> 
> 
>Will be much indebted if a good techie/soul could give me useful
>insights as to these endless hang ups/lock ups from my HP Pavilion
>524w ... because I just can't function; PC is my CentCom.  Believe or
>not, have been putting up with this crap for nearly three (3) months
>now.  Argh! 
> 
> 
>SYMPTOMS 
>
>» The first sign of future hang ups --though these may still be hours
>ahead-- is that after each boot up, the mouse pointer is jerky the
>very first time one moves it.  It jumps anywhere from 1/4" to 2" or so
>from its initial position (from wherever it landed after boot up) to
>whatever direction I'm pointing it to.  Note it only does this one
>time initially at the beginning of the session until the next boot
>up.  From then onwards during any given session, the mouse is as
>smooth as expected at all times.  This behavior occurs regardless of
>the mouse used, either a Microsoft PS3 or a Microsoft wireless USB. 
>
>» Freezings occur when using any software that needs to scan.  The
>worst are antivirus online scanning but lock ups also ocurr when
>copying large files say, above, 50 MBs. 
>
>» Just as successful in freezing the machine is any software that
>gets in the registry, such as various either online or installed
>cleaning utilities.  Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool sure
>does it, for example. 
>
>» Anything that uses ActiveX and/or web-rize bloated sites with Flash
>this, Schockwave that, etc., like Huffington Post or eBay, for
>example, can easily cause lock ups. 
>
>» When lock ups get bad enough, sometimes there are checksum errors
>on boot up in which case the default BIOS configuration is reloaded. 
>
>» After repeated and increasing crashes, the behavior of disk
>scanning when rebooting changes even in this semi-DOS environment. 
>This is when running disk scanning from Start -> Run -> chkdsk c: /f
>-- the bootup drive on the primary master, and chkdsk e: /f --a
>logical drive on the same HD.  First one gets the standard full 10
>seconds to escape if one wants, then suddenly it starts giving me only
>5 sec., then ... no option to escape no matter how much the [Esc] key
>is tapped on.  The text allowing the user to escape is dropped
>altogether, gone, and repeatedly pressing the [Esc] key doesn't abort
>it. 
>
>» After repeated and increasing crashes, another example of changes
>of behaviors is the sequencing of these check disks pass the BIOS
>screen and about the time Windows itself begins to load. 
>
>» The only way out from these hang ups is to turn the machine off,
>patiently wait for a minute, then restart it.  After repeated and
>increasing crashes, another example of changing processes is that the
>machine restarting by itself, anywhere from a couple to 10 secs, to 30
>to 40 secs later than powering it off.  When it happens repeatedly,
>the only way to stop it from restarting all alone is power it off
>after the lock up, then quickly unplug the power cord from the surge
>protector.  My new power supply doesn't have an on/off button. 
>
>» For short periods of time, PROBLEMS SEEM NON-EXISTENT (i.e.,
>machine seemingly works regularly, even flies) after re-installing XP
>Pro, which I have done twice already.  Soon enough, anywhere from 5
>hrs to as much as 30 hrs later, freezings begin to ocurr and, from
>that point onwards, things get worse at an increasing rate.  It is not
>only the frequency of lock ups, but also how bad the machine
>crashes. 
>
>» ONE THING MAYBE POINTING TO THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM IS FOOLING
>AROUND WITH THE MEMORY MODULES though, by now, don't think it's got
>anything to do w/ the modules themselves.  About 3 1/2 yrs ago
>replaced the original 256 MB single module with 2 x 1 GB modules, also
>PC2100 ... and this puppy took off, literally, right there and then. 
>Modules worked fine ever since. 
>
>» THE LAST OTHER THING MAYBE ... is fresh Win XP reinstalls.  See
>also possible solutions below. 
>
>» But the one telling bitty, every time around, is that jerky mouse
>only at the beginning of each session until, in time, hang ups begin
>all over again. 
>
>   
>BIT OF HARDWARE BACKGROUND 
>
>» For reference, about a couple of months problems started,
>successfully changed the power supply from the original paltry 200
>watts to some 350 W, may a tad more, and the heatsink/fan cooler
>assembly. 
>
>» Moreover, when the lock ups first began, the original 57 GB Samsung
>SV0602H hard disk drive was only reading and writing at half its specs
>but, even then, appreciated HP putting in there.  It would simply not
>quit, allowing more than enough time to research and get a
>replacement. Equally importantly, it also allowed me to save all my
>data intact on a logical drive on my current HD, a 115 GB Maxtor
>6L120P0. 
