Requesting diagnosis of desktop PC problem

flhrci

flhrci

Final Approach
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Display name:
David
My self-built Windows 7 PC is having a random issue when I bring it out of sleep mode whether automatically under Windows Media Center for tv recording or manually by press of mouse.

Occasionally the machine will not come back up at all and there will be no response. Power and reset buttons as well as mouse and keyboard will not wake it up. The only resort is to unplug the powerr cord about 5 seconds and plug it back in. BIOS will then post and the computer takes a long time to come back up out of sleep due to reloading of stuff.

I think it has to either be a motherboard issue or power supply problem.

What do the tech wizards of POA think?

Thanks,

David
 
Well, there's this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/266283 but like most Microsoft Tech Support items, its pretty useless (the company as a whole is useless).

I've seen this happen when running outdated BIOS, or when there's an underlying system issue that's sitting out there, waiting to bop you on the head.

Are you sure you have ACPI enabled on the motherboard?
 
Do you only experience the problem coming out of sleep, or does it ever happen from a cold shutdown?

If it's only when waking, then I'd check the event viewer first before making any diagnoses. Also find out the BIOS revision version and check if there are known issues, and check to see if there are any updates available for the video card firmware and drivers. There may also be chipset drivers for your mobo. If so, check those, as well.

If it has problems starting from a cold shutdown, then I'd be looking more at the PSU. There are many other possibilities, though, even including things like a blown cap or few on the mobo.

Start with the easy stuff first, however, like checking the Event Viewer, BIOS version, etc.

-Rich
 
Resurrecting the thread cause I have gotten sick of missing so much television that I want to record. 4 shows last night not recorded, a few more earlier in the week.

Wasn't such a big deal during rerun season but now I am missing all the new stuff.

Problem is still random. So today I went to Microcenter and bought a new 750 watt poiwer supply figuring tha twas the issue. Took a nap this afternoon after installing it and watching tv for awhile. Put machine to "sleep." Tried to wake it up and same symptoms. No dice. After removing the power cord for a few seconds it came right back on.

Motherboard replacement would seem to be next as there must a be a bug in it. But this will msot likely corrput the DRM in Windows Media Center even keeping the same CPU. :(

David
 
flhrci said:
:rolleyes2:

Every one knows that DirecTV is in fact Superior, if I was going to go that route. They have voice command now! Just saw it on a commercial.


David
Click to expand...

Let me know if you want a sweet discount on DIRECTV service :) Same goes for anyone.
 
Am thinking this problem is a good excuse to buy a new processor, motherboard and SSD.
 
flhrci said:
:rolleyes2:

Every one knows that DirecTV is in fact Superior, if I was going to go that route. They have voice command now! Just saw it on a commercial.


David
Click to expand...

I'll take Prime Time Anytime over the voice thing.

Interesting that the voice thing is all Direct can come up with right now. :yes:
 
flhrci said:
Resurrecting the thread cause I have gotten sick of missing so much television that I want to record. 4 shows last night not recorded, a few more earlier in the week.

Wasn't such a big deal during rerun season but now I am missing all the new stuff.

Problem is still random. So today I went to Microcenter and bought a new 750 watt poiwer supply figuring tha twas the issue. Took a nap this afternoon after installing it and watching tv for awhile. Put machine to "sleep." Tried to wake it up and same symptoms. No dice. After removing the power cord for a few seconds it came right back on.

Motherboard replacement would seem to be next as there must a be a bug in it. But this will msot likely corrput the DRM in Windows Media Center even keeping the same CPU. :(

David
Click to expand...

Go to the mobo manufacturer's site and check for BIOS / driver updates first. Unless you're itching to upgrade anyway...

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
Go to the mobo manufacturer's site and check for BIOS / driver updates first. Unless you're itching to upgrade anyway...

-Rich
Click to expand...

David,

I have mine set to never sleep. I believe that setting is in the power management section. I simply turn the monitor off when I'm going to be away from the computer for a while. Turn the monitor back on and it's ready to go.

Even in sleep mode the computer is still drawing power.
 
