Computer Randomly (Immediately) Shuts Off

[horseman18702]

I also posted this in the "computer help" area, but after 60+ views there are no responses (although I know it still quite early), so I figured I would post it here as well since it fits.

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Hello All,
I have a strange problem that is really annoying and I cant figure out the exact cause. I have a dual cpu PC that I built last year and for some reason, it has started to act up by randomly shutting itself off IMMEDIATELY. By immediately I mean that I can be working and all of a sudden the PC is off. It is hooked up to a UPS and that is fine since all other items hooked to it doesnt shut off as well. I also have the software configured to do a "normal" shutdown in case of power failure after 5 minutes, but this doesnt happen, it just shuts right off without warning.
It isnt a overheating issue since all temps are normal and I have fans galore inside. I have fans on the MB heatsinks, 1 attached to each CPU heatsink, 3 fans in the rear, 1 fan on the top, and 3 fans on the face, and the PSU has its own (of course).
I also know that it isnt a virus related issue since I have run several scans with different software and the system is clean.
It started a couple of weeks ago and is getting more annoying since there is no pattern. When I first had it happen, I ran out of the house and when I returned, I had my motherboards onboard speaker screaming and noticed that the computer was "on" but only in power NOT actually up and running. Then it took me a while to get it to turn back on without the screams from the board. When I got it running, it was on for a couple of days, then it turned itself off. Again, I got it running and within a day it did the same. Now it took 3 days to decide to turn off again. So for a year its been relatively "normal" but now its acting up.
I am stumped since I cant isolate where the issue is. Aida64 shows all temps "normal", all memory is registering fine, all items inside all are registering fine, both CPU's are good, and so on. The only thing I cant figure out (because I dont know enough) is the voltages that are showing from the PSU. The voltages show with the yellow ! and the voltages are:
Battery Volt: 26.7
Input Volt: 123
Power Load: 265w
Max Load: 780w

Here is what my system is:
SuperMicro X8DAH+
Intel Xeon x5680 (x2)
Crucial CT3KIT51272BQ1067Q (x2) - 12GB memory (24GB total)
LSI 9750-4i RAID controller
Silverstone Strider 1500w PSU
4 x Velociraptor 300 GB (for RAID)
1 x WD WD1001FALS
1 x WD WD1500ADFD
1 x WD WD300HLFS
1 x Maxtor 6v300F0
(those last 4 drives are just for storage)
PNY Quadro 5000
And each of the CPU's have a Prolimatech Megahalem on it with a fan attached to each.

Any help is greatly appreciated,
JJ

 

[VirtualLarry]

Sounds like a PSU problem. What is the PSU make and model that you are currently using, and how old is it?

 

[Slugbait]

Yeah, the PSU is a common culprit, but yours is of higher-than-average quality.

Because the onboard speaker is screaming, that makes me suspect a different component. First thing to try is the easiest: check the Event Viewer, it may have a clue to the specific cause.

It's possible that you need to update the BIOS. I would try this next.

It's possible that one of your RAM sticks has gone bad, or the RAM slot itself has gone bad. Testing your memory would be a good third step.

If you can eliminate other components and narrow it down to the PSU, it has a 3-year warranty. Hopefully you're still inside that period for an RMA.

 

[Ken g6]

I would test your memory, and use a different PSU temporarily if you can, before updating the BIOS. You don't want a shutoff during that process! Also unplug all non-essential peripherals for such a critical process. I had a shutoff problem, though without the speaker problem, and finally discovered the cause was...a DVD drive. It must have had a short or something.

 

[horseman18702]

Thanks for the replies. I am not a "fluent" forum user, so I dont know how to quote and respond to those quotes, so i will just address each below:
VirtualLarry - the PSU is a Silverstone Strider 1500w PSU. The entire system was purchased and built in Feb/Mar 2011.

Slugbait - I have thought the same about the PSU but I cant eliminate the MB either. As far as the bios goes, I am on 2.0a (I believe). I am always updating drivers, firmware, and Bios's, but this boards manufacturers site discourages against updating the bios unless it is an absolute necessity and instructed by them. I also have tested the RAM by swapping the sticks between CPU's. What I mean is that they are tri-channel and since I have 2 CPU's, I can swap them out or leave them out of one side and still try to turn on the PC. This makes no difference, and will shut itself off at times. In all fairness, I have no "official" way to test the RAM other than using software like CPU-z or AIDA64 to see if they all "appear" to be good and running normal.

Ken g6 - I agree on the "hold" on updating the bios, although I havent called Supermicro yet because I dont want to speak with their tech support to play the game of its not them it something else. I went through that with them when I first built the unit when their site said the board was compatible with LSI RAID controllers but it turned out they had issues with that and I have to go back and forth for a week between them and LSI to get it working. Also I have unplugged every unneccessary piece and again, sometimes I get it to work and sometimes it doesnt.

The hardest part for this is that I dont know when or how often it will shut off. I can get it to work for a day and it may shut off, then other times its days. What I am really hoping for is to isolate it down because I really cant afford at the moment to replace these pieces to guess. That part kills me because normally I would just start replacing, but the finances are not great right now and thats why I am hoping that someone that has more "diagnostic" experience hits it

Thanks again for all the help, whether already posted or upcoming,
JJ

 

[mfenn]

Cross posting is bad (against the rules actually) because it splits up the discussion on the same topic into two separate threads. Can a mod merge the threads?

On topic however, that board has an IPMI interface, which means that there should be an onboard System Event Log (SEL) that you can access. You didn't mention the OS, but assuming that you're running Linux or can boot up a Linux live CD, you can install OpenIPMI and the ipmitool package to get at the log. In a Red Hat based distribution like Fedore or CentOS, you can do:

yum install OpenIPMI ipmitool
service ipmi start
ipmitool sel elist 10

That'll get you the last 10 entries in the log. It might not necessarily be useful info, but it doesn't hurt to look.

EDIT: I should point out that you should be able to get the same info from within Windows, but I'm not familiar with the exact steps for doing that on a SuperMicro board. If you have the IPMI network interface configured, you can also get the info from the web GUI.