Tech opinions on a problem

So, I've had this sporadic problem over the last two months. It's been so sporadic I haven't even been able to track it down. I'll wake up, or come home from work, and my PC is off. No chkdsk is run when I reboot, I don't get the "windows failed to start" screen. It's just off. The weird thing is I've never had it happen while I was using it. I have a fresh copy of Windows XP installed last weekend, thinking a corrupted XP might be the culprit. I've had speedfan logging all day today. It stopped 7.69 hours after I started speedfan (8am start). Here is the last few seconds from the log:

Seconds System CPU CPU0 Fan Vcore +12V AVcc
27657 -65 43.5 975 1.22 9.77 3.23
27660 -65 43.5 975 1.22 9.77 3.23
27663 -65 44.5 975 1.22 9.77 3.23
27666 -65 43.5 975 1.17 9.77 3.23
27669 -65 43.5 975 1.17 9.77 3.23
27672 -65 43.5 975 1.17 9.77 3.23
27675 -65 43.5 975 1.17 9.77 3.23
27678 -65 43.5 975 1.18 9.77 3.23
27681 -65 43.0 975 1.18 9.77 3.23
27684 -65 44.5 975 1.18 9.77 3.23
27687 -65 43.5 975 1.18 9.77 3.23

The CPU temp varies from 43.5 to 45 all day long. The Vcore varies from 1.17 to 1.22 all day long. I don't see any thing that really stands out. I had really thought my power supply was starting to go bad, which is why I ran the speedfan logging, but there dosen't seem to be a power drop before the shutdown. The though had crossed my mind, maybe it's just not getting enough power, because the CPU and HD's are running more then normal. The common factor, during these shutdowns has been ether I run BOINC (seti at home) or I'm downloading newsgroups. I've checked the harddrives for errors, lost files, bad sectors and have nothing. In fact one of my drives is 92% health, the other is 97%.

Any Suggestions?

_________________

Gaming Rig:EVGA 680i | Q6600 2.4GHz (liquid cooled by DangerDen) | 2x ASUS ENGTX465 1GB SLI | Corsair Dominator 8GB DDR2 1066 | 5TB of HD space | BOSE Companion 5 | Corsair - TX850W PS
Display: 30" LG W3000H

Did you check the obvious power settings? maybe your computer is set to hibernate ?

Sure, thats REALLY obvious, but worth the click to see.

It's really nice to have all the data you provided. I'll wrap my head around it a bit, but you've definatly covered all the obvious, and a ton of less obvious possibilities.

_________________
Alienware M11x C2D SU7300 @ 1.73GHz | 4GB RAM | 500GB HDD | nVidia 335m 1GB | Bluetooth

what hardware are you using?

# PNY VCG8800XXPB GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
# EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
# Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
# w/ Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
# Corsair XMS2 4GB (4 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
# Lite-On Black 16X DVD+R 2M Cache SATA DVD Burner
# Maxtor DiamondMax 500GB SATA2, 3Gb/s, 16MB Cache, 7,200 RPM
# Western Digital 320 GB SATA 150 MB/s, 8 MB Cache, 7200 RPM
# Ultra X2 550W Power Supply
# Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS

One thing that has been crossing my mind, is this started happening when I moved into this new house (which isn't so new), back in April. I'm wondering if it might be my battery backup, not supplying a steady supply of juice. It IS almost 6 years old, but I have no idea how I would catch it. I'm thinking I'm going to go buy a new battery backup this weekend anyway.

Thanks [LG]Zlog, I'll check those settings, and you're right, although REALLY obvious, I never though of checking them.

_________________

Gaming Rig:EVGA 680i | Q6600 2.4GHz (liquid cooled by DangerDen) | 2x ASUS ENGTX465 1GB SLI | Corsair Dominator 8GB DDR2 1066 | 5TB of HD space | BOSE Companion 5 | Corsair - TX850W PS
Display: 30" LG W3000H

Have you looked at your system event logs?

