Computer keeps restarting

[neutrino]

Hi guys,

Wondering if you can help.

Was doing a show last night and my computer kept randomly restarting itself.
The PC is an all in one touchscreen with PCI slot with a QM2000 installed. The exact same setup as we used for CaribLEM. The only difference is that I was running an FB3 aswell as the QM2000 via Beyond.
I also have a Korg NanoKontrol.

Things were going well when all of a sudden the computer restarted itself. I put this down to a power glitch and though nothing of it. All was good again. Then a couple of hours in it started resetting itself time and time again. I disconnected the USB devices (NanoKontrol and FB3) hoping this would solve it but it didn;t.

It reached the point now where Windows is trying to fix things through the Startup Repair window so I cant even get to my desktop!
Actually as I write this it has completed the repair and has now let me log in.

The machine was not hot at all so it is not a temp issue.

Here is a photo of the BIOS screen



I dont ever remember seeing all those DRAM timing codes before.

There is also a bunch of beeps when the computer beeps. Maybe I should take a video with audio of the startup procedure - would it help?

Just trying to figure out if it is hardware or software problem before pulling things apart.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers
Rich

[JohnYayas]

Hi guys,

Wondering if you can help.

Was doing a show last night and my computer kept randomly restarting itself.
The PC is an all in one touchscreen with PCI slot with a QM2000 installed. The exact same setup as we used for CaribLEM. The only difference is that I was running an FB3 aswell as the QM2000 via Beyond.
I also have a Korg NanoKontrol.

Things were going well when all of a sudden the computer restarted itself. I put this down to a power glitch and though nothing of it. All was good again. Then a couple of hours in it started resetting itself time and time again. I disconnected the USB devices (NanoKontrol and FB3) hoping this would solve it but it didn;t.

It reached the point now where Windows is trying to fix things through the Startup Repair window so I cant even get to my desktop!
Actually as I write this it has completed the repair and has now let me log in.

The machine was not hot at all so it is not a temp issue.

Here is a photo of the BIOS screen



I dont ever remember seeing all those DRAM timing codes before.

There is also a bunch of beeps when the computer beeps. Maybe I should take a video with audio of the startup procedure - would it help?

Just trying to figure out if it is hardware or software problem before pulling things apart.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers
Rich

It could be a lot of things. My first thought is a power supply that is on the fritz.

[neutrino]

The original supply went nuts so I order a replacement.
WHilst I was waiting for it to be shipped i had to pull apart an old ATX supply to squeeze in the case.
I was think PSU too - maybe I will just go ahead and put the new one in.

[JohnYayas]

The original supply went nuts so I order a replacement.
WHilst I was waiting for it to be shipped i had to pull apart an old ATX supply to squeeze in the case.
I was think PSU too - maybe I will just go ahead and put the new one in.

Maybe the temporary one you put in is underpowered.

[neutrino]

Shouldnt be. The all in one came with 200W supply and the one that was put in was at least 300W from what I remember. It may have even be 500W. It was old though!
I had the computer running for two days in my office without any glitches.

[Stuka]

Check the RAM - possibly a memory module loose, or going bad.

Reboot with just the bare essential peripherals attached to eliminate those as a contributing issue.

Any recent system driver upgrades (video, sound, NIC, etc.) just prior to problems starting?
If so, try rolling back drivers (one at a time) and see if that could be a contributor.

[Jem]

We've just had this problem with a HP workstation at the office. We have on site support so a HP technician came out and said it was a motherboard fault, he swapped the motherboard...

Kept getting same issue, randomn restarts... called HP tech support, they said it must be a software problem and they would send us a set of reinstall discs which we would have to install. We've installed the discs and guess what?, yep, you guessed it, same problem

Call HP tech support, they say it must be a hard disk failure... Awaiting HP technician calling... watch this space

To be honest I think this is the most likely solution. I suspect that the hard drive had been hitting bad sectors causing the crashes. It's now got to such a stage that the system won't even boot as it can't find the hard drive. It's returning an insert system disk error.

Anyway, just food for thought...

[neutrino]

Thanks guys,

Have had the unit on and running for the last 3 hours and no reboots.
There have been no new software installs or updates. The machine isnt even connected to the internet.

I am not sure when the next gig will be so I think I will swap the PSU for the new one and see what happens.

Cheers
Rich

[Displaser]

Check the RAM - possibly a memory module loose, or going bad.

Reboot with just the bare essential peripherals attached to eliminate those as a contributing issue.

Any recent system driver upgrades (video, sound, NIC, etc.) just prior to problems starting?
If so, try rolling back drivers (one at a time) and see if that could be a contributor.

Just went through this recently - turned out to be a weird memory issue in my notebook. Once the RAM was replaced, no more reboots.

Greg

[neutrino]

I have reseated the RAM. Will do further 'stress' tests tomorrow.
Ill get some spare/replacement RAM ordered too - will just take a while to get here!!

Cheers
Rich