Burnin test 5.3 system freeze for 30min then recovers

[chook]

Me Too

I also have this issue (with a legally purchased copy of BurnInTest Professional) using various versions of Vista and XP on both Intel and AMD platforms. Motherboards include Gigabyte, ASUS, abit and eVGA. RAM tends to be Corsair in DDR2 667, 675 and 800 speeds. Tests run are 2D and 3D graphics, RAM, Disk, CD/DVD, Sound, CPU Math and CPU SIMD all at 95.

Cheers,

Chook

[David (PassMark)]

Unfortunately saying 'me too' doesn't help narrow down the vague description of the problem. Neither does stating that it happens with all O/S and all CPU's and all motherboards with pretty all tests running.

Please
1) Fully detail the system spec's
2) Make half an attempt to isolate the problem yourself. For example, does it still happen with just the RAM test running. Does swapping the video card fix the problem?
3) Fully describe the problem. Are you really seeing a 30min freeze of the entire system, followed by a sub-sequent recovery, without a reboot, and without any other errors? Does this happen every single run? Does this happen after 5min? Does it only happen after 50 hours of testing?

Futher, Chook, I found no order in our database that matched your E-mail address.

[chook]

Unfortunately saying 'me too' doesn't help narrow down the vague description of the problem. Neither does stating that it happens with all O/S and all CPU's and all motherboards with pretty all tests running.

Perhaps that is because the TITLE is not a description of the problem. It is a title.

Please
1) Fully detail the system spec's

It is rather difficult to fully detail the specs of the dozens of different systems that this has occured on. I will attempt to do so but will need to go back through sales records so I will not be able to do this right now.

2) Make half an attempt to isolate the problem yourself. For example, does it still happen with just the RAM test running. Does swapping the video card fix the problem?

This has been done. BIOS has been flashed, RAM exchanged, HDD swapped, optical drives swapped, video cards swapped etc. Tests have been run individually and removed one at a time. It appears to make no difference. As the run completes successfully with no errors we had simply accepted that it was some kind of glitch but when I saw this thread on your forums and the following statement:

This not a known problem. No other customer has reported freezing / unfreezing like you have described.

I felt it necessary to report it in order to help you resolve what may have been an unrealised issue. Finding all the glitches/kinks/bugs in software is hard and I accept that sometimes these things happen and only end user feedback can sometimes find them. I now see though that PassMark Software Pty Ltd has little or no interest in this.

3) Fully describe the problem.

After running BurnInTest for (usually) approx. 5 minutes the system becomes completely unresponsive. The system resumes responding after between 5 and 30 minutes and the test completes successfully.

Are you really seeing a 30min freeze of the entire system, followed by a sub-sequent recovery, without a reboot, and without any other errors?

Not exactly. The freeze can be from 5 minutes to 30 minutes.

Does this happen every single run? Does this happen after 5min? Does it only happen after 50 hours of testing?

No it doesn't happen every single run. It generally happens around the 5 minute mark. Tests are run for 12 hours prior to the systems being released to the client so I am unable to say if it only occurs after 50 hours of testing.

Futher, Chook, I found no order in our database that matched your E-mail address.

Perhaps that might be because this is not the e-mail address that is registered in your database. Also, perhaps you might actually display some interest in helping your customers instead of accusing them of being thieves. Your customer service skills leave a lot to be desired.

Cheers,

Chook

[David (PassMark)]

Sorry if my post seem abrupt. But software piracy is a huge problem, and almost every day we get people E-mailing about problems in hacked software, that are caused by the hack itself (where the hacker has modified our code and introduced new bugs into the software).

Secondly it is extremely frustrating for us to need to ask multiple times to get simple information like the version of software in use and the hardware specifications.

We do our best to fix stuff up, but detailed fault reports will get a much better response from us, especially for issues that are hard to pin down.


So some more questions,
1) What are the hardware spec's of one (or some) of the sytems with this problem?
2) Was it a 32bit or 64bit system?
3) How much RAM was in it?
4) Was it a clean install of the O/S?
5) Was any 3rd party software installed?
6) What is the version of BurnInTest that you are using?
7) You say that you removed one test at a time and it made no difference? So when you were running just a single test and still saw the problem, what test was running?
Was the hard disk thrashing during the freeze?
9) Did CTRL-ALT-DEL bring up task manager during the freeze?
10) Was there any network activity that you noticed during the freeze (e.g. Windows update running, Java JVM update, Antivirus signature update, etc..)
11) Had you made any changes to the Windows swap file settings? Or was the swap file set to the "manage automatic" setting?

[chook]

1) What are the hardware spec's of one (or some) of the sytems with this problem?

