All is fixed (>> last post)

[Elheru Aran]

Okay, so I'm playing Dawn of War on my compy. All of a sudden the screen blacks out; even a restart doesn't bring it back. So I fetch my roomie, who was the one that recommended the damn thing to me. He has no clue. So I try restarting it again. It comes back...

And I boot up the game again, decide to go it skirmish mode, a nice little Chaos vs. Marines bit. And it gives me the same shit-- but I wrote it down this time, at least...

Code: Select all

 Out of Frequency Range
Attention
Out of Range
H: 18.8 KHz  V: 23.3 Hz

Can someone explain this?

Incidentally, I have a wireless keyboard, which *might* explain it-- that was the only thing I could think of-- and CRT monitor. The computer's a new Dell (no immoderate jokes/comments; I've gotten plenty enough), Pentium 4 processor, 512 RAM and ~130 gigs HD (started out with 160, been filling it up with... stuff... since then).

I'm gonna try again once I get back from Walmart-- but HEEEELLLLPPPPP!!!! /is slightly desperate

[General Zod]

I seem to recall my friend's comp coming across this type of problem awhile back, and afaik it had to do with the tower not liking the monitor. Possibly something to do with the refresh rate, but I can't really recall.

[Elheru Aran]

If I can get it to display again, I'll monkey with the refresh rate, but I'm waiting to hear more (a lot more, really) before I try anything untoward...

EDIT: changed 'boot up' to 'display', because as far as I can tell the computer boots just fine, it's the monitor that won't display...

[darthdavid]

You've got your computer set to a refresh rate higher or lower than your monitor and/or video card can handle. Look up the specs on both and set the refresh rate to something that's within both of their stated limits.

[Beowulf]

23.3 Hz? No wonder it's not displaying. No monitor will display at that low a refresh rate. Something software side is probably fucked up. You might want to think about getting Powerstrip or the like, to lock the refresh rate to exactly what you want it to. That should fix the problem, and keep it from ever occuring.

[DaveJB]

ATI and nVidia's drivers can both override Window's default refresh rates in DirectX (which is almost always set to 60hz). It's possible that it's trying to do an override, but screwing it up in the process. What graphics card do you have? (Please don't say it's an Intel on-board solution... they suck and I have no experience with their drivers)

[Akaramu Shinja]

Does the game have VSync? And what do you have it set to?

[Spanky The Dolphin]

You've got your computer set to a refresh rate higher or lower than your monitor and/or video card can handle. Look up the specs on both and set the refresh rate to something that's within both of their stated limits.

Thanks, I've been having sort of the same problem with my monitor when it times out after the screen saver runs for an hour. Hopefully it should stop now (both are now set to 75 Hz).

[Elheru Aran]

23.3 Hz? No wonder it's not displaying. No monitor will display at that low a refresh rate. Something software side is probably fucked up. You might want to think about getting Powerstrip or the like, to lock the refresh rate to exactly what you want it to. That should fix the problem, and keep it from ever occuring.

Powerstrip? Is that software or hardware, and is it free if it's software? Sounds like what I need...

ATI and nVidia's drivers can both override Window's default refresh rates in DirectX (which is almost always set to 60hz). It's possible that it's trying to do an override, but screwing it up in the process. What graphics card do you have? (Please don't say it's an Intel on-board solution... they suck and I have no experience with their drivers)

Er... 256MB ATI Hyper Memory PCI-Express X16 (DVI/VGA/TV out) Radeon
X600 SE. XP Pro SP2 as well.

HELP?

[Beowulf]

Powerstrip It's shareware, but it has a really long evaluation period. I've been using it for several months.

[Elheru Aran]

Thank you! Oh yes, and regarding finding out what refresh rates the graphics card runs at-- how do I do that? My internet in my room has been giving me shit lately and I want to fix that before I try to sign back on...

[Elheru Aran]

Well, that fucking does it...

Okay, so I open up the computer. Mmkay... that's cool...

Up pops the Internet access thing (it's some new shit from the school, you have to login to that to be able to access the school network). I fill that out, and then it gives me shit about not having the proper updates and whatever? Okay... so I go and start getting those-- and BSOD!

Well, not really the BSOD as we know it, something saying 'Illegal Operation' or some such, and advising to restart if this is the first time and if not to go to Safe Mode and wipe all spyware/antivirus/etc etc... dumping physical memory... something like that.

So, naturally, I restart. Fuck-all happens; black screen, amber LED. I shut down the tower, leave it awhile as I polish my boots, restart again, go back to polishing as the user login screen comes up. I look over at it-- and boom, it's happened again.

So I shut it down again. Start up in safe mode. Log in as Administrator-- and BANG, I'm dead, with yet another BSOD.

What the fuck?! I am now royally pissed...

[brianeyci]

Hard to know exactly what's wrong, without knowing what you did to the computer. If it was just altering the refresh rate... but it sounds like a whole shitload of other problems. Why don't you boot up your computer with a boot floppy and scan the hard disk to see if its failing.

