random shutdowns

[digijin]

i ran memtest86 a few times at friends place,

-first time with 2x 1 gig sticks in, got about 6 errors on test #6

-second and third times with alternating sticks, to figure out which stick had the errors (neither returned errors when they were tested without other ram stick present)

-then took 2x 1gig sticks ram out of his box, swapped with my 2x 1gig sticks, ran memtest86 with both on my box.. no errors - ran memtest86 on his box with my ram in it.. 1 error on test 3

-take computer home

-computer randomly shuts down again

-softly cry myself to sleep

-wake up and cry my way to work

-cry to random people on tech forums

which brings me to now...

James

 

[bmxfreakrider]

yea i feel ya, pc's cant live with em, cant live without em....well do you know if the pc is overclocked? if it is, have it put back to stock, and if not, the cpu might be bad....run this
also, is there a certian event that triggers the shutdown, such as opening a file, or plugging a device in?

 

[bmxfreakrider]

woaw! that burnin test is freaky! its good, but the sound it playes for audio test is horrendous!

 

[digijin]

computer shutting down is pretty much random, but if you leave it off a while, its more likely to stay on for a while.

Its shutdown from inside windows, running off a dos boot disk, running of memtest boot disk, while playing games, while reading text files, while working, while doing nothing but playing music, I havent been able to find a way to reproduce the crash... it just crashes when it wants to.

pc isnt overclocked, ive been into bios and resored it to the "fail-safe" default settings just in case. anyway, dude who made the box for me ran cpu burn in for a day or two first (but ill run that test anyway)

Also might add I use XPC tools to look at temperature, it doesnt really go over 40, normally about 30degrees , if it wasnt for that fact i'd say it was just like overheating in how it crashes. but ive had room fans an all kinda crap pointed at it. im sure its not overheating

 

[bmxfreakrider]

can rule out temp, random stuff, not os related, gotta be hardware. first guess to lastguess: psu, cpu, any add on cards, external devices, then overheating......tho it running good at his house, gotta be wiring, but still shutting off. thats a tough one. does he have any psu's layin around that u can test? never know, it might just be the trick

 

[bmxfreakrider]

k i was checkin the page for that pc, and it mostlikely is the psu. they use a cheap 350w silent psu...for u, u need at least 400 for that system, and keep away from silent tech...that can shorten psu life. heck, even the most modern 450w psu barley tops 25dba and those run under 50$(us) with great ratings, reliability, and support

 

[digijin]

success?

I think power might have been the issue, the computer shutdown twice, first after 20 mins, second after 10, then I ran a lead from the powerpoint in my bedroom out to the powerboard, so far 2 hours no shutdown.

heres hopin for many more, if so, THANKS HEAPS mr bmxfreakrider!

later

James

 

[digijin]

hm spoke too soon, now im running off a powerpoint in the kitchen

 

[bmxfreakrider]

yea, its definetly a power issue. seems as if different outlets make some sort of a difference, still kinda stuck on the ps goin out, but then again, it could be overheating, but as udescribed it, it might not. if you can, run some cpu&ram intensive apps, and have a temp/system monitor running, and keep an eye on it until it shuts off. also you can go into start, control panel, power options, and turn off standby and see if that makes a diff. is it possibel to just to have the pc run off of that lead, and have everything else on the powerstrip on the origional outlet, jjust have the pc plugged into a different room

 

[digijin]

heres a bit of a update,

swapping powerpoints seemed to work for a while, but eventually the computer would reboot after only a few minutes.

I bought a UPS. plugged it in, let it charge, put comp on it... after about 5 minutes it shutdown. .

so recently I've decided to just switch it on after it shutsdown, normally I'd just leave it for a while, but I thought, hey at least if it completely bones itself then I've actually got a chance to get whatever broke fixed.

so anyway, it kinda goes shutdown in 10 mins, then 5, then 3, then 2, then like 4 hours straight working fine before shutdown, then 1, then 20 mins etc then back up to like 6 hours without shutdown.

anyway.. im confused.

James