Gateway 310x desktop - shuts down

ps56k wrote:
I'm beginning to lean towards a software and/or ACPI problem.

Running various tests to see how things react when booted differently.

1 - boot into BIOS screen, just let it sit - runs fine 18+ mins
2 - boot into Norton DOS prompt, just let it sit - runs fine 45+ mins

3 - boot into Linux, ACPI active - ??
4 - boot into Linux, ACPI off - ??
5 - boot into XP safe mode, power savings = never - ??
6 - boot into XP normal mode, power savings = never - ??

well - it seems when we boot with nothing "smart",
but using "dumb" DOS from a bootable CDrom,
or even just sitting at the BIOS screen,
that the computer will run forever -
and.... the fans appear to be running "more" in this "dumb" mode

when we boot into Linux, even with a ACPI=OFF and NOAPM
it appears that "something" still controls the APM,
and I think the fans run slower than in DOS mode,
and the computer then randomly turns off after only a few minutes.

same is true with Windows XP - all power settings turned to "off"

I'm stumped ?????????????

ps56k wrote on Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:11:00 -0600:

well - it seems when we boot with nothing "smart",
but using "dumb" DOS from a bootable CDrom,
or even just sitting at the BIOS screen,
that the computer will run forever -
and.... the fans appear to be running "more" in this "dumb" mode

when we boot into Linux, even with a ACPI=OFF and NOAPM
it appears that "something" still controls the APM,
and I think the fans run slower than in DOS mode,
and the computer then randomly turns off after only a few minutes.

same is true with Windows XP - all power settings turned to "off"

I'm stumped ?????????????

I haven't been following this thread very closely. But just what I see
above... I would swap out the memory. As Windows and Linux hits it hard
and uses all of it while DOS does not. If you have more than one RAM
card, take one of them out. And then later swap it with the other one.

And you better check to see if they have to be used in pairs or not.
Most don't, but you never know until you check. You can check with one
of the more popular RAM manufacture websites to check this for your model.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 8GB 1GB SoDIMM Adata 16GB
Windows XP SP2 and Xandros Linux

BillW50 wrote:
ps56k wrote on Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:11:00 -0600:

well - it seems when we boot with nothing "smart",
but using "dumb" DOS from a bootable CDrom,
or even just sitting at the BIOS screen,
that the computer will run forever -
and.... the fans appear to be running "more" in this "dumb" mode

when we boot into Linux, even with a ACPI=OFF and NOAPM
it appears that "something" still controls the APM,
and I think the fans run slower than in DOS mode,
and the computer then randomly turns off after only a few minutes.

same is true with Windows XP - all power settings turned to "off"

I'm stumped ?????????????

I haven't been following this thread very closely. But just what I see
above... I would swap out the memory. As Windows and Linux hits it hard
and uses all of it while DOS does not. If you have more than one RAM
card, take one of them out. And then later swap it with the other one.

And you better check to see if they have to be used in pairs or not.
Most don't, but you never know until you check. You can check with one
of the more popular RAM manufacture websites to check this for your model.

By now, all the dust and dirt have been removed from the interior of the
computer chassis, the CPU cooling fan, and the power supply with its fan???

.... Ben Myers

this is a real puzzler....

For anyone actually having a Gateway 310x computer,
this is what I'm seeing.....

Running a simple DOS bootable (non-Windows, non-Linux) program
such as MEMTEST.... to get away from any "power options" of Windows or
Linux.

Either booting into the BIOS (F2)
or booting from CDRom with Knoppix and Memtest...

Will run for about 8mins and then shutdown... but sometimes longer...
..
BUT - the green light is on (like in some kind of Standby mode)
I have to hold the Power for 5secs to get the led to turn off.
Then try to boot.... brief flash of red led on motherboard - nothing -
Wait awhile - random time - try power button again - it works -

Boot into Memtest - running - sometimes long, sometimes just 8 mins ????
Then, the fans are all off, video off, but the green led is on ??
Back to where we started............

ps56k wrote:
this is a real puzzler....

For anyone actually having a Gateway 310x computer,
this is what I'm seeing.....

