Bohica

Hi,

I have a similar if not identical problem:

Gigabyte P35-DS4
Intel Q6600
Crucial Ballistix PC-8500 DDR2 1066 2 x 1GB
Nvidia 8600 GTS
Seagate 500G/32MBx3 in SATA raid config

I am experiencing the same problems you describe. After about a month of use since I built the system in end Dec 2007, I've been getting BSODs. I used memtest86 and found errors just like 0siris85.

So I changed both of my Crucial Modules at the dealer. Worked fine for the last 3 weeks. I left the system running over last night. In the morning it was in a reboot condition and I've not been able to get it past a BSOD.

Running memtest in the morning showed an error. No error this evening but windows won't boot. Could have damaged my raid array.

Based on a response to 0siris85's problem - which indicated that this may due to a P35 chipset instability, I've lowered the memory speed to 800MHz to see if this fixes the problem.

My CPU temps are under 25deg/core.

Are all using Gigabyte boards? Could this be the problem?

dai

when you are testing the ram are you testing one stick at a time
most m/b default the voltage of the ram at 1.8v where as it needs to be higher usually around 2.2v
check the voltage range for your ram and see if you can lift it up
when you receive a bsod error message post it in full

Computer_Doctor

memory compatible with motherboard could be an issue. Im not 100% sure but I guess I have to do more research on this.

Bohica

What I've done so far:

Set VDD to 2.1
System cored/BSoD first due to a Memory Management fault.
(NB. Sorry was not able to paste the full stop error codes at the moment)

rebooted. Ran OK for 5 hours or so.
System cored due to "no spinlock available".

Set VDD to 2.2
In BIOS Set RAM Overclock Option to "Option 2" <- whatever that is.
Worked for about 10 hours.

Some tasks started to have some unusual errors. CRC Failures, etc.

Tried to run prime95. Cored on 0x024 !! (NTFS Error)

Booted into Memtest86 CD. Flood of errors. Unending.

Set ram to run at 800Hz,
Rebooted - memtest 86 = no errors. Ran for about 10 mins.

Set ram to run at 1066
rebooted - memtest 86 = no errors.

I have come to the point that I just want my system to be stable. Crucial Ballistix and Gigabyte apparently do not work together.

Your advice/recommendations on one of the two Options:

Option 1

Use (supposed inferior) Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 RAM. Its the only other 1066 ram available other than Crucial {Tracer|Ballistix} at a similar price point at the moment.

Reading various sites give me the impression that this will not be a step in the right direction either.

Option 2

Go for the Corsair 2 x 1GB DDR2-800 which is reported to at least exhibit some stability.

Any help suggestions/appreciated.

I've never had such a bad experience on a ram/motherboard combo.

Thanks.

dai

0x024 !! (NTFS Error)
run
chkdsk /r
Booted into Memtest86 CD. Flood of errors. Unending.
are you running it with only 1 stick in

Bohica

I stopped the auto reboot after a crash, so the system does not get corrupted anymore.

Chkdsk/r reports no errors.

Because of the ram problems, you can't rely on any of the BSODs. The Stop 0x01d (no-spinlocks-avaialble) should probably occur very rarely.

Am running with both sticks. Besides isolating a faulty stick, would this be useful some other way?

By the way, this is the second set of ballastix ram I am using.

I ran prime over the evening and the system BSODed with a 0xc5 in the night.

Memtest 86 is showing unending errors again.

dai

i have asked someone else to come in on th the thread

linderman

Hello:


your troubles are not the result of a giga board and crucial ram / I both both and they are both as good as can be found in the computer world!


you may have a bad board but we need to isolate that first


first question that strikes me right off ; you have listed all your "stuff" with pride but no power supply make and model ????? thats the foundation of the whole skyscraper ?

we need that >>>>>> big time so we can rule out power instability which is a memory & hard drive killer!

next you should be doing all your testing in DOS mode or you will soon kill your OS from instability

you need to test each stick of memory ONE stick at a time with memtest for two hours >>>>> not just to isolate which stick is bad but also because many times two defective sticks can team up together to not produce too many errors !

you could test these sticks in other computers to hurry the final result ?

but above all; test them one stick at a time

next = hard drives

go to the hard drive manufacturers website and get their bootable diagnostic utility and make sure to run both short and extended tests on both of your raid drives >>>>>> unplug the power from one of the drives and run the test on the remaing powered drive / then swap it the other way


post back with the results of these tests


I believe there are also some cpu/memory stress testers on the Ultimate Boot CD which will help verify if your system is stable once you replace the defective parts >>>> two weeks ago I worked on a system which responded the exact same way you described, it was a defective hard drive

Bohica

My power supply is a Amcronix 550W with dual 12V rails. Is it insufficient?