System One:

Antec(USA) Top Quality TITAN Server Case, NO Power Supply, 10 Drive Bays (6 x Internal
3.5" & 4 x 5.25") Up to 3x fans - 1x rear 120mm with 3-speed switch (included), Double hinge
door design up to 270'C, Connectors/wires set - 2x Front USB 2.0 port, 1 x Front IEEE1394
(Firewire) port and Audio In/Out, 7 Expansion Slots, up to Extended ATX, Quick-release drive
bays with release lever, Swing-out side panel with handle and latch. 1 x 5.25" to 3.5" adapter
included.

850W "SilverStone" OP850 Power Supply, Black, 120mm fan, 22dbA minimum, 2 x 8/6pin
PCI-E connectors, 1 x dual 6pin PCI-E connector, 2 x triple SATA power connectors, Single
+12V Rail with 70A @ 50 degrees, >80% efficiency, Over current protection, Over power
protection, Over voltage protection, Short circuit protection

I3000/ LGA775, SUPPORT XEON 3000/ DDR2/ RAIL 0, 1, 10/2xGIGA LAN

XEON 3060/ 2.40Ghz/ 4MB CACHE/ 1066FSB/ LGA775

Corsair TWIN2X2048-5400C4 2GB (2x XMS2 1GB) Twin2X PC-5400 (675MHZ) DDR2
RAM, 240-pin DIMMs, Unbuffered, 4-4-4-12, 32Mx8 DRAMs, Heat Spreader, Lifetime
warranty

4 x Seagate 320GB 'ST3320620NS' SATA II 3Gb/s ES HDD - 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, 3-D Defense
System, 63 Gs operating shock, 300 Gs non-operating shock, 2.8 bels acoustics, 5-year warranty (RAID 5)

Seagate 500GB 'ST3500631NS' SATA II 3Gb/s ES HDD - 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, 3-D Defense
System, 63 Gs operating shock, 300 Gs non-operating shock, 2.8 bels acoustics, 5-year warranty

Samsung SH-S203B SATA Black, Double Layer, Internal 20x DVD±RW Drive, OEM with
software included (Nero Express 7.3 & InCD), Max Speeds: 12x DVD-RAM, 20x DVD+R, 20x
DVD-R, 16x DVD+R Double Layer, 12x DVD-R Double Layer, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW,
48x CD-R, 4x CD-RW. Nero 7.0 Supports Vista and SATA ODD .

HighPoint Rocket Raid 2310 - 4 channel PCI-E to SATA II host adapter, supports RAID
0/1/5/10/JBOD, Up to 300Mb/s for each SATA II drive port, SAF-TE enclosure management,
64-bit LBA for over 2TB partition support, Command Line Interface(CLI), supports Native
Command Queuing (NCQ), Online Capacity Expansion and Online RAID Level Migration
(OCE/ORLM), Support Windows/Windows X64 Editions/Linux/FreeBSD/MacOS X

Lian Li SATA I/II Mobile Rack Aluminium Inner/Plastic Outer Black 89.76 89.76

2 x GlacialTech GT9225HDL-A1 92x92x25mm Case Fan, Hydrodynamic bearing, 3 & 4 Pin
Connectors, 1600RPM±10% Fan Speed, 18.5dBA Noise Level, 35.8CFM Airflow

Samsung 19" 940N LCD Monitor - Black colour, Maximum Resolution 1280 x 1024, 5ms
Response Time, Brightness: 300 cd/m2, 700:1 Contrast Ratio, Input Signal: 15pin D-sub, Ultra
Narrow Bezel, MagicColor, MagicBright2, MagicZone.

Microsoft Basic Value Pack - Black Colour, PS/2 Keyboard and PS/2 Basic Optical Mouse, Hot
Keys - Browse Email or Search the web with the press of a button. Optical Mouse with

3-buttons and scroll wheel, comfort design for left or right handed people.

MS Windows 2003 Small Business Server Premium Edition Pack - Release 2, OEM with
5-clients - OEMs must distribute each server software unit with a fully assembled computer
system.

Continued...

[chook]

1) What are the hardware spec's of one (or some) of the sytems with this problem?

