Windows Vista Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard

  • Thread starter Thread starter jakewan
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jakewan

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I know it sounds improbable, but here's what happened today. For
background, a few days ago, trying to be a little more enery-efficient
around the house, I enabled Sleep mode on my home pc with Vista Ultimate
32bit. I tested it a few times with very short intervals, and it seemed
to work fine, coming back up in 2 or 3 seconds when I pressed the pc's
power button. So I decided it was safe and started using Sleep mode
regularly.

Today, when I pressed the power button to have the pc return from Sleep
mode, I heard the case fans come on, but within 5 seconds, they just
shut off again. The computer appeared off. The screen remained dark
the whole time. I have since tried pressing the power button many
times, always with the same result: the fans come on for a few seconds,
then the computer shuts off. Pressing the reset button while the fans
are running does nothing.

I've read several dozen threads in this forum concerning Vista Sleep
mode issues, and I've read the troubleshooting guide at
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/63567-powercfg-sleep-problems.html.
This symptom seems very different from any of those mentioned in the
guide. In fact, this seems literally like a case of motherboard death
by Windows Vista Sleep mode.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Jacob

some pc specs:
Motherboard: ASUS M2N32 WS Professional
Video Card: EVGA e-GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
Memory: 4 x 1GB
OCZ DDR2 PC2-4200 / 533MHz / Value Series (P/N OCZ25331024V)
(please let me know if other details would be helpful)


--
jakewan
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard


Have you changed any parts recently?


--
ChrisJust66
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard


ChrisJust66;554338 Wrote:
> Have you changed any parts recently?

Nope, I haven't changed any parts since the initial build of this pc
back in September/October of this year.

Since this problem began, I've tried disconnecting the hard drive, the
DVD drive, removing and replacing the CMOS battery, disconnecting and
reconnecting the power supply and removing the video card. Still, the
fans come on for a duration of about 5 seconds and then everything shuts
down.

Jacob


--
jakewan
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard


How old is the case? Have you tried to switch the power button with the
reset button to see if the switch is bad.


--
ChrisJust66
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard

jakewan spewed out this bit, and i'll scatter a few bits myself:

> I know it sounds improbable, but here's what happened today. For
> background, a few days ago, trying to be a little more enery-efficient
> around the house, I enabled Sleep mode on my home pc with Vista
> Ultimate 32bit. I tested it a few times with very short intervals,
> and it seemed to work fine, coming back up in 2 or 3 seconds when I
> pressed the pc's power button. So I decided it was safe and started
> using Sleep mode regularly.
>
> Today, when I pressed the power button to have the pc return from
> Sleep mode, I heard the case fans come on, but within 5 seconds, they
> just shut off again. The computer appeared off. The screen remained
> dark the whole time. I have since tried pressing the power button
> many times, always with the same result: the fans come on for a few
> seconds, then the computer shuts off. Pressing the reset button
> while the fans are running does nothing.
>
> I've read several dozen threads in this forum concerning Vista Sleep
> mode issues, and I've read the troubleshooting guide at
> http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/63567-powercfg-sleep-problems.html.
> This symptom seems very different from any of those mentioned in the
> guide. In fact, this seems literally like a case of motherboard death
> by Windows Vista Sleep mode.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas?
>
> Jacob
>
> some pc specs:
> Motherboard: ASUS M2N32 WS Professional
> Video Card: EVGA e-GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
> Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
> Memory: 4 x 1GB
> OCZ DDR2 PC2-4200 / 533MHz / Value Series (P/N OCZ25331024V)
> (please let me know if other details would be helpful)

I saw a computer once that when put into sleep mode the CPU fan would stop,
but the CPU continued to heat. Nearly fried it before I caught onto what was
happening.

--
Mhzjunkie

1 PRINT "Windows Vista ERROR"
GOTO 1
END
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard


ChrisJust66;554353 Wrote:
> How old is the case? Have you tried to switch the power button with the
> reset button to see if the switch is bad?

It's an Antec P182, just a couple months old.

I didn't know you could interchange the power and reset buttons like
that. If you think it's a good idea, I'd be willing to give it a try.

