Sudden laptop shutdown
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Sudden laptop shutdown
I've got a Philips x67 laptop with windows vista o/s and whilst it seems to work ok most of the time it occasionally switches itself off for no apparent reason. It shuts down as if you have held down the power switch to force a shut down. When I restart the computer it seems normal but does say that windows closed down with error but doesn't give me the opportunity to repair. The shutdowns occur sometimes as vista starts sometimes it can run for hours and not shut down.
I've loaded all the upgrades to windows. The laptop also doesn't do this when running on the battery it's only when connected to the mains.
Any suggestions anyone?
I've loaded all the upgrades to windows. The laptop also doesn't do this when running on the battery it's only when connected to the mains.
Any suggestions anyone?
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Click on start, Right click on computer, select manage from the pop up box & from there, choose event viewer. Have a ferret round in there for what's going on - helps if you know what time the last crash occurred as there will be many events to look through & windows times them. If you see a repetitve error report & it lines up with the crash times, you've probably (but not definitely) found it.
If that doesn't help, you can try control panel> system & maintenance>problem reports & solutions.
If you're still stuck, look here: http://www.networkworld.com/news/200...sh.html?page=2
If that doesn't help, you can try control panel> system & maintenance>problem reports & solutions.
If you're still stuck, look here: http://www.networkworld.com/news/200...sh.html?page=2
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Just on that, I don't know too much about Phillips' machines, but certainly most pc's I've built have come with some form of utility that will show the cpu & system temperatures & can instruct the machine to shut down if it becomes too hot. I believe such utilities are often found in BIOS settings too. There are also system monitoring utilities such as Everest http://www.lavalys.com too which do the same thing.
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"The laptop also doesn't do this when running on the battery it's only when connected to the mains."
I had an Hp laptop that had a similar problem. It was a hardware fault. The battery / battery charger had developed a fault and was producing excess head - causing the machine to switch off when on mains power. There was an eventual recall on my models power adaptor / charger.
Have you checked on the manufacturers web site to see if this is a known issue?
CD
I had an Hp laptop that had a similar problem. It was a hardware fault. The battery / battery charger had developed a fault and was producing excess head - causing the machine to switch off when on mains power. There was an eventual recall on my models power adaptor / charger.
Have you checked on the manufacturers web site to see if this is a known issue?
CD
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I thought of that as well CherokeeDriver, interestingly on a tour of t'internet it appears that Philips are rebranding Twinhead laptops. Parapunter, I'll have a look at your link but mysteriously it hasn't done it for a couple of days now I haven't a clue why that should be unless it is a cooling issue. Maybe turning all the fancy vista stuff off has helped. Thanks for all the suggestions guys and if it crops up again and I get a solution I'll let you know. I'm going to let sleeping dogs lie for the moment.
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Well, turning off the "Vista Stuff" will cut the amount of processor/resource use and should then cut the heat generated. Does the cooling fan sound like it's running a lot?
Sudden shutdowns like that are normally caused by excessive heat, so maybe getting the wee beastie's vents cleaned out could be a good idea, you do not wanna know the crud that can get choked up around the intake/exit vents. Get a can of sprayduster and give all the holes a good blast.
Sudden shutdowns like that are normally caused by excessive heat, so maybe getting the wee beastie's vents cleaned out could be a good idea, you do not wanna know the crud that can get choked up around the intake/exit vents. Get a can of sprayduster and give all the holes a good blast.
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I would definitely run one of those utilities that monitors chip and HD temperature. Everest is the one I use, but there are others.
My laptop did the same for some time, till I got annoyed enough to dismantle it - and found that they'd forgotten to put the "heat path" goo between the chip and the heat sink when they built the machine. Both were pristine and shiny. A quick dob of "Thermpath", and it's been right as rain ever since.
If it's chip overheating, you could try blowing out the vents to clear the dust and fluff. If it's a new laptop, there shouldn't be any - and if it's under guarantee, take it back anyway, because doing the "missing heat path goo" fix will almost certainly invalidate any warranty.
Otherwise, as others have said, look at the logs.
My laptop did the same for some time, till I got annoyed enough to dismantle it - and found that they'd forgotten to put the "heat path" goo between the chip and the heat sink when they built the machine. Both were pristine and shiny. A quick dob of "Thermpath", and it's been right as rain ever since.
If it's chip overheating, you could try blowing out the vents to clear the dust and fluff. If it's a new laptop, there shouldn't be any - and if it's under guarantee, take it back anyway, because doing the "missing heat path goo" fix will almost certainly invalidate any warranty.