System Two:

Silver Achilles Case - No PSU

560W "SilverStone" ST56F V3 Power Supply, Black colour, SLI & CrossFire ready, Powerful
single +12V rail (36A) for special performance, Dual PCI-E 6pin connectors, 2 x dual SATA
connectors, 1x 120mm ball bearing fan, 21 dBA minimum, Total DC output : 560W Max, Over
Current Protection, Over voltage protection, Short Circuit, No Load Operation, 20pin + 4pin
connectors, Active PFC, Support ATX 12V

Gigabyte GA-945PL-S3 (rev. 3.3) Socket LGA 775 motherboard - Supports Intel Core 2
Extreme/ Core 2 Duo/ Pentium D/ Pentium 4; Intel P945PL / ICH7 Chipset, 800/533 MHz
FSB(will boot with FSB 1333 Core 2 Duo), 4 x 240-pin Dual Channel DDR2 533/400
(non-ECC, Un-Buffered) DIMM sockets, 1 x PCI Express x16, 3 x PCI-Ex1, 3 x PCI 2.2,
Southbridge: 4 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports, Gigabit LAN controller, 8-channel High Definition
Audio, Upto 8 x USB 2.0 ports, Software included, ATX form factor; 305mm x 190mm

Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180, 2.0 GHz Clock Speed, FSB 800MHz, 1MB Cache, 65W,
Socket LGA775.

2048MB KIT "Corsair" Value Select PC-5300 (667MHz), (2 x 1GB value select modules),
240-pin DDR2, non-ECC, Unbuffered, 2x128Mx64, CL5, DDR2 is not backwardly compatible
with DDR motherboards, lifetime warranty

Seagate 320GB 'ST3320620AS' SATA II 3Gb/s HDD - 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, 5-year warranty

Samsung SH-S203B SATA Black, Double Layer, Internal 20x DVD±RW Drive, OEM with
software included (Nero Express 7.3 & InCD), Max Speeds: 12x DVD-RAM, 20x DVD+R, 20x
DVD-R, 16x DVD+R Double Layer, 12x DVD-R Double Layer, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW,
48x CD-R, 4x CD-RW. Nero 7.0 Supports Vista and SATA ODD .

eVGA e-GeForce 7300GT PCI-E x16 512MB 128-bit DDR2, 350/532MHz, DVI, VGA, HDTV,
Fan, 8 pixel pipelines, 400MHz RAMDAC, 2048 x 1536 x 32bit @ 85 Hz Max Analog
resolution, 2560 x 1600 / 1600 x 1200 @ 60Hz Max Digital resolution, SLI Ready

Viewsonic VA2026W 20"W, 5ms, 1680x1050, 300nits, 1K:1, 170/ 160, DVI, BLACK

Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 Value Pack - Black colour, Multimedia Keyboard with Hot keys
and enhanced function keys, 3 Button Optical Wheel USB Mouse, Spill-Resistant Keys to
reduce risk of damage, supports Windows XP Pro/ Home/ Tablet Edition/ MCE/ Mac OS X
v10.2, 10.3 (excluding Mac OS X v10.010.1). PS/2 Adapter not included.

64-bit MS Windows Vista Home Premium 1-Pack OEM DVD Operating System

Logitech 2.1 R20 Speakers

Continued...

[chook]

1) What are the hardware spec's of one (or some) of the sytems with this problem?

System Three:

ICUTE Black 901-4G Case - No PSU

550W "GlacialTech" GP-PS550BP ATX12V Ver. 2.2 Power Supply, Dual +12V outputs, 2 x

PCI-Express, Fan turned off at low load, Intelligent fan speed control

Gigabyte GA-M56S-S3 M/board AM2 Athlon 64 X2/Athlon 64 FX/Athlon 64/Sempron

Motherboard - NVIDIA 560 Chipset, 4 x Dual Channel DDR2 800/667/533 (ECC Supported)
DIMM (Max 16GB), 1 x PCI-Express x16, 2 x PCI-Express x1, 4 x PCI 2.2, 4 x Serial ATA
3.0Gb/s, Gigabit LAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394, 8-Ch Audio, ATX form factor

AMD AM2 Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Dual Core CPU, 3.0Ghz, 2 x 1MB L2 Cache, Boxed

2 x Corsair TWIN2X2048-5400C4 2GB (2x XMS2 1GB) Twin2X PC-5400 (675MHZ) DDR2

RAM, 240-pin DIMMs, Unbuffered, 4-4-4-12, 32Mx8 DRAMs, Heat Spreader, Lifetime
warranty

Seagate 320GB 'ST3320620AS' SATA II 3Gb/s HDD - 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, 5-year warranty

Samsung SH-S203B SATA Black, Double Layer, Internal 20x DVD±RW Drive, OEM with

software included (Nero Express 7.3 & InCD), Max Speeds: 12x DVD-RAM, 20x DVD+R, 20x
DVD-R, 16x DVD+R Double Layer, 12x DVD-R Double Layer, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW,
48x CD-R, 4x CD-RW. Nero 7.0 Supports Vista and SATA ODD .

