked promising until I tried to run update and upgrade where it crashed again during upgrade and now something is corrupt so I have to try to re-install. I was hoping the ISO had a repair tool but alas it does not. If I can get this newer version installed I can perform some other tests and submit for analysis. The temperatures after running for several hours are 36C for the CPU and 33C for the MB which are both good.

wpeckham · 02-05-2023, 07:29 PM

If it ran properly enough to do a memory test for hours, it is unlikely to be the motherboard or PSU. I would suspect the storage system or video card, or a bad install image or USB device at this point.

My next advice would be to grab a spare USB device, install VENTOY on it, and copy on a few live-cd images for testing. Any three of Mint, Mint-DE, Manjaro, Debian, Sparky-rolling, Fedora, VSIDO, and AntiX should serve you well. (Verify the downloads by comparing the checksums to ensure you have a valid copy.

You should be able to boot to any of those. From a running live session you can do an install, but my thought was more that booting from those and running those without install bypasses the hard drive and tezsts the rest of the system.

TooTall · 02-14-2023, 05:18 PM

Adding updates to what has been done/happened to date. As mentioned previously, changed out the power supply. I have switched out the IDE hard drive for a SSD drive connected via SATA cable. I have switched the onboard graphics to a separate graphics card that I had used previously on this board. I was able to run, from DVD, live images and tried to install LMDE and after a few attempts was able to get it installed however it stated that it had crashed and was operating in a back up mode. Went ahead and attempted updates/upgrades however caused another issue. I should mention that am not able to use a USB since this computer will not allow me to boot from that source. Even when I enable boot from removeable drive, which would be the USB drive it won't work. I would prefer to use an USB since it is faster. I had an issue with the bootloader on LMDE and tried to use the live disc to repair it however the system froze up doing just that. The only thing I can think of now is the RAM. Currently I have two (2) 1GB sticks providing 2GB of memory. Perhaps something is not right with these or not adequate. My next step would be to either add more memory or swap out the memory for a full 8GB which is max this board can hold. Failing that I can only think that it is the Motherboard itself or the DVD drive although if it is not being used the system should not freeze. If I can get LMDE working properly I will attempt to provide "screen prints" of my system.

wpeckham · 02-14-2023, 06:53 PM

Considering all you have gone through, I would be considering a replacement machine. Whatever is wrong has probably cost you more time and trouble to find and fix than it would have cost to just get new hardware.

business_kid · 02-15-2023, 05:44 AM

+1 on wpeckham's comment.

That aside, you've spent too much time ripping it apart and have certainly changed the condition of it.
Draw a line here. Start it tomorrow, with some OS installed. pretend nothing ever happened, and describe what's wrong tomorrow. Electronics that gets treated somewhat like a prostitute's underwear has no chance of being reliable.

TooTall · 02-18-2023, 02:33 PM

I was able to flash the ISO to USB and get the machine to boot from that, much faster than DVD. Tried several times to install LMDE5 and computer freezes up at random times. Was able to watch system monitor while running and both cores run average 80% while installing and memory around 50% (2Gs RAM). When i did get it installed we had a grub boot loader issue not configured properly and while looking into that, froze. Have tried several times to launch Live so that I can repair boot however freezes whenever it wants. At some time the computer started to beep. One short beep every 30 seconds or so. I wonder if the memory is the issue since I have changed out just about everything else. Memory test I did came back ok but at a loss what else could be the issue. My understanding with Linux is that you can usually get some use out of older computers which I am trying to do and buying another new motherboard for an older machine isn't what I have in mind.

mrmazda · 02-18-2023, 03:12 PM

Low pitch beeps on powerup typically indicate RAM problem. It's often happened here when that happens that removal and reinstallation of RAM sticks solves the problem. Other times, polishing the contacts before reinstallation is necessary to success. Those beeps on a running system indicate either overheat or an intermittent hardware problem, of which RAM is a likely candidate. Mem 1.31G (installed?) should never happen with a pair of 2G sticks installed in a perfectly running system. If it does, it means at least one problem stick. There's plenty of used DDR2 available to try for much less cost than a motherboard. OTOH, old motherboards' memory controllers weren't on the CPU, so not replaceable if they failed.

