please help; computer acting really weird

[ubamous3]

I am on windows 2000, and 1 of my computers has been acting really weird lately; it's extremely sluggish almost everytime i try to do anything (i.e. start window explorer or browser or anything) as if something is a bottleneck.

I went to event viewer and under systems, there r these 4 messages that came up repeatedly; i have tried to do a hard reboot but sometimes it doesnt even reboot; it'd say something like error reading drive, try alt ctrl delete; after an extended number of tries, then it reboots ok, but it still is very sluggish.
--------
Event Type: Warning
Event Source: Ultra
Event Category: None
Event ID: 26
Date: 7/14/2003
Time: 7:40:40 PM
User: N/A
Computer: PAUL
Description:
The driver has detected that device \Device\Scsi\Ultra1 has old or out-of-date firmware. Reduced performance may result.
------------
Event Type: Warning
Event Source: Disk
Event Category: None
Event ID: 51
Date: 7/14/2003
Time: 7:36:53 PM
User: N/A
Computer: PAUL
Description:
An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk0\DR0 during a paging operation.

-----------------
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Disk
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7
Date: 7/14/2003
Time: 7:37:42 PM
User: N/A
Computer: PAUL
Description:
The device, \Device\Harddisk0\DR0, has a bad block.

------------
Event Type: Error
Event Source: atapi
Event Category: None
Event ID: 9
Date: 7/14/2003
Time: 7:31:59 PM
User: N/A
Computer: PAUL
Description:
The device, \Device\Ide\IdePort0, did not respond within the timeout period.

i went to eventid.net to search for the solutions but i didnt understand their answers.

I tried doing a chkdsk /f on partion C and D (the primary HD out of 4 drives on that computer), but i dont know where to find the results of chkdsk.

I thought that may be i have a virus because in the past week, I uninstalled norton antivirus 2003 because i couldnt update.

Please help!!! If I were to ghost the C drive to another HD and then do a format c:, i wonder if that'd solve the problem or if it's a disk error/bios read error, etc... whatever, then formatting won't solve the problem.

Oh, btw, i have a network at home, and when i access the files on that computer from another computer, i have no problem; it's only when i am at that computer, then it acts all weird.

Thanks ssooo much for any advice you will give me.

 

[Duracell]

i think it's still the old problem; the error messages points to the "Promise Ultra IDE Controller" and the related driver;

about the check disk log: this is written to the root of your drives and deleted automatically after storing in Windows event log;


Greetings from
Duracell

 

[ubamous3]

i think it's still the old problem; the error messages points to the "Promise Ultra IDE Controller" and the related driver;

about the check disk log: this is written to the root of your drives and deleted automatically after storing in Windows event log;


Greetings from
Duracell

thanks duracell for your response; but the difference setting earlier problems and the current setting is that the current settign hooks the main HD to the board directly instead of through the ide controller; the ide controller only hooks the additional HD; and this problem didnt happen right away after she changed the setting; just happend in the past week.

Also, what baffles me is that when i access files on that computer from another computer at home, it never causes any problem; it works fine UNTIL i sit on that computer and try to launch something.

Also duracell, if the culprit IS the idea controller, by formattign my C drive and start fresh wouldnt help solve theproblem, wouldnt it?

I feel like it's a virus or trojan of some sort that happend while norton is being disabled or unintsalled.

 

[saxon]

Getting these three error messages together seems more likely to be a hardware issue. It indicates a wiring problem. Check your cables for functionality. Make also sure that you use 80 pin cables for every drive that supports more than ata-66 .

First message is issued by the atapi enumerator which checks every drive in the system permanently of supporting certain advanced at commands. If that fails you get this error. Since it worked before, I assume the drives themselves are ok. (it is most unlikely that all drives die at the same time.)

Second message is issued by the ide controler driver. It indicates that it cannot support ata-66 . A solution for that would be to turn off the dma mode for that drive.

The third message corresponds to the second one.

It may be the wiring, but it could also be that your on board controler really does not support ata-66 mode.

