PC shutting down

[Les.]

Right, I think it is fairly well confirmed graphics card now. I booted to latest mint DVD, connected to www, found a Utube video on lathe work and left it running at lowish volume whilst I worked outside (The VFM test). Came in shortly before 1:00 pm, and still running OK. Turned vol down to 1 (1 of 100) so virtually silent and proceeded to eat whilst watching news on TV. After about 15 mins, I realised it had a black screen, so ignored it until finished eating.

ctrl-alt-del, enter, press off briefly did not switch it off, obviously slightly more “crashed” than when I tried it yesterday. However, I then realised I could hear something like the voice in “The Fly”, the original 1958 version. In fact the sound track of a lathe Utube video was still very faint in the background. Obviously I could not turn it up in software, and the physical vol control was fully up, but this seems to tell me that it is only the graphics card being stupid. I will order Dave’s 19W GT710 this evening.

Les.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

Think you may well be right there Les. Looks like you are just loosing video some how. I dont think the PC is actually crashing. In your last test you were playing video so when you briefly pressed the power button the PC was probably asking if you wanted to end the task but of couse you couldn’t see it. The video card is my bet too.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

Just a thought thoug. Do you have any integrated video ?

[Les.]

The GT710 arrived yesterday, I have just fitted it. Now time will tell. It generally would run for a couple of hours, so it may be a day or two before I can be sure I have fixed it or otherwise.

Graham, There is onboard graphics, but it is not man enough to run Mint 17+++, in fact  moving to Mint 17 a couple of years ago demanded a better graphics card, the GT 610. An earlier move off Ubuntu 10.04 caused the first move off the onboard graphics if I recall, I think I had an older ATI at that time.

Cheers, Les.

[Jason]

Les. wrote:

I lubed two fans

I heard Mick Jagger say much the same thing when talking about backstage antics in the ’70s.

[JayCeeDee]

???

[Richard]

Richard wrote:

On a similar and completely unrelated subject, I had a second garage look at my troublesome car, they say it was a wiring problem with a worn wire or wires which they have replaced with a new section of loom to replace the faulty issue. I hope so, the computer analysis was never ringing quite true – there is that damned word again – computer. After all the spare parts and labour I hope this is an end to the issues, which on reflection, always sounded and felt more like an electrical issue. than a mechanical one

Well, the car was done and returned on Monday and initially I thought the MPG was pretty awful. On Wednesday I had it washed, then MOTed, then I refuelled it and took it for a bit more of a run. By the time I returned I had achieved and average of 66 mpg, so I guess that the wiring is hopefully fixed and fine at last – or was it all down to washing it and getting an MOT. Trips to my daughter’s charity volunteering had dragged the MPG down a bit but it is still showing well over 60 to the gallon, I think it lives to run again.

As for Les, hopefully all will now be well, I guess we were all nearly right when we suggested hardware, just that most of use thought of other hardware aspects. I was a little surprised that it did not throw any artefacts before it died. My last dying card replaced most of the display with a selection of random squares of colour, which was a darned good hint that the card was ‘not well’.

[Bob Williams]

Jason wrote:

Les. wrote:

I lubed two fans

I heard Mick Jagger say much the same thing when talking about backstage antics in the ’70s.

# I can’t get no, nonono!#

:yahoo:

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Les.]

Switched on before tea, left it running without anything running. About 8:30 I noticed it had just crashed again.

Suggestions for next move? Memory, Micom, dustbin?

Les.

[Tippon]

Have you updated the drivers, or tried another monitor? If you updated the drivers, was it before or after this started happening?

[Richard]

I think you now have to either cut your losses or go very much step by step, (though after my recent car issue I am prejudiced about wiring and contact issues).

Remove the present OS from the scene and a ‘live disk’ CD/DVD/USB could do that for you.

Test memory using one of the OS independent testers would be my early choice step.

Ensure that all devices are fully reseated and that there is no way that heat creep can be causing an issue.

Could it by any distant chance be a problem not with the PC itself but with the display? That could fit the symptoms of losing the visual feedback.

Could the lead have a marginal connection, which fails after a period of use?

Could there by any form of time out that is blanking the screen after a period of time? It appears that the blanking might happen after a couple of hours each time. Of course this could be a problem of either end, does switching the screen off waiting a few seconds and switching it back on bring up the display once more? If so it would appear to be a screen issue.

Good luck, intermittent faults are the bain of our lives and can end up costly.

[Ed P]

You still have one common graphics area – the driver. Nouveau has never cut the mustard for me, perhaps you should install the proprietary nVidia driver instead.

link

I’d look at the second post in the thread from minomic. You may still need a bit of Google-foo as drivers are not Linux’s most easy thing to play with.

