my s3xp keeps crashing

Hi everyone!
I've been using my s3xp for 2 years now, and it recently started to freeze on windows Xp after like 2 minutes.
First I thought it was just dusty so I opened it, following this excellent thread from mysngoterased: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=23546&highlight=s3xp
everything went fine, and I cleaned a small amount of dust, not that much.
I assemble it back, but the exact same problem kept happening.
I tried to format/reinstall my XP 3 times (even tried to format in fat32 cause i read NTFS could be a problem) but nothing worked.
When I try to boot on a Linux live CD like Mandriva, it crashes the same way during the booting (after 2 or 3 min).
A friend of mine lent me some program such as PC doctor and troubleshooting, to see if any of my hardware component was down, but all the tests went fine.
I know the problem can't come from the OS, and the components look to be ok, my temperatures look normal etc..
my laptop is no more under warranty, and it would cost me 800€ to get it fixed, which is clearly not an option
If anyone has any idea, I would highly appreciate any help
thank you in advance and sorry about my poor english!

 

Can you hear the CPU fan working.It might be the fan failling/slow.
Use memtest,let it go for 200% at least.Any errors?

 

hi mujtaba!
yes the cpu fan is working properly, and I let memtest running for like 40mn without any error. i really don't know what to do...

 

i want to add that the computer doesn't crash when I'm in windows safe mode. so I'm pretty sure that one of the hardware component makes the pc crash. i took off the pcmcia bay, the chipset controlling the sound and ethernet/modem, and finally the dvd drive. the computer still crashes when I stay on windows, but if I'm launch a game at the startup (ie dawn of war dark crusade) then I can play hours without crashing. I'm so confused, any help would be greatly appreciated!
happy new year to everyone btw

 

hmm could it be the hard drive?

you have a 2.5 inch hdd you can try replace to see if you can solve the problem.

thats just my guess...

 

hello Ch28Kid,
I'll try to get a new hdd and make a fresh windows installation on it as you suggest. I'll keep you informed
Thanks!

 

SO,
i took the advice of Ch28Kid, and a friend of mine lent me a WD 2.5 drive. I installed xp on it, but the exact same problems just came back. the system is stable in safe mode, but it crashes after 2-3min in normal mode... my temperatures are still ok (cpu: 53°C, HDD: 44°C). the installation of the chipset drivers doesn't seem to help much. I tried and removed the .exe from the msconfig startup list but it doesn't help either. I just don't know what to doooo. anyway, thanks for your concern

 

I would guess it's the RAM which might be the problem. Maybe you can get some RAM from a friend to see if that'll help. I'm aware you've let Memtest run through but the freezing issues you describe do point towards it.

 

Hello Bomfunk,
I've actually tried to run my windows with each memory separated (I have 2*512M), and it crashed the same way. I'm really sure my RAM is ok, and I feel more and more that my freezes come from my gpu (gforce6200). i don't know if it's about an overheating, because I can't check the gpu temperature
Yesterday, I took every component out of the case, and "rebuilt" the computer on a paper sheet. I let it run for 3 hours without crashing! I'm looking for a way to cool down my system now. Any idea?

 

Hmmm seems like a hardware fault. Does it crash at a particular point? eg pcmcia loading? wifi card loading?

I've been working as an hardware engineer for the past year. Only about 1-2 I have seen memtest picks up ram failure. Rest of them have faulty memory but memtest doesn't show any error nor does it crash. Therefore in my opinion it isn't that good.

My advice would be to strip down to the basics. If you got 2 x ram (try one at a time), unplug the cable to the soundcard, remove the pcmcia slot, remove the cdrom drive. You don't have to physically remove it, all you need to do is remove the cable / connector. But this really depends on the bios as some of the sony laptop doesn't boot if its missing a component.

I would also remove the keyboard / touchpad cables. Just use a usb keyboard. I had a problem with a touchpad once that it was crashing the laptop.

Just remember you said it is fine in safe mode and in the game. Perhaps its because of the resolution / colour depth? Try adjusting the windows resolution/ depth to match the game / safe mode.

Out of the 100+ sony laptop we have most of the problem is the graphic card. It overheats and it dies. Then comes the lcd inverter.

With the 100+ hp laptop the top issues are the hdd then comes the lcd display itself.


I hope this helps and you will be able to fix your laptop.

 

BaNZ, thanks a lot for your message .
About the Mandriva boot, the system doesn't crash at a particular point. sometimes very quick, sometimes near the end of the boot.
I keep your comment on Memtest and I'm definitely going to get some RAM and try again.
I've already tried to boot the computer without the soundcard/network, dvd drive and hard drive, but no result (indeed, the computer won't start at all when I unplug one of the drives).
Already tried without the keyboard/touch pad, no success either...
All those tests don't leave much conclusion, I'm pretty sure now that my gpu is f**** up, as you confirmed with your experience with sony laptops...
I can't install windows anymore, it just keeps crashing during the installation. I'll go and try with debian, and i'll keep you informed!
thanks again

 

Hi there, just to let you know that my laptop is working again!
I had to remove the heat sink and put some fresh articsilver on the cpu/gpu/north bridge.
Plus, I bought a notebook cooler, and my system is stable again! even on dark crusade! I was afraid that my gpu had burnt, but I think it's safe now. Thanks a lot to everyone who helped me.
bye!