 

[Duracell]

==> ubamous3

i'm still in the opinion your additional "Promise Ultra IDE Contoller" causes resources conflicts or driver conflicts;

Also duracell, if the culprit IS the idea controller, by formattign my C drive and start fresh wouldnt help solve theproblem, wouldnt it?

you can try a fresh install as "Standard PC" (non ACPI) to prevent resources sharing;
hit F5 button during W2k setup says "Hit F6 to install SCSI driver" some minutes later you can change to Standard-PC;
my both Win2000 PC are running as (non ACPI) Standard-PC;


==> saxon

please read ubamous's previous threads attentively to examine his problems:
http://www.cdrbase.com/showthread.php?threadid=29939
http://www.cdrbase.com/showthread.php?threadid=29841
i hope you are the one, who is able to solve his problems;


Greetings from
Duracell

 

[scarecrow]

I know that it may sound as a silly question, but being there before you I may afford to ask it:
Do you have ASPI 4.60.1021 layer installed?

 

[ubamous3]

I know that it may sound as a silly question, but being there before you I may afford to ask it:
Do you have ASPI 4.60.1021 layer installed?

no scarecrow, it's not a silly question; it's just that i dont know the answer ; i dont even know what your question means i have reports from the aida32 program that shows the hardware configurations of my computer; where should i look on there for the answer?


also, the message about scsci thingy, i dont have an scsi drive; i just have the regular (i forgot the name, ata or ide, or whatever, i forgot) HD's (4 of them),so wouldnt the message about scsi firmware irrelevant?

Also, since i can access ALL the drives from another computer in the network fine, i am optimistic that it's not the drives going bad but soemthing else being screwy.

I hope to get it solved without having to involve my consultant but if i have to involve her, I guess I will have to do that

 

[scarecrow]

I will try to cut a long story short.
You have either an onboard Ultra ATA controller, or a PCI IDE controller controller card, which is of course not SCSI (unfortunately...) but nevertheless reported and treated by your OS as a SCSI one- so the message.
I also have a PCI Promise Ultra ATA 100 controller, which never gave me any problems- until the last Promise driver upgrade.
Under XP, you don't really have to use the Promise drivers- XP supports "almost" all Promise controllers natively. Under 2000, you have to use F6 when installing and instert the OEM driver disk (at least that was valid up to 2000 SP3, dunno for SP4 as I have not made a "clean" 2000 SP4 installation yet).
It seems that in the last series of the Promise drivers the device sensing code has been altered to comply to the new ASPI 4.7X standards (of course you will NOT find any mention of that in the included driver documentation... ) as when having ASPI 4.6X installed AND the latest series of Promise drivers, I get randomly blue screens related to wrong page addressing or IRQ_LESS_THAN_EQUAL, that is pretty typical sensing code problems.
With older driver releases, this problem does NOT exist.
Also, the problem DOES exist under XP (SP1 or not) if you have the bad idea to use the latest Promise drivers (instead of the native layer or an older driver), and ASPI 4.60.1021. Upgrading to ASPI 4.7X cures the "blue screen" problem, but makes many ASPI based burning applications unfunctional.
As you have no idea if you have ASPI installed or not, plz check your layer with the attached utility (the new ASPI checker by Adaptec, probably the only part of ASPI 4.7X worth a dime) and pass the report here.

 

[Duracell]

no scarecrow, it's not a silly question; it's just that i dont know the answer; i dont even know what your question means

install ForceASPI 1.6 (= Adaptec ASPI layer v4.60.1021)
Download: http://www.cdrbase.com/showthread.php?threadid=13922
run ForceASPI's "KillASPI" function first, then "InstASPI", reboot;

also, the message about scsci thingy, i dont have an scsi drive;

the Promise Ultra IDE Controller is listed as SCSI device in Windows' device manager;

I hope to get it solved without having to involve my consultant but if i have to involve her, I guess I will have to do that

maybe you should think about changing your consultant;

 

[Duracell]