>
>Is it possible that not replacing it right away could have caused
>these lock ups (or spoiled something at a very low level or upstream,
>if you will)?  Because the state of the old hard disk was so bad, at
>the time I blamed it all to the drive.  It never occurred to me that,
>simultaneously, the lock ups were due to something else. 
>
>   
>POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS?/Other already tried ... 
>
>The following 2 bullet points should narrow down whereabouts the
>problem is but I'm unable to pin it down myself since I'm no techie; 
>
>» First, whenever re-installing Win XP anew, things go very smoothly
>for a a while. 
>
>» Second, fooling around with the memory modules is another that
>seems to take good care of things.  For a while, PC can't run any
>better.  From about 2 1/2 months ago trying to narrow down these hang
>ups, lately I pulled out the modules and then put them back in place. 
>Also tried swapping them around, or taking of one or another and
>leaving the other memory bank empty.  Just to make sure these two (2)
>1 GB PC2100 were not the problem, replaced them both with the one
>original HP 256 MB module.  Every time I fooled around with the
>memory, the machine behaved as if there no problems at all, again even
>flies, but only holds anywhere from 5 hrs to as much as 30 hrs.  All
>three (3) modules passed Microsoft's Windows Memory Diagnostic test
>tool with flying colors.  In the off the wall case problesh have
>anything to do with memory timming specs differences, this week
>changed to a new pair of 1 GB PC 3200 Samsung modules. 
>
>
>OTHER SOFTWARE; 
>
>» Already tried Microsoft's Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset. 
>Problem is it relies on dump files it needs for analysis ... but my
>system hasn't got any!  This is, when the machine hang ups, it just
>hangs up, right there and then.  Have yet to see a single blue screen
>of death.  Wish that was on the way down so, maybe, there'd be dump
>archives around. 
>
>» Independently, Dr. Watson informs me all is swimmingly well
>whenever I run it. 
> 
>Machine was working fine indeed with old software when the lock ups
>began.  Still, in the search for solutions updated some HP and VIA
>software as follows (not being all inclusive here; there's a lot more
>I have done); 
>
>» The old BIOS was Phoenix Technologies version AM37307 but was
>replaced with the package from HP and now is the AM37320 (08-01-23)
>Phoenix Technologies.  When booting up it reads BIOS core revision
>V6.0, BIOS revision 3.20 08/01/2003, system BIOS supplier: Award. 
>The update no difference at all, not an iota, as to the freezings and
>was sorry to run it because functionality to end users is even more
>constrained than the old one.  For example, cannot turn off the video
>shadowing. 
>
>» Installed and run a couple of times the IDE Tool
>VIA_IDE_MPD_V320b.zip found at; 
>http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=1&CatID=1180&SubCatID=115 
>and apparently the same package posted at; 
>http://www.whitebunny.net/hardware/chipset_via.html 
>leading to actual download page at; 
>http://www.whitebunny.net/download?file=mbd_via_ide_3.20b.zip 
>Not sure why they call it the VIA IDE Miniport Driver but in any event
>this IDE Tool allowed me to run the primary and secondary drives on
>the max PIO modes my hardware allows.  When doing so, the drives would
>be listed as SCSI in the Device Manager.  Other than running
>perceptibly slower, it made no difference again so, presently, I'm
>back on the max DMA modes my drives are capable of.  By the way, the
>front side bus jumper on the motherboard is properly placed at FSB
>133. 
>
>» Installed the Retro Chipset VIA 4in1 drivers VIA_4in1_443v.zip
>package found at; 
>http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=1&CatID=1070 
>Turns out that "retro" bit on the title is no mis-name.  Drivers were
>older than a good many already in my system!  I guess it served to
>prove that none of the newer drives I happen to have in my system --
>via Microsoft updates beginning with XP SP2, I suppose-- were causing
>the hang ups because ... they continued unabated.  Aargh!  Same
>package can also be downloaded at; 
>http://www.whitebunny.net/hardware/chipset_via.html 
>leading to actual download page at; 
>http://www.whitebunny.net/download?file=mbd_via_4in1_4.43v.zip 
>the version recommended for my PC.  There is also a newer version
>named mbd_via_4in1_4.55vp1.zip 
>
>» Though my old Iomega ZIP 250 drive (still there for legacy
>compatibility) has been disconnected for a good many months given all
>these problems, I installed the VIA Latency Patch
>mbd_via_ide_3.20b.zip listed at; 
>http://www.whitebunny.net/hardware/chipset_via.html 
>leading to actual download page at; 
>http://www.whitebunny.net/download?file=mbd_via_ide_3.20b.zip 
>You know the drill by now.  Made no difference ... 
>
>» The last update package to be installed was the VIA Hyperion Pro
>Driver Package via_hyperionpro_v515a.zip downloaded from; 
>http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=1&CatID=1070 
>Somehow, even intuitively, it seemed to have the machine running
>smoothly but, all previous, ...  Grrr!, short of voodoo, don't know
>what else to resort to, honest. 
> 
> 
>MACHINE SPECS 
>
>From the back sticker; 
>HP Pavillion 500 
>HW BOM 05+1211 
>SW BOM NA92 
>System number: DB280A 
>Serial # MX25026882 
>windows XP Home Ed. (currently XP Pro SP2, build 2600) 
>Product Key: HCTVC-2HFXF-PBQGP-FPJV3-G2G6M 
>
>System Info 
>Model: HP/Compaq Pavilion 524w 
>Chassis Type: Desktop 
>Processor 
>Number Of Processors: 1 
>Type: AMD Athlon XP 2100+ 
>Processors Bus Speed: 267 MHz 
>Package: Socket A (AMD A/462 the same as Athlon 64?) 
>Manufacturer Codename: Palomino 
>Clock Speed: 1732 MHz 
>Clock Multiplier: 13.0 
>Front Side Bus (FSB) Speed: 267 MHz 
>L2 Cache Size: 256 KBytes Stepping : A5 
>Trace Width: 0.18 
>Microcode: Not Available 
>Instruction Sets: MMX, Extended MMX, 3DNow!, Extended 3DNow!, SSE 
>
>Motherboard 
>Motherboard reads VIA AM37 
>HP/Compaq name: Salsa 
>Motherboard Supplier: FIC (me: VIA Arena ... Albatron?) 
>Motherboard Name: AM37 
>Form Factor: uATX
>Processor Brand: AMD
>Processor Socket Type: socket-A (PGA462)
>--------- 
>
>Chipset Name: VIA KM266, or VIA P4M266/KM266 (North Bridge: VT8375),
>rev. 00 
>Chipset North Bridge: VT8375, Revision/stepping A1 
>Chipset South Bridge: VT8235
>Super I/O: ITE-IT8705F 
>OLD BIOS manufacturer: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 
>Bios Version : AM37307 
>Flash BIOS Device: Xbus 2 Mbit 
>--------- 
>
>NEW, UPDATED version: AM37320 (08-01-23) Phoenix Technologies, LTD 
>or another way to state it, apparently, when booting up; 
>BIOS core rev. V6.0 
>BIOS revision: 3.20 08/01/2003 
>System BIOS Supplier: Award
> 
>Memory 
>Total RAM Installed : 2048 MB 
>Type : DDR DIMM PC2100 
>Used RAM Slots: 2 of 2 
>Memory Bus Frequency: 133 MHz 
>Memory Timings: 2.5-2-2-6 
>Memory Speed: PC2100/PC1600 
>Memory Sockets: 2 DIMM
>Maximum Memory: 2 GB
>Ethernet 10/100 LAN, supplier: Realtek RTL8100L
>Ethernet Configuration: PCI, Down
>IDE UDMA Modes: ATA-100/66/33 
>Expansion Slots (AGP/PCI/Exten): AGP, 3 PCI
>USB Ports: 6 USB 2.0 
>USB Front/Back Options: 2F+4B 
> 
>Peripherals 
>USB Version : 2.0 
> 
>Graphics 
>Model: S3 AGP S3 Graphics ProSavageDDR 
>AGP Speed: Not Available 
>Brand: 1509 
>Slot: AGP 
>GPU Core: Not Available 
>GPU Speed: Not Available 
>Video Ram Size: 29 MB 
>Video Ram Type: Not Available 
>Video Ram Speed: Not Available 
>Driver Version: 6.14.10.25 
>DirectX Installed: Version 9.0c 
>Available Slot: AGP 2.0 
>--------- 
>
>Graphics Supplier: VIA 
>Graphics Configuration: Down, In Chipset
>Onboard Graphics Memory: UMA 64 MB 
>Graphics Connector (AGP): AGP 4X (1.5V only) 
>TV-Out Device: No 
>TV-Out Configuration: N/A 
>Audio: AC'97 Down 
>AC'97 CODEC Device: Realtek ALC201 
>Audio Jacks (Mic,Line-In,Line-Out,Spkr,MIDI/Game): M,LI,LO,SO 
>M: Microphone
>LI: Line In
>LO: Line out 
>SO: Speaker 
>M/G: Midi/Game 
>--------- 
>
>See more specs from HP at; 
>http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph07941&lc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product... 
>including picture and map from the motherboard, and more. 
> 
>If you kept reading this far down, bless your patience. 
> 
> 
>H. 
> 
>Amsterdam 
>Netherlands 
>