Inspiron 6000 Locking Up

Question

Ok, I would greatly appreciate if someone could give me some leads on this one.
I was wondering if someone could help me out on this. I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 1.83 Ghz processor, and recently upgrade to 2 gigs of memory to help the problem I am going to describe, which it didn't.

Very frequently while doing common tasks that should not be highly demanding of system (such as websurfing) the entire system freezes for a period of 5-10 secs, sometime even the mouse included, then releases and everything is fine. This happens many times throughout the today. I originally thought it was a memory issue, but upgrading did not help. It is unquestionably not a virus/spyware issue... as I've run multiple different checks for this, and have what I consider a very secure system, and this has been an on-going problem from when I purchased it (original motherboard was a defect, wondering if they shipped me a refurb?) anyway, it is most noticeable when running streaming music (ie online radio station) where the audio gets "stuck" and beings to repeat short bursts, until the rest of the system frees up.

Additionally, I'm wondering if a different problem I'm having may be related. One of my favorite games, NR2003 which definitely qualifies my specs for recommended requirements, has a very hard time running. For some times it will run smoothly, then much like the windows/web interface locking up, suddenly slows to a crawl, while the fps counter skyrockets to 150. It never goes below 100 normally, though is cleary incorrect, as 10-20 fps is much more appropriate. Reinstall of game/system to no effect.

Finally i have noticed, despite using a cooling pads, I hear the internal fans running quite a lot lately, even just when I'm simply using it for web-surfing. is this normal?

Is there any underlying cause that could be connecting these three issues? Again I stress I'm 99.9% certain this is NOT a virus spyware issue, nor has it been fixed by memory upgrades, or reinstalls. I'm at wits end with this, any help/thoughts greatly appreciated!

sblive · Answer

Steve,

Your inspiron is completely the same as any other. I have the same machine, and I experience all of these lock up problems.

As for the game problems, there are usually 2 problems. First the drivers for the video card stinks, and dell won't be fixing those, so you can pretty much play no 3d games.

2nd, the laptop automatically chooses to run at reduced clock cycles. For me, i have 2.0 ghz pentium M. It runs at 800 mhz sometimes and 2.0 ghz other times. There's no way to directly control the speed. If you change power options, you can sometimes get it to run at max speed most of the time, but not all the time. This might explain some spikes in fps as your processor is switching from slow mode to fast mode.

For your fans, this is typical. This is why it's so frustrating to use this machine. It's as small as a laptop but as loud as a car.

stevei6000 · Answer

well thanks for the response.
I've heard there are some programs to control the processor speed, force it to max out, but that these can be very dangerous?

Secondly, you said you have the same lock-up problems, but is there no solution, or idea what is causing it?
The whole situation really stinks because I though the i6000 was a higher end gaming oriented system, and I even bought the highest possible vid card, all seemingly to no avail. What bugs me most is that the lock-ups occur doing simple web-browsing, not very demanding activities, it should be able to handle such things I would think?! Although it seems to be a web/streaming issue, because the lock-ups don't happen at all to off line applications, other than the aforementioned slowdowns of games, which may be explained by the processor switching speeds as you suggested.

sblive · Answer

Yeah, I think it's dangerous because you won't get any cooling. I feel like the inspiron 6000 will melt if it runs like that :)

Yup, it locks up all the time. It doesn't matter what I do, what program I use, what browser I use, my inspiron 6000 with 2.0 ghz processor, 2 GB ram, 533 mhz bus, is slower than my 5 year old desktop with 1.5 ghz Pentium 4 with 512 mb ram!

I'm through with this poor drivers and software. I think I'm ready to try something like a mac, where one company makes all the included software, os, and drivers.

wraujr · Answer

Have you tried opening Task Manager (right click Task Bar) and select:

(1) Performance tab and see if CPU usage goes to 100% during freeze. Could also check networking tab but I doubt if problem.

(2) Processes tab, then click CPU header twice to sort by highest usage first, which will normally be the System Idle Process and then watch to see which process is at or near the top when the problem occurs.

Also, Is the hard disk access light flashing (i.e. some large unexplained write to hard disk)...

Of course, if computer freezes the Windows Task Manager window may not get updated but you might see the process on the display as it gets activated.....

I also have I6000, but can't say that I've seen this problem.

ward733 · Answer

Unlike the pentium 4 pretisesor the pentium M chips are alot cooler operating chips, which in design have less ability to disipate the heat like a p4.. This would raise concerns that the chip if you had an obstucted fan port 'dirt' or a faulty fan would make a chip overheat  quicker eventially causing malfunction or even failure. This fact would raise the opinion that it is more critical to keep you cooling system free of blockage. Sounds as though you have a heat problem.. Try cleaning out your intake and heat exhaust. My e1505 has a gpu fan for the x1400 also for a total of 2 . Let me know how it goes. Message Edited by ward733 on 08-15-200608:19 PM

maneu · Answer

Hi,

I have an Inspiron 6000D 2.0 mhz cpu and 1GB mem. It's 15 months old and runs like a Rolex. I did reformat once about 6 months ago because I was using the laptop for a project at work. I don't use it for games, personaly, I don't believe using computers for games but that's only my opinion. the bottom line is I'm very happy with my 6000D. Also, my son has a 6000D same as mine and again no problems.