==> ubamous3

It seems that in the last series of the Promise drivers the device sensing code has been altered to comply to the new ASPI 4.7X standards (of course you will NOT find any mention of that in the included driver documentation... ) as when having ASPI 4.6X installed AND the latest series of Promise drivers, I get randomly blue screens related to wrong page addressing or IRQ_LESS_THAN_EQUAL, that is pretty typical sensing code problems.
With older driver releases, this problem does NOT exist

so don't install ForceASPI 1.6 posted by me
and do at first like scarecrow suggested;

 

[scarecrow]

Duracell posted almost the same time... so i will suggest NOT installing 4.60.1021 yet, if you use the latest promise drivers...
Waiting for an input.
PS: Attachment in first post did not go, here is it.

 

[ubamous3]

Duracell posted almost the same time... so i will suggest NOT installing 4.60.1021 yet, if you use the latest promise drivers...
Waiting for an input.

sorry guys, i m confused; the only attachment that i downloaded from this thread was the forceaspi and aspi 4.60.rar but u said afterwards to not use it,so what are u waiting for me to check? sorry

 

[Duracell]

sorry for confusing,
download my attachment ASPI Check, extract the files, run both (one after the other) and attach the log files here in this thread;

you should also report which Promise driver you have running (e.g. Promise Ulta 100 v2.0.0.29);

 

[ubamous3]

sorry for confusing,
download my attachment ASPI Check, extract the files, run both (one after the other) and attach the log files here in this thread;

you should also report which Promise driver you have running (e.g. Promise Ulta 100 v2.0.0.29);

thanks duracell
here's the log for aspicheck old.exe; there's no option to save the log in the aspichecknew.exe but it has the same results as this log; i will post the results of the other question in a minute once i figure out the right info to paste in here
LOG0143: *****************************************************************
LOG0144: Starting ASPICHK OLD installer on Tue Jul 15 14:32:03 2003
ASPICHK0438: OS = Windows NT (5.00.2195)
UPGRADE0965: File c:\winnt\system32\wnaspi32.dll does not exist
UPGRADE0369: No existing file to compare, upgrade recommended
UPGRADE0965: File c:\winnt\system\winaspi.dll does not exist
UPGRADE0369: No existing file to compare, upgrade recommended
UPGRADE0965: File c:\winnt\system32\drivers\aspi32.sys does not exist
UPGRADE0369: No existing file to compare, upgrade recommended
UPGRADE0965: File c:\winnt\system\wowpost.exe does not exist
UPGRADE0369: No existing file to compare, upgrade recommended
ASPICHK0522: Inconsistent version numbers among components
ASPICHK0592: ASPI installation has problems
LOG0218: Closing installer log on Tue Jul 15 14:32:03 2003
LOG0219: *****************************************************************

 

[ubamous3]

ok, here's the info from the AIDA32 report; i apologize if it's more info than u need and i hope that it has the info that you want; otherwise, please post back. Thank u very much!!!!

i have 4 HD

1/ 120 gig primary HD with 2 partions
2/ 160 gig
3/ 200 gig
4/ 60 gig

here is the info that i am pasting from the AIDA32 report; i hope that they are relevant to your question. The only thing i m confused is that I see the word SCSI in the device but i dont have any SCSI HD, just regular ATA drives

[ Maxtor 4 G160J8 SCSI Disk Device ]

Device Properties:
Driver Description Maxtor 4 G160J8 SCSI Disk Device
Driver Date 11/14/1999
Driver Version 5.0.2183.1
Driver Provider Microsoft
INF File disk.inf

Disk Device Physical Info:
Manufacturer Maxtor
Hard Disk Family DiamondMax D540X
Form Factor 3.5"
Formatted Capacity 160 GB
Disks 4
Recording Surfaces 8
Physical Dimensions 147 x 101.6 x 26.1 mm
Max. Weight 580 g
Average Rotational Latency 5.5 ms
Rotational Speed 5400 RPM
Max. Internal Data Rate 347.2 Mbit/s
Average Seek 12 ms
Track-To-Track Seek 2 ms
Full Seek 24 ms
Interface Ultra-ATA/133
Buffer-to-Host Data Rate 133 MB/s
Buffer Size 2 MB
Spin-Up Time 7.5 sec

