[Red_Machine]

Hi guys,

I built a system late last year and after a few days I noticed it was locking up quite regularly, usually during the middle of a download. I returned the CPU and mother board to the company, which they tested and found a fault with the motherboard so they replaced it. I got them back on saturday, re-installed everything and it has started doing it again. I did everything I could think of beforehand (i.e. testing RAM, reinstalling Windows, etc) and honestly don't know what to do now.
The only thing I can think of is that one of my RAM sticks may not be compatible with the motherboard, as it was not listed. But I assumed this was because it was much newer than the motherboard itself.

Any help would be appreciated.

Detalied specs:
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (3.0GHz)
Memory: 2GB RAM (older: Nanya, newer: Kingston)
Hard Drive: 250 GB SATA Maxtor (which, for some reason is listed as SCSI)
Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
Monitor: Hanns-G HX191D 19-inch monitor
Sound Card: Realtek High Definition Audio
Keyboard: Logitech Y-RC14 Wireless Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech M-RN68 Wireless Mouse
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium 64-Bit
Motherboard: MSI K9N6PGM2-V (with latest BIOS)

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Hello Red_Machine.... Welcome to GeeksToGo,

I'm sorry to hear about your issue. We will try to help you resolve this as soon as possible.
Please understand we are all volunteers and we are not here all the time. Sometimes it may be a extended amount of time to get back to you. If it has been more then 3 days please shoot me a PM and I will try to get back to you quickly then.

If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...

1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
2. Unzip downloaded memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find memtest86+-2.11.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate memtest86+-2.11.iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run.

The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

[rshaffer61]

Hello Red_Machine.... Welcome to GeeksToGo,

I'm sorry to hear about your issue. We will try to help you resolve this as soon as possible.
Please understand we are all volunteers and we are not here all the time. Sometimes it may be a extended amount of time to get back to you. If it has been more then 3 days please shoot me a PM and I will try to get back to you quickly then.

If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...

1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
2. Unzip downloaded memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find memtest86+-2.11.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate memtest86+-2.11.iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run.

The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

[Red_Machine]

Hi rshaffer, thanks for the info.

I tried memtest before christmas with it and left it running for several hours with no errors. I also tried booting with only one stick of RAM installed, but did not do it for an extended period of time as Vista is not happy with only 1GB of RAM at the best of times.

If you think I should try it, I'll give 1-gigging it a go tomorrow. Do you have any other suggestions? Perhaps downgrading my BIOS version because there may be a problem with the latest one?

[rshaffer61]

Was the problem happening before you flashed your bios?
Have you tested your Hard drive and if not then do the following.



Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

Thanks to Broni for the instructions

[Red_Machine]

Well, I flashed the BIOS as soon as I got it set up, so I didn't get a chance to see what it was like without it.

I did some Windows-based hard drive tests before christmas, and they came back negative. Would DOS-based ones do things differently?

[rshaffer61]

The one I suggest can do a expanded testing but yes pretty much the same.

[Red_Machine]

Sorry it's been so long, I've had a lot going on recently.

I tried the hard drive test, and it came back green. Right now, I've removed the "questionable" memory module (i.e. the one I'm not sure on the compatibility). It's VERY slow right now, so I shall have a play around and let you know if it freezes up again.

[rshaffer61]

Yep slow or not if the culprit is memory you will know if it works.

[Red_Machine]

Hi, sorry again for the lateness of the reply.

I decided to try downgrading the BIOS to the version that came with the mobo, and it seems to have solved it. Been running it now for 5 days nearly and no lock up. Don't know what was wrong with the latest BIOS version. Maybe I should let MSI know about it...

[rshaffer61]

That is good and bad.
Not knowing what the newer bios added I can't say what the problem is.
That is great it's working correctly now and yes contact MSI and let them know your issue as they may have a corrupted bios flash or something is wrong with the bios on your motherboard itself that it won't flash correctly.
Please let us know how everything works out for you with them.

[Red_Machine]

Update breakdown as follows:

9.6:
- Turn off USB power after shut down.
- Update CPU AGESA Code for AMD SDX140HBK13GQ.
- Update AGESA CODE to label:8.00.12_CPU-AGESAv3_13.55.
- Add 3 beep when didn't detect memory.

9.7:
- Update CPU AGESA code.
- Update LAN ROM

9.8:
- Update CPU AGESA code.

9.9:
- Update CPU AGESA code.

Anything there sound like it would be the cause? Also, I believe that with the downgrade the BIOS beeps have changed. With the suspect 9.9 version is was 1 long, 3 short which is a RAM error; but now with the 9.5 version it appears to be 1 long, 2 short which is is a failure in video system error. Everything seems fine with the video card, I'm running some pretty demanding games and all is fine. It's an inno3D GeForce 8600GT 512MB.

[rshaffer61]

Other then the beep codes saying video is a problem I don't see anything out of the ordinary.

[Red_Machine]

MSI respomded to my email.

"Thanks for contacting MSI Technical Support Team. BIOS v9.6~v9.9 have changed codes to fix some compatible bugs, v9.9 may not support your system well. If your system can work flawlessly, we always suggest you not update bios or drivers for your mainboard. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for understanding."

Well, it wasn't what I was expecting, but at least they replied.

[rshaffer61]

Well that is at least a glimmer of hope but in post #11 it looks like you did that or am I misreading what you posted?

[Red_Machine]

Well, there I was just listing the BIOS changelog from the MSI website in case you would recognise anything that might have caused it.

But anyway, it seems to be working fine now. Thanks for the help!