Computer Problem? Need Help? Check Here First!

[Greg Hess]

Computer Problem? Need Help? Check Here First!

Try to give us as much information about your system and configuration as possible. This shows both a willingness to work through your problem, and a courtesy to those ready to help you. (It keeps us from spending 40 posts trying to rip the data outta you).

 

Here's a list of sample questions that are useful when diagnosing a system.

 

Please provide:

 

- full description of problem

- THINGS I'VE TRIED SO FAR and to what effect

- full text of any error messages

- any other odd behavior in The Application or OS?

- when did this problem start?

- does it repeat with any Application files?

 

Is this a new system or new installation?

 

If not, provide:

- list of recent software installations

- list of recent software upgrades

- list of recent hardware changes

 

Pre1: Application Questions

a) What version of the application are you using?

b) What revision of the application are you using? (Ex Max4.2.6 or Maya5 )

c) What Cdilla driver revision are you using? (For Max users)

d) Are you using...Direct3D, Heidi, Maxextreme, or OpenGL?

e) Have you recently upgraded a piece of hardware, installed the application on a second machine, or transferred a license?

f) Have you tried running software heidi by executing max with the 3dsmax.exe -h command line? Does the problem reoccur if you use software heidi?

g) Which 3rd party plugins are installed?

h) Do other programs other then the 3d application lockup/crash/explode/implode in similar fashions?

i) Are you overclocking the...Ram, FSB, CPU, PCI/AGP, or Video card(s) in

any manner, shape, form, or dimension?

 

1) Operating system plus any service packs installed.

a) Direct X version.

b) Any 3rd party overclocking utilities or video card utilities

[Ex. Windows 2000 Service Pack 2, Latest Via 4 in 1 drivers, AGP patch, Direct x 8.1, ]

 

2) Ram configuration and Ram Speed (# of dimms, where the dimms are, what speed, how big, branding of the memory)

[Ex. 4 Dimms of Cas 2, Registered, ECC, 512 Meg, Mushkin PC2100 DDR]

 

3) Motherboard, chipset information, processor speed, board revision

(Ex. Asus A7M266-D revision 1.0, AMD760MP, Dual 2000+ MP's)

 

4a) Processor cooling, case cooling

4b) Current CPU Temp, Current System Temp (Found in bios, Press DEL upon bootup)

[Ex. Dual Alpha 8045's, 38C Cpu temp, 27C System Temp, 1 intake fan, 2

exhaust fans]

 

5) Video card, drivers being used with the videocard, modifications done

[Ex. Geforce 4 (NV25), Nvidia 21.83, reference drivers, Rivatuner, Powerstrip]

 

6) Bios settings, AGP4x, AGP driving value.

[Ex. Default bios settings, AGP4X disabled, AGP driving value EA, Ram timings etc...]

 

7) Type of periphals in the computer (Soundcard, Scsi card)

[Ex. Hercules XP gaming theater, 3com 905B Nic]

 

8) Wattage of power supply

[Ex. 550 Watt Entermax Whisper Power supply]

[/b]

 

There is also a troubleshooting faq at 3dluvr.com

 

http://www.3dluvr.com/content/article/105

 

If your too lazy to go. Here's a quick synopsis.

 

1) Run Memtest (http://www.memtest86.com)

 

a) 2-3 passes

 

One error indicates a possible ram timing/speed setting wrong. Multiple errors tend to indicate bad ram. Replace ASAP.

 

2) Use utilities like Sisoft sandra, 3dmark 2001 SE, and specviewperf to diagnose certain areas.

 

http://www.sisoftware.net/

 

http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark2001/

 

http://www.specbench.org/gpc/opc.static/opcview70.html

 

3) Check all the cables in the system. Check them again. Check them a third time. Inspect for nicks/cuts/scrapes of electrical cords, especially IDE/SCSI/SATA cords. A .1 mm nick can render drive errors. Make sure all cables are SEATED properly.

 

4) Check that all cards are seated properly.

 

5) Check the ram seating. Are you using dimm's 0/1 first? Or did you put the ram in reverse order?

 

6) Make sure the processor heatsinks are firmly attached, and that there are no air gaps between the sink and the core of the cpu. Make sure that thermal paste/grease/tape was used between the two mediums. (I recommend artic silver 5)

 

http://www.arcticsilver.com/

 

7) Clean out dust. All fans, vents, pcb's, heatsinks. Removing dust not only increases thermal efficency, but quiets down the system as well.

 

8) If you have spare parts available, try them. A spare psu and video card can shave hours off of troubleshooting time.

 

9) Use the godfather of troubleshooting.

 

http://www.google.com

 

10) Actually use the microsoft knowledge database.

 

http://support.microsoft.com

 

Remember, for us to help you, you've gotta help us. Otherwise simple problems can take days to solve.

 

If anyone else has any troubleshooting suggestions, please post them here.

 

[ February 13, 2004, 05:55 AM: Message edited by: Greg Hess ]

[Greg Hess]

I realized I was being a crappy moderator...so now I'm doing some moderator like stuff . As soon as I figure out how to use the damn sticky button, I'll do so.