Device Manufacturer:
Company Name Maxtor Corporation
Product Information http://www.maxtor.com/en/products/

[ Maxtor 6Y120P0 ]

Device Properties:
Driver Description Maxtor 6Y120P0
Driver Date 11/14/1999
Driver Version 5.0.2183.1
Driver Provider Microsoft
INF File disk.inf

Disk Device Physical Info:
Manufacturer Maxtor
Hard Disk Family DiamondMax Plus 9
Form Factor 3.5"
Formatted Capacity 120 GB
Disks 2
Recording Surfaces 3
Physical Dimensions 146.1 x 101.6 x 26.1 mm
Max. Weight 630 g
Average Rotational Latency 4.17 ms
Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Interface Ultra-ATA/133
Buffer-to-Host Data Rate 133 MB/s
Buffer Size 8 MB

Device Manufacturer:
Company Name Maxtor Corporation
Product Information http://www.maxtor.com/en/products/

[ Maxtor 9 6147H8 SCSI Disk Device ]

Device Properties:
Driver Description Maxtor 9 6147H8 SCSI Disk Device
Driver Date 11/14/1999
Driver Version 5.0.2183.1
Driver Provider Microsoft
INF File disk.inf

Disk Device Physical Info:
Manufacturer Maxtor
Hard Disk Family DiamondMax 60
Form Factor 3.5"
Formatted Capacity 61471 million bytes
Disks 4
Recording Surfaces 8
Physical Dimensions 147 x 101.6 x 26.1 mm
Max. Weight 590 g
Average Rotational Latency 5.55 ms
Rotational Speed 5400 RPM
Max. Internal Data Rate 326.4 Mbit/s
Average Seek 9 ms
Track-To-Track Seek 1 ms
Full Seek 20 ms
Interface Ultra-ATA/100
Buffer-to-Host Data Rate 100 MB/s
Buffer Size 2 MB
Spin-Up Time 8.5 sec

Device Manufacturer:
Company Name Maxtor Corporation
-------
ASPI

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Host ID LUN Device Type Vendor Model Rev Extra Information
00 00 00 Disk Drive Maxtor 6 Y120P0
00 07 00 Host Adapter atapi
01 00 00 Optical Drive DVD-ROM
01 01 00 Optical Drive SONY CD- RW CRX140E
01 07 00 Host Adapter atapi
02 01 00 Disk Drive Maxtor 9 6147H8 BAC5
02 03 00 Disk Drive Maxtor 4 G160J8 GAK8
02 07 00 Host Adapter Ultra
---------

 

[scarecrow]

That indicates you don't have any ASPI layer installed- so your case is different to mine.
Can you report which promise driver version is installed?
If your Promise IDE card is slotted any other slot than 1, try moving it there. Try also NOT using IDE slots 3 or 5 for network adapter cards or modem devices. In many cases using net/modem cards at those IRQ nos causes coflicts- you have to either reassign resources manually, or (simpler) move the cards.

 

[Duracell]

i will post the results of the other question in a minute once i figure out the right info to paste in here ... ok, here's the info from the AIDA32 report; i apologize if it's more info than u need and i hope that it has the info that you want; otherwise, please post back.

no, it's not what we need;
the Promise Ultra IDE Controller is listed as SCSI device in Windows' device manager; do the right click there, choose properties and you will find the driver version number;

 

[ubamous3]

That indicates you don't have any ASPI layer installed- so your case is different to mine.
Can you report which promise driver version is installed?
If your Promise IDE card is slotted any other slot than 1, try moving it there. Try also NOT using IDE slots 3 or 5 for network adapter cards or modem devices. In many cases using net/modem cards at those IRQ nos causes coflicts- you have to either reassign resources manually, or (simpler) move the cards.

