[allen2]

You could try vga mode to see if it's really video related.

[tomasz86]

I did two tests:

1. I cloned my system partition from RAID0 to a single drive so I could check if it was the RAID to cause this problem. Unfortunately, there was no difference.

2. I booted into VGA mode, ran the script and... no errors! Next, I uninstalled the drivers (BWC's Catalyst 11.3) and installed an older version (10.11). I rebooted, ran the script and guess what? It works flawlessly.

Thank you, allen2

This post has been edited by tomasz86: 06 August 2011 - 02:36 PM

[Tripredacus]

tomasz86, on 06 August 2011 - 02:32 PM, said:

1. I cloned my system partition from RAID0 to a single drive so I could check if it was the RAID to cause this problem. Unfortunately, there was no difference.

Good you got it fixed. I brought up the RAID question because I had similar problems on a server which would either have the screen go black or the system would turn off/reboot with no Event logs relating to the shutdown. In my case, it turned out I had both a failed RAID member AND a faulty port on the backplane. The end result after troubleshooting resulted in loss of all data! But anyways, I had just remembered that behaviour so figured I'd mention it.

[tomasz86]

Tripredacus, on 08 August 2011 - 08:17 AM, said:

Good you got it fixed. I brought up the RAID question because I had similar problems on a server which would either have the screen go black or the system would turn off/reboot with no Event logs relating to the shutdown. In my case, it turned out I had both a failed RAID member AND a faulty port on the backplane. The end result after troubleshooting resulted in loss of all data! But anyways, I had just remembered that behaviour so figured I'd mention it.

Actually I got fixed the problem with restarting when running a cmd batch script but the other problem - the one related to USB still persists and I still experience occasional freezes where I can do nothing but reset the computer. And the mouse is not detected after such a reset.

Unfortunately I don't have any other AM3 mainboard to replace with to check if it's a mainboard related thing...

Oh, and one more information which may be important - my data HDD (Samsung F3 500 GB) is connected to the mainboard SATA controller and I'm using the unofficial BWC drivers for AMD 760 chipset. I'll have to try changing it to IDE compatible mode and see if there is any difference.

[tomasz86]

I'm reviving this topic because I've still been experiencing the cmd.exe freeze/stack problem. Especially recently I've been using batch scripts a lot and this problem is extremely bothersome I need to reset the computer each time it happens. I can't really say how frequently I encounter it but let's say that if I run a HFSLIP-like script for 5 times, the problem will occur at least once.

As I became more and more annoyed, inspired by dencorso I've just tried to replace the original W2k's wow32.dll with the fixed one from XP (+ I added XP's ntvdm.exe to fix the dependencies).
I'll see if it makes any difference.

Does anyone else have any idea what can be the reason for such freezes (if it's not the wow32.dll)?

In meantime I already changed mainboards and used different HDD/SSD on different controllers but it didn't help. Graphic card also doesn't seem to matter.

This post has been edited by tomasz86: 15 November 2011 - 12:48 PM

[tomasz86]

Unfortunately wow32.dll doesn't change anything It must be something else...

[blackwingcat]

You had better attach the dependency walker's dwi file.
Perhaps we can find some cause.

tomasz86, on 15 November 2011 - 12:44 PM, said:

I'm reviving this topic because I've still been experiencing the cmd.exe freeze/stack problem. Especially recently I've been using batch scripts a lot and this problem is extremely bothersome I need to reset the computer each time it happens. I can't really say how frequently I encounter it but let's say that if I run a HFSLIP-like script for 5 times, the problem will occur at least once.

As I became more and more annoyed, inspired by dencorso I've just tried to replace the original W2k's wow32.dll with the fixed one from XP (+ I added XP's ntvdm.exe to fix the dependencies).
I'll see if it makes any difference.

Does anyone else have any idea what can be the reason for such freezes (if it's not the wow32.dll)?

In meantime I already changed mainboards and used different HDD/SSD on different controllers but it didn't help. Graphic card also doesn't seem to matter.

This post has been edited by blackwingcat: 16 November 2011 - 02:03 AM

[tomasz86]

Hello blackwingcat

Do you mean a .dwi file related to wow32.dll? The problem is that it doesn't matter at all. The same freeze occurred when the original W2K's wow32.dll was used and when the one from XP was installed. It doesn't make any difference

So far I've already checked the following components:

1. Mainboard - same situation on two different mainboards.

2. HDD - same problem on HDD, SSD, RAID and non-RAID (the controllers were also different).

3. Graphic card - two different cards and no difference.


I can't check the CPU as I don't have any other to replace it but I'll try to do some extensive memory testing and see if there's anything wrong with it.

[blackwingcat]

Hi tomasz86.

Did you install XP's wow32.dll to Windows 2000 ?
I think the cause of dependency is not ntvdm.dll but ntdll.dll.

Did your PC make any dump file ?

