How to diagnose computer lockups and freezes?

Question

I built a desktop computer a couple years back with the following specs:

• CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz 6 MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80580Q9300
• Motherboard: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
• Video Card: Two EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SCC 256 MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card
• PSU: SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus SS-550HT 550W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
• Memory: Two G.SKILL 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ

Since its inception, the machine has periodically locked up, the regularity having varied over the years from once a day to once a month. Typically, lockups happen once every few days.

By "lockup" I mean my computer just freezes. The screen locks up, I can't move the mouse. Hitting keys on my keyboard that normally turn LEDs on or off on the keyboard (such as Caps Lock) no longer turn the LEDs on or off. If there was music playing at the time of the lockup, noise keeps coming out of the speakers, but it's just the current frequency/note that plays indefinitely. There is no BSOD.

When such a lockup occurs I have to do a hard reboot by either turning off the computer or hitting the reset button.

I have the most recent version of the NVIDIA hardware drivers, and update them semi-regularly, but that hasn't seemed to help. I am currently using Windows 7 x64, but was previously using Windows Server 2003 x64 and having the same lockup issues.

My guess is that it's somehow video driver or motherboard related, but I don't know how to go about diagnosing this problem to narrow down which of the two is the culprit.

---

Additional information re: cooling Regarding cooling... I've not installed any after-market cooling systems aside from two regular fans I scavenged from an older computer. The fan atop the CPU is the one that shipped with it. One of the two scavenged fans I added it located at the bottom tower of the corner, in an attempt to create some airflow from front to back. The second fan is pointed directly at the two video cards.

---

SpeedFan installation and readings Per studiohack's suggestion, I installed SpeedFan, which provided the following temperature readings:

• GPU: 63C
• GPU: 65C
• System: 76C
• CPU: 64C
• AUX: 36C
• Core 0: 78C
• Core 1: 76C
• Core 2: 79C
• Core 3: 79C

---

Update #3: Another Lockup :-( Well, I had another lockup last night. :-( SpeedFan reported the CPU temp at 38 C when it happened, and there was no spike in temperature leading up to the freeze.

One thing I notice is that the freeze seems more likely to happen if I am watching a video. In fact, of the last 5 freezes over the past month, 4 of them have been while watching a video on Flickr. Not necessarily the same video, but a video nevertheless. I don't know if this is just coincidence or if it means anything. (As an aside, each night before bedtime my 2 year old daughter sits on my lap and watches some home videos on Flickr and, in the last month, has learned the phrase, "Uh oh, computer broke.")

---

Update #4: MemTest86 and 3DMark06 Test Results:

Per suggestions in the comments, I ran the MemTest86 overnight and it cycled through the 8 GB of memory 5 times without error. I also ran the 3DMark06 test without a problem (see my scores at http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15163549).

So... what now? :-)

Any further suggestions on what to check? Is there some way to get a stack trace or something when the computer locks like that?

Resolution

I have never did figure out the particular problems, but based on the suggestions here and elsewhere, I'm presuming it was a motherboard issue. In any event, I recently upgraded my system, buying a new motherbeard, PSU, CPU, and RAM, and that new rig has been working splendidly the past several weeks. I am using the same graphic cards as in the old setup, so I think it's safe to reason that they weren't the cause of the problem.

Solution 1

Judging by what you posted temp and cooling wise your computer is overheating and that's the first thing to rectify. 64 C on an idle load is not acceptable and isn't really preferred with a full load. I'm a little paranoid and freak out whenever my CPU get over 35, but really 50 should be your max on a load.

Invest in a good cooling solution for your system. A pretty decent system will only set you back 20 to 30 dollars. If you are looking for some help on what to look for take a look at this Tom's Hardware review of sub $40 cooling solutions.

Also you might want to enable your Blue Screen of Death (as terrible as that sounds) so that you can debug the problematic lockups. This is done by:

--> right clicking on "Computer" from the start menu

--> Select "Properties"

--> Select "Advanced System Settings"

--> Select the "Advanced" Tab

--> Select the "Startup and Recovery"

--> Make sure that "Write an event to the system log" is enabled.