 

Here are the sites I visit to keep myself up to date in the computer hardware industry. These sites are in a randomized order, and don't reflect which one I like over another. Though if I had to pick, aceshardware, tech-report, 2cpu's (forums), anandtech, and overclockers are my primary sites.

 

www.anandtech.com

www.overclockers.com

www.hardocp.com

www.aceshardware.com

www.tech-report.com

www.2cpu.com

www.ars-technica.com

www.extremetech.com

www.xbitlabs.com

www.frostytech.com (heatsinks)

 

And a truely unique site...

 

http://www.3dgameman.com/

 

This fella actually does video reviews of products. Although this might not sound like much, this lets you see how a case opens, a heatsink installs, how loud a video card is, etc etc. Great information to have!

[garethace]

Couple of quiet pc ones, needed too... what is it called.... silent pc review or something?

 

http://www.aceshardware.com/forum

 

don't leave home....

[airtalk]

I'm using Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2. I've a problem with my Canon PIXMA iP1000. When i'm trying to print, an error appeared on my screen. It's show "USB Device Not Recognized". It tell me to check Driver Manager at USB Host Controllers but it's show me 'Unknown Device". I've trying to reinstall the printer driver and USB 2.0 but it doesn't work. i'm glad that you'll help me to solve this problem.

 

My computer spesification :

1.Pentium 4 Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2

2. Motherboard - Gigabyte.

3. RAM - DDR333 512 MB.

4. Graphic Card - ATI Radeon 9250 128 MB

 

If you have any solution, please send to my e-mail : rizuan04@yahoo.com

Pleade. I'm gonna drive up the wall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[anand.awate]

Hi friendes

i m doing architecturel walkthroughs

i using vray render for render but it dosen't work on 64 bit machin

my machine config is

SERVER Cabinet PST-9500,CPU 5335* 2 XEON,MB.S5000XVN SATA,HDD 80 GB SATA, RAM 1 GB*4 FB DIMM

can u help out of this

[subha_world]

What is the best configuration of computer for 3D Modelling?

[SandmanNinja]

good motherboard

nice, stable operating system

good cpu

the more ram the better (but more than 8 gigs is overboard (currently))

good video card

 

That's the order for me.

If you put a great cpu and ram in a cheap motherboard, you will have poor performance.

 

If you have a good bunch of hardware but a crappy operating system, what's the point?

 

If you have a poor/slow cpu, it will render slowly

 

if you have cheap ram and not much of it, it will give you weird errors when rendering and will force your computer to use virtual memory (which is slow).

 

A fancy video card is great for games, but you it won't help you render.

On the other hand, having a nice video card will keep your scene nice and speedy when you are working with the model.

 

===

 

With the generics out of the way, I think the minimum now-a-days is a quad core, 8 gigs of ram, nVidea 8800GT/GTS, and Windows XP64.

[Guest zarfworld]

My PC kept freeze several times. How can I solve this? I never add any new hardware. I've done using CCleaner as well.

[caligraphy]

I am new here and want to discuss computer hardware and software information. I found this thread useful for me. I have also something to share here. My list will consist of ..

 

Software.

......................

1. Web Development Tutorial
   
2. MS Office Tutorial.
   

 

Hardware.

..........

1. Assemble PC
   
2. Troubleshoot Issue
   

 

Regards

casa de madera

Edited December 15, 2011 by caligraphy

[radhikahande]

Excellent thread! Thanks for such an informative post..Keep up the great work!

[lindalin]

Building your own PC is the most interest work you have to try. If you wonder about the price so you can check out this place Overclockers , they have many coupons and great deals

[nancysummers]

Computer Problem? Need Help? Check Here First!

Try to give us as much information about your system and configuration as possible. This shows both a willingness to work through your problem, and a courtesy to those ready to help you. (It keeps us from spending 40 posts trying to rip the data outta you).

 

Here's a list of sample questions that are useful when diagnosing a system.

 

Please provide:

 

- full description of problem

- THINGS I'VE TRIED SO FAR and to what effect

- full text of any error messages

- any other odd behavior in The Application or OS?

- when did this problem start?

- does it repeat with any Application files?

 

Is this a new system or new installation?

 

If not, provide:

- list of recent software installations

- list of recent software upgrades

- list of recent hardware changes

 

Pre1: Application Questions

a) What version of the application are you using?

b) What revision of the application are you using? (Ex Max4.2.6 or Maya5 )

c) What Cdilla driver revision are you using? (For Max users)

d) Are you using...Direct3D, Heidi, Maxextreme, or OpenGL?

e) Have you recently upgraded a piece of hardware, installed the application on a second machine, or transferred a license?

f) Have you tried running software heidi by executing max with the 3dsmax.exe -h command line? Does the problem reoccur if you use software heidi?

g) Which 3rd party plugins are installed?

h) Do other programs other then the 3d application lockup/crash/explode/implode in similar fashions?

i) Are you overclocking the...Ram, FSB, CPU, PCI/AGP, or Video card(s) in

any manner, shape, form, or dimension?