Jacob


--
jakewan
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard


It should work from my understanding, but you might have to actually
hold the button down. I'm doubting that though but maybe you will? The
reason I suggest this is because if you hold the button down with a good
switch it'll shut down so I'm just wondering if that it's it. Besides
the only thing that could go wrong is the computer simply won't turn on.


--
ChrisJust66
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard

"jakewan" <jakewan.328mh1@no-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:jakewan.328mh1@no-mx.forums.net...
>
> I know it sounds improbable, but here's what happened today. For
> background, a few days ago, trying to be a little more enery-efficient
> around the house, I enabled Sleep mode on my home pc with Vista Ultimate
> 32bit. I tested it a few times with very short intervals, and it seemed
> to work fine, coming back up in 2 or 3 seconds when I pressed the pc's
> power button. So I decided it was safe and started using Sleep mode
> regularly.
>
> Today, when I pressed the power button to have the pc return from Sleep
> mode, I heard the case fans come on, but within 5 seconds, they just
> shut off again. The computer appeared off. The screen remained dark
> the whole time. I have since tried pressing the power button many
> times, always with the same result: the fans come on for a few seconds,
> then the computer shuts off. Pressing the reset button while the fans
> are running does nothing.
>
> I've read several dozen threads in this forum concerning Vista Sleep
> mode issues, and I've read the troubleshooting guide at
> http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/63567-powercfg-sleep-problems.html.
> This symptom seems very different from any of those mentioned in the
> guide. In fact, this seems literally like a case of motherboard death
> by Windows Vista Sleep mode.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas?
>
> Jacob
>
> some pc specs:
> Motherboard: ASUS M2N32 WS Professional
> Video Card: EVGA e-GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
> Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
> Memory: 4 x 1GB
> OCZ DDR2 PC2-4200 / 533MHz / Value Series (P/N OCZ25331024V)
> (please let me know if other details would be helpful)

No, actually what that sounds like is a dead power supply. I know this is
going to sound funny, but sniff the grill in the power supply. If there is
like a strong sorta musty burnt smell, it's probable that one of the
capacitors failed. CompUSA or your local PC shop will have replacements. If
it turns out NOT to be that, you can always return it. However, from what
you describe, this is what it sounds like.

--
Ok, I got the big purple f*cker, Sponge Bob is next!!
http://www.lockergnome.com/darksentinel
You know what to do with the munge
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard


If it was that the computer would more than likely wouldn't even boot
up. And if something did burn up, you would know it. I woke up to my ps
burning in my room one night. Now I'm not saying that it isn't because
i've had my share of stupid computer problems, but I'm kind of doubting
it. But then again I could be wrong.


--
ChrisJust66
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard

ChrisJust66 spewed out this bit, and i'll scatter a few bits myself:

> If it was that the computer would more than likely wouldn't even boot
> up. And if something did burn up, you would know it. I woke up to my
> ps burning in my room one night. Now I'm not saying that it isn't
> because i've had my share of stupid computer problems, but I'm kind
> of doubting it. But then again I could be wrong.

He's right, a defective power supply can give you the symptoms that you
described.

--
Mhzjunkie

1 PRINT "Windows Vista ERROR"
GOTO 1
END
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard

In article <jakewan.328mh1@no-mx.forums.net>,
jakewan <jakewan.328mh1@no-mx.forums.net> wrote:
>
>Does anyone have any ideas?
>

Your symptoms are indicative of a short. This can happen internal
to the power supply, and can *also* happen in a peripheral (cdroms are
common culprits for some reason) or even the motherbaord.

First, did you build it yourself? If you did check that your
standoffs are properly located. Then remove the bios battery (it's
already unplugged right? :-) And go have coffee. In 20-30 minutes come
back and reinstall the battery.

Now, disconnect all the drives (floppy too), remove all the cards,
and power on. It should come up with whatever beep sequence indicates no
video (unless you have onboard video in which case you might get to "no
operating system"). If it doesn't power up replace the power supply (with
a bigger one :-) and try again. Still doesn't power up? Remove the
memory DIMMS. If you don't get self test and then the memory error beeps
you need to replace the mother board. If it does you still might but first
try known good memory. Also, remove and replace the existing motherboard
checking for accidental contact between, say, a standoff and a trace.