If not, time for a reinstall of Windows. This time get a firewall like zonealarm, and a antivirus program.

Didn't you say you tried flashing the bios and it didn't work? Maybe your computer is nuked. Dunno what causes the computer not turning on, maybe its your power supply. But with all the other problems you're having it sounds like hard drive failure, power supply failure, etc, etc, etc...

Brian

[Elheru Aran]

Windows XP, no floppy drive. You're mixing me up with Ein with flashing the BIOS-- that was him, not me. And the problem is that the school will more or less absolutely not allow you to sign onto the Internet without all the critical updates, one of four major antiviruses (Symantec, McAffee, et al), Microsoft Anti-Spyware (even though I have a copy of Spy Sweeper...), and a whole list of other shit. Therefore, if I'm to be able to sign on, the network gives me one hour limited access to get everything installed. GAH!!!!!!!!!

[brianeyci]

Windows XP, no floppy drive. You're mixing me up with Ein with flashing the BIOS-- that was him, not me. And the problem is that the school will more or less absolutely not allow you to sign onto the Internet without all the critical updates, one of four major antiviruses (Symantec, McAffee, et al), Microsoft Anti-Spyware (even though I have a copy of Spy Sweeper...), and a whole list of other shit. Therefore, if I'm to be able to sign on, the network gives me one hour limited access to get everything installed. GAH!!!!!!!!!

Windows Update keeps the progress so you can just relogin after the hour and it will continue.

Was the BSOD thing just a one-time deal? You need to do a hard reset of your computer. I have all my power cords plugged into an extension cable with a big red switch, and when I get pissed off I just press it. Honestly you shouldn't be getting BSOD so much in Windows XP.

<edit>No floppy drive is a bitch, but you have an optical so that is better than my laptop. Use recovery CD that came with your computer if worse comes to worse. And the one-hour thing may be because ur using wireless? Try using a cable. I just used Windows Update with Windows 2000, and downloading the updates was about half an hour or less. </edit>

Brian

[Elheru Aran]

Des13: I will try unplugging the network cord, I hadn't thought of that but that's probably at least part of it. I don't have backups, but the only thing I had on there besides what came with it were a few P2P proggies and Dawn of War, and I was only up to the 4th campaign mission on DoW, so it's no huge loss. School is starting, though (first week), so this blows.

Brian: It's not a BSOD per se. While it's blue, it's more like an error notification message-- I don't remember it precisely, but it's something about an improper/illegal operation, gives me advice on what to do (that doesn't work, naturally), and gives an error code of some sort before something like 'Dumping physical memory... Physical memory completely dumped. yaddayaddayadda'.

Edit: I *am* on a cable... the one hour to get everything one needs from teh intarweb and get it installed and going is apparently mandatory for everybody signing onto the school network, it's some new measure supposed to try and keep spyware/viruses off the network. This new 'CLean Access' thing will also scan every seven days, and if you've got some shit on your computer, it'll tell you to get rid of it or they'll shut you off till you can prove you're clean to them... I know, real stupid, but since I couldn't legitimately get onto the school network any other way....

[brianeyci]

Brian: It's not a BSOD per se. While it's blue, it's more like an error notification message-- I don't remember it precisely, but it's something about an improper/illegal operation, gives me advice on what to do (that doesn't work, naturally), and gives an error code of some sort before something like 'Dumping physical memory... Physical memory completely dumped. yaddayaddayadda'.

Yeah I've seen that on my older thinkpad, when I installed a wireless card. It looks like a hardware problem, and the best bet is to reinstall a fresh copy of Winblows and see if you can duplicate the problem again. If you can on a fresh install then its probably the hardware (that's what I did on my thinkpad and it turns out the wireless card was piece of shit, it even crashed my brand new HP laptop).

If you can get into safe mode, try and disable whatever it is you think is causing the problem, if not well try the reinstall. Disable everything one by one (sound cards, modems, network cards, everything non-essential) and re-enable it one by one. If you see a conflict, try reinstalling drivers. All this done through device manager. In safe mode you won't be able to see conflicts, but you'll still be able to see the devices themselves, and disable everything down to the bare bones even if there's no confict. Then start in regular mode and see if it works, and if it does try re-enabling one by one to try and re-create the problem.

Still the best bet is to try and recreate the problem with a fresh install. With a recovery CD that comes bundled with your computer it is fast, and you lose your game saved games, oh well take it from me games are not compatible with a GPA.

Edit: I *am* on a cable... the one hour to get everything one needs from teh intarweb and get it installed and going is apparently mandatory for everybody signing onto the school network, it's some new measure supposed to try and keep spyware/viruses off the network. This new 'CLean Access' thing will also scan every seven days, and if you've got some shit on your computer, it'll tell you to get rid of it or they'll shut you off till you can prove you're clean to them... Rolling Eyes I know, real stupid, but since I couldn't legitimately get onto the school network any other way....

Try the school tech support, you are paying a lot for them anyway.

And honestly one hour is enough to download the updates especially if you are using an NIC card. If not like I said update continues from where it was left off so just relogin.

