Toubleshooting tips and tweaks

**ravi_mishra** · 02-10-2005

I thought perhaps a few tips might help.......

GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING

Symptom: The system's fan is whining loudly.

Solution: A loud fan can be the result of a number of minor problems. The common cause is dirt. A dirty fan, clogged with dust, is highly inefficient and works harder to handle its cooling duties. As the fan struggles to cool the system, it produces the whirring sound. A quick cleaning should do the trick. If the fan is new and you're still hearing a loud whirring, your problem may be "ambient heat." You need to operate your PC in a cool environment. Many PCs get louder as they get hotter, with the fans spinning faster to keep the system cool. Be certain your PC is clean and cool and you'll run trouble-free.

Symptom: Your PC spontaneously reboots.

Solution: A long-standing mystery solved! If rebooting occurs in a PC that you've just built, try re-seating your CPU's heat sink. Make sure you're using the proper thermal gel and spread it evenly between the heat sink and the processor. If inadequate amounts of gel have been applied or low-quality gel has been used, the system will reboot as the CPU heats up---and builds in the uneven "pockets" created by the uneven gel. Also: check to see if you've removed the protective sticker on the bottom of the heat sink (don't laugh---it happens!). And by all means, make sure your motherboard supports the CPU you're installing. If these steps check out and you're still experiencing spontaneous reboots, your problem may be one of the following: Overclocking: We do not recommend overclocking. Memory Timing: The fix? Go into your BIOS and set your memory on "Auto" or at a more conservative setting and see if the reboot problem goes away. Oudated BIOS: Make sure you have the latest BIOS for your board. You can determine if your CPU is supported by browsing the BIOS updates of the motherboard's manufacturer. If you're running a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition and notice that it's only supported with the latest BIOS updates, you may have located the problem! Inadequate Power: If you've made significant component upgrades---with the exception of the power supply---your power supply may be overstressed or failing due to heat or age. Finally, if you've migrated your OS and other files from machine to machine to machine, it may be time for a clean install.

Symptom: Your Optical Drive (CD or DVD) Runs Slower and Slower....

Solution: Again, the villain may be dirt, since optical drives rarely "slow down" on their own. Optical drives either work---or they don't, so a mechanical problem is ruled out. What most likely has happened is that your dive has accumulated a layer of dirt or dust. Here's the fix: You'll need a can of "spray air" (available everywhere). Eject the disc tray and spray into the drive with short bursts---and be sure to spray at an angle so the dust will be expelled out of the drive. Do not spray continuously or turn the spray can upside down (doing so could introduce moisture into the drive. Repeat this process a few times, then try test the drive.

Symptom: I have four pieces of RAM installed and I'm pretty sure that at least one is bad. What's the best way to test RAM for errors?

Solution: Since you have four pieces of RAM, you can install just one DIMM in your motherboard at a time and run the machine until it crashes. This isn't a completely reliable way to test RAM, though. As an alternative, download Memtest86(www.memtest86.com) and create a bootable CD. Memtest86 does a fair job. It runs several test patterns through the RAM. If a piece of RAM passes these tests, swap it with another DIMM and continue your tests. Even better than Memtest86 is Ultra-X's RAM Stress Test Pro 2, which is a self-booting diagnostic plug-in card. This card uses a comprehensive set of test patterns to assess your memory, and we've found that it finds bad pieces of RAM that other testers miss. Keep in mind that it may not actually be a stick of RAM that's bad. The problem may in fact be a bad DIMM slot. If all four pieces of RAM pass the test, you may have to rerun them in each individual slot on your motherboard. Finally, your motherboard's BIOS usually sets RAM timing by reading the SPD setting on the module. If the SPDs are set too aggressively (we've seen this), it may cause problems. You should consider going into the BIOS and manually tweaking settings such as your CAS latency to a more conservative setting.

**ravi_mishra** · 02-10-2005

Symptom: Sometimes when I play games for a long time, my computer just randomly crashes to the desktop.

Solution: Random crashes in games can be the result of a few different problems. Typically, it's a heat issue, a driver issue, or a problem with the game. The first thing you should do is check for a patch for any of your games that are crashing. It seems like common sense, but frequently we receive complaints from people trying to run games that have been patched three or four times. Once you've updated your games, you need to update your videocard and chipset drivers. Get you videocard driver from the company that manufactured your card's chipset, either ATI or nVidia. You should also check for newer drivers for your motherboard's chipset whenever you update your videocard drivers. Outdated motherboard chipset drivers are one of the main causes of general system instability. If you've updated all your hardware, but are still having problems, you may have a heat issue. Open your case and look at your AGP card. Is there another card right below it? If there is, you should consider moving that card to another slot. A card directly below a high-end videocard can disrupt airflow enough to cause overheating issues with today's top-of-the-line videocards. If freeing the neighboring slot doesn't alleviate your problem, try adding a fan that fits into one of your PCI slots and exhausts hot air from the bottom of your PC.

Symptom: My new Athlon XP system is telling me that my brand-new Athlon XP 3200+ is only any Athlon 2200+!