RJM62 said:
Go to the mobo manufacturer's site and check for BIOS / driver updates first. Unless you're itching to upgrade anyway...

-Rich
Click to expand...

No support since mid-2012. On the latest BIOS. Only slightly itchy for an SSD upgrade but I can wait.

David
 
Norman said:
David,

I have mine set to never sleep. I believe that setting is in the power management section. I simply turn the monitor off when I'm going to be away from the computer for a while. Turn the monitor back on and it's ready to go.

Even in sleep mode the computer is still drawing power.
Click to expand...

That's an option

David
 
flhrci said:
No support since mid-2012. On the latest BIOS. Only slightly itchy for an SSD upgrade but I can wait.

David
Click to expand...

There are still a few simple things I'd try before replacing the mobo:

1. Open the box and blow the dust out, especially from the CPU, GPU, and chipset, if you haven't already.

2. Run a CHKDSK /f on all drives, if you haven't already. You mentioned that you have had to unplug the computer from time to time. Maybe there's some filesystem corruption.

3. Run a thorough MEMTEST. This is an included boot option on most live Linux CDs / DVDs (and many other bootable diagnostic tools), or can be downloaded and burned here. Let it run overnight. It could be a RAM problem.

4. If you're behind a hardware firewall and the machine is solely used as a media server accessing safe data sources, try disabling the software firewall and virus scanner. Obviously, don't use the machine for for checking email, browsing the Web, etc. while it's in that unprotected state.

5. Check for updates to the video card. I've come across a few video cards that had less-than-wonderful sleep support.

6. If you're using hybrid sleep mode, run a CHKDSK, reboot, and then try disabling all sleep and hibernation functions and deleting the hibernation file. On Win7, this is easier said than done. This guy has a pretty good explanation: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tr-dojo/delete-hiberfilsys-by-disabling-windows-hibernate-function/

Once it's disabled, power cycle the machine once or twice, and then go back to your previous configuration.

The reason I suggest this is because I've cleared up a few hibernation and hybrid sleep problems that way over the years. My hunch is that hiberfil.sys gets corrupted, and letting it rebuild itself after being completely deleted fixes the problems. In any case, it's easy and free to try.

If you have something like ERD, BartPE, a live Linux CD, etc., you can just boot into it from a cold shutdown and manually delete hiberfil.sys. That's actually how I used to do it, rather than the convoluted way described in the link. But not everyone has those tools.

I don't know if the above would have any usefulness at all if you're not using hibernation or hybrid sleep. I suspect not.

All of these are pretty much long shots. But they're also free, so they're worth trying, in my opinion.

-Rich
 
Forget the sleep mode all together. If there are any savings (cost of power), it's negligible. I figure all the power-up power-down causes more wear and tear than it's worth. Think about it, hard drive on/off and fans on/off all day long. Any electrical engineer will tell you just the temps going up and down can't be good. The hard drive having to spin up and down wears things more than a continuous run.
Sleep mode is for the extreme tree huggers. If you had 250 PCs in a cubicle farm, you might see a few dollars in power savings.
 
CT4ME said:
Forget the sleep mode all together. If there are any savings (cost of power), it's negligible. I figure all the power-up power-down causes more wear and tear than it's worth. Think about it, hard drive on/off and fans on/off all day long. Any electrical engineer will tell you just the temps going up and down can't be good. The hard drive having to spin up and down wears things more than a continuous run.
Sleep mode is for the extreme tree huggers. If you had 250 PCs in a cubicle farm, you might see a few dollars in power savings.
Click to expand...

I dunno... It depends where you live, When I lived in NYC, the costs for leaving my computers on was considerable. ConEd isn't cheap. Where I live now, it only makes a few dollars difference.

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
There are still a few simple things I'd try before replacing the mobo:

1. Open the box and blow the dust out, especially from the CPU, GPU, and chipset, if you haven't already.

2. Run a CHKDSK /f on all drives, if you haven't already. You mentioned that you have had to unplug the computer from time to time. Maybe there's some filesystem corruption.