Ok, so now it's powered on and is failing self test because of no
video. Add the video card. If that works add the cdrom. Etc.

BTW, it's entirely possible that after doing all this you'll end
up with a perfectly working system and no indication of error. Take heart!
It'll happen again soon enough and eventually become reproducible :-)
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard


Yeah I'm going to go ahead and agree with the post above me. But I would
check the switch idea first. I've heard of other people doing this and
sometimes it helps. I would do what above said and take evertything out.
Everything. Ram and all. If it works and you get beeps then put one
piece in at a time. If it dosn't work, I would take the mobo out and
place it on the box you go the mobo with or and cardboard box would
work. Something could be grounding out. Usually, if it was grounding out
it wouldn't boot at all, but one of my mobo's was having a problem with
showing no video and I did this. Ended up being grounded to the case and
I had to send the mobo back to Asus. How old is your mobo? Could still
be under warrenty if this is the case.


--
ChrisJust66
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard


I want to thank everyone for their responses. I'm going to follow up on
these suggestions and post back with the results.

To answer some questions above - yes, I built the pc myself. All of
the parts were purchased new as of September this year, including the
power supply, which is of very good quality. I had virtually no
problems running Windows Vista until this happened. That's why I think
it has something to do with Sleep mode, either (1) in the way Vista
tells the motherboard to put the hardware into Sleep mode, or (2) in the
way the motherboard puts itself and the peripherals into Sleep mode, or
(3) in the way the motherboard returns itself and the peripherals from
Sleep mode. I have really enjoyed using Vista, and I will continue to
use it. But I think I'll shy away from Sleep mode until it's been
refined more, and I see that users are not having so many significant
issues with it.

By the way, I've come to the conclusion that I made a pretty bad
decision, as far as selecting a motherboard goes. I knew I was going to
install Vista at the time I made the choice, so I should have chosen a
motherboard that had earned the Certified for Windows Vista logo. This
motherboard, the ASUS M2N32 WS Pro, contains "Unknown" in both the x86
and x64 columns of Microsoft's list of devices (at 'Windows Quality
Online Services: Windows Vista Hardware Compatibility List'
(http://winqual.microsoft.com/HCL/ProductList.aspx?m=v&cid=105&g=s)).
It is also not on at least one of ASUS's lists of its own products that
are compatible with Windows Vista (at 'ASUS Motherboards Ready to
Support Windows Vista™' (http://event.asus.com/vista_ready/list.htm)).
Other compatibility lists from ASUS, as well as the detailed specs for
this motherboard do say that Vista is a compatible operating system, but
there's certainly a lack of consistency. Some Vista drivers for this
motherboard are either forever in beta, or do not exist at all, and
remain hopelessly in Vista's Device Manager as an unknown device unless
disabled in the BIOS (referring to the Marvell SATA controller). Next
time, I'll refer to Microsoft's list of certified devices when choosing
new hardware.

That wasn't meant to be a rant. Just an observation about my own bad
purchasing decision. Thanks again for all your good suggestions. I'll
post back soon, hopefully with informative results.

Jacob


--
jakewan
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard

"ChrisJust66" <ChrisJust66.328rc2@no-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:ChrisJust66.328rc2@no-mx.forums.net...
>
> If it was that the computer would more than likely wouldn't even boot
> up. And if something did burn up, you would know it. I woke up to my ps
> burning in my room one night. Now I'm not saying that it isn't because
> i've had my share of stupid computer problems, but I'm kind of doubting
> it. But then again I could be wrong.

Been doing this since 81 bud. I have seen this hundreds of times literally.
Put most simply, you have a 12v and a 5v side. If something fails on the 12v
side say, the 5v(fans, etc) side can continue to function. This would
explain why you have fans spinning up, and nothing else.

--
Ok, I got the big purple f*cker, Sponge Bob is next!!
http://www.lockergnome.com/darksentinel
You know what to do with the munge
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard

I want to describe what a DELL technician would do if I called them with a
similar problem. Yours may not be a DELL but there should be a similar
arrangement. It should be universal.

