After Power failure, comp shuts down HELP!

[Aimarty]

After Power failure, comp randomly shuts down HELP!

Yesterday, the power in my House went off, and then came back on in a split second. I was on my computer, so it caused my computer to turn off and on fast. Ever since that point, and never before, my computer shuts off by its self, and I cant turn it back on, unless i switch the power supply off, and then back on.

Now it doesnt shut down all the time, only when i start playing Counter Stirke Source. After about an hour of gameplay, it will just shut down on me. I have left the computer on all night, and nothing, but when i start gaming it just turns off. I thought it could be overheating, but since ive never had this problem before, I dont think it could be that.

When the power glitches, would that affect the temp? I ran MBM5, and when im not gaming it up, i have an average cpu temp of 110, and a case temp of 100.

Basically I am just stumped. I have built this computer myself, and this has never been a problem before, so im not sure what it could be. Other people i ask lead my to a bad power supply, but I have no clue.

I built myself, and i run on....

AMD Athlon 64x 3000+
Asus K8v Motherboard
Radeon 9800 Pro AGP 128 mb Graphics card
2x 512 mb Kingston
The reading on my power supply said 115V-230V and its a coolmaster

Any suggestions plz let me know. I did the dusting thing, and the power manager thing, but those didnt work. Again any help would be great, thanks in advance.

 

[Merc14]

Sounds like the PSU may have been damaged is some way. Do you use a surge protector? I always suggest a UPS but to late now.

1. Have you tried unplugging it for 30 minutes or so and then trying it again? Possibly the PSU can reset itself. Probably won't help but give it a shot since it is easy to do and free, LOL.

2. Unplug the PC, remove the CMOS battery and zero out with the jumpers. You'll have to reset BIOS with this so make sure you go through it and write down every non-auto setting.

If the above doesn't help I'd suggest you check the RAM with memtest86 or similar to see if it was damaged.

 

[Aimarty]

Well, unfortunatley I dont know a whole lot about computers lol. I tried downloading that memtest program, but I ahve no Idea how to install or set it up. I tried just double clicking the install icon, but a dos screen comes up asking what drive i want to use, and thats where im lost. I just tried playing my cs game again, and my comp shut down after 5 min of gameplay, but never shuts down for anything else. Im really lost, and If i have to go buy a new part for my comp, i need to know how to find the problem

 

[Merc14]

Memtest runs from a floppy. You'll have to set up your boot order to boot from the floppy that memtest is on and then run it. The site has pretty good instructions. Did you try the other things I suggested? The CMOS reset is the most likely fix. Find your manual and it will tell you how to do it or I can maybe walk you through it (I am not familiar w/ your mobo).

 

[howard_hopkinso]

You`ve downloaded the floppy version of Memtest.

What you need to do is, format a blank floppy, and leave it in the drive.

Now click on the Memtest install, and when it asks you for a drive type A.

This will install the Memtest programme to your floppy.

Now leave the floppy in the drive and reboot your machine. Provided you system is set to boot from floppy first, the memtest programme will run. If your system isn`t set to boot from the floppy drive first, you will need to set the boot priority in bios.

Let it run for at least seven passes.

If you don`t have a floppy drive, then delete the Memtest programme and download the prebuilt iso file, and burn it to cd, and then boot from that.

www.memtest.org

Regards Howard

 

[Merc14]

On my Asus mobo here is how you reset the CMOS:
1. Restart your PC and enter BIOS and familiarize yourself with all the different settings. You'll have to reset many of these after the following procedure. In many cases they will be set to auto.
2. Unplug PC from wall, take the side off your case and ground yourself w/ a wrist strap or just by touching the side of the case.
3. Find the battery on the mobo and remove it.
4. There should be 3 little pins right next to the battery. 2 of the pins will have a blue cap connecting them. Take the blue cap off 1 and 2 pins and put it on the 2 and 3 pins. Leave it set for a couple of minutes and then place the cap back on the 1 and 2 pins.
5. Replace the battery, plug in the PC and reboot into BIOS and make any settings you need to. Reboot and see if you have fixed the problem.

