Very strange Reboots

U

Ubermouser

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 13, 2003
Messages
255
I'm having a very strange problem:

My computer randomly reboots, without any error messages, status lights, bios beeps, or ANYTHING.. simply goes straight to post screen, about once every 4 hours. Completely random, however. The interval could be as tight as 20 minutes.
Can you help me solve this problem? Is there any more information you need?

Setup:
AMD Athlon X2 4200+ Processor (1.35v)
DFI RS482 INFINITY S939 Motherboard
2gb OCZ Platinum EG pc4000 memory (slots 1, 2) (2.8v)
Ati x1900xtx GPU (pciE)
Onboard Sound

500 watt Enermax Liberty Powersupply
2x hard drives : 1x 74gb raptor, 1x320gb Caviar
1x CD rom: DVDRW Liteon
1x Memory Card reader: Mitsumi

The computer easily passed an 8 hour prime95 test (untill it rebooted) with no errors.
The computer also passed about 8 hours in Memtest 86+, no errors. If theres anything else you need to help me diagnose this problem, please tell me. I'd LOVE to get this computer fixed; thanks in advance! :D
 
I think it may be a powersupply issue or a fluctuating power feed. Can you get ahold of another powersupply and see if the same behavior repeat.

But before this, if you are running Windows 2000 or XP, you may need to go in the advanced settings and disable (right-click on My Computer->Advanced->Startup and Recovery->Disable "Automatically Reboot..." checkmark) the auto reboot on BSOD so you can check what is the issue. If the reboots are due to BSODs, note the STOP message and paste here.
 
Xilikon said:
I think it may be a powersupply issue or a fluctuating power feed. Can you get ahold of another powersupply and see if the same behavior repeat.

But before this, if you are running Windows 2000 or XP, you may need to go in the advanced settings and disable (right-click on My Computer->Advanced->Startup and Recovery->Disable "Automatically Reboot..." checkmark) the auto reboot on BSOD so you can check what is the issue. If the reboots are due to BSODs, note the STOP message and paste here.
Click to expand...

No BSOD or stop messages are posted, and 'Automatically Reboot' is off in both the BIOS and Windows.

I have only a 430 watt powersupply (crap) left over from a previous job which will not hold the load of a computer, will it be possible for me to power the computer with both the PSU in question and the 430 watt PSU? Seeing as that the computer is watercooled and I've been told the x1900xtx draws about 320 watts (with the processor drawing 120), I dont think its possible to power the computer with a psu other than the one included. Thanks again for your help, and thanks in advance for any help I may recieve.
 
Ok, try unplugging everything non-essential and see if it works fine with the minimum. If it does, then readd components one at a time till it reboots randomly.
 
Hmmm I have the same problem and thinkin that its the PSU...
I made the PSU run wit the clip trick and it didnt shut itself down..(but Ill buy a new one later neway at Frys)
Could the battery (round flat one) make the PC reboot coz of it being low on power(low batt)???
I dont think its a virus (checked it with Hijackthis and no wierd processes, process names looks legit to me, is that ok enough to find running virus or trojans? yeh I dont hav antivirus kind of dont trust them)...
The temp of the CPU is ok I think since I set the reboot temp at 70C...
 
Updated BIOS on rs482, computer hasnt rebooted for about 7 hours. If anyone has any more suggestions, I would be more than obliged to hear them.

I highly doubt the PSU is the problem; its voltages dont waver, and it hasnt stopped another computer I tested it on. I also believe that a mod I crafted earlier may be shorting out the floppy disk drive. I'll be removing that from the equation sooner than later as well.


EDIT*** I change my consensus completely. Though I have no idea how, the PSU is the culprit - upon gradually increasing the voltage to 1.55, I've found that these random reboots occur ever more often, to the point where the moment I start up Prime95 at 1.55volts. The Motherboard seems flawless as it easily climbs to about 325 fsb. I havent been able to find a limit for the memory. the Processor, however, stops at a measly 234fsb - due to the fact that any time I even try to set the clock, the computer resets its self. :eek:

So thats it, problem solved. RMA time.
 
*a reply, update, bump, seeing as that its slightly important*

Purchased an Enermax Liberty 620 watt, which arrived today. Not 5 minutes into a rolling demo of X3 did the computer reboot, pissing me off royally. :mad: . I really wish I knew the what the problem component was so I can fix it.. :(

Oddly enough, when running the computer off of 2 powersupplies (one powering hard drives, fans, cdrom, pump, lcd display, etc. and the other powering motherboard, cpu, and gpu, the computer didnt reboot at all for nearly a week, with the only problem being at 1.525 volts.)

I'm quite stumped by this, seeing as that the Enermax 620 watt has
"proven" to work on computers which load more than 475 watts, such as a dual x1900xtx crossfire setup. What am I doing wrong!
 
Hey, I too am having the same problem w/ my X2 3800/DFI rs482/Liberty 500w? I didn't have these problems w/ My Tforce. So I am thinking it's the Mobo, but we seem to be the only one's w/ the problems.
 
Hmmm, Maybe I'll need to see if I can get my NeoHe back from my friend and see if I have reboot problems.
 
Ubermouser said:
Oddly enough, when running the computer off of 2 powersupplies (one powering hard drives, fans, cdrom, pump, lcd display, etc. and the other powering motherboard, cpu, and gpu, the computer didnt reboot at all for nearly a week.
Click to expand...

Thats the important part.
It sounds like one of the parts on the second power supply is causing interferance/noise on one rail when connected to tha first power supply, hence the reboots.

Try connecting everything to the first supply bar one part.
Will it run for a day or two without rebooting.
If not then try a different part.
It may take some time but hopefully you can find the problem part, if there is one, by elimination that way.

Luck......... :D
 
Old topic I know, but here's how I solved my problem :mrgreen: :

If I keep the CPU usage at 100%, I have absolutely no problems!

I discovered this after I started using Folding@Home. When it's running, the system is rock solid(Not when I used DDR266 tho, might be an other problem), but when I shut down F@H, problems start coming! (Same thing happens with both Windows and Linux)

Running FAH keeps the PSU load constant and high.

Recommendations:
Run FAH in service mode (For each CPU cores)
Disable Cool'n'Quiet



I never tried the onboard sound under Windows, but I never got it to work under Linux, it's detected, but the system can't activate it, maybe it's just because this particular mobo's onboard sound doesn't work well for now, I should try it. I installed a real soundcard before putting Windows, that's why I'm not sure.
 
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