Inno3D GF 8600GTS PCI-E x16 256MB iChiLLite XStriker3 128-bit DDR3, 2 x Dual Link

DVI, HDTV, XStriker3 fan, 702MHz Core Clock, 2100MHz Memory Clock, 400MHz
RAMDAC, NVIDIA SLI Ready, NVIDIA Quantum Effects physics processing technolgy,
supports DirectX 10 Shader Model 4.0 and OpenGL 2.0, NVIDIA PureVideo Technology

64-bit MS Windows Vista Home Premium 1-Pack OEM DVD Operating System

Viewsonic VA2026W 20"W, 5ms, 1680x1050, 300nits, 1K:1, 170/ 160, DVI, BLACK

Creative SBS245 BLACK Speakers, Slim design, 2.0 channel speakers: 2W RMS x 2,

Frequency Response: 90Hz~20kHz

Razer Diamondback 'Chameleon Green' Infrared Optical Precision Gaming Mouse, 7-Buttons

independently programmable, 1600 DPI high performance sensors, 6400 frames per second (5.8
megapixels per second), 16 bit data path, High speed motion detection (40ips and 15g), Ultra
large non-slip mouse buttons, rubber siderails for improved grip, Always On Mode (optical sensor
never powers down), On-the-Fly sensitivity (Award winning Razer drivers), Gold plated USB
connector for maximum conductivity, compatible with Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP. For VISTA
support, visit http://www.razerzone.com/Microsoft-Vista/

2) Was it a 32bit or 64bit system?

Both (see above).

3) How much RAM was in it?

See above.

4) Was it a clean install of the O/S?

Yes.

5) Was any 3rd party software installed?

Yes; Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.1, Java R6 update 2, Open Office 2.2, Kaspersky IS 7. We also attempted to run BurnInTest without third party software to eliminate this from the equation with no change in results.

6) What is the version of BurnInTest that you are using?

BurnInTest 5.3 Professional

7) You say that you removed one test at a time and it made no difference? So when you were running just a single test and still saw the problem, what test was running?

We would disable a single test and if it made no difference result we would enable that test again and disable another one. The result of this hopefully having been that the freezing would go when the problem test was disabled. When running single tests, the problem appeared on all tests. This led us to believe it was a hardware and not a software fault initially but then we saw the problem on other systems and came to the conclusions that it couldn't be that many different pieces of hardware.

Was the hard disk thrashing during the freeze?

No.

9) Did CTRL-ALT-DEL bring up task manager during the freeze?

No.

10) Was there any network activity that you noticed during the freeze (e.g. Windows update running, Java JVM update, Antivirus signature update, etc..)

No, as part of our diagnostics we disconnected to system from the network physically to ensure this wasn't happening. We have also taken to doing this before commencing any of our testing runs.

11) Had you made any changes to the Windows swap file settings? Or was the swap file set to the "manage automatic" setting?

No modifications were made and Windows was allowed to manage the swap file.

Cheers,

Chook

[David (PassMark)]

Thanks for the additional details. We still don't know what the problem is, as we don't see it on our test systems. But we can at least set up a similar config and try it out here.

If enough people with this problem post their systems specs and details of their testing configuration, then we might also be able to spot a common element in the hardware or the configuration that provokes the problem.

[Ian (PassMark)]

Chook,

It would also help if we could find out :

(1) Which build of BurnInTest v5.3 (e.g. v5.3.1011) you see the problem with?
(2) Whether this problem occurs with v5.1 of BurnInTest?

Thanks.

Regards,
Ian (PassMark)

[Ian (PassMark)]

We have done quite a lot of testing to try and reproduce this problem in XP and Vista. With the setting described, CPU, Memory, 3D, 2D HDD at 95%, on various systems, with various settings, such as power and screen saver settings.

In XP we could not see anything like this behavior. In Vista, we on one occasion saw unexpected behavior where the Microsoft screensaver hung (presumably due to a resource allocation issue in that software).

If other people see the behavior of the system hanging for approximately 30 minutes, 5 to 30 minutes into the test, then if they could post information about their systems, the tests they used, the duty cycles, the power saving settings, the screensaver settings and the paging file size that would help us understand what may be causing this behavior and how wide spread the problem is.

I suggest turning off the screen saver and power saving features when testing, unless you specifically want to test these features.

Regards,
Ian

[CJ]

I have a feeling its Vista's new graphics system. Perhaps turning off Aero (Vista's 3D graphics) will help. Updating the Graphics Drivers and installing Vista SP1 Beta may also help. Try turning off the 2D and 3D test in BIT and see if that improves things.

The best thing to do is simply format and reinstall Windows, that way you can rule out a software problem (i.e. Virus Scanner eating excessive resources).