If all is well now pat yourself on the back, head down to local electronics store and by yourself an adequate UPS so you won't ever have to repeat the above.

 

[Aimarty]

I want to try your solution, with unplugging the battery, I am not really good when it comes to those sorta things, i would love you to wlak me through it in detail, if possible, if u have AIM or anything like that. ALSO when i boot my computer it syas "fast track not driver missing, BIOS not installed, thats happened every time ive turned my computer on, since day 1. Never sure what it meant, but I hope this can fix my comp. My AIM is KGMR Stillfly if u have the time

 

[Merc14]

Sorry mate, don't have any IM. As far as that message you reported don't worry about it. From PC Specialist:

“No drive attached to Fast Track controller, the BIOS is not installed” – This message can occur on AMD based computers. On your motherboard, you have Promise RAID controllers and VIA RAID controllers. We put your SATA hard drives on the VIA RAID controllers, and therefore the Promise RAID controllers are left without a hard drive installed. This is not a problem and you can disregard this message.

Do you know what BIOS is? If not I'd suggest you find the local "geek" and tell him/her that you need to reset your CMOS. If none available then give it a shot yourself, it isn't that hard. You can try just pulling the battery and leaving the jumper thing alone. This will just reset your date and time only. To get into BIOS (Basic Input Output System, runs the motherboard and all peripherals prior to your operating system (XP) loading) you hit the delete key while the system is starting to enetr BIOS. You navigate through BIOS with the arrow keys.

 

[Aimarty]

Would it be safe to just do the battery thing, and switch the pin covers around like you stated WITHOUT messing with the bios? I believe i would be able to do that, it sounds easy enough, i can deal with taking and putting computers together, just not the techie stuff. Thanks again for all your help.

Also, I know this sounds dumb, but i cannot see where my battery is. would you be able to point it out for me, or circle where it is lol, id appriciate it :giddy: Pic of My AMD K8v

 

[Merc14]

The battery is next to the yellow PCI card slots. It is the round, silver disk. The jumpers are between it and the yellow PCI slots. You can just pull the battery and then replae it and, like I said, it will just reset the time and date. To reset that you hit delete when you are powering back up (a prompt will be at the bottom of the screen). The CMOS section of BIOS will appear and the date time will be at the top. Arrow over to each (hour, minute second etc.) segment and change with the plus/minus keys. whn done hit F10 and the sytem will reboot. Your BIOS settings may be intact since you haven't messed with the jumpers.

May being the operative word here as they MAY also dump. This isn't that big of a deal. I would suggest that you enter BIOS before attempting this and go through all the categories and look at the settings. Mark down any that aren't set to auto. The award BIOS (AMD/Asus) is very straight-forward and it is a good thing to learn if you own a PC. If in doubt you can set most things to auto. Also, your manual may have recommended settings or various forums can tell you how to set things up.

BIOS is where you can set RAM timings, disk boot order, CPU timings and AGP aperture. If you aren't comfortable with this then maybe avoid but like I said, if in doubt, set to auto. Modern BIOS won't let you destroy your system.

 

[Aimarty]

Well i did as you had told me to, i took out the battery, changed over the blue cover thing, and replaced it all, reset my bios and started back up.

I loaded my game and within 45 seconds of begning the game, the computer shut off. And when it shuts off, i cant restart it with the power button, i have to switch the Power supply box in the back of my comp off and then on again. Last time it restarted, it said new hardware found, and i had to reinstall my ethernet connection, and this time when it restarted, it said it just found my radeon 9800 pro card, and i had to set that up again. what the heck is going on, and why does it only shut down when i go to play my game. I need to know what is busted on my comp.