Are any of the near-to-RAM or CPU capacitors OST branded? OST has a reputation for failure unaccompanied by visible evidence of swelling or leakage.

rokytnji · 02-18-2023, 05:58 PM

Yeah. My IBM M57 outside in the quonset hut is still chugging.

Rain. Freezing temps. 155F in the shop in the summer, Been the shop computer since 2008 or so. Wireless usb dish antenna is exposed to the elements for years even.

Quote:

I was able to flash the ISO to USB and get the machine to boot from that, much faster than DVD. Tried several times to install LMDE5 and computer freezes up at random times. Was able to watch system monitor while running and both cores run average 80% while installing and memory around 50% (2Gs RAM).

Freeze up on usb during install sure don't sound like a hard drive problem anymore to me.
That is lot of ram usage and cpu load during the install process.
Other than md5sum checking LMDE iso for corruption.
I don't know what to think.

Edit. Just so you know. It took a bit a patience for me.
I found me a I3 NUC box and Dell Chromebook II with Linux already on it. The NUC just needed the power adapter and my spare gear to finish hookup.
50 bucks for each. Had to wait on ebay for them to show up
Just might get lucky like I did
link

business_kid · 02-19-2023, 04:48 AM

My take on this is: I spent periods in hospital when my computers were untouched. One of 4 months; One of 3 months; One of 5 months. My (comparatively crappy) computers at the time didn't notice it, because it shouldn't matter.

So, if it's not damp or polluted where you left it, if the dog wasn't lifting his leg against it every day, if the local gophers weren't sharpening their teeth on the motherboard,etc. If nature didn't make inroads, it didn't matter that it was off for two months. Treat it as if it worked last week, and it's faulty now.

TooTall · 02-20-2023, 11:14 AM

I think I am on to something!! I was able to get LMDE 5 loaded and running from the hard drive. From the response from mrmazda, I removed one of the RAM sticks. There was one that wasn't showing details when I searched hardware while the other did. By removing it I have been able to install the OS. Now I only have 1 GB of RAM right now so keeping an I on system monitor. I am using the subject computer at this moment.

Code:

uname -r     5.10.0-12 amd64

$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RS690 Host Bridge
00:02.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (PCI Express Graphics Port 0)
00:07.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (PCI Express Port 3)
00:12.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB600 Non-Raid-5 SATA
00:13.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB600 USB (OHCI0)
00:13.1 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB600 USB (OHCI1)
00:13.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB600 USB (OHCI2)
00:13.3 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB600 USB (OHCI3)
00:13.4 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB600 USB (OHCI4)
00:13.5 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB600 USB Controller (EHCI)
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 13)
00:14.1 IDE interface: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB600 IDE
00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB600 PCI to LPC Bridge
00:14.4 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV670 [Radeon HD 3690/3850]
01:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV670/680 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 3690/3800 Series]
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 01)
03:06.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8100/8101L/8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter (rev 10)

Anything else I can provide? I am in the process of acquiring 4 GBS of replacement RAM which I am hoping will be the cure.

TooTall · 02-20-2023, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmazda

Low pitch beeps on powerup typically indicate RAM problem. It's often happened here when that happens that removal and reinstallation of RAM sticks solves the problem. Other times, polishing the contacts before reinstallation is necessary to success. Those beeps on a running system indicate either overheat or an intermittent hardware problem, of which RAM is a likely candidate. Mem 1.31G (installed?) should never happen with a pair of 2G sticks installed in a perfectly running system. If it does, it means at least one problem stick. There's plenty of used DDR2 available to try for much less cost than a motherboard. OTOH, old motherboards' memory controllers weren't on the CPU, so not replaceable if they failed.

Are any of the near-to-RAM or CPU capacitors OST branded? OST has a reputation for failure unaccompanied by visible evidence of swelling or leakage.