Otherwise, as others have said, look at the logs.
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Another way to find out is to do what you were doing with the laptop when it shut down, but do it outside on an icey cold crisp day with no rain... I tried that on my old laptop and bingo - no sudden shutdowns. A strange way to prove that temperature was the problem, but it worked.
No I don't advise sitting in the freezer....
No I don't advise sitting in the freezer....
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No one has thought of the obvious solution (actually, one person kind of got there) in that the battery might be faulty, and either the power generated by it just stops for some reason, or it isn't making a proper connection to the, err, battery wotsits inside the machine. I'm sure you know what I mean This is especially true if it never happens while plugged in to the mains.
In my experience, an overheat situation will either freeze the machine, or cause a spontaneous reboot. It's never just turned off.
This is especially true if it never happens while plugged in to the mains.In my experience, an overheat situation will either freeze the machine, or cause a spontaneous reboot. It's never just turned off.
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This is especially true if it never happens while plugged in to the mains.
SD
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Exactly. It sounds like the extra power available from mains operation is overheating it. That could be a duff power supply providing too many volts (but the PC ought to compensate for that).
I'd suspect the extra volts are making the chip hotter. That's most likely either blocked cooling tubes, or poor heat transfer to the cooling bits. Do the Everest temperature test, then we'll know.
I'd suspect the extra volts are making the chip hotter. That's most likely either blocked cooling tubes, or poor heat transfer to the cooling bits. Do the Everest temperature test, then we'll know.
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Thanks for all the assistance folks, I've downloaded Everest now and I'll let you know the results. I've been at work a few days so unable to post until now. I'll give it a while to see if it shuts down again but for a few days now it's been okay.
At the moment Everest is showing 27c cpu and 53c for the hard drive.
At the moment Everest is showing 27c cpu and 53c for the hard drive.
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HDD is hot that's for sure. Cpu looks ok. Few looks over a period under different loads & conditions'll give you a pattern. Right now with the internerd, exel & live tv all running through mine, I got 30 on the cpu & 30 on the mobo. Ish-ish.
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27C on the CPU is cold.
My laptop idles at 44C CPU, 41C HDD. The CPU goes up to around 60C when working hard. Before I fixed the heat sink compound, it was going over 90C.
The desktop is around 36C CPU, 38C HDD. Not much seems to make it go any hotter.
My laptop idles at 44C CPU, 41C HDD. The CPU goes up to around 60C when working hard. Before I fixed the heat sink compound, it was going over 90C.
The desktop is around 36C CPU, 38C HDD. Not much seems to make it go any hotter.
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http://209.85.163.132/papers/disk_failures.pdf This is interesting. It's the google research into hdd failure. It shows that in their observations, low temp is correlated with hdd failure & that increases in temp don't affest hdd's until it gets to over 50 degrees!!
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Tonight the cpu is still not going over 27c so I don't think that is causing the problem. Would there be a point with the hard drive that it would shut down or would the hard drive just run until the temp caused damage?
Tonight the hard drive doesn't seem anywhere near as active and the temp is currently 36c. I wonder if the laptop isn't able to disipate the heat after periods of prolonged activity of the hard drive. At the moment the computer is behaving normally. I don't really use it for much more than surfing, email and syncing with my ipod. Occasional DVD played too.
Computers been on for 30 mins and the cpu temp has stayed the same the hard drive temp as gone from 31c to 36c but doesn't seem to be going above that now.
Tonight the hard drive doesn't seem anywhere near as active and the temp is currently 36c. I wonder if the laptop isn't able to disipate the heat after periods of prolonged activity of the hard drive. At the moment the computer is behaving normally. I don't really use it for much more than surfing, email and syncing with my ipod. Occasional DVD played too.
Computers been on for 30 mins and the cpu temp has stayed the same the hard drive temp as gone from 31c to 36c but doesn't seem to be going above that now.
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The assumption is still that it is a temperature issue. Based on the readings so fasr, I would not expect a commanded shutdown.
GT, have you checked through the error logs as found in the event viewer? This really should be your first port of call, since windows logs everything it does in there & it will be a mine of information for you. Everest will tell you what temperature the machine is operating at, the event log will tell you when it shut itself down & in all likelihood, why.
GT, have you checked through the error logs as found in the event viewer? This really should be your first port of call, since windows logs everything it does in there & it will be a mine of information for you. Everest will tell you what temperature the machine is operating at, the event log will tell you when it shut itself down & in all likelihood, why.