My Computer Is A Buttface [Power Cuts on 30 Minute Timer]

Chanus

So all I wanted to do today was play XCOM 2 because this is America and I have rights, but my computer has apparently different ideas.

At exactly 30 minutes after turning it on, the power just cuts like someone pulled the plug. No shut down procedure or anything, just straight off.

The part that is driving me nuts is that it's exactly 30 minutes, to the second, but if I restart within that time or if I put it to sleep and wake it back up, the timer seems to reset.

I've tried making sure the RAM and my graphics card and stuff were seated properly.

I've pulled the motherboard battery and let it reset.

I've flashed the BIOS.

No luck.

Also, this happens if it just sits in BIOS for 30 minutes, so it doesn't appear to be Windows-related.

Do I just set it on fire and buy a new motherboard?

HALP PLS

bowen

motherboard or PSU based, for sure

PSUs are cheap, try that first.

Chanus

i wonder if i have one lying around from an older computer. i'll give that a shot and then i'll cry if that's not it

dispatch.o

You have anything set to go on standby through the bios after 30 minutes? It could be failing to properly suspend or resume. At exactly 30 minutes down to the second I'm going to say power settings being wrong before I say hardware failure.

Chanus

dispatch.o wrote: »

You have anything set to go on standby through the bios after 30 minutes? It could be failing to properly suspend or resume. At exactly 30 minutes down to the second I'm going to say power settings being wrong before I say hardware failure.

I can look again but I didn't even see anything like that available to set

the regularity of the power off is what's really puzzling to me

I did pull the battery out of the motherboard though so I figured that would have reset anything weird

bowen

Yeah if it was bios related the battery should have reset it (assuming it wasn't plugged into the wall).

Since it happens in bios and windows, I'm putting my hat into hardware on some level.

Chanus

yeah it was unplugged when I pulled the battery

also i apparently already cannibalized the power source from my old computer so I guess next step is ordering one and seeing what happens

the one I have now sucks anyway. not the PS itself but it's got like seventy feet of wrapped cabling

like 50% of the interior of my case is coiled wires making it impossible to get to anything

apparently doesn't trap much heat though

bowen

Grab yourself a modular one, I use corsair religiously.

Durkhanus

Pulling the battery may not have done anything other than resetting the internal clock. Depending on your motherboard, your computer might not be using CMOS to store BIOS settings.

Chanus

Durkhanus wrote: »

Pulling the battery may not have done anything other than resetting the internal clock. Depending on your motherboard, your computer might not be using CMOS to store BIOS settings.

hmm, it did indeed reset the internal clock, but i didn't really know what i was looking for in the first place as far as resetting anything, so it's possible that's all it did

Chanus

ok. new PS installed. has been running for 21.5 minutes

we'll see

please let this fix it

if not I blame you personally @bowen

Chanus

newp not the power supply

balls

thanks obama

dispatch.o

It really sounds like a suspend to ram or advanced LAN setting is kicking in.

What make/model is your motherboard? Additionally do you have an uninterruptible power supply?

Chanus

it's an msi z87-g41

i don't know if it's uninterruptable, the new one is a corsair rm500

yeah, the exactly 30 minutes thing is what gets me, i wish i could crack that and not have to buy a new motherboard

dispatch.o

Chanus wrote: »

it's an msi z87-g41

i don't know if it's uninterruptable, the new one is a corsair rm500

yeah, the exactly 30 minutes thing is what gets me, i wish i could crack that and not have to buy a new motherboard

I'm talking about a power supply you plug in to. Is it more than just a power strip? If it looks like a little cinder block size thing or it has UPS or anything on it

They are basically designed to provide electricity if the power goes out. So in theory you have time to save whatever you're working on and shut down properly.

I don't think a new motherboard will necessarily fix your problem. Until you pin down the cause I'd probably not buy anything else. I'll look through the manual for your motherboard in a minute.

Chanus

oh no it's just a power strip with a surge protector

Chanus

I've seen dozens of help threads with the same problem all with no resolution except "replaced the motherboard and now it works fine"

Chanus

um. I haven't done anything that I'm aware of but I just crossed the 30 minute mark with no shut off in BIOS

I wish any of this made sense

maybe it cured itself by feeding on my despair?