3. Run a thorough MEMTEST. This is an included boot option on most live Linux CDs / DVDs (and many other bootable diagnostic tools), or can be downloaded and burned here. Let it run overnight. It could be a RAM problem.

4. If you're behind a hardware firewall and the machine is solely used as a media server accessing safe data sources, try disabling the software firewall and virus scanner. Obviously, don't use the machine for for checking email, browsing the Web, etc. while it's in that unprotected state.

5. Check for updates to the video card. I've come across a few video cards that had less-than-wonderful sleep support.

6. If you're using hybrid sleep mode, run a CHKDSK, reboot, and then try disabling all sleep and hibernation functions and deleting the hibernation file. On Win7, this is easier said than done. This guy has a pretty good explanation: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tr-dojo/delete-hiberfilsys-by-disabling-windows-hibernate-function/

Once it's disabled, power cycle the machine once or twice, and then go back to your previous configuration.

The reason I suggest this is because I've cleared up a few hibernation and hybrid sleep problems that way over the years. My hunch is that hiberfil.sys gets corrupted, and letting it rebuild itself after being completely deleted fixes the problems. In any case, it's easy and free to try.

If you have something like ERD, BartPE, a live Linux CD, etc., you can just boot into it from a cold shutdown and manually delete hiberfil.sys. That's actually how I used to do it, rather than the convoluted way described in the link. But not everyone has those tools.

I don't know if the above would have any usefulness at all if you're not using hibernation or hybrid sleep. I suspect not.

All of these are pretty much long shots. But they're also free, so they're worth trying, in my opinion.

-Rich
Click to expand...
1. Blown out - check

2. CHKDSK /F - Check, once I figured out how to run it as Admin

3. MEMTEST - good idea, when I get a chance to do it.

4. No over the top firewall - Check, stand alone machine with router/ cable modem

5. Downloaded latest video card driver - Check

6. Deleted adn redid the hibernation - Check

7. BIOS - found a newer one thinking I had it already - Check

8. Going about life as normal, waiting to see if it will happen again.

Did all this Sunday and so far, so good.

Thanks For the help Rich!

David
 
I have never been a big fan of sleep mode, but it seems to work much better on Win 8. 8.1 is out and addresses a few of the earlier dislikes.
 
flhrci said:
Is not Directv a digital service controlled by IT and sold with IT services? :lol:

David
Click to expand...

LOL. It is not. Its an engineering service, controlled by engineers and sold with space technology embedded :)
 
John221us said:
I have never been a big fan of sleep mode, but it seems to work much better on Win 8. 8.1 is out and addresses a few of the earlier dislikes.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, windows 8 has a little less PVR functionality in windows media center plus you have to buy WMC separately.

David
 
flhrci said:
1. Blown out - check

2. CHKDSK /F - Check, once I figured out how to run it as Admin

3. MEMTEST - good idea, when I get a chance to do it.

4. No over the top firewall - Check, stand alone machine with router/ cable modem

5. Downloaded latest video card driver - Check

6. Deleted adn redid the hibernation - Check

7. BIOS - found a newer one thinking I had it already - Check

8. Going about life as normal, waiting to see if it will happen again.

Did all this Sunday and so far, so good.

Thanks For the help Rich!

David
Click to expand...

My pleasure, David. I hope it keeps working.

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
My pleasure, David. I hope it keeps working.

-Rich
Click to expand...


Big thanks to Rich folks!!!

My issues have disappeared and the system is working jsut as it should turning on and off as necessary to record tv. Woohoo!

Can't tell if it was the BIOS or hibernation file, but who cares!

THANKS RICH! YOU DA MAN!

David
 
flhrci said:
Big thanks to Rich folks!!!

My issues have disappeared and the system is working jsut as it should turning on and off as necessary to record tv. Woohoo!

Can't tell if it was the BIOS or hibernation file, but who cares!

THANKS RICH! YOU DA MAN!

David
Click to expand...

Again, my pleasure. :)

-Rich
 
I wiped my Win 7 Home server and built an Oracle Linux database server out of it. Comcast delivered their DVR and wife is happy, I'm happy and Windoze still sux.
 
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