He/she would ask me to turn the machine on, look in the back of it and ask:
do you see those FOUR green lights? What do they do? Have they all come up
yet? Are some of them read?

Your computer is brand new. It must have a user manual. Open it up and there
will be a table in there which they use for diagnostics. You can be your own
computer doctor and teach others.
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard


Hi Everyone,

Here's what I did today:

(1) Disconnected all power supply plugs from the motherboard and other
components
(2) Removed the CMOS battery
(3) Waited 30 minutes and replaced the CMOS battery
(4) Disconnected the hard drive, floppy drive, and DVD drive from the
motherboard
(5) Removed the graphics card
(6) Reconnected just the 24-pin power supply plug to the motherboard
(leaving the 8-pin 12V plug disconnected)

At this point, with nothing except the CPU and memory installed on the
motherboard, I pressed the Power button and the pc started up, and
stayed on! I don't have a pc speaker so it wasn't currently possible to
hear the exact error, but I bet it would have been a no video code. The
important thing is that it stayed on. Then I turned the computer off by
pressing and holding the Power button for >5 seconds.

The next thing I did was to reconnect the 8-pin 12V plug to the
motherboard. With this plugged in, the symptom returns! That is, upon
pressing the Power button, the pc fans come on for 4-5 seconds and then
stop, and the computer appears turned off. So it seems the problem (if
there is just one problem) is either in the power supply, or in the 12V
circuitry on the motherboard. Does that seem reasonable?

The next thing to try is a different power supply. I'll try to get hold
of one in the next day or two and post back with the results of swapping
it for the existing power supply.

Jacob


--
jakewan
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard


I'm glad you partially figured out what the problem is. Although it
could have been Vista's standby mode that could have damaged it, I'm
thinking it improbable. I wouldn't rule it out because I've never heard
of that happening but then again computers have been around a little
longer than I have. I could have been cause by the S3 stand by mode
considering it cuts the power to the cpu but the PSU goes into a low
power state. What I'm thinking is that whatever is causing the problem
was damaged by a spike in energy when it was coming out of standby mode.
It's probably the mobo damaged by the psu. I had my primary ide raid
fried one time when I rebooted on an old mobo, so I then had to put my
HD on my pri ide slot. Now I'm curious as to what the deal is as much as
you.


--
ChrisJust66
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard


I had a new PSU, ABS 900W, and it died after 2 weeks. It would power
the fans for about 3-5 seconds, and then go off.


--
Technogeek
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard


Did you test each of the connections or just put a new psu in?


--
ChrisJust66
 
Re: Sleep mode may have actually destroyed my motherboard

On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:24:21 -0600, jakewan
<jakewan.32agg5@no-mx.forums.net> wrote:

>
>Hi Everyone,
>
>Here's what I did today:
>
>(1) Disconnected all power supply plugs from the motherboard and other
>components
>(2) Removed the CMOS battery
>(3) Waited 30 minutes and replaced the CMOS battery
>(4) Disconnected the hard drive, floppy drive, and DVD drive from the
>motherboard
>(5) Removed the graphics card
>(6) Reconnected just the 24-pin power supply plug to the motherboard
>(leaving the 8-pin 12V plug disconnected)
>
>At this point, with nothing except the CPU and memory installed on the
>motherboard, I pressed the Power button and the pc started up, and
>stayed on! I don't have a pc speaker so it wasn't currently possible to
>hear the exact error, but I bet it would have been a no video code. The
>important thing is that it stayed on. Then I turned the computer off by
>pressing and holding the Power button for >5 seconds.
>
>The next thing I did was to reconnect the 8-pin 12V plug to the
>motherboard. With this plugged in, the symptom returns! That is, upon
>pressing the Power button, the pc fans come on for 4-5 seconds and then
>stop, and the computer appears turned off. So it seems the problem (if
>there is just one problem) is either in the power supply, or in the 12V
>circuitry on the motherboard. Does that seem reasonable?

Do you know what it means when the 8-pin 12V is unplugged? It means
the CPU has no core voltage, so the CPU isn't running.

>
>The next thing to try is a different power supply. I'll try to get hold
>of one in the next day or two and post back with the results of swapping
>it for the existing power supply.
>
>Jacob
 

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