Gigabyte support asked me to upgrade the bios to the F12 version which I have done, but the problem still persists.

I ran the test memtest86+ program from its self-booting CD.

The problem is that the errors do not manifest themselves immediately. I have run memtest for 10-20 passes (each pass about 20 mins), with no problems.

I have another bootable HDD, so am not too concerned with corrupting the OS.

With nothing much else to try, I have since run one stick at a time.

After an hour or so of operation, in both cases, the computer hangs or I get a BSOD. After such an occurance, when I boot with the memtest86 CD, I get an unending stream of errors.

Unfortunately, I don't have another DDR2 machine available for separate testing.

To simplify matters I will use only 1 HDD for future testing, and unplug the rest.

I will try the HDD tests from the manufacturer and post the results.

linderman

I would change your Power supply asap and keep your fingers crossed it didnt damage anything permanently

you should be looking for thermaltake Toughpower 750 watt (only toughpower)

OCZ 700 watt

Corsair TX-750

Coolermaster Real power Pro 750 watt (only real power series)

cheap power supplies have dirty power / they can trash a motherboard very easily

the power supply is the foundation of your system, ALL new components are VERY finicky about "perfect" power

keep us posted

Bohica

Report on testing.

1. Took out *ALL* the hardisks. Test config is as follows:

P35-DS4 Motherboard V2.0
Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz
Crucial Ballistix PC-8500 1066 1GB DIMM @2.2V x 2pcs = 2GB
LG Optical Drive (IDE)
Ge Force 8600 GT PCIE Card
Floppy Drive (not used)
Amacrox(*2) 550W PSU

2. Ran Memtest86+ V2.2 for 5 hours with both DIMMS == No errors
3. Ran Memtest86+ V2.2 for 2 hours with DIMM#1 in slot #1 == No errors
4. Ran Memtest86+ V2.2 for 2 hours with DIMM#2 in slot #2 == No errors
5. Ran Prime from UBCD(*1) for 9hours 15 mins == Segmentation Fault
- I tried to remove the CD at this point but could not.
6. Reset PC and ran Memtest86+ V1.7 from UBCD == errors (Power not cycled)
7. Reset PC and ran Memtest86+ V1.7 from UBCD == errors (Power not cycled)
8. Shutdown PC and rebooted (power cycled)
9 Ran Memtest86+ V1.7 from UBCD == No Errors for about 15 mins. It is still running.


(*1) Ultimate Boot CD
(*2) This is the correct name - Note that the power supply has been operating without problems for about 6 months in an older Asus 3.2 GHz P4 system with even higher power requirements.

linderman

go to the hard drive manufacturers website and get their bootable diagnostic utility and make sure to run both short and extended tests on both of your raid drives >>>>>> unplug the power from one of the drives and run the test on the remaing powered drive / then swap it the other way

Krukke

Case: Antec Nine Hundred
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
RAM: Crucial BallistiX Tracer PC2-8500 4 GB KIT (4x1024)
Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 (rev 1.0)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Graficscard: MSI GeForce 8800 GTS 512 MB OC
Powersupply: OCZ GameXStream 700 Watt
Harddrive: Samsung SpinPoint T166 500 GB SATA
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9500LED

This is my setup and i have the exact same problems... Blue screen after Bluescreen after Bluescreen. I have reinstalled windows like 20 times to atleast make it work for a while and after a while something crashes and makes the computer not beeing able to boot 100%. I tried to remove 2 of the RAM chips so i had 2gb instead of 4gb. It was stable for some days and then it all began AGAIN. Please reply if you know what i gotta do.

linderman

try running memtest with one stick of memory only per test / run the test at least two hours

did you bump your memory voltage to 2.1 volts ???? enter the bios MIT section and add .3v to your memory


the single stick of memory must be in the slot closest to the cpu


I have the same motherboard and dont have your problems; hopefully we will find your culprit

post back with the results of your memtest