ok, here's the promise info: About your suggestions, i'd have to forward them to my consultant b/c i have no idea how to deal with that hardware configuration stuff
SCSI and RAID controllers:
Win2000 Promise Ultra133 TX2 (tm) IDE Controller 2.0.50.42

SCSI and RAID controllers / Win2000 Promise Ultra133 TX2 (tm) IDE Controller ]

Device Properties:
Driver Description Win2000 Promise Ultra133 TX2 (tm) IDE Controller
Driver Date 6/25/2002
Driver Version 2.0.50.42
Driver Provider Promise Technology
INF File oem7.inf

 

[scarecrow]

ok, here's the promise info: About your suggestions, i'd have to forward them to my consultant b/c i have no idea how to deal with that hardware configuration stuff
SCSI and RAID controllers:
Win2000 Promise Ultra133 TX2 (tm) IDE Controller 2.0.50.42

SCSI and RAID controllers / Win2000 Promise Ultra133 TX2 (tm) IDE Controller ]

Device Properties:
Driver Description Win2000 Promise Ultra133 TX2 (tm) IDE Controller
Driver Date 6/25/2002
Driver Version 2.0.50.42
Driver Provider Promise Technology
INF File oem7.inf

The reported driver revision is a bit puzzling, as its highly numbered than current ones... anyway:
1) http://www.promise.com/support/download/download2_eng.asp?productId=87&category=driver&os=0
Get the current drivers from there. If the latest driver 2.00.0.42 which "fixes the burst rate performance issue" creates you the same problems with old ASPI you may use the older revision 2.00.0.39
2.Extract the driver to a folder, or a floppy disk.
3. From device manager rightclick the promise SCSI controller, and choose uninstall. Do not reboot yet.
4. Go to the folder c:\windows\inf (it is hidden) and delete by hand the files oem7.inf and oem7.pnf
5. Reboot, and (most likely) the hardware wizard will open. Tell him to search in the floppy (or folder) you have created for the needed drivers, and after installation do a final reboot.
If it is a ONBOARD IDE controller, do the same things using the drivers provided by the mainboard manufacturer and not the Promise ones (which are aimed for the PCI-type controllers).

 

[ubamous3]

The reported driver revision is a bit puzzling, as its highly numbered than current ones... anyway:
1) http://www.promise.com/support/download/download2_eng.asp?productId=87&category=driver&os=0
Get the current drivers from there. If the latest driver 2.00.0.42 which "fixes the burst rate performance issue" creates you the same problems with old ASPI you may use the older revision 2.00.0.39
2.Extract the driver to a folder, or a floppy disk.
3. From device manager rightclick the promise SCSI controller, and choose uninstall. Do not reboot yet.
4. Go to the folder c:\windows\inf (it is hidden) and delete by hand the files oem7.inf and oem7.pnf
5. Reboot, and (most likely) the hardware wizard will open. Tell him to search in the floppy (or folder) you have created for the needed drivers, and after installation do a final reboot.
If it is a ONBOARD IDE controller, do the same things using the drivers provided by the mainboard manufacturer and not the Promise ones (which are aimed for the PCI-type controllers).

yes scarecrow, im puzzled as well about the version of the promise driver on my computer being higher even tho the date is back in 1992.

Anyway, I did exactly what u suggested,

1/ dl those 2 promise drivers, unzip, and put them in C drive

2/ went to device manager and uninstalled the scsi controller and not reboot

3/ deleted oem7.inf and oem7.pnf

4/ reboot, and here's the result (btw, this timei noticed that ever since it's been acting weird lately and that i had to reboot all the time, it alwys paused real long at the message "verifying DMI pool data" during reboot - in case that might mean something to anyone)

A/ it says windows could not start b/c
<windows2000root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe is missing or corrupt; please reinstall a copy of the above file.

B/ I did a hard reboot again, and this time I get a blue screen of death instead:

"Stop:C000021A (fatal system error)
the unhandled exception in session manager system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of
0xC0000006 (0x00000000 0x00000000)"

Please help!!