help: laptop randomly shuts down

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skanky · #1 Post by **skanky** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 6:18 am

i have a x31 which i occasionally remote desktop on to, but i've noticed for some reason its been randomly hibernating itself. because i remote on, i'm not always at the laptop to see what it does before shutting down.

it seems to only do this in the morning which suggests some sort of schedule but i have nothing running in the morning which would hibernate a machine.

i've checked all the power settings in windows and the bios and theres no shutdown (or hibernate) on idle timers set.

the fact that its not bsod'ing then turning off suggests that its not hardware related, infact i power the machine on again and it resumes from where it was.

any ideas?

atomMan · #2 Post by **atomMan** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 7:37 pm

running a flavor of NT? if so, check your event viewer (start > run > eventvwr.msc)

#3 Post by **Kyocera** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 8:15 pm

Definately check event viewer. Also does it feel hot after the random shut down, could be an overheating cpu.

Do you get any error codes when you reboot?

skanky · #4 Post by **skanky** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 2:58 am

nothing in event viewer, like i said it hibernates not shut down, and usually hibernate doesnt write anything to the event logs.

no error codes when i turn it back on, it just "resumes" from hibernation and is on like it was never turned off.

skanky · #5 Post by **skanky** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 3:24 am

okay this is weird, if i disable hibernation it doesnt exhibit this random shutting down behaviour.

any ideas/obscure MS patches that might cure this? using xp media center, nothing available on windowsupdate.

snessiram · #6 Post by **snessiram** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 5:08 am

Have you tried disabling all processes (start/run/msconfig/startup (latest tab) ) that start up when booting?

(Maybe something with power manager?)

skanky · #7 Post by **skanky** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:25 am

i havent installled the thinkpad power management + battery maximizer, but before this i had a x24 which didnt have the above installed and it didnt do any weird shutting down..

skanky · #8 Post by **skanky** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:42 am

installed battery/power management from system update2, rebooted, turned hibernate back on and within 30 mins it hibernated itself! :/

darkdragoon · #9 Post by **darkdragoon** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:49 am

Goto control panel, power option, check current power scheme and see if hibernate set to 30minutes.

skanky · #10 Post by **skanky** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:17 am

all timers in the power options applet to turn stuff off are disabled, same goes for bios.

bettery maximizer is set to disable shutdown timers too..

#11 Post by **rkawakami** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 1:09 pm

skanky wrote:okay this is weird, if i disable hibernation it doesnt exhibit this random shutting down behaviour.

(Out of my normal realm of systems but...) No obscure patches etc., but I assume that the X31 has a lid switch of some kind which would trigger the standby or hibernation mode when the lid is closed. Since you say that the system doesn't (yet) randomly shut down, then that's high on my list of things to check. It could simply be dirty, in which case sometimes pushing down on it quickly, several times (with the laptop off naturally), can clean the switch contacts. It may also be stuck down or just broken. You may have to disassemble the laptop to determine that. If you do have a broken switch it may be possible to replace it if you or someone you know has the proper soldering equipment. Finding a replacement switch on-line is possible or you could buy a "dead" X31 motherboard and use it as a spare parts depot. I have had some success in identifying parts (switches and fuses) from Thinkpad systems and know of at least two places where you can order a single piece (i.e. no minimum order of 25 pieces).

skanky · #12 Post by **skanky** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 1:32 pm

the system is set to do nothing on lid closure and the lid remains closed.

got a pic or guide to where the switch contacts you mention are?

what i dont get is that a) it randomly hibernates but not shutdown and b) if i turn hibernate off, there isnt a problem.

*confused*

#13 Post by **rkawakami** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 1:46 pm

skanky wrote:the system is set to do nothing on lid closure and the lid remains closed.

Then I would say leave the lid open and see what it does. I still am not convinced that the switch is not your problem. I know that Windows sometimes "forgets" what power settings are in effect. Even though you see a particular setting listed in the power options window, that doesn't always mean it's actually being used. When this happens on my system, sometimes the only way to fix it is re-apply the settings (change it to something else, back to what you really want, then click the now-activated Apply button) or to simply reboot the system.

skanky wrote:got a pic or guide to where the switch contacts you mention are?

No, I do not own an X31 system. If it is determined that the switch is your problem, you could download the Hardware Maintenance Manual but even that doesn't get down to the component level of the system board. All that will do is help you take your system apart.

skanky · #14 Post by **skanky** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 5:26 am

i'll try the leave the lid open ovr the weekend and see if i can see what happens.

i've also tried using different power settings and changing them to never hibernate.

same result.

#15 Post by **rkawakami** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:11 am

Is there a setting in the BIOS which also enables/disables hibernation?

(edit: Never mind... I just saw your previous post... It's time for Ray to go to bed again....)

help: laptop randomly shuts down

help: laptop randomly shuts down

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