Sound Probs cause random shutdowns

[Aphex]

Hi, i hope someone can help me on this one 'cos i'm stumped.

Over the past few months i've been getting random shutdowns, where the power to my comp seemed to just flick off, and it won't let me powerup again for about 3 minutes, i then found i could recreate this problem with a music app called (reason) i had, it seemed evertime i played a tune on this app the comp would power down for sure (just not at the same point of the song everytime), and not always when using this app, but always when sound is involved eg- whilst playing a game with lots of sound.

The weird thing is that everytime this happens and i boot up again, it NEVER does a disk check (improper shutdown detection) , so i schedule one and restart straight away, but it NEVER finds a problem??

I've tried your sound benchmark utility which didn't appear to do much for my problem solving

To me it seems it could be one of these probs--- prosser, mobo, power supply, s-card or s-card drivers maybe? but i ain't no techie, i could really do with some help from someone with a good pc techie knowledge, below is the important part of my dxdiag info
--------------------------------------------

Time of this report: 6/24/2003, 00:29:38
Machine name: HOMEPC-PHHEZOHK
Operating System: Windows 2000 Professional (5.0, Build 2195) Service Pack 3
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: VIA
System Model: APOLLO-P
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel Pentium III, ~1.0GHz
Memory: 512MB RAM

Video
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce2 GTS
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Display Memory: 32.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (100Hz)

Sound: SB Live! Audio [D400]

[David (PassMark)]

We have never heard of a similar fault before.

My 1st question would be do you have a big enough power supply for all the stuff you have in the machine? Maybe the power required to drive the speakers is the straw the breaks the camels back. I avoid the 300Watt supplies and always get 350W or 400W.

Other things to check & try,
1/ Do check for viruses with an up to date scanner
2/ Buy or borrow a cheap $20 sound card and see if you still have a problem. If the problem disappears you can proabably stop worrying about the CPU and MB.
3/ Check on the MB and Sound card manufacturers web sites for compability problems.
4/ Check that you have the most up to date BIOS & Sound card device drivers.

David
PassMark

[Aphex]

Thanx a lot for the reply, its a strange one alright, i have NAV 2002 with all the latest defs, done the checks loads of times, because a few weeks ago my hard drive wiped out on me, looked like it was a worm trojan type infection that NAV didn't pick up, but an online check did, so the drive has been wiped partitions deleted reformatted and a clean reinstall, everything works tickety boo now but i still have this same problem, (which happened before the wipe out aswell btw)

I have the latest driver for the s-card (but i might try rolling back to a previous set)

The power supply i'm not sure what voltage it is, but i will definitely be looking into that one for sure, i do get a lot of clicking, and once and only once a while back i heard a loud pop come from the back of the system which made the monitor dim, but no crash or malfunction. thanx for the info there

As for flashing the Bios, well that just scares me witless, lol

Your right though i will leave the mobo /prosser and bios as the last things to try.

Thanx again for for the reply

[Aphex]

DOOD, you must be right, heres my powers supply specs-

CORTEK switching power supply
OUTPUT:300w


I recreated the problem tonight, fired up my sound app, and sure enough the power clicked off again, so this time i waited instead of flickin the power switch off&on again, i waited 10 mins and still i couldn't power up!!!

As soon as i flicked the power supply switch off&on it booted up again, so it looks like you were right with question 1

The power supply must have some internal fuse saftey switch or something, and flicking the power switch off&on must reset it

So it looks like we can safely assume its a dodgy power unit?

[David (PassMark)]

A 300Watt power supply is just enough for a PC that doesn't have too much stuff plugged into it.

The correct way to determine if it is big enough is to look at the output of your power supply (measured in watts) at each voltage level, then add up the usage of everything you have connected at each voltage level. If you are using more watts than your power supply can supply then it is time to upgrade. Of couse it can be hard to collect all this information for fans, MB, CPU, PCI cards, etc.. It is easier to over dimension your supply and forget about it.

Another alternative is that the sound card is drawing too much current and the power supply shuts down.

Regards
David

[Aphex]

Thanx David,
i just tried to recreate the problem with the sound app but this time with the speakers turned off (to see if its the s-card), the tune played fine with no power down, so it must be the speakers as you say 'breaking the camels back', strange how it never happens when playing mp3's though, must be that in 'Reason' whilst playing lots of sounds on both channels at the same time causes more drain somehow.

Thanx a lot, you got the 'nail right on the head' straight off, you know your stuff

I'm off to seek a bigger power supply asap

You've been a great help thanx dood

[Aphex]

bought a 350watt supply today, fitted it, GULP, tried making a tune.......and BOSH worked a treat!!!!

These are the only forums that really helped me although they weren't even obliged, thankyou again

Moderator feel free to delete the thread, unless it could be used as a reference, in case anyone else has the same prob.

Thanx Passmark.com