Random shutdown - how do I debug??

[stricko]

Hi guys, new kid on the block, so be kind. I've upgraded my HTPC to W7 Ultimate 32bit, and there is not much else on the box apart from My Movies, Arcsoft TMT3, and a couple of HTPC type utilities. Drivers are up to date as per the Gigabyte and ATI websites. All MS updates applied.

Machine randomly shuts down about 30-40 minutes into playing any blu-ray, but restarts OK (no apparent BSOD). I've been over as many of the power management options as I could find, but I can't see anything that might be causing it to shut down.

This might be an error, or it might simply be obeying a a parameter that I can't see. How do I find out what is causing the shutdown?

(FYI I have no real experience of debugging PCs, the last time I looked at a core dump, it was for an IBM 4300 series mainframe in the 1980's.............)

Thanks

Paul

 

[Jonathan_King]

Welcome to SF!

Try opening a command prompt and entering powercfg -lastwake

See if that tells you what woke the computer last.

Your problem sounds like it could possibly be caused by heat. Try testing your temps with Speedfan and posting the results.

SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer

 

[stricko]

Thanks for the response. Not sure I was entirely clear, in the initial post. System does not restart itself, but can be restarted manually without problem. Anyhow....

I've attached a series of snapshots, don't mean much to me I'm afraid...... But I'm guessing that the burning fire symbols mean that the system is running hot. Graph shows from near start up and first 10-15 mins of playing a blu-ray standalone in TMT3. Video hardware acceleration is on, hence low CPU usage. No appreciable increase in temperature from initial values.

Thanks for the help, please let me know if there is anymore diagnostics that will help.

 

[stricko]

And yes, htpc is in a small case with all disk spaces occupied, passive cooled ATI HD45xx card, probably not enough ventilation etc etc

 

[stricko]

OK, so I go back to the PC to check on progress and find this lot.....

There is also a minidump?

 

[Jonathan_King]

Please follow these directions now: http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/96879-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html

 

[stricko]

as requested

windows 7 ult 32bit oem
not original os but system partitions reformatted before clean rebuild earlier today. hardware is 18months old.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Your dump blames amdk8.sys, which is an AMD processor driver.

I would look on the computer manufacturer's website for an update for that.

If you post your system's maker and model, we should be able to check for you.

...Summary of the Dumps:

[FONT=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16539.x86fre.win7_gdr.100226-1909
Debug session time: Wed Jul 21 12:47:51.923 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 5:55:16.624
BugCheck A, {f3e0, ff, 1, 8322e39d}
Probably caused by : amdk8.sys ( amdk8!C1Halt+4 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xA
PROCESS_NAME:  System
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨[/FONT]

Just so you know, Speedfan is outdated, and you may consider an update.

I doubt that is the issue though, although it never hurts to update old programs.

What anti-virus are you using?

 

[stricko]

No anti-virus on the machine yet, it was only rebuilt this morning..... Usually I'm a Zone Alarm user. The box is on my home network behind a firewall, and is not used for the internet or downloading.

The machine is a hybrid/mongrel, it has no single supplier. Mboard is a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H and drivers were downloaded from their site yesterday, and from ATI for the graphics card. Windows updates applied earlier today, so shouldn't that have taken care of the processor drivers?

As for speedfan, I gor that off their homesite when you suggested it earlier. It wasn't exactly obvious where to download from, so I may have inadvertantly stumbled on a link to a previous version.

How would you suggets that I should proceed? I just watched a DVD on the problematic machine, without any problems. Maybe the issue is blu-ray related, or ARcoft TMT3, as I only use that for blu-ray. I have PowerDVD as an alternative taht I could try.

And many thanks for your help, if I have not said so before.

 

[Jonathan_King]

What power supply do you have?

Just a preventative measure for future problems: ZoneAlarm is well-known for causing BSODs in Vista and 7. If I see it in a dump, first thing I recommend is removing it.

I recommend the free Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Firewall.

 

[stricko]

Small cheap unit that came with the case. without opening it up I can't find who manufacture either, bu it's certainly not one of the well known brands. I've searched for a quieter PSU, but it's an unusual size.

Couldn't have been Zone Alrm as it wasn't installed, but I'll have a look as the MS stuff.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Those cheap PSUs are notorious for having issues like BSODs and reboots. I recommend purchasing a new one, from a reputable manufacturer such Antec.

See this article: Power Supply Information and Selection - Tech Support Forum

 

[stricko]

I'd love to, but I can't find one for the case. At the mo, new psu = new case + new cabinet. I've got a couple of nice PSU's sitting doing nothing afer I upgraded my main box, and I've even looked at mounting them externally.

I'm going to try loading PowerDVD and testing that. it may be that the loading is different in some way and doesn't trigger the problem. There are odd mentions about TMT and shutdowns here and there for earlier versions, but nothing conclusive.

Thanks for the input