Persistent Sudden Shut-Down Problem

[rjstorms]

I have a PC-UM 30 Series Sharp notebook (Win XP Pro) that keeps on suddenly shutting down after it is on for an hour or so. What happens is that the screen suddenly goes black, no matter what I'm doing at the time, and the indicator lights for the Num Lock and the Scroll Lock light up. To turn the computer on again, I have to depress a reset button on the computer's underside. When I do this, sometimes it opens right up to WinXP; other times it runs ScanDisk before opening up WinXP.

Once this routine starts, the computer stays on for successively shorter and shorter times before suddenly shutting down again. What can be the problem and how can I fix it?

Thanks,

Robert

PS: I'm posting this in the Hardware Forum. Is this the correct forum for this problem, or should I post it in the WinXP Forum?

[viking33]

Robert,
It sounds suspiciously like a thermalheat problem.
Curing heat problems in laptops are much harder to do than with a desktop unit.
Can you hear if the system fan is running?
Take a look a this article on heat in LAPTOPS

There a number of hits on the subject in Google.

[chrisgreaves]

Heat.
Here's my interim solution. It is a fan from a discarded humidifier. Three-speed, yet!
The backwash hits my face.
You can see that the latest, and hopefully last, scandisk is 52% completed.

[JohnBF]

<img src=/S/laugh.gif border=0 alt=laugh width=15 height=15> Wouldn't it be easier to just stick the box in the 'fridge?

[chrisgreaves]

John, by all that is holy, please don't mention a heat-sink.
Or frozen specifications.

[skitterbug]

Do you interchange the hard drives as they misbehave since the one you currently have in the fridge isn't the same one that is by the humidifier fan in the earlier picture? <img src=/S/laugh.gif border=0 alt=laugh width=15 height=15>

[chrisgreaves]

Well, I've been rotating, in a manner of speaking, my drives, because my network has been freezing up occasionally.
An unanticipated benefit of this method of cooling is that my floppy drive isn't so much any more. I mean, isn't as floppy.
(I'm imPressario'd that you spotted the difference!)
Now, for extra points, what is the name of the cat whose treats jar can be seen on the top shelf?
For double extra points, how to move this thread to the Scuttlebut forum - where we can all safely ignore it - before we get a moderator's Backup?

[JohnBF]

>my network has been freezing up occasionally

What with the fridge and the Canadian winters, no doubt!

[viking33]

Is anyone trying to seriously solve rjstorms problem with his laptop?

[JohnBF]

Bob, I think your ideas and link are his first line of issues to resolve, especially "is the fan working". Since most modern laptops have well designed airflow for heat control, I think we should wait for the results of his examination of that issue. After that I would look to more expensive problems such as internal connections including the Mobo which are getting discombobulated by heat levels which normally wouldn't disrupt CPU operation.

Yes, we got a bit carried away, but only after you so succinclty made the best possible suggestions! <img src=/S/anigrin.gif border=0 alt=anigrin width=19 height=19>.

[chrisgreaves]

Sort of.
My original response (with the humidifier fan pumping large volumes of air) is meant to support my feelings over the years that sudden arrests are probably caused by heat.
I placed the fan there at noon today because we have had a heat wave the past few days in Toronto & I clag out twice a day.
I know that a humidifier fan is not an option for a laptop, especially not on the train on the way home, but I meant to reinforce, by my experimental findings, that - once again, it's the HEAT

If all other theories point to heat, at least rjstorms gets confirmation that it is worthwhile treating that as the most likely problem, rather than spending hours d/l new drivers etc.

I'll throw this into the ring: Has anyone any other candidate for the cause other than overheating?

I will post back here Friday at the latest to confirm or deny that my heat problems are solved.

I should add that the Big Beige Box (<post:=587,301>post 587,301</post:> ) has had no skins for years, and I suspect that this affects the cooling fan's job. The humidifier fan is expected to pump enough room-temperature (85F, 30c as I type) air past it to bring it down to a manageable level).

I suspect too that heating might have triggered my problems with the 400GB drive as described in <post:=577,453>post 577,453</post:>. These 400GB drives run way hotter than the old 20MB jobs.

[bigaldoc]

<hr>I'll throw this into the ring: Has anyone any other candidate for the cause other than overheating? <hr>

Well, I don't know about that, but I agree with Bob that we shouldn't mess around with glibness when a poster is trying to solve a serious problem.

The question I would ask him to check is the machine's BIOS and WinXP for power management. It is possible that the BIOS and WinXP are "fighting" over managing the power of the machine. This was a real problem for me with a few older Gateway laptops. If there is anything in the BIOS about power management, I would turn it OFF and let Windows manage the power of the machine.

[chrisgreaves]

> power management,
I take it that here you are talking about the "dormant if inactive for 20 minutes" management rather than the "shutdown if temperature exceeds xx degrees"?
I know that even the old Beige Box has those (temperature) settings in the BIOS. Perhaps by now Windows can/does read them.

[sinjin]

Part of what you state in your original post is similar to one of my experiences 5yrs ago when my wife's laptop was experiencing harddrive bearing failure along with some inexplicable secondary issue that moved Dell to replace the entire laptop after two new motherboards and three new harddrives. As far as the bearing failure, it caused freezing of the system and on occasion a BSD. The OS was Win2K at the time. I will testify in court that freezing the harddrive then placing ice packs around it after it is reinserted will allow the burning of a CD or two before failure. This little exercise kept me out of the dog house as I was in my wife's mind the one responsible for backing everything up. The replacement laptop is still running well 51/2yrs later. This was a long winded way of saying you may not ever find a satisfactory answer as to the cause of your troubles.

[Argus]

Chris,
You know what; you can have your own thread, where you can post your confirmation or denial about your own heating problems.

If I remember correct your so called "BBB" and its "skins" has been mentioned in other posts by you. If you still have what you believe are heat related problems then start a thread about it.

The question in this thread is about a notebook that keeps shutting down, it may be heat problems or other, but anyhow solutions are different for desktops.

You are a PlatinumLounger and should probably know how this Lounge works.