Sometimes there are cleaners that automatically stop BSOD's from recording (Advanced System Care) and you might want to look into preventing that. Once you've checked this issue, then I suggest using NirSoft's BlueScreenView to view the crash details/debug related issues.

Finally, I would check and recheck your PC and ALL of your connections. I actually had a similar situation and found out that one of the internal motherboard USB cables was incorrectly connected, thus causing issues.

Update

I have put together some questions for general troubleshooting and diagnosis of crashes or freezes. Please refer to them as well, as they may also help you in your search for the issue.

• Forcing a crash to create a dump

• Troubleshooting via Dump reports

• Troubleshooting hardware related crashes

Solution 2

Hard system freezes (where you can't use hotkeys like CTRL+ALT+DEL) are caused by hanging drivers,
so you will have to either replace the device or update the driver. Troubleshooting can be done:

1. Download the setup from Windows Performance Analysis Tools for your Windows version.
2. Install the software on your system.

3. Open a command prompt as administrator, and copy paste the next command:

   xperf -start perf!GeneralProfiles.InBuffer && timeout -1 && xperf -stop perf!GeneralProfiles.InBuffer myTrace.etl
   

4. Press ENTER once to start the command, now you will have to wait till your system hangs.
   You can do whatever you want to. Please no heavy activity like gaming or private things...

5. Right after your system stops hanging you go to the console and press ENTER.
6. After waiting some time a log file myTrace.etl will be produced, compress this to a zip file.
7. Put this compressed version of the file somewhere online (perhaps 2shared).
8. Share the link here, I will do an attempt to find and show you the cause of your problem.

Solution 3

If it has been a couple of years since the computer was built, then a thorough cleaning would be a good course of action. Remove all dust from the fans, heat sinks, boards and corners. The most important parts are the CPU heat sinks and fans. Compressed air is good for this purpose, but a vacuum cleaner may be healthier in the long run. Doing this thoroughly will greatly reduce the ventilation and reduce heat.

Heat should not have been an issue with a new computer, unless it is kept in a very warm and poorly ventilated room (or cabinet). CPU manufactures anticipate their products being used in varying conditions and even the stock heat sink and fan are made to enable the product to work under most circumstances.

Since you've had the issues since you built it i tend to lean towards a failure in one of the components. Based on the issues described i am leaning towards a faulty motherboard, just based on my own experience.

Solution 4

Probably a video card problem, replaced lots of 8600GTs (G84). It was a big flop on NVIDIA's side, esp. in laptop(8x00M) series.

GPU temp of 65°C seems too high if it was idle.

Run five minute burn-in test with Furmark; if it hangs - video card is culprit.

Problems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_8_Series#Problems

Furmark http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

Solution 5

I went through this process last year.

First thing is to determine if it's hardware or software. That means running two different OSes on it. In my case, my primary installation was linux, and it was freezing at random - similar to what you describe. Sometimes every 5 minutes, other times it would go for several days.

I eventually installed Windows on it, which experienced the same problems. When I rebooted, and it hung during the post, I returned the MB and have not had a problem since.

As part of the debugging process, I also tried different video drivers - the generic, non-accelerated drivers did not freeze as often. I also installed temp. monitoring utilities, and reviewed logs to see if there was anything common happening before the freeze. Since it was hardware, and apparently random, I never did find any way to reliably cause the problem, but that should be your goal.

View more solutions

Comments

[Prerak Diwan]

first word that comes to mind is heat... how are you keeping the system cool?

[Scott Mitchell]

@KronoS: I edited my question to include the cooling situation. Note that I am not using any CPU temperature monitoring software.

[studiohack]

You should install SpeedFan and let us know the temps...

[mindless.panda]

When I've had these problems they've been caused by problems with drivers for chipsets on motherboard, north/south bridge or hard drive related. I'd look into updating these drivers.

[100rabh]

@Scott Download 3dMark '06 & FurMark let it run for couple of hours. Report any crashes. If it does crash, use only 1 video card at a time

[Prerak Diwan]

@Scott Mitchell...Also I suggest running Memtest for at least 3-4 passes, if not more...

[Scott Mitchell]

@Sathya and @Kronos: I ran both MemTest and 3dMark06 without a problem (see my updated question). Thanks

[JJ_Australia]

@Scott: Try using RealTemp instead of SpeedFan.