Running a simple DOS bootable (non-Windows, non-Linux) program
such as MEMTEST.... to get away from any "power options" of Windows or
Linux.

Either booting into the BIOS (F2)
or booting from CDRom with Knoppix and Memtest...

Will run for about 8mins and then shutdown... but sometimes longer...
.
BUT - the green light is on (like in some kind of Standby mode)
I have to hold the Power for 5secs to get the led to turn off.
Then try to boot.... brief flash of red led on motherboard - nothing -
Wait awhile - random time - try power button again - it works -

Boot into Memtest - running - sometimes long, sometimes just 8 mins ????
Then, the fans are all off, video off, but the green led is on ??
Back to where we started............



Well, my money is still on a failing power supply. Why? Because both
Linux and Windows force the CPU (and hard drive and graphics system) to
work harder and draw more wattage. When the wattage consumed reaches
the the limit of the power supply, poof! Power off... Ben Myers

Ben Myers wrote:
ps56k wrote:
this is a real puzzler....

For anyone actually having a Gateway 310x computer,
this is what I'm seeing.....

Running a simple DOS bootable (non-Windows, non-Linux) program
such as MEMTEST.... to get away from any "power options" of Windows
or Linux.

Either booting into the BIOS (F2)
or booting from CDRom with Knoppix and Memtest...

Will run for about 8mins and then shutdown... but sometimes longer...
.
BUT - the green light is on (like in some kind of Standby mode)
I have to hold the Power for 5secs to get the led to turn off.
Then try to boot.... brief flash of red led on motherboard - nothing
- Wait awhile - random time - try power button again - it works -

Boot into Memtest - running - sometimes long, sometimes just 8 mins
???? Then, the fans are all off, video off, but the green led is on
?? Back to where we started............



Well, my money is still on a failing power supply. Why? Because both
Linux and Windows force the CPU (and hard drive and graphics system)
to work harder and draw more wattage. When the wattage consumed
reaches the the limit of the power supply, poof! Power off... Ben
Myers

I actually plugged in an AC wattmeter (KiloWatt - neat device)
http://www.amazon.com/P3-Internation.../dp/B00009MDBU
and it was only drawing about 55 watts.... supply is listed as the usual 200
watts

I'm borrowing another computer tomorrow to swap the hard disk,
to get back to my original request of installing and updating some
software...

As far as the problem box -
I may just buy another power supply to see if it resolves things ot satisfy
my tech brain.
http://www.911forpcs.com/ga31posufrde.html

ps56k wrote:
Ben Myers wrote:
ps56k wrote:
this is a real puzzler....

For anyone actually having a Gateway 310x computer,
this is what I'm seeing.....

Running a simple DOS bootable (non-Windows, non-Linux) program
such as MEMTEST.... to get away from any "power options" of Windows
or Linux.

Either booting into the BIOS (F2)
or booting from CDRom with Knoppix and Memtest...

Will run for about 8mins and then shutdown... but sometimes longer...
.
BUT - the green light is on (like in some kind of Standby mode)
I have to hold the Power for 5secs to get the led to turn off.
Then try to boot.... brief flash of red led on motherboard - nothing
- Wait awhile - random time - try power button again - it works -

Boot into Memtest - running - sometimes long, sometimes just 8 mins
???? Then, the fans are all off, video off, but the green led is on
?? Back to where we started............



Well, my money is still on a failing power supply. Why? Because both
Linux and Windows force the CPU (and hard drive and graphics system)
to work harder and draw more wattage. When the wattage consumed
reaches the the limit of the power supply, poof! Power off... Ben
Myers

I actually plugged in an AC wattmeter (KiloWatt - neat device)
http://www.amazon.com/P3-Internation.../dp/B00009MDBU
and it was only drawing about 55 watts.... supply is listed as the usual 200
watts

I'm borrowing another computer tomorrow to swap the hard disk,
to get back to my original request of installing and updating some
software...

As far as the problem box -
I may just buy another power supply to see if it resolves things ot satisfy
my tech brain.
http://www.911forpcs.com/ga31posufrde.html




The power supply may be rated at 200w, but a power supply gone marginal
may either handle a lower maximum or develop glitches under heavy load.