[tomasz86]

Hmm, the problem seems to be gone although I don't really understand how and why...

Firstly, I did test RAM some time ago but no errors occured (6+ hours of MemTest86+). The problem with console was still happening.

Finally, I decided to reinstall everything using the other mainboard and the final configuration is like this:

Quote

Athlon II X2 255 (3.1 GHz)
Foxconn A76ML-K 3.0 (AMD 760)
Radeon 3000 HD (integrated)
Samsung 8 GB DDR3 1333MHz (2 sticks)
HP 3042E SAS Controller (PCI-E)
4x Fujitsu MAX3036RC 15000 rpm 36 GB (1 standalone + 3 in RAID0)
1x Samsung F3 500 GB (connected to mainboard SATA; in bad condition)
1x Samsung HM160HC 160 GB (IDE)
SoundBlaster Live! 24-bit (PCI)
Windows 2000 Advanced Server

To be sure I set the cmd script to run for a whole night in a loop and very surprisingly no problems occurred. I also have it running at the moment too and no freezes! I don't really know how it can be because on almost the same configuration before the problem was occurring very often...

I'm far from being too enthusiastic about it but at the moment everything seems to be stable so... I'll make a copy of this partition and install rest of the needed programs, etc. and see if anything changes.

The cmd.exe, wow32.dll and ntvdm.dll used at the moment are the default 2K ones.

[tomasz86]

The freezes are back

but this time I actually have something to suspect. I'm almost sure that they are caused by Comodo Firewall 2.4. I still want to do more tests to be absolutely sure but I guess I need to look for a different firewall application.

I've just looked at http://www.matousec....nge/results.php and out of the free ones Malware Defender is said to support Win2k so I'll try it and see what happens.

This post has been edited by tomasz86: 08 December 2011 - 12:40 AM

[bpalone]

You may want to look at using an older version of ZoneAlarm. I use a really old version when I'm running my Win 2K either natively or in a VM. I think it is ver. 5.55 or something like that. You can find the older versions here

I know it is oooold, but I like the old stuff.

Good luck, tracking it down.

[tomasz86]

Well, I'd prefer to use the newest software as possible when it comes to FW & AV

I've been testing this Malware Defender for a week and it seems to be fine, and indeed Windows 2000 is officially supported! It is probably the only one among the currently available free firewall software to support Win2k.

Oh, and NO freezes have occurred since removing the Comodo Firewall

This post has been edited by tomasz86: 16 December 2011 - 11:35 AM

[pointertovoid]

Comodo 2.4.18.184 runs here on W2k, perfectly stable. The best firewall I've had up to now.

But... Tomasz86, are you still using the post-rollup USB patches that Microsoft didn't release broadly and calls "incompletely tested"?
Most are flawed, bugged, broken and do produce freezes. One shouldn't use them.

Does you W2k installation base on the unofficial SP5? You shall expect bugs then. It includes all these flawed patches.

[tomasz86]

No, I don't use USP5 or HBRs at the moment and I'm absolutely sure that it was Comodo 2.4 to cause this problem because everything has been fine since I uninstalled it on Dec 8.

As for the hotfixes themselves, I wouldn't be so sure that most of them are bugged (even if some really are like the USB related ones), ex. there are hundreds of them included in Update Rollup 1.

This post has been edited by tomasz86: 25 December 2011 - 10:33 AM

[dencorso]

tomasz86, on 25 December 2011 - 10:32 AM, said:

As for the hotfixes themselves, I wouldn't be so sure that most of them are bugged (even if some really are like the USB related ones), ex. there are hundreds of them included in Update Rollup 1.

That's my position, too. I know for sure some HBR Hotfixes are buggy. But, except for those I do know are buggy, my standard is to consider them OK, and usable. That's my 2¢, of course.
BTW, shouldn't we mark this [Solved] by now?

[RJARRRPCGP]

Looks like the PC is loosing power for a split second and then coming back on. Just like when there's a power co. issue.

[pointertovoid]

I've read again my notes about Comodo 2.4.18.184:
it did run badly as my mobo was damaged. At that time, it was one of the very few applications that ran crazy.
The Avast antivirus as well made false detections, unfrequently.
Since the mobo is replaced with a sound one, no single worry.

[tomasz86]

Well, a I said before, the only two parts which I didn't change is memory and CPU. I've already tested the memory and no errors occurred and unfortunately I haven't been able to check the CPU as I don't have any replacement. In the beginning I also thought that it might be a hardware related problem...

Anyway, the problem is gone so I'll mark the topic solved

This post has been edited by tomasz86: 26 December 2011 - 10:07 PM

[pointertovoid]

Use iBurnTest to test a Cpu (also for Amd) there:
http://www.xgamingst...lBurnTest-v2-53
it checks for computation and cooling mistakes - beware it loads for real.
It won't check if some local power supply has become too weak for an Agp port, for instance.