<edit>besides, you're on a computer right now so you have many options. Download all the shit you need on this computer, burn it into a CD, reinstall windows and install all the shit from the CD. Maybe you can't do it with Windows Update, but you can get the virus scanner, anti-spyware, etc, etc, that they require you to have.</edit>

Brian

[Elheru Aran]

Here is my guess from what you have written so far:
The school installed a login program that autoloads when Windows boots. Hopefully, it won't autoload if the network is not detected, but honestly it is a longshot. Anyhow, this program was probably written by monkeys who tossed some of their own shit at the keyboard instead of actaully thinking and writing good code. In other words, it has a major bug and goes down hard. And the fact that Windows goes with it means there is probably a driver update screwed with it too (but maybe not!).

How do you fix it: I would say treat it like a virus. Manually extract the offending program from your autoboot list then possibly do a rollback of drivers recently updates.

Does the error message give a filename in it at all?

No filename that I can remember, but I'll pull the network cord, boot it up and see if it happens again; if it does I'll write it down as much as I can. I'll also write up a more detailed description of my computer's situation...

Brian: Yeah, I hear the games thing. DoW is mostly just the completist in me getting going-- I bought the game last Christmas break, but my laptop couldn't run it, so now I'm getting the chance to play it, but since I've just started, losing the files won't be a huge deal anyway. I'm not too into multiplayer, and while the 'skirmish' mode is fascinating it gets kind of old rather fast.

That aside, I'm pretty sure I might have to do that complete reinstall. I'll do it tomorrow, though, when I'm more conscious than I am now...

[Elheru Aran]

Okay, some quick details. I went through *everything* that came with my computer; setting aside the MS Office and high-speed Internet disks, I did NOT find any Windows disks. However, I *did* find these disks:

• A disk with the documentation, and drivers, for my monitor
  
  A disk for the hardware drivers in the computer
  
  A disk to 'restore the Operating System'.

Now. The computer will not stay functional long enough for any of these disks to work.

But I did write down the shit it gave me the next time it BSOD'd...

Code: Select all

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. 

If this is the first time you've seen this screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps: 

Disable or uninstall any anti-virus, disk defragmentation, or backup utilities. Check your hard drive configuration, and check for updated drivers. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart. 

Technical Information: 

*** STOP: 0x00000024 (0x001902FE, 0xB83D74AC, 0xB83D71A8, 0xF8404380)

*** Ntfs.sys-- Address F8404380 base at F83E0000, DateStamp 41107eea

Beginning dump of physical memory... 
Physical memory dump complete. 
Contact your system administrator or tech support for further assistance. 

[brianeyci]

Use the "restore" disk. Pop it into your computer before it starts up, and start up your computer. Also, you might need to go into the BIOS to change the boot order. Your computer has to have the ability to boot from a CD, given that you don't have a floppy.

<edit>Oh yeah the restore disk will destroy everything, so make sure you don't want anything on the computer before you do it.</edit>

Brian

[Elheru Aran]

Use the "restore" disk. Pop it into your computer before it starts up, and start up your computer. Also, you might need to go into the BIOS to change the boot order. Your computer has to have the ability to boot from a CD, given that you don't have a floppy.

<edit>Oh yeah the restore disk will destroy everything, so make sure you don't want anything on the computer before you do it.</edit>

Brian

About the only thing that's important is Dawn of War and some pr0n... I guess I can live... I'll go do that, let y'all know if it works. If not... there's gonna be one very mad Elheru

[Xon]

Your harddrive is fucked, either that or your motherboard's IDE controller has gone south.

Do a checkdisk scan ("chkdsk") via the Recovery Console (booting off the Windows XP CD and selecting "R" option). It should pickup bad sectors.

If so, then you need to replace the harddrive. Otherwise it will just fail more often untill it just stops working.

[Elheru Aran]

Your harddrive is fucked, either that or your motherboard's IDE controller has gone south.

Do a checkdisk scan ("chkdsk") via the Recovery Console (booting off the Windows XP CD and selecting "R" option). It should pickup bad sectors.

If so, then you need to replace the harddrive. Otherwise it will just fail more often untill it just stops working.

Gah! I'm gonna kill my roomie, he's the one that recommended this fucking lemon...

[Elheru Aran]

Just tried rebooting with the reinstall disk in the drive. It Did Not Work. It booted up as it normally would. What do I do now, F2 or F12 just as it boots?

EDIT: And what action do I select thereof?

[brianeyci]

The CD may not be bootable. Or, you may not have set the boot options in your BIOS. Usually, it is F1 or delete to get into the BIOS, although it might be something else. Mine is F10. Does it say "Press F12 to enter Setup" or something like that? Do it, and change the boot priority so CD-ROM or Removable Device is first, before hard disk. Then save settings and try again. If it doesn't work chances are you don't have a bootable CD in the drive.

Maybe try taking out the hard drive, and doing the chkdsk thing by hooking up the hard drive to another computer, and chkdsk from the other computer. This might be complicated since you might need to change jumper settings.

Brian