Syn wrote:

Have you looked at your system event logs?

Checking those now.

Zlog, I check Hibernation in XP, it's not active, I'm going to check it in the BIOS here in a second.
I'm going to run Memtest, see if my memory is good, when I reboot. Might take a while at 4GB

System log, last thing entry I have before I came home and booted the machine up (4:16pm):
A duplicate name has been detected on the TCP network. The IP address of the machine that sent the message is in the data. Use nbtstat -n in a command window to see which name is in the Conflict state.

Which is strange unless someone is hacking my WPA2 and trying to duplicate my MAC address and system name. Or could be a problem with my dual nic's on this motherboard. I don't run the Nvidia nic crappy software.

Application Log (last entry 8:12am):
The Windows Security Center Service has started.

Security Log:
No entries

_________________

Gaming Rig:EVGA 680i | Q6600 2.4GHz (liquid cooled by DangerDen) | 2x ASUS ENGTX465 1GB SLI | Corsair Dominator 8GB DDR2 1066 | 5TB of HD space | BOSE Companion 5 | Corsair - TX850W PS
Display: 30" LG W3000H

Here is my HiJackThis scanlog (just in case it will help):

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2
Scan saved at 8:40:54 PM, on 8/15/2007
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.6000.16512)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgupsvc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgemc.exe
C:\Program Files\FolderSize\FolderSizeSvc.exe
C:\Program Files\LogMeIn\x86\RaMaint.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\LogMeIn\x86\LogMeIn.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7Debug\mdm.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\RUNDLL32.EXE
C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2ZS\Surround Mixer\CTSysVol.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_02\bin\jusched.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgcc.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Logitech\LCD Manager\lcdmon.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Logitech\G-series Software\LGDCore.exe
C:\Program Files\UltraMon\UltraMon.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Logitech\LCD Manager\Applets\LCDClock.exe
C:\Program Files\LogMeIn\x86\LogMeInSystray.exe
C:\Program Files\LcdStudio\LcdStudio.exe
C:\Program Files\EVEMon\EVEMon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPoint\SetPoint.exe
C:\Program Files\Xfire\xfire.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Logitech\KhalShared\KHALMNPR.EXE
C:\Program Files\UltraMon\UltraMonTaskbar.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\MOZILL~1\FIREFOX.EXE
C:\Program Files\SpeedFan\speedfan.exe
C:\Program Files\NewsLeecher\newsLeecher.exe
C:\Program Files\NewsLeecher\newsLeecher.exe
C:\Program Files\HijackThis\HiJackThis.exe

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_02\bin\ssv.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nwiz] nwiz.exe /install
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvMediaCenter] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTSysVol] C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2ZS\Surround Mixer\CTSysVol.exe /r
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SBDrvDet] C:\Program Files\Creative\SB Drive Det\SBDrvDet.exe /r
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_02\bin\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Kernel and Hardware Abstraction Layer] KHALMNPR.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Launch LCDMon] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Logitech\LCD Manager\lcdmon.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Launch LGDCore] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Logitech\G-series Software\LGDCore.exe" /SHOWHIDE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [UltraMon] "C:\Program Files\UltraMon\UltraMon.exe" /auto
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LogMeIn GUI] "C:\Program Files\LogMeIn\x86\LogMeInSystray.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LcdStudio] C:\Program Files\LcdStudio\LcdStudio.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [EVEMon] "C:\Program Files\EVEMon\EVEMon.exe" -startMinimized
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [igndlm.exe] C:\Program Files\Download Manager\DLM.exe /windowsstart /startifwork
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [AVG7_Run] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgw.exe /RUNONCE (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [AVG7_Run] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgw.exe /RUNONCE (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\Run: [AVG7_Run] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgw.exe /RUNONCE (User 'SYSTEM')
O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\Run: [AVG7_Run] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgw.exe /RUNONCE (User 'Default user')
O4 - Startup: tempcln.bat
O4 - Startup: Xfire.lnk = C:\Program Files\Xfire\xfire.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Logitech SetPoint.lnk = C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPoint\SetPoint.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office10\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - AutorunsDisabled - (no file)
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_02\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_02\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O16 - DPF: {0A5FD7C5-A45C-49FC-ADB5-9952547D5715} (Creative Software AutoUpdate) - http://www.creative.com/su/ocx/15030/CTSUEng.cab
O16 - DPF: {0E5F0222-96B9-11D3-8997-00104BD12D94} (PCPitstop Utility) - http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/PCPitStop.CAB
O16 - DPF: {F6ACF75C-C32C-447B-9BEF-46B766368D29} (Creative Software AutoUpdate Support Package) - http://www.creative.com/su/ocx/15030/CTPID.cab
O20 - AppInit_DLLs: prio.dll
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: Folder Size (FolderSize) - Brio - C:\Program Files\FolderSize\FolderSizeSvc.exe
O23 - Service: LogMeIn Maintenance Service (LMIMaint) - LogMeIn, Inc. - C:\Program Files\LogMeIn\x86\RaMaint.exe
O23 - Service: LogMeIn - LogMeIn, Inc. - C:\Program Files\LogMeIn\x86\LogMeIn.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe

--
End of file - 6186 bytes

_________________

Gaming Rig:EVGA 680i | Q6600 2.4GHz (liquid cooled by DangerDen) | 2x ASUS ENGTX465 1GB SLI | Corsair Dominator 8GB DDR2 1066 | 5TB of HD space | BOSE Companion 5 | Corsair - TX850W PS
Display: 30" LG W3000H

Well...this is interesting. I went to turn off Automatic Restart, in Startup and Recovery. Hoping the machine would randomly powerdown, and I can get a bluescreen with an error message. I also checked the \minidump folder for a error log. When I unchecked the box, it tells me the pagefile.sys MUST be on drive C or the error log will not populate. Well my pagefile is on another drive. I'm going to turn that on, and see if the next time I have a random powerdown I will get a log file.

_________________

Gaming Rig:EVGA 680i | Q6600 2.4GHz (liquid cooled by DangerDen) | 2x ASUS ENGTX465 1GB SLI | Corsair Dominator 8GB DDR2 1066 | 5TB of HD space | BOSE Companion 5 | Corsair - TX850W PS
Display: 30" LG W3000H

LOL, found another thing that might shed some light. In my BIOS, there is a setting PWR[ON] after PWR[FAIL], and it was off. So I guess my PC is not rebooting on power failure. Which once again points at the power supply. Which quite interestingly enough, was not an option in the initial release of the BIOS. Checking the Manual shows screenshots of the initial release.

_________________

Gaming Rig:EVGA 680i | Q6600 2.4GHz (liquid cooled by DangerDen) | 2x ASUS ENGTX465 1GB SLI | Corsair Dominator 8GB DDR2 1066 | 5TB of HD space | BOSE Companion 5 | Corsair - TX850W PS
Display: 30" LG W3000H

Have you tried running it without the battery backup?

I am definitely no fan of Ultra Powersupplies (especially with 8800GTXs)

I had a few 500watt versions and when I dissected them they had the 3 yellow wires and 3 blacks that went to the Video cards connected to a SINGLE 18ga wire on its circuit board.

LOL, notice how a single wire feeds the + and -.
(I know its not your PS but its still Ultras 500 watt)

CyberCrist wrote:

+12V
9.77

Is that really your +12v? If so, you are a little below the 10% threshhold...

