Faulty motherboard? Best replacement?

[robspop]

Bit of a dual question here: my PC would not boot yesterday, not even getting beyond the motherboard's power on logo. Before investigating further I tried again this morning and it got as far as trying to load the O/S and then failing, and on a further attempt actually booting (I am writing this post on it). There is clearly a fault that I need to remedy. The messages file for the failed load starts like this:

Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD syslogd: kernel boot file is /boot/kernel/kernel
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: 12 with interrupts disabled
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: 
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: 
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: Fatal trap 12: page fault while in kernel mode
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: cpuid = 0; apic id = 00
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: fault virtual address       = 0x18
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: fault code          = supervisor read data, page not present
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: instruction pointer = 0x20:0xffffffff80828578
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: stack pointer               = 0x28:0xffffffff811c0530
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: frame pointer               = 0x28:0xffffffff811c0570
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: code segment                = base 0x0, limit 0xfffff, type 0x1b
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: = DPL 0, pres 1, long 1, def32 0, gran 1
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: processor eflags    = resume, IOPL = 0
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: current process             = 0 ()
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: trap number         = 12
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: panic: page fault
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: cpuid = 0
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: kernel trap 12 with interrupts disabled
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel: 
Feb  7 09:50:58 BSD kernel:

which just repeats indefinitely (until I pressed the reset button).

I am not particularly familiar with PC hardware faults, but it seems to me that this is likely to be a CPU problem rather than a memory problem, as the normal point of memory probe never seems to be reached. Is this a fair assumption? I doubt it's worth trying to fiddle about trying to replace the CPU so I will probably get a new motherboard/CPU bundle, but I don't want to do this if all I need to do is replace a memory module.

Second part of this question is: any suggestions (in general terms) for a replacement? I have heard that Asus are generally good. The only O/S I have is FreeBSD so I don't want anything that has any "special features" that can only be accessed via Windows. I probably won't be buying the latest and greatest. Current setup is Abit board, AMD Athlon 64 dual core 2.7GHz CPU, 4GB memory, and this is good enough for me. Sound is on-board, graphics a Radeon card that works and that I would like to keep.

Thanks!

 

[wblock@]

There are some easy things to try first:

1. Take the machine outside and blow out the dust, cat hair, and mouse nests that are blocking the vents, fans, and heatsinks. If using an air compressor, be careful not to knock parts off the board or disconnect cables. Hold the fans with a finger to keep them from spinning too fast and possibly being damaged.

2. Inspect for bad capacitors. (An image search on "bad capacitor" will find lots of horrific examples.) If you find any... they are not something the average user can replace. Repairable, but often not worth it.

3. Remove the RAM, then reinstall it. If dust or oxidation is blocking a contact, that should fix it. Gently cleaning the DIMM contacts with a clean pencil eraser might be helpful. Removing and replacing the processor could be worthwhile, depending on what particular style of poorly-engineered attachment mechanism is used. (I'd mention non-poorly-engineered methods, but haven't seen any yet.)

Reconnect the machine and test. Still doesn't work? Try a spare power supply, if available.

As far as motherboard replacements, I feel Asus is overrated. In the past, MSI has been good, but Gigabyte seems a bit better now. Practically, there may not be a lot of difference.

 

[monkeyboy]

First thing to check is always the power supply -- well, check all fans first too. Best is to swap in another, known good power supply. The PS will fail 10-100X more frequently than a CPU or motherboard.

I agree about the memory. Take out half of the memory and try to run, then switch halves, or swap in known good memory. Also reseat EVERYTHING possible.