failing hard drive causes lockup?

[JDB4LFE]

I just recently bought a used r9 290. I've done all of the troubleshooting I know to do for gpu's and chipsets. The card works great, my motherboard works as it has for the last two years, no ram issues. I started noticing that anytime my PC tried to access my secondary drive/I did anything with it, I would lock up. No bsod, just the robot noise from my speakers and no control. I've unplugged my secondary drive and haven't crashed since. I didn't think a secondary drive would cause this.... Any suggestions?

[JDB4LFE]

Forgot to mention my issues didn't show up until I installed the 290.

[dadasmithywinkle]

Try checking your HDD with Crystal Disk Info. It'll tell you the health of the HDD.

[Dabombinable]

If checking the  as @dadasmithywinkle said doesn't work I'd say the R9 290 is at fault. I've got similar issues with my FX 5500 (completely different I know but its the same issue) where it locks up when the resolution is above 1024x768 as it overheats. Check the temperatures of the R9 290 if its not the HDD.

[JDB4LFE]

If checking the  as @dadasmithywinkle said doesn't work I'd say the R9 290 is at fault. I've got similar issues with my FX 5500 (completely different I know but its the same issue) where it locks up when the resolution is above 1024x768 as it overheats. Check the temperatures of the R9 290 if its not the HDD.

 

my temps and functionality aren't my issue. i've ran all sorts of benchmarks, utilities, undervolting/clocking, overvolting/clocking, nothing else stopped the crashes except unplugging the secondary hard drive (western digital blue 1tb...forgot to mention that)

Try checking your HDD with Crystal Disk Info. It'll tell you the health of the HDD.

my computer won't stay on long enough for me to run any software according to checking the drive. as soon as i attempt anything according to this drive (whether it be instant or 30-60 seconds later) it locks my whole pc up.

on another note, i reinstalled windows 7 because i thought that might be my issues because of drivers and whatnot. when i got everything up and running, the drive in question didn't show up in windows (had to reassign a drive letter) No clue if that has anything to do with this problem.

[Dabombinable]

my temps and functionality aren't my issue. i've ran all sorts of benchmarks, utilities, undervolting/clocking, overvolting/clocking, nothing else stopped the crashes except unplugging the secondary hard drive (western digital blue 1tb...forgot to mention that)

my computer won't stay on long enough for me to run any software according to checking the drive. as soon as i attempt anything according to this drive (whether it be instant or 30-60 seconds later) it locks my whole pc up.

on another note, i reinstalled windows 7 because i thought that might be my issues because of drivers and whatnot. when i got everything up and running, the drive in question didn't show up in windows (had to reassign a drive letter) No clue if that has anything to do with this problem.

Try running the SMART test in speedfan, or if you want to get better results burn a copy of Linux to CD and run it live (lubuntu seems to be best for me) and use the disk utility to run the SMART test. I myself find that it is very detailed about what the problems with a HDD are while remaining easy to understand (I've had to use it several times to check my old HDD).

[JDB4LFE]

Wasn't the hard drive. 3 hours later it started again. Believe I got a faulty 290. Good thing I can return it.

[JDB4LFE]

would dust build up (humidity/dust cake from florida/mississippi) on my pci-express lanes cause my problems? moved my 290 to my 2nd pci-e slot (it's only pci-e 2.0 x8, but isn't effecting my performance any) and haven't crashed in a little over 3 hours now....that's a big accomplishment from the last few days.

[Dabombinable]

would dust build up (humidity/dust cake from florida/mississippi) on my pci-express lanes cause my problems? moved my 290 to my 2nd pci-e slot (it's only pci-e 2.0 x8, but isn't effecting my performance any) and haven't crashed in a little over 3 hours now....that's a big accomplishment from the last few days.

That can be an issue. Give it a week or 2 before you make any conclusions though as I've found that computer's like to make a lier out of you.

[JDB4LFE]

Ran all tests for all of my hardware. Hard drives and ssd's are all fully functional. No errors or anything. Only thing that solved my issue was switching pci-express slots for my gpu. Possibly a failing slot or just sorry dirty?I'm not sure. It is an old motherboard. It never did it before I got my 290 though. Sadly my 2nd slot is only an x8. Doesn't seem to effect my performance though I do see stutters from time to time.

[Dabombinable]

Ran all tests for all of my hardware. Hard drives and ssd's are all fully functional. No errors or anything. Only thing that solved my issue was switching pci-express slots for my gpu. Possibly a failing slot or just sorry dirty?I'm not sure. It is an old motherboard. It never did it before I got my 290 though. Sadly my 2nd slot is only an x8. Doesn't seem to effect my performance though I do see stutters from time to time.

In that case its either the 290 or the motherboard, could you put the 290 back into the original PCIe slot and monitor the temps? Because I myself only experience lockups when my FX 5500 and Geforce 6200 overheat (the FX 5500 needs to run at 800x600 to avoid locking up, and the 6200 at 1024x768).

[JDB4LFE]

Temps aren't the issue. Full load I never go above 80c. R9's are rated for 90c workload.

[Captain_WD]

I just recently bought a used r9 290. I've done all of the troubleshooting I know to do for gpu's and chipsets. The card works great, my motherboard works as it has for the last two years, no ram issues. I started noticing that anytime my PC tried to access my secondary drive/I did anything with it, I would lock up. No bsod, just the robot noise from my speakers and no control. I've unplugged my secondary drive and haven't crashed since. I didn't think a secondary drive would cause this.... Any suggestions?

 

Hey JDB4LFE,

 

What are the two drives that you have? Is the system in your signature the one that is having the problems? If not, could you post your full specs? 

 

I would try connecting the drive externally (enclosure, docking station, SATA to USB with a power cable, etc.) and checking if the problem persists. If it doesn't, run a diagnostic utility on the drive. I would recommend using the manufacturer's tool as it knows the drive's firmware well. 

 

You could also try the drive on another computer and see if the problem occurs again. Trying a drive from another computer on your own is also a good idea to see if the source of the problem is the drive or something else in the computer.

 

Captain_WD.