Random power off/reboot typical issues:
Power supply
- improper power supplied to the system
- overheating due to any number of issues (improper cooling) typically causes power fluctuations when overheat temp is reached

CPU
- overheat
- not receiving proper voltages to run at spec

Motherboard
- mosfet overheating supplying improper voltages to any number of components
- short in system (check all solder joints, headers, jumpers for shorts)
- break in system (cold solder joints will typically not work when cold and start working when system warms up, or vice versa work fine when cold and break connection when heated up)

HDD
- overheating due to improper cooling (too many hdds with too little cooling can cause reboots/power downs)
- cable connections need reseating (time causes things to wear, corrode, jiggle loose)

Recommendation (in no particular order, start with easiest and work to more complicated)
- try new PSU
- check all physical connections (reseat CPU, jiggle memory, unplug and plug in HDD ribbons)
- remove unnecessary components (remove the 56k modem and see if the system runs ok, add it back in to see if issue starts up again)
- remove the system from the case, run just the necessary components (CPU, mem, PSU, HDD, Vid) and see if the issue persists. If it goes away, add one item at a time until the issue returns. Just about anything in the system has the potential to cause system failure given the right circumstances.

GL - Bug

Bug is right. I must have misread that speedfan post, but 9.77 is fairly off of the mark. Even a little bit of a dip *could cause the system to do an emergency power down, which wouldn't be logged because it'd be controlled by the BIOS failsafes.

_________________
Alienware M11x C2D SU7300 @ 1.73GHz | 4GB RAM | 500GB HDD | nVidia 335m 1GB | Bluetooth

Bug, great list, Thanks! I'm going to copy that to my tech pen drive.

Zlog & Bug, I didn't think 9.77 was that bad, but maybe you're right. I thought 81.4% efficiency was pretty good. Any idea on a modular power supply that maybe does 85%? I decided I'm going to pick up a new battery backup, because this house is so old, I know the power is poop, and I want to pick up a new power supply. Idea's? Recommendations?

_________________

Gaming Rig:EVGA 680i | Q6600 2.4GHz (liquid cooled by DangerDen) | 2x ASUS ENGTX465 1GB SLI | Corsair Dominator 8GB DDR2 1066 | 5TB of HD space | BOSE Companion 5 | Corsair - TX850W PS
Display: 30" LG W3000H

CyberCrist wrote:

Bug, great list, Thanks! I'm going to copy that to my tech pen drive.

Zlog & Bug, I didn't think 9.77 was that bad, but maybe you're right. I thought 81.4% efficiency was pretty good. Any idea on a modular power supply that maybe does 85%? I decided I'm going to pick up a new battery backup, because this house is so old, I know the power is poop, and I want to pick up a new power supply. Idea's? Recommendations?

Most of the time when you are talking about power supply efficiency you're referring to the amount of power wasted (in the form of heat) when converting from AC to DC, not now close to the advertised voltage the rails are getting.

My general rule of thumb is within 5% for voltage rails.

_________________
Warning: Vengeful Admin.
You probably won't even see it coming. Wink

Last edited by markkleb on Thu Aug 16, 2007 12:01 pm; edited 1 time in total

CPU magazine had a really good PS guide in its May issue (the one that covered PDX9)

They really liked the PC Power & Cooling and Corsair power supplies. (Me Too)

Here is a good deal too
http://www.pdxlan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1649

If you are really getting only 9.77 on the 12v rail that is your problem. That is way way below spec. I suspect speedfan is just reporting it wrong though as I don't think you could even boot with it that low. If you have a multimeter you can measure the actual voltage at one of the molex connectors, or you could borrow my multimeter if you need to.

_________________
Workstation: Xeon X3430 @ 3.8 GHz, Watercooling by DangerDen, Asus P7P55D Pro, PNY GTX 465 flashed to 470, Intel X-25M G1 80 GB, 2x Samsung Spinpoint F1 1 TB Raid 0, Mountain Mods Twice 7, Acer 24" 3d LCD
HTPC: HDHomerun, i3 540, GA-H55M-S2H, EVGA GTX260, Antec P182, Antec earthwatts EA380, hard drives.

CyberCrist wrote:

Bug, great list, Thanks! I'm going to copy that to my tech pen drive.