maneu

ward733 · Answer

My e1505 is the newer model number but basically I have a 6000 mb in mine, I am also verry satisfied with my notebook in fact with all of my notebooks. I was just trying to explain that the chips are cooler in nature that allowed intel to reduce the size of the heat sink on the chip, then creates a differant problem if your air ports become slightly clogged you might notice a slight if not big performance decrease. Look under  cleaning your system in your manual. It explains the intervals and the method of properly cleaning and maintanance of your notebook.. Wish you well..

stevei6000 · Answer

hey everybody, thanks for the input... I will try that, in the meantime I made an interesting discovery that explain both my frequent internet lockup and game slowdown. The processor speed gets stuck at 800Mhz, not the 1.86Ghz it should be. It oscillates a lot, but is mostly low, and I've seen it down as 799Mhz with CPU uage at 97% when I have the net lockups, and I also see it drop from 1.8 to 799Mhz when the games slow to a crawl!!! this can't be normal can it???

wraujr · Answer

If 'I've seen it down as 799Mhz with CPU uage at 97% ' is true, then this is a problem.  If network was bottleneck then CPU speed dropping would be normal as CPU is idling waiting for network.  But if CPU usage is high, then speed should be high.  Now speed stepping is fairly smart and stepping may occur if  (1) your battery is running low, the software lowers CPU speed when battery drains to approx. 30%         (variable) to conserve power and extend battery life.  These are part of your power management        settings.  Confirm by runnning with A/C adapter connected.  (2) Your CPU is getting too hot (i.e. bad/poor cooling).  If the CPU is running hot, then the speed is         reduced to reduce amount of heat generated.  Try cleaning air/fan ports as others have mentioned.         Since you notice the fans running more, I suspect your 'cooling system' is clogged with dust.         As a point of comparison, my 8 month old I6000 surfs the Internet for at over an hour with the fan in a speed         low enough that I never notice it.  The only time I notice my fan speeding up is when burning         a DVD (video or data).  The video DVD burning is using a lot of CPU to process video.  Also         make sure nothing (including CoolPad) is blocking air intake on bottom.

ward733 · Answer

Is there a bios update for your system? it sounds as though you might want to reinstall the latest version..all of this sounds like a bad bios update Make sure all your devices are unhooked and basically you are factory..You shouldnt have this many problems with things that should be automatic processor stepping and fan controll..

stevei6000 · Answer

wranujr, thanks for the quick response

well it's definitely not #1, as I'm running 100% on AC right now, and during observing of these problems. And yes the "97% cpu usage and still 799Mhz is true and I can replicate it pretty quickly be switching browser windows and getting it to log up. As far as #2, it doesn't appear to be heat related the avg temp fluctuates between 40-50 deg C with a peak of 59, after about 5 mins of gaming. From what I understand this is well without the bounds for temperature. I want to go contact and fight Dell with this, but am trying to gather as much info as I can here first to have something to go on. Thanks to any/all responses.

stevei6000 · Answer

also why are the fans on full-speed sounding like a freight train at 33 deg C??

sblive · Answer

Unfortunately, there's no new updates for either the BIOS or video card, which seem to cause the most problems. There is a chipset driver, but I'm not sure it'll do anything to help since there isn't any documentation.

ward733 · Answer

Try reinslalling the current bios.. Make sure there isnt anything connected thats not part of the notebook. If there was a programming error the last time it was flashed it might clear it and possibly resolve your problem..

wraujr · Answer

I didn't see it above, what are your power options setting

One way to access

Have you tried setting to "Always ON High" when Plugged into AC as a test??

A test I use is to use the Microsoft Scientific Calculator (make sure the View mode is Scientific and then enter the n! of a very large (i.e. 15 digit number). This will run your usage to a constant 100% and you can then watch what happens to fan and CPU speed and temp (if fanGUI installed). Occasionally, the CALC.EXE process will pop up a window asking if it should continue, note that the process continues calculating while awaiting response. You can abort by entering STOP. I have a dual processor workstation and I can open two calculator windows and load each processor with a large calculation to max out my machine. Using CALC is much more consistent since its a pure calculation (i.e. no hard disk or network IO).

Does the Alt-Z command reset the fan speed and help with the CPU speed?? I know that once my I6000 fans go into high speed they will stay that way for hours until I ALT-Z or shutdown. I'm wondering if you are gaming into a hot mode when the SpeedStep algorithm reduces speed but then stays there with fast fan and low speed. My fans should return to a lower speed but they never do without entering Alt-Z (btw I have BIOS version A09 which was(is?) latest). It appears as if the software algorithm use in adjusting CPU speed takes many conditions (temp/battery level) and settings (on battery/on AC) into account and there is no utility that tells us why the speed has been reduced.

Message Edited by wraujr on 08-18-200610:13 AM

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Inspiron 6000 Locking Up

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