I’ve got a Dell inspiron 1000(old i know, but good old trusty on the plasma cutter). It shuts down abruptly at random intervals during the startup/boot sequence. The heatsink had been slightly dusty on the inlet side of the sink fins and I assumed it was just tripping a thermal overload switch and shutting off. Cleaned off and with fresh thermal compound it still does it.
Anyone know anything about the thermal setting for laptops, or computers in general. Is it coded into the circuit or something you can adjust(like a pot on the MB)??
Is there a way to force the fan to run at full speed all the time? I ask this because the fan kicks on for 1-2 seconds at start the shuts off, however if I can keep air moving over the sink for ~30 seconds the fan eventually kicks on low speed and the PC stays on longer(although still eventually shuts down). It’s not like a desktop tower where I can just pull power of the power supply to run constantly.
I’ll likely get a new laptop here soon, but if i can squeak out another 2-3 months from this tank it wouldn’t be a bad thing
No pot to adjust, probably built into the BIOS settings. If you dont see it in there you might have to find a way to flash a custom bios. For the fan just rewire it, you’ll have to find 12/5V (whatever it is) switched on the mobo.
Dell fan settings are not adjustable from the factory. However your model is old enough so this program shoudl work: http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/
I ran this on my old Inspiron 9300 FOREVER, seriously, since i’ve had it. Shame it doesn’t support my new rig, because I would still be running it. However, this program is only going to work once you’re already booted up, I think. Give it a shot
However I think your problems are deeper than that, I don’t think it should be overheating so soon.
One possibility is that your CPU is just no longer good, it could also be a BUS issue on the mobo. Is the computer passing POST before it shuts down and/or do you get any beeps?
I can tell you now I have seen this symptom many times and each time it ends up being a burnt out CPU.
Which is why it seems to run for a little while longer when you’re constantly running a good amount of air over it. You’re holding it’s hand and pushing it along until it just can’t ‘walk’ anymore.
When it turns off, can you immediately turn the laptop back on and have it working? Or do you have to let it cool a bit?
Not much I can really add to this that hasn’t already been said. Depending on how locked down the board is you can download SpeedFan and that will allow you to max out the fans if you can get the computer booted up. If not look in the bios on some dells/laptops in general there may be an option for “Fan Always On”
Also if you can get into bios (Generaly the “Delete” key on dells) see how hot the CPU is running, that will give you a definite clue as to whether or not it is the CPU overheating.
When CPU’s generally go bad they computer either won’t turn on at all or will beep but not post, but every now and then you do get a bad CPU that will still boot but will have serious issues.
By the way, check the RAM as well, I have seen bad RAM cause intermittent shut downs and all kinds of crazy shit. Try re-seating it, if theres two sticks try only one… Then run something like Memtest… and if you want help with that just let me know.
BIOS on that specific machine is not going to do anything for him, I have worked on a few of these. They have VERY limited abilities in that BIOS.
As far as updating it goes, if the computer is shutting down after 5-30 seconds that will not be possible.
The RAM idea is possible and I will add to that by asking you to remove all the RAM then trying to boot the machine. If you don’t get any beeps then your system is shot. It is either the mobo or CPU at that point if you want to test it quick.
Which really solidifies the idea that the CPU shit the bed. If adding cool air to the system allows it to run longer, and this happens every time you run air over the CPU you basically have your answer.
My vote in order of most likely:
CPU (95% sure this is it based on previous experiences without being able to look at it)
North/South Bridge BUS failure on mobo (although I doubt this would make the machine completely turn off)
Yea agreed, if an external source of cooling such as fan etc keeps it on than its most likely a CPU issue. But hey, its worth trying some other shit… Also its possible that the CPU Failsafe threshold got fucked up, although the likelyhood of that is near impossible on a locked down BIOS from dell.
no time to read all the replies but turning the fan up won’t help the issue since it shuts down during startup and that really isnt enough time to get a cold cpu hot enough to where it overheats
not a normal healthy cpu anyways, im mean considering the heat sinks are cleaned out and not completely clogged, and assuming by starting up you mean 5 minutes or less and not 25 :lol
if you been overclocking the cpu, thats why, otherwise, the cpu seems to have shit itself and its probably worth it to buy another laptop
