Updated System Specifications

[LazerFX]

Hmmm... I must admit, I don't give it quite that long, however it's more an entire system failure when it freezes - the hard disk doesn't clatter, the CPU and FSB temps go down as though there's nothing happening (I've got a front-panel monitor showing the FSB and CPU temps)...

I had a look through the driver, and it looks like they've disabled VPU Recover themselves, as there's no options for it anywhere in the 7.4's.

The only way I can shut-down is with the 5-second power salute. Unfortunately, that goes completely outside the software, so next time I turn the system on I get a 'system unexpectedly shut down' message.

I'll wait, next time, and see if Windows kick-starts the system after it having stopped responding... I remember reading it did that, but had forgotten, thanks for the reminder.

--Edit--
And whadda ya know, it didn't do it tonight. Oh well, I'll try and reproduce it tomorrow Night all!

[Koroush Ghazi]

Actually you're right, I just remembered that VPU Recover doesn't exist in Vista - it's not necessary given Vista itself is supposed to do a 'VPU recover' of sorts as I mentioned (i.e. shut down the offending application automatically while maintaining system integrity). If it happens again, give it around 30 seconds to a minute and see if it recovers.

In the meanwhile as I say, your best hope is that the 7.5 Catalysts fix this, and they'll definitely be on or around the R600 launch.

[LazerFX]

Well, I've opened a ticket with AMD/ATI on this one.

I've tried to wait for several minutes to see if it kicks anything off, nothing. Anybody know if there's a way to manually kick-off a GPU recover under Vista? I've done quite a few searches on the MS KB, Vista help files, the control panels and the general web but can't find anything...

[Koroush Ghazi]

Have you tried the various diagnostic programs as per the Performance Measurement & Diagnostics chapter of the TGTC? In particular check Event Viewer and also check Problem Reports & Solutions - these will actually help narrow down the source of the problem and possible fixes.

[LazerFX]

Event viewer shows nothing, problem reports and solutions shows whatever program I was running (If it shows anything), and says there was no solution found. If it's a major product (Like HL2) it'll send me off to their website (i.e. Valve's) to see if they know anything.

Most of the time, though, it just shows an 'unexpected system shutdown ocurred' (I.e. I hit the reset button :P). I dunno... it's probably something in the way I've set the system up.

The odd thing is - I can't find any drivers for the motherboard... I don't know if they're built in, or if it's something I can't find, but i975 drivers for Vista just don't seem to exist... Asus doesn't have anything when I search for P5W DH Deluxe, either. I'm tempted to wonder if it's something to do with that.

[Arbatel]

Doesn't ASUS have a utility called PC Probe II that basically searches for the latest bios, drivers, firmware for their products?

Have you tried using that guy?

Good Luck

[Koroush Ghazi]

The way you describe it, it certainly sounds more likely to be a low-level driver issue, such as the Motherboard drivers.

There seem to be Vista RAID drivers on ASUS' site for the P5WDH.

The major driver will be the normal Intel INF chipset driver which you can find on Intel's site, links in the driver chapter of the TGTC.

/EDIT: Noticed they have a new version released a few days ago, I've updated the front page about this.

[Whizzer]

Yes indeed. Intel releases one set for almost each and every OS:

OS:Windows Server* 2003, Windows Server* 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition, Windows Server* 2003 Standard Edition, Windows Server* 2003 Standard x64 Edition, Windows Vista*, Windows Vista* 32, Windows Vista* 64, Windows Vista* Business, 32-bit version, Windows Vista* Business, 64-bit version, Windows Vista* Enterprise, 32-bit version, Windows Vista* Enterprise, 64-bit version, Windows Vista* Home Basic, 32-bit version, Windows Vista* Home Basic, 64-bit version, Windows Vista* Home Premium, 32-bit version, Windows Vista* Home Premium, 64-bit version, Windows Vista* Starter, 32-bit version, Windows Vista* Ultimate, 32-bit version, Windows Vista* Ultimate, 64-bit version, Windows* 2000, Windows* XP Home Edition, Windows* XP Media Center Edition, Windows* XP Professional, Windows* XP Professional x64 Edition

Strange though that Asus doesn't have any chipset drivers for download. Perhaps that's worth sending Asus an e-mail explaining the lack of drivers (or a suggestion as you might put it). Have you also upgraded your BIOS to the latest (stable) version? I can't imagine that's the culprit, but BIOS updates sometimes also change things that aren't stated in the release notes.

[LazerFX]

Thanks for the update... I always assumed that the chipset would have been fiddled with by the motherboard manufacturer, hence I've never installed a 'stock' chipset driver. I've installed the latest Intel Chipset Driver, thanks for the advice.

As to the BIOS, I'm using 1705 currently, which is a couple of revisions out of date (It appears to be on 2005 on the ASUS website), so I'll look into updating that if the Chipset INF update doesn't work. While I've never had any problems performing a BIOS update, it still scares me, so I don't particularly like doing it unless it's got a specific update I require :P

Thanks for the help and advice, again... I'll also let you know if my enquiry with ATI produces any results.

[LazerFX]

Well, after updating the chipset drivers, it appears to have solved the problem. Also, ATI have got back to me today - saying to udpate the chipset drivers :P

Thanks for the advice... I'll throw an e-mail Asus' way to reccomend they put something up.

Oh, and PC-Probe is just a monitoring tool - I downloaded it, and then remember why I didn't download it on my previous build