[edit] I assume that you have totally disabled the on-board graphics in the bios.

[Les.]

OK, time for a recap:-

I did a strip down and renewed HS compound and attended to fan lubrication, I reseated the RAM stick. I did not touch the micom other than the HS compound. Visually examined the PSU but all looked OK.

I had already done a fresh Linux on DVD run when it failed on that test as well.

The GT610 graphics card replaced by the GT710. Nvidia V367.57 recommended drivers drivers installed.

Is it my monitor? Don’t know, but I will leave it running this afternoon with some Utube stuff, sound low but very audible. I will switch the monitor off. (This is what I do if recording say MotoGP whilst out on the ‘bike) and later, switch it on periodically to see if that could be the cause. The graphics card had SVGA, HDMI and DVI-D, and I use the SVGA, but I could find a CTV with HDMI to try it out with later.

I will try a RAM test later on. If I don’t find something definite soon, I will be at a real question point. RAM, Micom, PSU or scrap the lot. I like the Shuttle, but its rarity makes swopping bits difficult and expensive. I will check later to see what RAM and MICOM are fitted.

Les

[Boris]

Just a thought.  Have you tried a different monitor lead ?

Never trust an atom - they make up everything !

[RSB]

I may of missed what version of mint your using but if it’s Mate have you tried the inhibit applet? Link https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=238780#p1273081

I use mate for that very little tool as I hate sleeping computers. It would narrow things down to software. I have not followed the thread though so not sure what you have been upto. :whistle:  :unsure:

Americans: Over Sexed, Over Payed and Over here, Wat Wat!

[Les.]

Wishful thinking maybe, but:-

I left PC running for about 6 hrs, mostly with screen switched off. no crash. I have found a portable TV with HDMI input, and am looking at its smaller screen right now. Maybe it is my screen? About £80 should get a decent sized monitor with digital input, so it if behaves for a few days, that will be the route I take.

I was looking in the little cardboard box which came with the shuttle, contaning spare internal cables etc, and I had marked the box “Shuttle, Jan 2010”. So it seems I have had it for seven years. Doesn’t time fly!

Maybe I should be considering a replacement. I will seriously consider it, but not just yet unless it continues to screw itself up.

Les.

[Ed P]

Not very long for a monitor, my lcd monitors typically last 12+years. Does it feel ‘hot’ during use? Try puutting a pc fan on the top – stick with blutack just to try it. A man of your calibre should be able to gu outt the wires on a usb lead and use the red/black wires appropriately. for a quick/dirty trial.

[Jason]

Are you saying that the PC might not be crashing at all and that perhaps the monitor is simply switching off? Or are you saying that the monitor may be causing the PC to crash? If it’s the latter, forget it. No way in a million years will a monitor cause a PC to crash.

[Les.]

Ed, the shuttle is 7 years old, the monitor came from the amenity site via my pal maybe 5 years ago. No idea its actual age. I will probably open it up to see if I can see any obvious faults, and I could certainly add a cooling fan. Having said that, it is still only 15 pin SVGA lead, and I would expect added value from a modern 22″. Of course, it may only be the lead, and I will see if my pal has a spare and try that as well.

Jason, I DID think the PC was crashing, but now I don’t. I have established that if no programme is running, ctrl-alt-del,  enter and a light touch on OFF button will shut it down. However, as Graham pointed out, if a prog is running, that will not allow shut down, hence the 5 sec press I mentioned previously.

If a prog is running, Alt-F, up, enter will close the prog, followed by the above procedure.

I was thinking that the reluctance to shut down was a hard crash, later drawing the conclusion it was a failing graphics card. The new card quickly excluded that diagnosis. Thus I arrived at the idea it was only the monitor, and by keeping the monitor mostly OFF, the PC stayed happily “awake” for 6 hours.

It stayed on for three hours last night with this CTV connected.

I will probably leave it switched on all afternoon again whilst out in the shed tending the New Imperial engine.

Les.

[Richard]

Jason wrote:

Are you saying that the PC might not be crashing at all and that perhaps the monitor is simply switching off? Or are you saying that the monitor may be causing the PC to crash? If it’s the latter, forget it. No way in a million years will a monitor cause a PC to crash.

Yes, Jason a monitor fault was my thought. When the usual has been cleared the off the wall is all your are left wondering about. It does now sound more and more like some form of monitor issue, though quite what I cannot begin to guess. They can be rather hairy to fault, especially if it is a CRT with big capacitors!

[Author]

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