My Dell Dimension XPS B733r computer running Windows 2000 crashes from time
to time with the following unhelpful message:
*** Hardward Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
*** The system has halted ***
That's the full text of the message, there's no other information given when
the machine crashes.
There's also nothing in the event log that would seem helpful - at least not to
me! All of the messages in the even log appear to be from after the restart
rather than just before the crash.
Also of note is that I have SBC DSL. Interestingly, when I look in the control
panel I supposedly have a LNE100TX Fast Ethernet Adapter Version 1.0. But if
I actually open up my computer and look at the card, it's a Kingston adapter,
not Linksys. So one thought is that I have the wrong driver installed or
something like that. But my computer actually does work, sometimes for days
at a stretch, sometimes only for hours, so it's not like the driver doesn't
work at all. Maybe the Kingston and Linksys cards are actually the same
hardware marketed under different brands, or somehow work with the same
driver in any case.
Anyway - I do have the suspicion that my problems are somehow related to my
SBC DSL connection, so I'm hopping that it's perhaps a known problem. Then
again, the whole ethernet/DSL thing might be a total red herring!
Of course I could call Dell or SBC, but I figured I'd give Google a try first.
Any ideas??
Thanks! |
Request for Question Clarification by
pwizard-ga
on
14 Apr 2003 06:13 PDT
Greetings beankinds,
I assume that when you receive this error, it's at a blue screen which
causes Windows to then need to be rebooted? Are there any numbers on
the screen that accompany this error?
Usually when Windows 2000 encounters a blue screen crash, it writes a
memory dump, then records a "bugcheck" to the error log. This bugcheck
could provide us with very useful error codes that could help
determine what might have caused the problem. Please look in your
Event Viewer in the system log for a entry called "Save Dump" (should
be at the time the system came back up). Please leave the information
from that log here if you have it. If your computer is not creating a
dump file, it may be disabled. You can turn it on through the system
properties. Right-click My Computer, properties, Advanced, Startup and
Recovery. Under "Write Debugging Information" tell it to save a small
memory dump.
If you can find this information, I'm sure one of us can help you
further. Thanks!
-PWizard
|
Clarification of Question by
beankinds-ga
on
14 Apr 2003 19:53 PDT
Greetings PWizard,
> I assume that when you receive this error, it's at a blue screen which
> causes Windows to then need to be rebooted?
Yep.
> Are there any numbers on the screen that accompany this error?
Nope.
> Usually when Windows 2000 encounters a blue screen crash, it writes a
> memory dump, then records a "bugcheck" to the error log. This bugcheck
> could provide us with very useful error codes that could help
> determine what might have caused the problem. Please look in your
> Event Viewer in the system log for a entry called "Save Dump" (should
> be at the time the system came back up). Please leave the information
> from that log here if you have it.
There's no "Save Dump" event. The most recent dump file is from
12/15/2002, but my most recent crash was yesterday.
> If your computer is not creating a dump file, it may be
> disabled. You can turn it on through the system
> properties. Right-click My Computer, properties, Advanced, Startup
> and Recovery. Under "Write Debugging Information" tell it to save a
> small memory dump.
Dumping is enabled.
Maybe some of the events from the event log would be of interest.
There are none just before the crash, but there are several from the
restart (no save dump events, tho):
Type Date Time Source Category Event
Error 4/13/2003 2:30:55 PM Server None 2504
Error 4/13/2003 2:30:51 PM Dhcp None 1002
Info 4/13/2003 2:30:51 PM Tcpip None 4201
Warning 4/13/2003 2:27:48 PM Dhcp None 1007
Error 4/13/2003 2:26:29 PM serial None 40
Error 4/13/2003 2:26:44 PM Server None 2506
Info 4/13/2003 2:26:43 PM eventlog None 6005
Info 4/13/2003 2:26:43 PM eventlog None 6009
Error 4/13/2003 2:26:44 PM Service Control Manager None 7000
I assume the event codes map to much more informative messages.
Does any of this shed any light?
Beankinds
|
Clarification of Question by
beankinds-ga
on
14 Apr 2003 19:55 PDT
Here's that event log with spaces instead of tabs so things line up:
Type Date Time Source
Category Event
Error 4/13/2003 2:30:55 PM Server None
2504
Error 4/13/2003 2:30:51 PM Dhcp None
1002
Info 4/13/2003 2:30:51 PM Tcpip None
4201
Warning 4/13/2003 2:27:48 PM Dhcp None
1007
Error 4/13/2003 2:26:29 PM serial None
40
Error 4/13/2003 2:26:44 PM Server None
2506
Info 4/13/2003 2:26:43 PM eventlog None
6005
Info 4/13/2003 2:26:43 PM eventlog None
6009
Error 4/13/2003 2:26:44 PM Service Control Manager None
7000
|
Request for Question Clarification by
pwizard-ga
on
15 Apr 2003 04:50 PDT
That's odd that a save dump is not being created, especially after a
blue screen crash. I wonder if there truly is something wrong with a
piece of hardware in your computer (save dumps are usually created
when a software error occurs). Is your ethernet card onboard or a
separate PCI device? If you suspect the network card, I would try
replacing it if it's a PCI device (if you have an extra one lying
around as many people do) just to rule that out.
Otherwise, it may be a difficult experience trying to narrow down what
might be causing the hardware problem. I'm not sure if DELL has a
hardware level software utility that can troubleshoot all the
components and test for integrity. If they do, I doubt that it's
available to the public. You might have to bring it to a authorized
DELL repair shop and let them run some diagnostics on it to see where
the problem lies.
One other thing you can try in the software is to update to Service
Pack 3 for Windows 2000 if you haven't already. Regarding those errors
upon restart that you show, as long as everything seems to be working
ok after it reboots, there's probably nothing there that will help
troubleshoot the problem. Looks like you just have a few things not
starting up, but they might be things that you don't use regardless.
If something critical wasn't starting back up (like the network device
or something) then your DSL or other things wouldn't work properly.
Also, sometimes after a crash like that, the system is delayed in
coming back up so some services do not start back up immediately and
log errors until they're able to restart.
-PWizard
|
Request for Question Clarification by
pwizard-ga
on
15 Apr 2003 06:01 PDT
Another thing you can try if you suspect the network device is to
either disable it in the BIOS (onboard) or remove it (PCI) and run
without it for a while to see if the error still occurs. This will
eliminate it immediately. Only down side is that you'll have no
Internet during this process. At least you'll know more about the
problem though.
-PWizard
|