 

1) Operating system plus any service packs installed.

a) Direct X version.

b) Any 3rd party overclocking utilities or video card utilities

[Ex. Windows 2000 Service Pack 2, Latest Via 4 in 1 drivers, AGP patch, Direct x 8.1, ]

 

2) Ram configuration and Ram Speed (# of dimms, where the dimms are, what speed, how big, branding of the memory)

[Ex. 4 Dimms of Cas 2, Registered, ECC, 512 Meg, Mushkin PC2100 DDR]

 

3) Motherboard, chipset information, processor speed, board revision

(Ex. Asus A7M266-D revision 1.0, AMD760MP, Dual 2000+ MP's)

 

4a) Processor cooling, case cooling

4b) Current CPU Temp, Current System Temp (Found in bios, Press DEL upon bootup)

[Ex. Dual Alpha 8045's, 38C Cpu temp, 27C System Temp, 1 intake fan, 2

exhaust fans]

 

5) Video card, drivers being used with the videocard, modifications done

[Ex. Geforce 4 (NV25), Nvidia 21.83, reference drivers, Rivatuner, Powerstrip]

 

6) Bios settings, AGP4x, AGP driving value.

[Ex. Default bios settings, AGP4X disabled, AGP driving value EA, Ram timings etc...]

 

7) Type of periphals in the computer (Soundcard, Scsi card)

[Ex. Hercules XP gaming theater, 3com 905B Nic]

 

8) Wattage of power supply

[Ex. 550 Watt Entermax Whisper Power supply]

[/b]

 

There is also a troubleshooting faq at 3dluvr.com

 

http://www.3dluvr.com/content/article/105

 

If your too lazy to go. Here's a quick synopsis.

 

1) Run Memtest (http://www.memtest86.com)

 

a) 2-3 passes

 

One error indicates a possible ram timing/speed setting wrong. Multiple errors tend to indicate bad ram. Replace ASAP.

 

2) Use utilities like Sisoft sandra, 3dmark 2001 SE, and specviewperf to diagnose certain areas.

 

http://www.sisoftware.net/

 

http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark2001/

 

http://www.specbench.org/gpc/opc.static/opcview70.html

 

3) Check all the cables in the system. Check them again. Check them a third time. Inspect for nicks/cuts/scrapes of electrical cords, especially IDE/SCSI/SATA cords. A .1 mm nick can render drive errors. Make sure all cables are SEATED properly.

 

4) Check that all cards are seated properly.

 

5) Check the ram seating. Are you using dimm's 0/1 first? Or did you put the ram in reverse order?

 

6) Make sure the processor heatsinks are firmly attached, and that there are no air gaps between the sink and the core of the cpu. Make sure that thermal paste/grease/tape was used between the two mediums. (I recommend artic silver 5)

 

http://www.arcticsilver.com/

 

7) Clean out dust. All fans, vents, pcb's, heatsinks. Removing dust not only increases thermal efficency, but quiets down the system as well.

 

8) If you have spare parts available, try them. A spare psu and video card can shave hours off of troubleshooting time.

 

9) Use the godfather of troubleshooting.

 

http://www.google.com

 

10) Actually use the microsoft knowledge database.

 

http://support.microsoft.com

 

Remember, for us to help you, you've gotta help us. Otherwise simple problems can take days to solve.

 

If anyone else has any troubleshooting suggestions, please post them here.

 

[ February 13, 2004, 05:55 AM: Message edited by: Greg Hess ]

 

Cool! This really can save a lot of time when diagnosing the system. Thanks for the helpful post!

[robertgsoliz]

General tips to keep in mind

There are many different things that could cause a problem with your computer. No matter what's causing the issue, troubleshooting will always be a process of trial and error—in some cases, you may need to use several different approaches before you can find a solution; other problems may be easy to fix. We recommend starting by using the following tips.

• Write down your steps: Once you start troubleshooting, you may want to write down each step you take. This way, you'll be able to remember exactly what you've done and can avoid repeating the same mistakes. If you end up asking other people for help, it will be much easier if they know exactly what you've tried already.
• Take notes about error messages: If your computer gives you an error message, be sure to write down as much information as possible. You may be able to use this information later to find out if other people are having the same error.
• Always check the cables: If you're having trouble with a specific piece of computer hardware, such as your monitor or keyboard, an easy first step is to check all related cables to make sure they're properly connected.
  
• Restart the computer: When all else fails, restarting the computer is a good thing to try. This can solve a lot of basic issues you may experience with your computer.

[Technology News]

Large numbers of us are so dependent on our PCs that it's a significant issue when something turns out badly — similar to the power going out or the water getting cut off. Obviously you need to make your framework back ready as fast as possible, however that is frequently easy to talk about, not so easy to do. It's no misrepresentation to say a practically boundless number of things can turn out badly with a PC, since everybody's framework and settings are unique. It can appear to be exceptionally difficult knowing where to start with regards to investigating your direction back to a functioning machine.

1. Run an exhaustive infection examine
2. Update your product
3. Eliminate the bulge
4. Test your Wi-Fi association
5. Reinstall the working framework

[bakisyn4421]

Thanks for the amazing forum for helping computer related issues.