Hyperion Entertainment Message Boards

O.K. I've relented and set my clock to 667 MHz and made a test post with MUI-OWB at AmigaWorld.net. It was the first time I've been able to complete a post without the ISI crash with MUI-OWB. I still find it hard to believe that heat has anything to do with it. My SAM Flex had been run at 800MHz for an hour before switching to 667 MHz and immediately testing it with an OWB-MUI post at AmigaWorld. Could the processor have cooled that quickly (a matter of several minutes) or is it more of a timing or synchronization issue? Well, so far it looks like I will be able to complete this post and that reducing the clock speed makes a difference when using MUI-OWB. I'll need to try it for a couple of days to see if it is a complete cure. Is there a way to reduce the clock speed automatically so I don't have to manually change it every time I boot my SAM??

@xenic
It would be nice if there was a way to set the clocks permanently (I don't know one either) but remember, with a CPU fan you get the cool cpu (and thus stability) keeping the 800Mhz as well.
Something to ponder about...

DAX wrote:@Xenic
After some additional thoughts on the matter I believe we just have to give in and consider the CPUFan as the solution. The system gets hot but mixing up older and newer stuff might just hinder your experience in the end. USB2.0 doesn't work well with the older kernel, and you might also lose other advantages. Moreover what happens when the next update comes (or next Timberwolf beta which needs the new kernel?)
Just install a CPU fan and 53.22 with all its newest stuff will work ultra stable.

How did you get the current cooling fins off of the CPU to install one with a fan and where did you plug in the fan? I'm currently testing operation at 667 Mhz and MUI-OWB seems to be working without the usual crash at that speed. I may try a fan but I would prefer not to. My µA1 has a CPU fan and the cooling fins below the fan get clogged with dust about every 3-6 months. Before I switched to a SAM I had to remove the µA1 CPU fan on a regular basis and clean the wads of dust from the CPU cooling fins.

I'd advise a case fan, larger and more silent, in order to throw hot air out.

Yes this seems to be good. I reconnected my case fan today and my Radeon 9250 seems to be working again.
I wonder if there are timing issues caused by heat.

K-L wrote:I'd advise a case fan, larger and more silent, in order to throw hot air out.

Using a case fan might be a solution for some, but in my case, being the first thing I tried, it didn't do the trick. As I said in a previous post, my current installation consist in a hacked/quick job of placing the aforementioned case-fan on top of the CPU. I created 4 small cilinders made of insulating tape and placed them in the fan 4 holes. They are tall enough so that the fan itself hovers half a centimeter (around 1/5 of an inch) above the CPU heat sink (otherwise it would touch it and grate like crazy).
I made sure the 4 little cilinders end up in empty places of the mobo and placed some gummy non permanent glue there (of that kind you can always remove whenever you want) then switched everything on, to see if it was sturdy enough. Although I wouldn't trust placing the case in permanent vertical position, as it lays flat on top of my A2000 (its usual place) the thing turned out pretty solid (the small plastic fan is extremely light). I of course plan to remove this hack and install something proper soon.
What I wanted to quickly understand though, was if such a solution (a CPU fan instead of a case fan) could make a difference, and I didn't want to wait for a mail order to come in.
So far so good, the system is now rock stable with all the apss that were making me nuts earlier on. and the fan still fits firmly in place

My case fan is about 4 inches away from the CPU and blows air right across it. so this may make the difference .

@Spectre660
Well man, it might!

The aformentioned case fan of mine, aside from being rather small has it's natural position on the case rear (and away from the CPU) so it didn't have any effects in my previous attempt, however your last post made me notice and air "grill" on the case side ("Top"in my case as the whole thing lays flat like a desktop) with four convenient holes around it. Now the holes are placed farther away compared to the fan I was talkng about, but I remembered having such a large side-fan mounted on an unused PC.
The latter, quite conveniently, has some sort of large plastic cone protuding away which makes it reach a distance of around 2 inches from the CPU (covering a large area however far more than the sole CPU) so I placed this thing there, uses a 4 pin standard power cable, removed my previous hack (placed it back in the rear instead, its normal position) switched the thing on and made test after test.

Result: Rock Solid-No Hacks

Very happy about it, thanks everyone for your suggestions, one way or another they were all useful

Changed the topic title to solved.

@DAX
It sounds like you have the same case as mine. Is the side fan blowing in or sucking the the air out? Also, is the fan inside the case or mounted on the outside? The thing I never liked about my case design is that the Radeon card is mounted with the components facing down so that the heat radiated by the graphics chip cooling fins flows over the board components instead of rising away from the board like it would if the component side of the board faced up. Since you have your system laying horizontally, that's probably not an issue; the heat would rise away from the board.