paulmd@efn.org wrote:

> Currently my top theories are bad caps,

Yes, that can produce the symptoms he is seeing.

> jumpers,

Doesnt produce the symptoms he is seeing.

> bad RAM,

Unlikely to have just started to produce those symptoms.

> and bad IDE controller.

Doesnt produce that reboot effect.

> But ALL possibilties need to be checked
> and eliminated before a diagnosis is made.

Effective debugging is done by concentrating on the possibilitys
that can produce the symptoms seen, not wasting time on
possibilitys that dont produce the symptoms seen.

> Bad or Wrong cable is also on the list.

Nope, that wont produce the reboot effect either.

> Little hardware problems that you don't think are the issue, often are.

Only if you dont actually have a clue about
what can produce particular symptoms.

> They need to be addressed, and eliminated.

Not when the actual fault is elsewhere.

> At a minimum, They interfere with a proper diagnosis,

No they dont with symptoms like those seen.

> and they need to be fixed anyway, so no reason not to fix them.

Waste of time considering them until the fault is
found and you decide if the repair is economic.

If for example it is a bad motherboard, the owner may well
just prefer to buy a new system and move the drive contents
to the new system, and may not even want to have the old
drive in the new system, so minor config problems are irrelevant.

> And, well the other issues caused by them go away,
> so all around a better way of doing things.

Nope, particularly when its quite likely that the motherboard
is bad and that the owner will choose to buy a new system.

> Dust, and associated heat issues, for example may
> cause an occasional freeze, and random reset.

Not with the seagate diag.

> So do bad caps

Yes, but if those are bad, there isnt any point in mindlessly
cleaning out the dust, swapping the cables, etc etc etc, if
the owner is likely to buy a new system if it does have bad caps.

> and bad ram.

Ram doesnt usually go bad.

> Start by fixing problem 1, and continue on until all the issues are fixed.

Makes a lot more sense to first decide if the caps are bad
and dont bother with anything else if the owner decides to
buy a new system because the caps are bad and that its
a good reason to upgrade to a new system now.

> Every fan works, and every last thing is configured
> to spec. That way there aren't lingering doubts.

Stupidly inefficient way to diagnose a fault like that one.

> As for why is the diagnostic hangin? Seatools says, right while
> it's loading that certian types of hard drive problems may cause
> a hang (for several minutes). And please be patient. It will
> continue eventually. It disables the mouse during tests, too.

So the OP is likely to have seen that and waited long enough.

Much more likely that there is a serious hardware
problem like bad caps or a flakey power supply.

> There is one last thing to try, which is a bios upgrade.
> Bios upgrades often address hardware incompatibilties.

They dont just show up after the system has been working fine.

> But all other possibilities need to be eliminated first.

Wrong again. It can be the best thing to try if there is some
obvious hardware incompat. No need to clean the dust out first.