🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi

Sorry for crossposting this, but I feel that this information has a better
chance of reaching the people in need, when they use the various search
engines to find an answer to a quite common, but so far, very mysterious
problem.

The problem im talking about is computers that for no apparent reason reboot
(no not because of viruses or worms).
In windows, typically you would only see an entry in the system log like
this;

Previous shutdown was unexpected


There are no other log entries, no bluescreens, no memorydumps, just this
entry.
When tracking the problem, people tend to find nothing wrong with their
hardware, memory, powersupply or with their OS.
There have been discussions about this subject, touching things like memory
problems, powersupply problems and so on.

A very possible explanation:

It may be that your motherboard has the types of capacitors/condensers that
fails after a while, we've had two different brands of motherboards with the
same problem on them, one VIA chipset mb and one MSI motherboard;

Typically the computer started to reboot without warning at random times
after about 2.5 years of troublefree service.
It was nothing in the windows 2000 log except "Last shutdown at xx:xx:xx was
unexpected"
After testing the computers to the best of my knowledge i finally contacted
IBM support who then changed the motherboard on my computer, no questions
asked.

The sollution to the mystery:

You can see it easily by opening up your computer and check for the
components that look like small barrels around your processor (can be placed
elsewhere too though), these "barrels" are called capacitor or condensers.
These capacitors/condensers are supposed to be flat ontop (usually they have
a cross marking too), if they bulge upwards ontop (like a cone, tuch it with
your finger and feel it), it means they have failed, and your processor is
no longer getting a stable voltage/current, causing it to reboot at random
times, just like if you had overclocked it too much. The aim of the
condensators as it was explained to me by the serviceman from IBM, was to
keep the voltage at a stabile level towards the cpu, as it can fluctuate
during uptime.

If this is the case, contact your dealer and get a refund or similar,
becuase it's not a user error, but a vendor error.
The capacitor/condenser type was faulty produced and they are common across
a wide range of motherboards, so it can happen to IBM, Compaq, Dell and the
whole lot out there.

This problem was most common in motherboards produced around 1999-2002 i
think, but offcourse this may happen on some various brands today for all i
know.


Anyway, I just wanted to contribute to a sollution to a very annoying
problem for those it conserns, it's almost impossible to know/see it if you
aren't an expert, but now you know.


Best regards
Johnny Solar