hard shutdowns

Wallaby Dan

Fully Optimized
Messages
4,469
Location
United States
This has happened three times now. two in the last two days. The computer shuts down like a power loss and in the morning i have to start up the system all over again. I don't think twice like that would the electric shut off so i am wondering if this is the motherboard or the pcu issue and how i can tell. Right now its working ok. At first i thought i had lost power yesterday. around 1:00 Am. last night it shut down at a couple of minutes after 12:00Am. We didn't have any storms here and i don't think we would have lost electric two days in a row and if the electric does go off The a/c fan would stop and that always wakes me up. Is there a way to test the pcu to eliminate that as a issue? I don't have much testing equipment other than a digital voltage meter. Not sure if that is useful or not. Any ideas?? Can the motherboard do that??
 
What do you mean by PCU? CPU? I don't think the motherboard may be causing it, or the CPU. Maybe the PSU?
 
PSU= Power supply unit , CPU= Processor
Ok. Maybe the PSU then? Do you have another computer to test it? If it's a complete power loss the main suspect should be the PSU. Crashes, BSODs, boot failures, then maybe could be the motherboard, CPU, RAM, etc., but not if the PC just shuts down.

By the way, you don't know for sure if the power didn't go off on those days?
 
Check the logs in event viewer around the time of the shutdown, there may be some useful information there. Use a tool like BlueScreenView to see the dump data from the blue screen (if there was one)

If you suspect the PSU you can get a tester tool that will tell you, or just replace it and see if the problem goes away.

Also maybe check your temperatures to make sure it's not an overheating issue. CoreTemp is one that will tell you the CPU temperatures.
 
PSU testers only work if the PSU is completely dead. I was thinking more along the lines of overheating PSU.
 
I would think that during the day when i am using the computer is when the PSU would over heat and shut down. Not in the middle of the night. The only thing running is the weather station and it runs rapid fire. I see it as KBPS every 2 -3 minites to weather service. Other than that its idle. You could be right about Power failures here but two days in a row? Around same time?? One other thing. Nothing can update including windows update. All are on manual updating. That used to kill the weather station. One other thing. There is a Green light around the power key on the case. when the computer is off, The light is off. The last two nights after it does the shutdown I find that light blinking. Thats the power button. Don't know what that is unless its some kind of warning of something wrong.
 
Last edited:
I would think that during the day when i am using the computer is when the PSU would over heat and shut down. Not in the middle of the night. The only thing running is the weather station and it runs rapid fire. I see it as KBPS every 2 -3 minites to weather service. Other than that its idle. You could be right about Power failures here but two days in a row? Around same time?? One other thing. Nothing can update including windows update. All are on manual updating. That used to kill the weather station. One other thing. There is a Green light around the power key on the case. when its off, The light is off. The last two nights after it does the shutdown I find that light blinking. Thats the power button. Don't know what that is unless its some kind of warning of something wrong.

The fact that it is around the same time is what makes it more likely. Maybe it's​some sort of scheduled maintenance.

So the light keeps blinking after shutdown? Have you read the manuals?

If it was some kind of Windows error you would get BSODs, maybe freezes or stuttering. You could also try updating the BIOS and resetting it's settings.
 
Check the logs in event viewer around the time of the shutdown, there may be some useful information there. Use a tool like BlueScreenView to see the dump data from the blue screen (if there was one)

If you suspect the PSU you can get a tester tool that will tell you, or just replace it and see if the problem goes away.

Also maybe check your temperatures to make sure it's not an overheating issue. CoreTemp is one that will tell you the CPU temperatures.

If this computer went to Blue screen It would stay on and the blue screen would stay on screen, or that was how it did before.
 
The fact that it is around the same time is what makes it more likely. Maybe it's​some sort of scheduled maintenance.

So the light keeps blinking after shutdown? Have you read the manuals?

If it was some kind of Windows error you would get BSODs, maybe freezes or stuttering. You could also try updating the BIOS and resetting it's settings.
Nothing in the manual (if thats what you can call it), Doesn't say anything about it. Its solid green when on, Blank if off but this blinking light is what is bugging me. I am not sure about the power company doing work on the lines around here. Anything is possible i guess.
The Bios is the (newest) if 2010 is new :lol: I can do a reset on it. Processor is running right now at 40c. Not bad at all. I keep thinking with the video card messing up (crashing) that maybe something else is dying on the board. If its the board i hope it hangs in there for a couple of more weeks. :confused:
 
Back
Top Bottom