 

[Merc14]

This is called troubleshooting so be patient. You have to eliminate some things before you investigate others. Right now you are eliminating that your system got corrupted by the power transient it was hit with. You don't want to go and replace your PSU if it was just a system error. Yes it is frustrating but it is free so far. It gets really frustrating when you start spending money (new PSU, $100 jsut to let a tech look at it etc.) and the system still doesn't work.

OK, you got brave and reset your system. No biggie we just have to reset some things in BIOS (I do it all the time as I experiment with different BIOS). Let windows go through and find new hardware, that isn't a problem. Your drivers are on the drive and windows should find them. After Windows finishes it's thing I want you to go back into BIOS and set Boot order to:
Hard drive / cdROM / removable (if you have it).
Also, go through all the hardware configuration items and make sure they are set correctly. These are common sense items like if you have onboard sound AND a Soundblaster card , turn the onboard sound off. etc. Take your time and if unsure post a question.

Reboot and see what you have. Does every other program run fine and just this game fails the system? Can you load the sytem up and see if it fails (run 3DMark or something similar). Can you test the PSU with a mutimeter.

 

[Aimarty]

Ok, i will go back into the BIOS and change things around like you suggested. This is gonna sound dumb, but, is PSU another term for power supply? cause my friend suggested i get one with atleast 500watts, which i can grab online for like 40-50 bucks.

 

[Merc14]

Yes PSU stands for Power Supply Unit. I would guess that well over half the problems people have are directly attributable to cheap PSUs that fail w/ the least little power fluctuation.

I am fairly certain that you will find that your PSU was damaged during the power loss/spike and can no longer handle the load. Right now you are troubleshooting to make sure that it isn't something else. A good PSU will handle a loss/spike and protect your system components too. If you have a cheap unit it may have allowed a surge through its circuits that damaged some other items like the RAM.

Can you look inside the case and get the specifics off the side of the PSU (name max power out amps on each 12volt rail)? Also, what are your system specs.

 

[Aimarty]

My PSU Coolmaster

Voltage 115v - 230v

Current 10A 5.5A

Frequency 50 - 60 hz

DC Output +3.3 +3 +12

Max 275w 336w 473w

The comp i put together has asus k8v mobo, amd athlon 64x 3000+, radeon 9800 pro 128mb 2x 512 kingston ram, and some hard drive i bought at a circuit city lol.

The weird thing is I tested it out by playing HalfLife2 Deathmatch, which has the same if not better graphics engine than cs source(which causes the shutdown) I played HL2DM for about 20 min, then left it on while i went to the store (over an hour) and it never shut down once. Could it be just counter strike, since the power glitched off during that game(sounds weird), should I just try reinstalling it?....

Not sure where to go form here, sorry for the late reply, I had to take a friend to work.

 

[Merc14]

It sounds like your PSU is underpowered and CS Source is the program that pushes it over the edge. From your earlier post I assumed it was something post-power outage, but if it is just the one game then you have found your problem. Solution, get a better PSU or don'rt play CS I guess.

 

[Aimarty]

Is there any way of tweaking anything to allow me to play source at a diff rate, or flipping the switch on the power supply to a different setting? I am broke for now so i cant buy a new psu, and my cal team needs me to play!! :knock:

Any suggestions would be greatly appriciated. And thanks for all your help today.

 

[Merc14]

I'd definitely try to reinstall it. If you weren't seeing it before and it is the only program that you experience the freeze with then reason would lead to a reindstall.

 

[Aimarty]

Well I re-installed and i was playing for about an hour, when the computer shut down again. Im just so frusterated. I dont have the money for another power supply, and I have an obligation in that game, as silly as that sounds. Question, is a ATX power supply compatible with my AMD , heres a link to a pretty cheap one i found. ATX 450 Watt

 

[Merc14]

Two things:
1. I wouldn't let anyone but and enemy install a $17 PSU in a PC.
2. If you could play for an hour I would guess that you may have a heat issue. Take the side off your case, point a portable fan at the PC's guts and see if that helps.