Your response made me think about something I saw earlier in my readouts and lead me to try something.

TooTall · 02-20-2023, 11:29 AM

Code:

$ inxi -Fxxxrz
System:
  Kernel: 5.10.0-12-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 tk: GTK 3.24.24 wm: muffin 5.2.1 
  dm: LightDM 1.26.0 Distro: LMDE 5 Elsie base: Debian 11.2 bullseye 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M2A-VM v: 1.XX serial: <filter> 
  BIOS: Phoenix v: ASUS M2A-VM Revision 1603 date: 11/30/2007 
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 
  model: Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 Plus serial: <filter> 
  charge: 50% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: N/A 
CPU:
  Info: Dual Core model: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: K8 rev.F+ rev: 2 L2 cache: 1024 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 svm bogomips: 8799 
  Speed: 1000 MHz min/max: 1000/2200 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1000 2: 1000 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD RV670 [Radeon HD 3690/3850] vendor: PC Partner Limited 
  driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1002:9505 class ID: 0300 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: loaded: ati,radeon 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz s-dpi: 96 
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD RV670 (DRM 2.50.0 / 5.10.0-12-amd64 LLVM 11.0.1) 
  v: 3.3 Mesa 20.3.5 compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
  bus ID: 00:14.2 chip ID: 1002:4383 class ID: 0403 
  Device-2: AMD RV670/680 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 3690/3800 Series] 
  vendor: PC Partner Limited driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
  chip ID: 1002:aa18 class ID: 0403 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.10.0-12-amd64 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: ASUSTeK P5B driver: r8169 v: kernel port: dc00 bus ID: 02:00.0 
  chip ID: 10ec:8168 class ID: 0200 
  IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Realtek RTL-8100/8101L/8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter 
  driver: 8139too v: 0.9.28 port: bc00 bus ID: 03:06.0 chip ID: 10ec:8139 
  class ID: 0200 
  IF: enp3s6 state: unknown speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 119.24 GiB used: 12.65 GiB (10.6%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Timetec model: 30TT253X2-128G size: 119.24 GiB 
  speed: 3.0 Gb/s rotation: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 8B0 scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 115.8 GiB used: 12.16 GiB (10.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 1.02 GiB used: 502.5 MiB (47.9%) 
  priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda1 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 33.0 C mobo: 34.0 C gpu: radeon temp: 67.0 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 1569 psu: 0 case-1: 0 
  Power: 12v: N/A 5v: N/A 3.3v: 3.36 vbat: N/A 
Repos:
  Packages: apt: 2011 
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com elsie main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
  2: deb https://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free
  3: deb https://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
  4: deb http://security.debian.org bullseye-security main contrib non-free
  5: deb https://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-backports main contrib non-free
Info:
  Processes: 182 Uptime: 35m wakeups: 5 Memory: 974.7 MiB 
  used: 693.4 MiB (71.1%) Init: systemd v: 247 runlevel: 5 Compilers: 
  gcc: 10.2.1 alt: 10 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.4 running in: gnome-terminal 
  inxi: 3.3.01

mrmazda · 02-20-2023, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TooTall

Code:

$ inxi -Fxxxrz
System:
  Kernel: 5.10.0-12-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 tk: GTK 3.24.24 wm: muffin 5.2.1 
  dm: LightDM 1.26.0 Distro: LMDE 5 Elsie base: Debian 11.2 bullseye 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M2A-VM v: 1.XX serial: <filter> 
  BIOS: Phoenix v: ASUS M2A-VM Revision 1603 date: 11/30/2007 ...

Whenever you post command output, enclose it in code tags to preserve the formatting that provides context to make that output as informative as possible.

TooTall · 02-21-2023, 08:33 AM

Thanks for the info mrmazda, I went back and edited my captures. Hope that is better now.

Once I get the new RAM I am thinking that SWAP can be left at the size it is since I should have more than enough RAM (4G) to run smoothly.