PC Auto Shutdown

[Red Cloud]

MB: Intel P4145GX_PE
BIOS: AMI v.3.0
OS: WinXP Pro 3.0

Problems: Unexpected shutdown or freeze.

Used PC for long time I've never faced serious problem of PC
shutdown unexpectedly. First time I faced problem when I booted up
WinXP, the booting did not finished, suddenly PC shutdown. I
restarted it sometimes 2nd try work and other 3 or 4 try. My first
suspicion was on Power Supply. PS normally has been working before.
Something was not right about PS but I dunno what the problem is. I
noticed the strange chipping noise, not that loud, during booting up
which indicated the problem of shutting down. This chipping noise
occurred when I accessed DVDRW. I tried to watch DVD movie, the DVD
spinning and instantly PC shutdown. My conclusion is: PS can't
handle right during DVDRW acess.
I confirmed that the chipping noise coming from PS when I tried to
access DVDRW.

Solution: I replaced PS and heard no chipping and no shutdown so
far. But I'm not sure I fixed it or the problem on the BIOS?

Oh I forgot to mention the BIOS fail to detect on IDE2's drive either
HD or DVDRW but with
the replaced PS, did not occurred.

Any opinion welcome.

 

[Paul]

MB: Intel P4145GX_PE
BIOS: AMI v.3.0
OS: WinXP Pro 3.0

Problems: Unexpected shutdown or freeze.

Used PC for long time I've never faced serious problem of PC
shutdown unexpectedly. First time I faced problem when I booted up
WinXP, the booting did not finished, suddenly PC shutdown. I
restarted it sometimes 2nd try work and other 3 or 4 try. My first
suspicion was on Power Supply. PS normally has been working before.
Something was not right about PS but I dunno what the problem is. I
noticed the strange chipping noise, not that loud, during booting up
which indicated the problem of shutting down. This chipping noise
occurred when I accessed DVDRW. I tried to watch DVD movie, the DVD
spinning and instantly PC shutdown. My conclusion is: PS can't
handle right during DVDRW acess.
I confirmed that the chipping noise coming from PS when I tried to
access DVDRW.

Solution: I replaced PS and heard no chipping and no shutdown so
far. But I'm not sure I fixed it or the problem on the BIOS?

Oh I forgot to mention the BIOS fail to detect on IDE2's drive either
HD or DVDRW but with
the replaced PS, did not occurred.

Any opinion welcome.

Depending on the age of the ATX power supply, it may have a
warranty. Or, it may not. The warranty may have expired.

If the warranty is expired, you can look inside the PSU.
Do not touch anything in there!. The cover usually has four
screws near the top. One screw is covered with a "warranty void"
sticker. Remove the four screws. Remove the top cover. Look...
but do not touch anything.

What you're looking for, is leaking capacitors. Like this.
The bulging tops (caused by pressure), and the brown rusty
looking deposits, are signs of leaking capacitors. And when
those get bad enough, the power supply shuts off.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Al-Elko-bad-caps-Wiki-07-02-17.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/PSU_Caps.jpg

Seeing such a condition, confirms your theory the
power supply was at fault.

Other faults on power supplies are not visible, so don't
worry about it, if you cannot see a defect. There were
a lot of improperly designed capacitors in years past,
and that's where a lot of failed electronics come from.
Reinstall the cover and fasten the four screws, before
disposing of the supply.

Paul

 

[Red Cloud]

Depending on the age of the ATX power supply, it may have a
warranty. Or, it may not. The warranty may have expired.

If the warranty is expired, you can look inside the PSU.
Do not touch anything in there!. The cover usually has four
screws near the top. One screw is covered with a "warranty void"
sticker. Remove the four screws. Remove the top cover. Look...
but do not touch anything.

What you're looking for, is leaking capacitors. Like this.
The bulging tops (caused by pressure), and the brown rusty
looking deposits, are signs of leaking capacitors. And when
those get bad enough, the power supply shuts off.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Al-Elko-bad-caps-W...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/PSU_Caps.jpg

Seeing such a condition, confirms your theory the
power supply was at fault.

Other faults on power supplies are not visible, so don't
worry about it, if you cannot see a defect. There were
a lot of improperly designed capacitors in years past,
and that's where a lot of failed electronics come from.
Reinstall the cover and fasten the four screws, before
disposing of the supply.

    Paul

I opened PS. Yeah I see look like brown rusty around capacitors, not
just one,
4 or 5. The warrant is expired. The sticker label say 2004 and
2003. So it was made in 9 yr ago. I guess it's time to dispose PS but
I gonna replace capacitors.

 

[Flasherly]

I guess it's time to dispose PS but
I gonna replace capacitors.

I'd get a new MB for $17US. Think it was MSI. Put in a P4 CPU for
under $10. Last year, but good stuff, but I was lucky. Something
cheap that's not already broken can be hard to find. Paid $40 for my
last new MB, good Gigabyte I hope, and then found some used CPUs dual
cores on EBAY for $10 for it and another old MB. Good CPU/fan
heatsink can be $20. Another Ebay item if lucky. Old memory is there
for more money. Everything else is OK. Hotter 60-watt soldering iron
to follow the cap leads through the MB, if you don't destroy it, then
you may be looking hard to find the cap values and who carries them
for cheap enough to be worth not buying a replacement MB.