Arch Linux

dptkby

Member

Registered: 2009-07-02

Posts: 64

Computer restarts itself, but only under certain circumstances

Chapter I

Wherein the authors computer constantly restarts itself, but only immediately after he's moved it or tinkered with its internals.

I have a somewhat mysterious problem that I've lived with for a while but now feel it's time try to bring some light upon. I figure there are probably those among you who, possessing skill and experince with hardware far beyond my own, might be in a position to offer me some advice!

Specifically, my desktop computer has developed an ugly habit of spontaneusly restarting itself. Random restarts could, of course, be symptoms of any number of common problems, but it is not so much the restarts that puzzle me as the circumstances under which they occur. Namely, when I've moved my computer around, or even when I've opened the case to clean the dust out or fix something, it almost inevitably goes into a restart cycle when I start it. It's as if I have disturbed its inner peace and it feels the need to demonstrate its contempt for this blatantly disrespectful act! The restarts happen both in Windows and Linux and sometimes even before the bootloader appears. Often, after constantly rebooting every few seconds it eventually stops trying to start at all and just sits there, idly, lights casting their steady, evil glow and fans mercilessly spinning, spinning, spinning...

When this occurs, I don't hesitate to turn of the power, then wait for a while. Often, as I try to turn it on some time later, the same thing occurs. Curiously enough, after a few rounds of wrangling like this, the computer starts running normally, remaining quite stable until I feeld the need to touch something inside the case or move it again.

I also had some trouble before with the computer shutting down in the middle of games until eventually my videocard stopped working. I just assumed it had died of natural causes and, after a short period of (mostly financial) mourning, got a new one. However, I've had some restarts when gaming with the new one too, but strangely enough, after occuring quite regularly for a period, they now seem to have stopped. Nevertheless, now I'm a bit concerned that something violently and prematurely ended the life of my previous graphics card and now is out to get the new one too! Could this be related to the problem with the restarts? The power supply might seem like an obvious suspect, but, if so, why would everything start working fine again after a while? Very curious, indeed...

Last edited by dptkby (2010-03-30 12:54:23)

dschrute

Member

From: NJ, USA

Registered: 2007-04-09

Posts: 183

Re: Computer restarts itself, but only under certain circumstances

I had a similar issue recently...
My newer system would shutdown/restart for no obvious reason and a couple times when I physically moved the machine.  I confirmed it wasn't a temperature/overheating issue and I did do "burn in" and stress testing to try to make sure no individual components like MB, cpu or memory were flakey and I made sure to reseat all cables and components.  I also tried different power outlets and different power cables and testing the power supply with a power supply tester.  I did everything you're supposed to.  I've been building systems for +15 years so I'm not exactly new at it, but this one really had me stumped.

In my case it turned out that it was the power supply.  Either something internal to it was loose or borderline bad.  Maybe something was just loose enough that it lost connection due to a change in temp or a slight move ?  I don't know since it would be OK for days, and it didn't have a problem everytime it got moved and was usually OK even under load.  But since replacing it I haven't had the issue.  The original PS wasn't the cheapest, but certainly wasn't top of the line.  The new one is much better, more efficient and quieter so I guess that's good but this was just an extremely annoying issue to troubleshoot.

Anyway, assuming you've done all the normal check of components, connections, cables I'd suggest trying a new PS if you have one handy.

dptkby

Member

Registered: 2009-07-02

Posts: 64

Re: Computer restarts itself, but only under certain circumstances

I had a similar issue recently...

That sounds exactly like what I've been experiencing. I've checked the usual suspects several times; alibis all around. I'll look into getting a new PSU. Thank you!

Edit: Presuming I disconnect the power cord, does anyone know if it's a bad idea or a really bad idea to open up the PSU and have a look at most likely making things worse ?

Last edited by dptkby (2010-03-30 16:55:31)