Solution: It sounds like your motherboard's bus speed is set incorrectly. You see, you probably bought and Athlon XP 3200+ that runs on a 400MHz bus (which is actually a double-pumped 200Mhz bus). For the motherboard to recognize the CPU as a 3200+, the CPU has to run at 2.2GHz, or 2,200MHz. The CPU reaches that speed only if the motherboard is set to an 11 multiplier and with a 200MHz bus. So, 11x200=2200. If your motherboard's frontside bus is set to run at 166MHz, the CPU would boot at 1833MHz. It's no coincidence that this is the same speed at an Athlon XP 2200+. To correct this, reboot your machine and go into the BIOS by hitting DEL or F2 during boot. Look for the section that lets you change the bus speed. Hopefully we're right and it's set for 166MHz. Increase it to 400MHz, save the settings, reboot and you should have a 3200+.

Symptom: My optical drive has suddenly slowed to a crawl reading discs, and it refuses to read some discs.

Solution: Optical drives usually don't expire gradually; most simply stop working without so much as a death rattle. It's much more likely you drive's lens has accumulated a layer of dust.
Get yourself a can of compressed air at the local geek emporium, and eject the disc tray. Spray into the drive with quick, short bursts at an angle (so the dust is more likely to be expelled from the drive). Do not spray continuously or with the can upside down, because that could introduce moisture into the drive. Give the dust a minute to settle, and spray the innards again.

Symptom: I just bought a new PC, and now my PocketPC refuses to connect via the USB port.

Solution: This is a common issue. You'll have to buy a new PocketPC. Just kidding. This problem occurs if you plug your PocketPC in before installing ActiveSync. Check the Device Manager by right-clicking My Computer, selecting Properties, clicking the Hardware tab, and then selecting Device Manager. If you see an Unknown Device entry, delete it by right-clicking it and selecting Uninstall. Restart you PC, install your PocketPCs drivers from the manufacturer's disc, and plug it in again.
PC AUDIO AND MP3S

Symptom: I'm only getting sound out of one speaker.

Solution: This usually happens when the mini-jack coming out of your speakers us not fully plugged into the soundcard input slot. Reversed polarity of a speaker can cause some of the weirdness as well, so make sure the positive terminal on the actual speaker is connected to the positive terminal on the subwoofer (or wherever the speakers connect to the amplifier), and vice versa for the negative terminals. One final possibility: Pet owners should routinely check speaker cables for teeth marks and replace the cables when Mr. Bigglesworth eats through the outer layer.

**ravi_mishra** · 02-10-2005

Symptom: The remote control for my PC speakers suddenly stopped working the other day. I installed new batteries but it still won't work. Is it dead?

Solution: Probably not. It sounds more like a sleeping remote. To wake it up, simply remove the batteries and press every button on the remote in a sequential order. Then just replace the batteries and your remote should work again.

Symptom: Sometimes I'll rip a worn CD, only to find later that some tracks have skips in them.

Solution: This is a common problem, and can be easily fixed. Go to www.exactaudiocopy.de (don't worry-the site is in English). We've brayed about Exact Audio Copy before, and here's why: When Exact Audio Copy rips audio it double-checks that data for accuracy, and if it detects any discrepancies between the original and the rip, it will extract the data again and again until it has determined that the result precisely matches what's on the disc. If the error correction is unable to compensate for a flaw in the disc and the data is irretrievable, Exact Audio Copy will let you know, sparing you from unpleasant surprises later. Oh, and did we mention Exact Audio Copy is free? Life is good.

Symptom: My Creative Labs Jukebox Zen Xtra keeps crashing. Is it broken?

Solution: If a single bit in an MP3 file is out of place or errant for any reason, it can make many MP3 players lock up or crash. You'll know this is the case if your player crashes on the same track every time. If so, you'll have to remove or re-encode the track. If an errant track is not the problem-you'll know this is the case because it won't crash on the same song/s-you may be able to rehabilitate your player be reformatting the drive. You'll find instructions at the Creative Labs web site. Go to Support, click Portable Audio, and select "Troubleshooting the Nomad Jukebox 3 as a Standalone Unit" (also known as Solution ID #7392). Reformatting will delete the contents of your player, of course, so make sure you have all your music backed up before you go for it.

Symptom: I can burn audio CDs and listen to them on my PC, but my portable CD player and car stereo can't recognize them.

Solution: Commercial CDs are literally stamped from extruded masters, creating pits and lands that CD players have been designed to read. Burned CD, however, create darkened areas that mimic the pits and lands of commercial CDs. As you've noticed, not all players-especially older ones-can deal with these kinds of discs. But all is not lost. Your best bet is to burn at a slower speed, 4x or below. This creates slightly more prominent differences between the burned and non-burned areas. If you have a Plextor burner, though, you have an even better option. The bundled Plex Tools includes VariRec, which allows you to subtly alter the burning strength of your optical drives laser. By experimenting with various discs and burning strengths, you will almost certainly find the right combination for your CD player. VariRec is supported by both Nero and Easy CD Creator. We've used it to make audio CDs playable on otherwise uncooperative boom boxes.