Maybe the problem is bad RAM? That's all I can think of. -Cat ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vaughn Treude" To: "Main PLUG discussion list" Sent: Monday, January 16, 2006 12:35 PM Subject: OT: system shuts off sporadically > Hello everyone: > I've been experiencing a problem with one of my PC's. Eight months ago > I upgraded it to an Abit VIA KM400A motherboard with an AMD processor > and new RAM. In the last couple of weeks it's started shutting itself > off sporadically, for no apparent or consistent reason. I know it's not > a software problem (though if anyone wonders, I've got Ubuntu on it, and > have been quite happy with that flavor of Linux) because it has at times > shut itself off while I'm in the BIOS setup screen. I have replaced the > power supply and that didn't help. I suppose it's probably a > motherboard problem, and I believe it's still under warranty, BUT > sending it back will be a hassle and I'll lose the use of that machine > for a few weeks at least. Most odiously, I'll have to reinstall the > processor and mess with that heat sink junk once again. So I'm wondering > if anybody knows of anything else that could cause this problem. > > Some more info: > - The problem appears to be totally random, sometimes happening within a > minute of startup, sometimes hours later. > - Sometimes the system will not restart for a few minutes after this > happens. Or sometimes it will start but not boot. > - Often when this happens the BIOS checksum gets corrupted and I have to > re-enter my settings. > - In BIOS, I've taken care to turn off features I'm not using, such as > APIC and SATA support. I've turned off power management to the extent > the BIOS allowed me to do that. I've also set the power-off switch mode > to a 4 second delay, in case there could be noise spikes on the power > switch line. I've turned off the "halt on errors" feature. > - In the BIOS PC health screen the CPU temperature appears to be well > within the good range. However, I've only checked this shortly after > power-on. > - The motherboard is rather compact, and is mounted in a maxi-tower case > with extra fans. I don't know for a fact if the airflow is optimal. > - I've checked the system logs and there is absolutely no record of any > kind of error at the time it powers itself off. > > Any ideas of what I might try, or any resources I could use? I googled > for it under "PC sporadic shut off" but didn't get any useful hits. > Half of the problem with googling for a PC problem is knowing what to > call it! > > Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might have, > Vaughn > > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change you mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change you mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss