10 second system freezes

[carlosh]

this problem is driving me NUTS. i have spent months trying to fix it. my system freezes on an average of every 10-15 minutes for about 10 seconds. COMPLETE freeze - no mouse movement or anything, then it slowly starts up (sputtering) again. i am going to give my system specs and then what i have already guessed might be wrong...

cel500 (have changed CPU 3 times already)
AbitBE6 (PL bios update)
Viper770 (TNT2 current driver)
SBLive
Linksys 16bitCombo NIC 10/100
Speedstar DSL modem
PS/2 mouse, 104keyb
2 Maxtor (27 and 8)5400
Zip100 IDE
SoundBlaster CDrom40x

Could an IRQ sharing problem cause this freeze? i also have missing driver from the Abit board which i have not been able to find anywhere (PCI Mass Storage Controller(2) ) -- could that be it? i have tried disabling and enabling devices, changing slots. i am running out of options...

thanks in advance

carlos

[RCN_Moose]

Hi Carlos-
Not sure about your freezing, but your driver problem is easy to solve. The PCI Mass Storage is for your built in ATA66 Controller. (BE6 has a built in Hot Point 66 Controller) The drivers should be on your CD (they're on mine) But if they're not, you can go to abits site and download them there. (under drivers, hot point)
You don't need to install them unless your using ATA66 though.
Moose

My Mistake, drivers aren't on the CD, they came on a seperate floppy.

[This message has been edited by RCN_Moose (edited 02-07-2000).]

[obenton]

Go into System Configuration Utility /Startup and disable everything but ScanReg and SysTray - that will tell you if it's a running program that's doing it. Also, disable the network and see what happens - network settings can sometimes do it. Also, running System Monitor and Resource Meter can give clues.

[alien_from_io]

Total Freeze? Can you ctl+alt+del ? If so check the non-responder. and >> check all the heat sinks in the machine for excess temps.. Get a close inspection of the cpu cooling fins,,,small lint , bad for airflow and almost invisible. hope it helps some.. Take me to your leader.

[carlosh]

the cooling is not a problem. i have a sink (with compound) and fan on the CPU and 3 other fans in the case (including an AGP fan). and i am not even OCing the Cel500.

i shut down all programs (all background except a couple) and it still does it.

it IS a TOTAL freeze -- no CTLALTDEL works. then it slowly sputters (mouse works for 0.1 seconds, stop, works) and comes to life again.

i know some periphs don't like certain slots on certain boards. anyone know where i can find this out? Abit BE6

carlos, thanks again for the help

[obenton]

Some adapters don't like some PCI slots, but those problems are not intermittent, like yours. In that case, the adapter simply doesn't work. Run resource meter and system monitor in the background, and you'll be able to tell if it's a resources, cpu, or swap file problem.

[Banti]

Did you have the NIC connected to a DHCP network before?? Your comp may be looking for others on the net, and failing.

Banti

[carlosh]

i did not have DHCP before. i do have it now and it is linked with my TCP/IP protocol for my DSL modem. My netword card does NOT have it in the TCP/IP protocol and it has WINS reloution disabled. i use netbui for name resolution. (its the only way i could get it to work) - the other 3 computers on the network use WINS resloution and netbui as well as TCP/IP.

carlos