Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Add Reply
My AMD64X2 is seriously poorly
Topic Started: Jan 27 2010, 10:20 AM (417 Views)
Gina
Member Avatar

It stopped working between 0600 - 0700 according to my weather website although the weathercam updates stopped a few hours before. So... Sorry - no weather website updates since early morning :( I'm using my no.2 desktop - 5yr old P4 (Medion by Aldi). Running the development version of Ubuntu - Lucid Lynx.

Firstly, UE2.3 wouldn't start so I ran it in recovery mode. Display said HD error and ran checkdisk which it completed. Then let it resume booting normally. It wouldn't. So I tried to boot from USB stick - it wouldn't saying No CDROM. Tried the F11 at start-up to change boot device - still tried HD and DVD drive where it didn't find a CD/DVD.

Got into BIOS setup (Del) OK and set HD priority to USB stick (which it finds, no problem) and saved/rebooted. NOPE!!! Still tried to boot from CDROM! :(

So I need to find a Live CD/DVD (which are around somewhere! :lol ). Having a break from it ATM.

If that won't work, I'll try connecting the HD to um... oh... um... Medion P4 in place of one of the internal ones (no spare SATA ports). Then see if I can recover the data.

I AM AN IDIOT!! I've gone against my main principle of backing up frequently - I got carried away with developing G-Weather and the associated web site. So a data recovery process is going to be my priority today as far as computer stuff is concerned. I'll probably do other things while my mind is considering the best course of action in the background.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Gina
Member Avatar

I've been saved! :) After leaving the AMD64 turned off for a few hours and having found a Live CD. I put the CD in the drive just after switching on and the machine booted fine - from the HD in Lucid. So I'm running a complete backup of my data to NAS drive. It's got about 2mins to go.

So! I've been warned not to neglect backing up :lol I will take the warning on board and be more careful in future.

I think the AMD64 problem is most like overheating somewhere - but not the processor - the BIOS shows CPU temp and it was 27C. That was before I switched off and with the machine refusing to boot. I'll have to see what else I can monitor. I already have HD and case monitoring on the front panel, in addition to CPU. The case has 2 additional fans with manual controls. I've now turned them up to full speed, so we'll see if that cures the problem. It's running OK ATM in Lucid. I'll try OE 2.3 once the backup has finished.

The backup found an error "missing file" so there might be something wrong with the hard drive. I'll run another fsck.
Edited by Gina, Jan 27 2010, 03:26 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
chrislane62

Ode To Your Computer...

If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,
And the bus is interrupted as a very last resort,
And the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort,
Then the socket packet pocket has an error to report.

If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash,
And the double clicking icon puts your window in the trash,
And your data is corrupted 'cause the index doesn't hash,
Then your situation's hopeless and your system's gonna crash.

If the label on the cable on the table at your house,
Says the network is connected to the button on your mouse,
But your packets want to tunnel on another protocol,
That's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall,

And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss,
So your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse,
Then you may as well reboot it, and let it go out with a bang,
'Cause as sure as I'm a poet, the sucker's gonna hang.

When the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy on the disk,
And the micro-code instructions cause unnecessary risk,
Then you have to flash your memory and you'll want to ram your ROM,
So quickly turn off your compu...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Gina
Member Avatar

Very good Chris :lol :lol
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Phaedrus
Member Avatar

Its about time you got another computer anyway :rofl
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Gina
Member Avatar

:rofl Don't you think 5 is enough? Oh, OK four and a half :lol I do have a "new" 2nd hand one :) Think I'll start playing with that :lol

I increased the cooling and the machine has been running fine for a couple of days but now it's failed again :( So it looks like further investigation is needed. Time for a re-arrangement of boxes!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
John
Member Avatar

Unless you live in a fridge Gina i cant see it being 27 degrees my X2 4200+ (which now lives at the mother in laws) with 2x 120mm fans and a 92mm freezer pro idles at 44 degrees.

For comparison my quad core intel processor with 2x 120mm case fans, 1 80mm case fan and a 92mm freezer pro HSF is currently idleing 600MHz down from its load speed at 30c and this is a 45nm chip.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Gina
Member Avatar

This place certainly feels like a fridge at times, John :lol But I do tend to get very varied temperature reading at times.

Had my AMD64 running Lucid all day and the webcam app for my WeatherCam. No problem. UE 2.3 won't run at all. So it's either just data corruption or my HD is failing. I've made a complete backup of my /home partition but found quite a number of empty files. These were my G-Weather web pages that I'd been working on recently - fortunately I could recover these from my web site.

I think I'll wipe my UE 2.3 and install Mint in those partitions (system and home) and see how it goes.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
John
Member Avatar

i would use speed fan just to see if the readings are correct, the BIOS may be reading from the external sensor which can be miles off.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Phaedrus
Member Avatar

Are you running any software to get temp readings? hddtemp is in the repos or sensors-applet or whatever to get a second opinion?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
John
Member Avatar

speedfan is currently showing my WD Green Power HDDs at 31c and 32c and they have great air flow around them so if you run speedfan or whatever you will see how hot your drives are, that might indicate a problem.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Gina
Member Avatar

I have both hardware and software to get temperature readings, CPU, HD and case (well only the hardware measures case temp). No high temps indicated and after taking the case side off and feeling things, I can't find anything running particularly hot. So I've come to the conclusion that overheating is not the problem after all.

The weathercam has been running for well over 24 hrs and not died once. I now think it was either a software problem or a part of the HD. I'll be running tests later to see which.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
John
Member Avatar

it isnt under load though which is when a heat problem would rear its head (although i am not saying yours is deffo owt to do with heat)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Computer Chat · Next Topic »
Add Reply