[Prerak Diwan]

@ScottMitchell Any more changes/updates?

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

possible duplicate of How do I troubleshoot a Windows 7 freeze or slowness?

[Prerak Diwan]

I'm not exactly sure what you are suggesting here?

[Scott Mitchell]

@KronoS: Do you have any recommended cooling systems you care to share?

[Prerak Diwan]

@ScottMitchell... updated answer. I highly recommend that you do your research though as each Super User's situation is different.

[Scott Mitchell]

As I noted in my question, this problem of freezing up has been occurring with some regularity since I built the computer. Sadly, it is not a recent occurrence.

[Xantec]

correct. which is why i lean towards a faulty piece of equipment rather than heat, as heat should not have been an issue when you first built it (unless where you keep the computer is very warm to start with)

[100rabh]

@ScottMitchell I'd recommend you change the thermal interface material (TIM aka thermal paste) first before adding any external cooling. Also, check for dust coating on fans / grills / vents and clear them off using a blast of compressed air can.

[Scott Mitchell]

@Sathya: Thank you for the suggestion. I cracked the case last week and had the computer run for a day with an open case and the temps dropped into the 40s. This morning I inspected the CPU's existing cooling system and noticed a lot of dust covering the grills underneath the fan, so I cleaned those up. I put the case back on and we'll see if the temps stay low and if that helps prevent future freeze ups. (If so, I'll mark this as the answer...)

[100rabh]

@Scott Ah glad to hear, do keep us updated.

[Scott Mitchell]

@Sathya / @KronoS: Well, the computer locked up again, this time while at a cool 38 C and with no spike in temperature preceding the freeze. I've updated my question with a description of the problem and further thoughts. :-(

[Scott Mitchell]

@chris: The problem has been around since I built the computer. Initially I was using Windows Server 2003, later I upgraded to Windows 7. With both OSes I have experienced these freezes/lockups.

[chris]

@Scott - Are you monitoring the GPU temps as well? If multiple OSes experience the same problem, I'd lean towards hardware, although I'd guess that both are using the same video driver. Have you tried removing one of the video cards, and seeing if you can narrow it down to a specific card?

[Scott Mitchell]

@chris: More than a year ago I did run with just one video card and experienced a freeze within a week. I then swapped them out and got a freeze as well (within a week). Hardly a rigorous test, but I thought it at least proved that the problem wasn't the video card itself.

[chris]

Well, if you make the assumption that it's not the video cards, then that leaves memory, motherboard, or software. If you rule out the software due to seeing the problem with both Win7 and Win2003 (which I would not) that leaves memory or MB. Can you swap out the RAM?

[chris]

@Scott - one more thing you could try is removing all of the cards & memory sticks (I'd leave the CPU alone for now), cleaning the contacts, and adding a contact enhancer like stabilant.com

[Scott Mitchell]

@KronoS: The "Write an event to the system log" is already checked.

[100rabh]

@Scott can you try running on one set of RAM sticks ?

[Prerak Diwan]

@Scott I agree with @Sathya as having a Large amount of RAM for testing can lead to "false positives" in essence.

[Irwan Mulyawan]

Disk problems almost always worsen over time, which is not the case from the description.

[Neetu]

@Flotsam Good point. A flaky hard drive would probably be dead after a few years. Perhaps a flaky RAID controller then. The event logs could still provide some good hints.

[Scott Mitchell]

Question re: step 5 - what do I do if the system never stops hanging until I reboot the machine?

[Tamara Wijsman]

@ScottMitchell: Try creating a manual crash dump instead in that case.

[Ярослав Рахматуллин]

Not terrible advice but not on the spot for this configuration and described symptoms.

[Austin T French]

Thats a guess, although a decent one. But it could also be power, an individual component failing, heat somewhere besides the CPU (GPU, Hard Drive) It could also just be a bad install.

[Scott - Слава Україні]

I can believe that you might know what you’re talking about, but I can’t understand what you’re saying. Please edit your answer to clarify –– I’ve given you a start. For example: “Do it five or six times …” –– do what? “We do it 10 times …” –– do what, and who are “we”? Also, please clarify what you are saying that Sathya♦ didn’t already say in his comment on Dec 10, 2010 at 21:36.