Have I asked already: Is the power supplyer perhaps a Bestec brand? If
so, just get on with replacing it. Bestec power supplies earned a poor
reputation from all the failures of eMachines. When a Bestec power
supply fails, it often takes the motherboard right along with it.

.... Ben Myers

Ben Myers wrote:
ps56k wrote:
Ben Myers wrote:
ps56k wrote:
this is a real puzzler....

For anyone actually having a Gateway 310x computer,
this is what I'm seeing.....

Running a simple DOS bootable (non-Windows, non-Linux) program
such as MEMTEST.... to get away from any "power options" of Windows
or Linux.

Either booting into the BIOS (F2)
or booting from CDRom with Knoppix and Memtest...

Will run for about 8mins and then shutdown... but sometimes
longer... .
BUT - the green light is on (like in some kind of Standby mode)
I have to hold the Power for 5secs to get the led to turn off.
Then try to boot.... brief flash of red led on motherboard -
nothing - Wait awhile - random time - try power button again - it
works - Boot into Memtest - running - sometimes long, sometimes just 8
mins
???? Then, the fans are all off, video off, but the green led is on
?? Back to where we started............



Well, my money is still on a failing power supply. Why? Because
both Linux and Windows force the CPU (and hard drive and graphics
system) to work harder and draw more wattage. When the wattage
consumed reaches the the limit of the power supply, poof! Power
off... Ben Myers

I actually plugged in an AC wattmeter (KiloWatt - neat device)
http://www.amazon.com/P3-Internation.../dp/B00009MDBU
and it was only drawing about 55 watts.... supply is listed as the
usual 200 watts

I'm borrowing another computer tomorrow to swap the hard disk,
to get back to my original request of installing and updating some
software...

As far as the problem box -
I may just buy another power supply to see if it resolves things ot
satisfy my tech brain.
http://www.911forpcs.com/ga31posufrde.html




The power supply may be rated at 200w, but a power supply gone
marginal may either handle a lower maximum or develop glitches under
heavy load.
Have I asked already: Is the power supplyer perhaps a Bestec brand? If so,
just get on with replacing it. Bestec power supplies earned a
poor reputation from all the failures of eMachines. When a Bestec
power supply fails, it often takes the motherboard right along with
it.
no - Bestec - it's the other one -
Additional Notes: Replaces and upgrades original FSP 200-60 ATV Power Supply
and others.

BTW - opened up an old HP Pavillion 6635 (Win98) I had in the basement
hoping to add more memory and bootup XP, but not enough RAM,
(have to actually remove the drive cages to reach the memory chips -
nightmare -
Anyway - it has a Bestec power supply ...

On Nov 14, 12:20*pm, "ps56k"
wrote:
no - Bestec - it's the other one -
Additional Notes: Replaces and upgrades original FSP 200-60 ATV Power Supply
and others.

Using information provided, nobody can provide a useful answer. In
less than two minutes, you could either have definitive answers or a
reply that does not include "it could be this or could be that". For
about the price of a hammer (and sold where hammers are also sold), a
multimeter measures VDC voltages on various power supply wires, both
before and when power supply is turned on.

The principle is simple. Even defective parts can boot and run a
system. But those defective parts get worse with age or start causing
intermittent shutdowns. A less than two minute procedure was posted
"When your computer dies without warning....." starting 6 Feb 2007 in
the newsgroup alt.windows-xp at:
http://tinyurl.com/yvf9vh
Connector chart to locate each color:
http://www.hardwarebook.net/connecto.../atxpower.html

In your case, numbers from any one of red, orange, purple, and yellow
wires are most informative especially when the computer is accessing
(multitasking) to all peripherals simultaneously. IOW playing complex
video graphics (ie a movie), while downloading from the Internet,
while playing a CD, while outputting sound, while searching each hard
drive, while the modem is connected, while ... now the computer is
ready to measure voltages on those four wires. Those numbers must
exceed 3.23, 4.87, and 11.7. And then post those numbers to obtain
further helpful information. A reply that has no useless 'it could be
this or could be that' speculation.