Zlog & Bug, I didn't think 9.77 was that bad, but maybe you're right. I thought 81.4% efficiency was pretty good. Any idea on a modular power supply that maybe does 85%? I decided I'm going to pick up a new battery backup, because this house is so old, I know the power is poop, and I want to pick up a new power supply. Idea's? Recommendations?

are you going to PDXLAN? I have a Hiper 580 watt PSU I'll let you test out. if you like it and it fixes your problem, ill sell it to you for the price of a pizza Smile

Spork wrote:

CyberCrist wrote:

Bug, great list, Thanks! I'm going to copy that to my tech pen drive.

Zlog & Bug, I didn't think 9.77 was that bad, but maybe you're right. I thought 81.4% efficiency was pretty good. Any idea on a modular power supply that maybe does 85%? I decided I'm going to pick up a new battery backup, because this house is so old, I know the power is poop, and I want to pick up a new power supply. Idea's? Recommendations?

Most of the time when you are talking about power supply efficiency you're referring to the amount of power wasted (in the form of heat) when converting from AC to DC, not now close to the advertised voltage the rails are getting.

My general rule of thumb is within 5% for voltage rails.

Okaaaay, I feel stupid. LOL Thanks for explaining that Spork.

markkleb wrote:

CPU magazine had a really good PS guide in its May issue (the one that covered PDX9)

They really liked the PC Power & Cooling and Corsair power supplies. (Me Too)

Here is a good deal too
http://www.pdxlan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1649

Wow, thanks! Guess I should read the magazine, since I have that free subscription Razz

somethingcool wrote:

If you are really getting only 9.77 on the 12v rail that is your problem. That is way way below spec. I suspect speedfan is just reporting it wrong though as I don't think you could even boot with it that low. If you have a multimeter you can measure the actual voltage at one of the molex connectors, or you could borrow my multimeter if you need to.

Thanks! If you are at 10.5, maybe you can show me how to use one of those things.

manbeast wrote:

CyberCrist wrote:

Bug, great list, Thanks! I'm going to copy that to my tech pen drive.

Zlog & Bug, I didn't think 9.77 was that bad, but maybe you're right. I thought 81.4% efficiency was pretty good. Any idea on a modular power supply that maybe does 85%? I decided I'm going to pick up a new battery backup, because this house is so old, I know the power is poop, and I want to pick up a new power supply. Idea's? Recommendations?

are you going to PDXLAN? I have a Hiper 580 watt PSU I'll let you test out. if you like it and it fixes your problem, ill sell it to you for the price of a pizza Smile

Damn, I'm not going to 10, but I'm going to 10.5. I'll be out of town that weekend. Thanks for the offer though, very generous.

_________________

Gaming Rig:EVGA 680i | Q6600 2.4GHz (liquid cooled by DangerDen) | 2x ASUS ENGTX465 1GB SLI | Corsair Dominator 8GB DDR2 1066 | 5TB of HD space | BOSE Companion 5 | Corsair - TX850W PS
Display: 30" LG W3000H

CyberCrist wrote:

Bug, great list, Thanks! I'm going to copy that to my tech pen drive.

Zlog & Bug, I didn't think 9.77 was that bad, but maybe you're right. I thought 81.4% efficiency was pretty good. Any idea on a modular power supply that maybe does 85%? I decided I'm going to pick up a new battery backup, because this house is so old, I know the power is poop, and I want to pick up a new power supply. Idea's? Recommendations?

I'm running an Ennermax Liberty 620 powersupply that is modular and very nicely sleeved. I've been very happy with it so far.

They have them in stock last time i checked with Premeir Customer Computers

_________________
Alienware M11x C2D SU7300 @ 1.73GHz | 4GB RAM | 500GB HDD | nVidia 335m 1GB | Bluetooth

I also have the Enermax Liberty 620w, and am very pleased with it Smile

_________________
MeeF!