Computer Restarts Randomly

Printable View

August 9th, 2003, 02:20 AM
.Sy.

Computer Restarts Randomly

Computer Specs:
GA-7VAX Motherboard
512 DDR Ram
AMD XP 2100+ Processor
Leadtek GeForce4 Ti 4600

My computer restarts randomly. It is a dual boot system with Win2kPro and Mandrake9.0

Sometimes the computer restarts before is has completed POSTing so it must be a hardware problem. I have an Antec 400 watt power supply so the power should not be an issue except that the motherboard power connector seems a bit loose. Could this cause the computer to restart and the speaker to make a short *thok* noise? It began restarting for no reason a short time ago, but sometimes it will run and have no problem for a few days and then start having the problem again. I have checked all plugs and fastenings and all seem to be tight. I move it a fair bit so something may have been bumped and is making intermittent contact.
Any ideas? :confused:
Thx
August 9th, 2003, 02:27 AM
allenb1963

you might be having a heat issue.....I had the same problem at one time and solved it by cleaning my processor fan and giving it a fresh coat of thermal grease. Also make sure that your RAM is well seated, a couple of buddies have seen the same issue and solved it that way.
August 9th, 2003, 02:35 AM
keezel

I remember one guy solved his heat issue by removing the cover from his computer and setting up a box fan next to it....
August 9th, 2003, 02:40 AM
whitedragon

sounds like a heat issue but i'll try keezel recomendation and observ if it works, if it does another fan will make the trick, or check that is located in a well ventilated place but also i have a thing in my mind that said check your power supply as a second choice.
August 9th, 2003, 02:44 AM
.Sy.

I have two fans in my power supply, a ThermalTake Volcano 7 fan on my processor, one fan on the northbridge chipset, two fans on the video card and a 90 mm case fan. Also, I just took apart my entire computer and put it back together, put thermal grease on fan. And it still restarts, although right now it seems to be working fine. As to heat, it restarted when both sides of the case were off and the door was open. I live in Northern California, so I am not thinking it is too hot.

Thx for the ideas.
August 9th, 2003, 04:16 AM
Zetaphor

I have had the same problem myself, as keezel said, use a fan. I booted up when it kept screwing up, shut down, hand-checked everything for overheatig, then took off my case and booted up with a fan blowing on it. After that everything worked fine. Also try cleaning everything off with a dry cloth.
August 9th, 2003, 07:36 AM
corndog420

One way to dermine whether it's a heat issue for certain, would be to check your temps. Use a program like Aida32. It's got great diagnostic tools.

If your issue is not heat related, then it does sound like a power issue. Even when my PC reboots due to heat, there's no noise coming from the speakers, but whenever I've had a power supply issue, there's a distinct crackle. (I've gone through two power supplies on this pc alone, one for a recall from Sony, and one for my stupitidty.)

Good luck

Corn
August 9th, 2003, 07:50 AM
Wezper

Re: Computer Restarts Randomly

Quote:

Originally posted here by .Sy.
Computer Specs:
GA-7VAX Motherboard
512 DDR Ram
AMD XP 2100+ Processor
Leadtek GeForce4 Ti 4600

My computer restarts randomly. It is a dual boot system with Win2kPro and Mandrake9.0

Sometimes the computer restarts before is has completed POSTing so it must be a hardware problem. I have an Antec 400 watt power supply so the power should not be an issue except that the motherboard power connector seems a bit loose. Could this cause the computer to restart and the speaker to make a short *thok* noise? It began restarting for no reason a short time ago, but sometimes it will run and have no problem for a few days and then start having the problem again. I have checked all plugs and fastenings and all seem to be tight. I move it a fair bit so something may have been bumped and is making intermittent contact.
Any ideas? :confused:
Thx

Have you been overclocking the computer?
August 9th, 2003, 11:00 AM
i2c

does sounds very much like overheating,

although does it only do this when booting into linux?? or is it both windows and linux that do this?

another thing to check is the actual reset switch, sometimes they can become jammed and with slight movements they can operate the reset, basically id try removing the reset switch pull it out of the MB, and if the problem continues to happen its not the reset switch :-)

i2c
August 9th, 2003, 02:23 PM
Und3ertak3r

Quote:

Sometimes the computer restarts before is has completed POSTing so it must be a hardware problem.

I agree it is hardware.. with the fail during POST.. was this a cold start or was this during a string of restarts?

Quote:

Leadtek GeForce4 Ti 4600

I had a similar prob (restarting randomly that is) the problem after much grief was the video card a Leadtek Ti4200.. now here is the crunch.. I had to Clean install WinXP when ever a new card, other than the leadtek, was installed .. and when another Leadtek card was installed we had to load the current nVidia drivers then the leadtek drivers EVERY TIME.
When when we disable the reboot option so we atleast got a BSOB it would still restart by itself 40% of the time..
As for the over heating point that has been raised.. as the problem is intermittant.. run the Hardware monitoring prog that comes with the Motherboard.. it is the same prog as used by most of the Gigabyte mobo's .. Run it.. it gives you the CPU and System temperatures.. Panic if the CPU is running over 70deg Celcius.. smile if it is less than 50.. (dunno the c-f conversion any more)..
I like the thoughts of i2c .. some cases are prone to sticky Reset switches....
Another option is your PSU could have a intermittent fault.. ie it is shutting down on its own.. try another PSU?
But answer my first question and we will see how we go..

Cheers
August 9th, 2003, 09:07 PM
.Sy.

My restarts occur in a string usually. It will do it once and then continue doing it for a while and then just stop. I seems to be working fine now though. All I did was get new IDE cables...can bad IDE cables cause a computer to restart? It also may have been the mobo power because as I mentioned before it was loose.
August 11th, 2003, 02:17 PM
Und3ertak3r

Yes .. faulty Cables can cause problems .. normaly random system locks.. but restarts perhaps..
Check the cutends of the cables.. have seen some rough cuts..

PSU.. loose connection yes.. random Locks and random restarts..

Cheers
August 11th, 2003, 02:36 PM
inf0streaker

I have a heat problem in my computer. its always running over 75Degrees Celcius!! i only have one an at the front of the computer. Whats a good way the stop this heating problem.
As for .sy. i would look in the bios and in there there's something to tell your computer that if it gets to a certain temperature to shut down. maybe that might have something to do with it? just a thought.
August 11th, 2003, 03:25 PM
Cybr1d

although many of you said it looks like overheating, *which it does*, you could also check if your power supply is working properly, I had this problem and no matter how much I cooled my comp, it still would restart by itself. I changed the power supply and it worked fine after that.
August 28th, 2003, 03:16 AM
Swampy_ finger

Quote:

and the speaker to make a short *thok* noise?

suggestion: Speakers usually make noises like that when somthings grounded half way perhaps thats one of your problems
August 28th, 2003, 09:43 AM
Und3ertak3r

WTF?

from und3rtak3r's manual on "Not-electronic repairs"

Quote:

dont confuse that "thok" with a"shh-thock" or "kh-thock" they sound similar but have completly different causes.. "kh-thock" are related to Electrical Shorts, and "shh-thock" to electrical longs..

Cheers
August 28th, 2003, 10:32 AM
Noia

Haha