Cizmo CX1730 (NP5796, Clevo M570TU) problems

Hi!

When i was installing Windows Vista (Business 64bit, original) i got an error like this: http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7250/sdfdfskj3.jpg . This is not my screenshot, and am not sure about the error code, but the problem was during that stage, was about missing/corrupt files, and green line was on more like 50 or so percent.
I blamed overheating, because i had 28 degrees Celsius in my room (but this should not be a problem anyway).

Than i put the laptop on two books to support it (each on one side), so the laptop had 5 cm space between it and the table.

In the second attempt i got it running with fans on full blast (Fn + 1). Vista installed, than SP1 installed OK. After reboot i installed chipset drivers. For it to install the computer needs to restart. It shut down correctly, but when it started back up i got error, that C:\Windows\system32\config file was missing. That is Windows registry file.

I had not other option, but to format it again. This time i had fans on full blast all the time, and on every reboot i left it off for about 5 minutes to cool down. It installed fine this time. Windows, SP1, drivers, all utility programs (7zip, firefox, adobe reader, ...). I installed speedfan to check temperatures. Room temperature was 27,7. Core 0 temp was 31, core 1 temp was 30, HD temp was 46. Way below any problematic value.
In 2 hours of setting it up i got 3 restarts. (not necessary during high load, massive copying, or anything that would cause problems)

Strange thing is, that i get no BSOD, or any error message. I then tested ram with memtest86+. I got no errors. I checked the hard drive with windows drive check program with bad sector checking, and again no errors.

So i blamed Vista. I installed XP, and it wasn't stable either.
Just to test it i tried to install Debian linux. First time it restarted during base system install (2 min after start of installation, before first "normal" restart), in the second attempt it restarted during second stage installation (while downloading GNOME, still in text mode).

The laptop was plugged in all the time. I noticed it got a bit hotter on the right side of touchpad (is it where HD is?).

My setup: CX1730, P9500, 8800M GTX, 4Gb DDR3, 160Gb 5400rpm HD.

Does anyone else have similar problems? What could cause this?

 

That message looks like this thread: (same notebook)
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=280615

It turned out to be a bad Vista disc.

But I recommend you to contact sujinge9 to try and see what he did to get it to work correctly... which is mainly software/bios configs.

 

I have read that thread before posting this.
In my case it isn't DVD problem, because it is the same with XP (CD), and Linux (CD).
I also have MSDNAA (Microsoft Academic Alliance) access, so i can burn original DVD any time i want. I tried to burn it again. I also tried to burn it on another burner. I was installing with DVD-R, i will try with DVD+R when i get one, but i dont expect it to be any different.

 

Make sure its not a memory error... MemTest86+

It happened to me recently... bad stick of RAM was the cause.

 

Two passes.

 

What about HDD test?

 

i only tested with Windows check utility.

Code:

Log Name:      Application
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Wininit
Date:          2.8.2008 16:59:17
Event ID:      1001
Task Category: None
Level:         Information
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      Tadej-Notebook
Description:


Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
  86208 file records processed.
  103 large file records processed.
  0 bad file records processed.
  2 EA records processed.
  44 reparse records processed.
  121598 index entries processed.
  0 unindexed files processed.
  86208 security descriptors processed.
Cleaning up 1613 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 1613 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 1613 unused security descriptors.
  17696 data files processed.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
  35506928 USN bytes processed.
Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
  86192 files processed.
File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
  28691690 free clusters processed.
Free space verification is complete.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
master file table (MFT) bitmap.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

 136314879 KB total disk space.
  21307444 KB in 68035 files.
     44840 KB in 17697 indexes.
         0 KB in bad sectors.
    195831 KB in use by the system.
     65536 KB occupied by the log file.
 114766764 KB available on disk.

      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
  34078719 total allocation units on disk.
  28691691 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
c0 50 01 00 ef 4e 01 00 5c 63 02 00 00 00 00 00  .P...N..\c......
3a 00 00 00 2c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  :...,...........
e0 64 84 77 00 00 00 00 50 23 6a ff 00 00 00 00  .d.w....P#j.....

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

 

You should get the HDD Diagnostics program of you HDD manufacturer.

CHKDSK only finds bad sectors at best... it does not tell you if the HDD PCB could be bad or not, which has happened to me before as well.

 

hmm... my drive is mk1637gsx (Toshiba 160Gb 5400 SATA).
Where can i get diagnostics program? I cannot seem to find it on Toshiba website.

 

Restart the system
Hit F2 to go into the BIOS configuration
Make sure you select VISTA as the OS... I can't remember which menu item that is, but it is easily spotted.

 

http://tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

It seems that Toshiba does not have HDD utils... which sucks.

I recommend using Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test.. I like it and have used it on multiple brand HDDs.

 

1. hm.. BIOS...
Vista was default (on Advanced menu), and i didn't touch it.
In BIOS i enabled 32bit I/O for the HD. Could this be a problem? If yes - why?

Other things i changed in BIOS are boottime diagnostics - enabled, and both user and supervisor password.

2. I downloaded that hitachi bootable CD image. If i use AHCI or normal ATA, it stops at "Loading DFT..." for every controller i select...

 

Just pmed you, but for future reference. The notebooks seems to be set to AHCI in the sata mode selection in bios as standard. The AHCI is only used for vista with turbo memory. If you don't have turbo memory or no vista, it won't work. Go to advanced in bios and change sata mode to ide and xp worked for me.

 

will try that for linux...
But e-sata only works if AHCI is enabled i think - or hot swapping? Not sure...

 

but this should not look like this... if AHCI was a problem it wouldn't show hard drives, would it?
In my case it can see the drive, it also can format it, and copy files to it.

 

I see my hard drive gets very hot. When processor cores are at or below 30°C most of the time. HD is above 50°C most of the time. I was getting 59°C 5 mins ago, now i have 53°C with fans on full blast on idle disk.
Is this normal for this computer? Is HD defective? How worried should I be?

 

I would test another HDD if you have it... even if its an external USB one.

I installed an OS externally on my notebook before.

 

i have a couple of desktop hard drives, but i don't have the sata extension cable, so i can not connect one of them to this clevo. Is it possible to install vista to USB stick?

On attached image you can see core 0, core 1 and HDD temperatures. Start time was just after startup this morning, end time was 10 min after that. No programs running, as you can see cpu temps stay low. 10 minutes after this i had same cpu temps, but HD temp was already above 50°C. Still no disk activity (HD light flashed from time to time.). Ambient temp was 23°C.

 

The HDD cooling in M570R/TU Barebone is very bad.....My 7200.2 always stays above 52°C, max 63°C......