Chanus

fuck never mind, there it went

literally as I hit the post button

dispatch.o

Look in your bios for settings with regard to ACPI.

Look under Intel Rapid Start Technology.
Disable Entry on S3 RTC Wake

See what happens. If the above entry was 30 minutes, that may be it. I'm looking at the manual on my phone so its a pain.

Have you fiddled with your bios settings? Do you have a fancy fuse box installed in your house that someone is using to mess with you? Plug in a lamp and see what happens in 30 minutes.

Chanus

hmm. ACPI my only setting is the power LED blinking or dual color

rapid start is disabled

if I enable it, I get a set of options with that S3 setting but the timer is 10 mins and I guess the whole thing was already disabled anyway

dispatch.o

Did you upgrade something recently?

Chanus

I haven't even turned it on since some time over the summer but it was working fine then

nothing changed though

dispatch.o

Eh. Anything else in that outlet?

Chanus

a couple other things. I can try unplugging them

Chanus

ok still died but I unplugged stuff during the 30 mins so for science it's just straight in the wall now

dispatch.o

I don't imagine that will help but perhaps.

In my mind it has to be something suspending or powering down. My next step would be disconnect any drives and the ethernet and turn it on. Then let it either sit at the boot failure screen or go into bios and wait to see what happens. If it works, connect one device and try again.

Chanus

I'll give that a shot though I guess tomorrow night because it's getting a bit late

thanks for the help. you're alright in my book

mts

maybe a dumb idea, but scientific method and all that

can you plug the strip into a different outlet, preferably one on a different circuit

or even a different strip

Chanus

i can try that

ended up removing all the drives and starting it up, got to the fail screen and let it sit

cut off after 30 mins

it did run fine on this outlet before, and without the power strip it still happened, but if it saves me buying a new motherboard i'll give anything a shot :P

BlazeFire

Was the ethernet disconnected too?

Chanus

it was, yeah

Tofystedeth

The regularity of it leads me to believe you have some weirdass smart power setting going haywire.
Do you happen to have a Linux disc on hand? You can download Ubuntu or Mint or something and put it on a CD or USB drive and boot off that. See if it still happens when in a non Windows OS.
If it doesn't, you might try reinstalling Windows. Could be something got borked up in the power management settings and there's a hidden suspend that's getting kicked off even when you're active, and it's borkedupness is causing it to also send the power off signal instead of a sleep signal.

Though I'm inclined to agree with the people who fixed it by replacing their motherboard. The ACPI system on it is probably broken.
You might check your mobo's manufacturer's page and see if there's a firmware update or notice of a defect or something.

Chanus

i did update the firmware a couple days ago but to no avail

if it were a windows issue, it wouldn't happen in BIOS or when my hard drive is disconnected though, right?

BlazeFire

If your hard drives are disconnected, I do not see how it could be related to windows at all.

Tofystedeth

Oh yeah, I missed that part from the OP.
If it's happening in the BIOS and it's happening at such a regular interval, my first bet would be motherboard is screwed up.

Chanus

stupid motherboard

ok, so just to make sure because i haven't really been in the game a long time

i have an LGA1150 mobo/cpu, so i would need to stick with that or if i go 1151 i'd need to upgrade both, right?

bowen

Yeah 1151 would require a CPU/Ram update.

1150 might require ram, but CPU should be okay.

What kind of ram do you have?

Chanus

two 4gb ddr3 sticks

1600 mhz, 240 pin

i dunno what else matters

e: uh gb not mb derp

bowen

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Motherboards-Z97-PC-MATE/dp/B00K23BW70

That's the newer version of the board you have.

You probably won't even have to reinstall drivers or reformat windows.

Chanus

bowen wrote: »

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Motherboards-Z97-PC-MATE/dp/B00K23BW70

That's the newer version of the board you have.

You probably won't even have to reinstall drivers or reformat windows.

excellent

i forgive you now for earlier