Beat Up!
Posted Mon Jan 18, 2010 in
Bloggish
This is an official whine notice. Do not read if you are whine-intolerant!
I’m awake and it’s about 0545. I woke about an hour ago — a dream woke me. There’s something about staring down the business end of a large-bore rifle at close range in confined quarters that will do that, even in a dream.
Startled and awakened, I rolled over and moaned. My old body is complaining from all the times I got on and off the floor yesterday. I snuggled next to Wife, but could quickly tell that there was no more sleep for me, at least for now. So, I rose to find Young Son still awake and at the computer. We chatted for a few minutes while I explained yesterday’s computer exercise. Then he was off to bed. So, now I’m left with a (very) quiet house. The coffee is good, but I think this will be a really slow day for me.
My intent was to upgrade my Winder$ box. I wanted to max-out the processors, get the RAM up to 4GB, and install a larger primary drive. I bought a matched pair (whatever that means) of Opteron 290s from an eBay vendor. I picked up four sticks of 2GB DDR400 ECC-registered RAM. (Yep, server memory — I have a server board for a desktop.) I had a set of discount coupons from Best Buy.
Wife and I sojourned to Wally-World to pick up a few groceries yesterday morning (relatively early). We returned home, unloaded the groceries (much bad weather expected this week), and I napped for a few minutes. When I woke, I decided to take advantage of my coupons and pick up a SATA drive in the 250–500GB range. Wife and I drove to the local Best Buy (maybe a mile from here) and shopped. She wanted to pick up a digital photograph frame for her folks and I needed the drive. We found what we wanted and returned home.
I started the process of disassembling the box. When replacing processors, I’m very careful with the electronics and the cooling system. I smoked one processor in all the time I’ve worked on computers. I don’t like to do that. I couldn’t remove the heatsinks from the processors on the board, so I lifted the processor-retaining levers and pulled the processors and heatsinks as a unit. A little prying against the corner broke the capillary seal between the processor and heatsink and they were freed.
I cleaned the thermal grease from the heatsinks, checked them for scratches (clean), then installed the new processors, greased them up, and fastened the heatsinks in-place. I triple-checked that the fans were properly connected to the motherboard.
The memory went in next. That was easy. I pulled the old drive and installed the new one. That was also easy. (Now I sound like a Staples commercial!)
What followed was an extended troubleshooting session. I used to enjoy the process of figuring out what was wrong and then fixing it. I don’t anymore. I suspect that’s because my time is limited and working on the system is not an end but a means. Add to that fact that I’m getting old.
It sucks, I’m cranky… so bite me.
After a few failed attempts, I worked back to reducing the number of variables to the minimum. This is standard troubleshooting protocol. I pulled the drive and the RAM. The things worked fine.
I added the drive back to the mix. Things seemed to be working fine. I installed 64-bit Windows 7. OK.
I put the RAM back into the sockets. Problems…
So, I did some research on the ‘net and found that the Tyan S2895 motherboard is rated for DDR400 RAM, but some Opteron processor can’t handle that speed so it has to be backed of in the BIOS. I turned down the memory speed to DDR333 and rebooted. The system “seemed” stable.
I decided to upgrade the video driver. The stock driver won’t support two monitors (for some reason).
BAM! BSOD! #$%^##!!!!
So, the system is now back to unbootable and I didn’t set a system restore point. Winder$ NOOB!
After a couple more hours of work, I got everything working once again. I installed a few of my programs (not too much, not yet). I fired up World of Warcraft (no new install required — Yay!) and it ran fine.
By this time, it was about 2100 and I was tired. I’d been on and off the floor more times than I care count. The stress of having a machine down was not good. The uncertainty of a machine that is not rock-solid stable is not good.
I decided to downgrade the video drivers. My intuition is that the most recent version is not quite stable with my system. They should be, because I cannot imagine I’m the only person running 64-bit Winder$ 7 on my system. But, that is my intuition.
I decided to quit about 2200 and just let the system run for a couple of days. Here’s what I’m thinking.
- The motherboard driver has not been updated. I’m using the Winder$ out-of-the-box driver for my motherboard. Tyan has updated drivers, but I have not installed them. That can be an issue.
- The RAM is not on the officially-approved (tested) list. It’s got the ratings, but is not on the list.
- The system manual says that 2GB sticks (with appropriate specifications) should work. However, at the time the motherboard was manufactured, 2GB sticks were extremely rare and very expensive. Therefore, they were not tested. However, the WHQL tested a number of 2GB products with my motherboard. My memory is not on that list.
- I’m still not sure about the video drivers.
At this point, the system isn’t quite stable. I suspect the issue is with one of the items on the above list. I’m posting this in case someone else is having issues with 64-bit Windows 7 on a Tyan S2895 (KW8E) motherboard. They will find me via one of the search engines. I will post when I get the issues resolved.
The bottom line is that I have about $500–600 tied up in this process in parts. I’m confident the CPUs are functioning correctly. I believe there is no issue with the mass storage system. My uncertainty is with the combination of RAM, RAM-timing, number of RAM modules (this seems to be an issue from searching the ‘net), the display-adapter and driver system, and possibly the motherboard drivers.
Worse is the amount of my time invested in the machine. I have about 8–12 hours tied up, between shopping for parts, assembly, and troubleshooting. If I get a stable system out of the deal, then I’m fixed for a Winder$ computer for a long time. I would like to upgrade my desktop Mac, but that can wait for another year or so.
I’ll recover part of my cost by selling off the old parts. I can expect to recover about $50–75 on eBay for the processors. I can probably unload the drive as well.
So, I have a plan. I’ll let the machine burn-in for a couple of days. If the system stays stable, then I’m going to quit for now. If the system remains unstable, then I will begin the process of updating a few drivers. This time I’ll set system restore points as I go.
I’m actually thinking about buying a second drive and running a RAID. I haven’t had a lot of drive problems, but this would be one way or reducing the risk substantially.
I’m tired this morning. I had too many repetitions of on the floor and off the floor, plus all the bending and warping around to work inside the box. Now I need to go do my exercise and get ready for the day. Also, I think more coffee is called for.
Update: The image is from this morning (article updated about 1230PST). It’s snowing again. It began about a half-hour ago and looks like it will continue most of the day. The clouds look heavy.
Hi Dr. Thompson
— Bahareh 19 January 2010, 01:52 #How are you today?
I hope you are never tired.
I’m good. Monday was a little rough after the marathon computer-work session. But, I’m recovered now and on to other things.
Thanks for asking.
— ruminator 20 January 2010, 06:11 #