F3Ka Problem :( Please help

Recently I have the problem that while using the computer it just turns off. But mainly the turning off by itself is very frustrating. After it is off there is no problem turning it back on. I reinstalled the windows hopping that it is some kind of driver problem but it isnt. I thought that it may be from the AC and put the battery in, but it still turns off. The procesor temperature is between 45-58 . I dont know what other information should i give, please can you help me figure out what is the problem

 

I had seen such situation with two different PC's so far.
In both of the cases it was an overheating problem.

 

my brother has the same problem on his gateway and it is not overheating...
I will be following this thread for possible solutions...

 

If you didn't clean the dust in a while, you should do it to be on the safe side. I'm not sure but it may also shutdown when the GPU overheats, not just the CPU.

If it's not overheating, the next suspect is indeed bad power supply. Maybe somewhere "downstream" from where the AC power and the battery power are "joined"? (sorry for the completely idiotic technical language, it's Sunday afternoon for me )

This would most likely mean a motherboard exchange...

You could try running in live linux for a while to eliminate bad Windows ACPI drivers as a possible cause.

 

ok i'll try with the live linux which distribution should I use, I'm not very familiar... it turns off randomly. I mean in one moment it runs perfectly , today i dont have such a problem, and without doing anything it turns off. There are no blue screens no freezes nothing. I dont think thath the GPU is overheating because when I am playing games there is no problem whatsoever.

 

Knoppix is a good start. If it doesn't randomly turn off there, it is most likely software. Else, it's probably hardware.

 

Ok thanks I'll post after few days

 

Ok here are the results. I noted that the notebook is shuting down between 6pm and 8pm. I left it all night on knoppix and in the morning it was still running with no problem.Tonight I'll leave it again and see what happens . Any advises ?

 

Can it be the case that you have scheduled a job (i.e. virus scan at 7 pm) which crashes the OS and shuts off itself abruptly?

 

No I havent scheduled anything ... I'm using the XP again and today I'll see the exact time of the shut down. The srange thing is that when the shut down occurres I'm not playing a game or watching a movie, I'm just browsing or doing nothing

Sorry for my english if I have mistakes

 

Today the notebook did not shut down ... I'll leave it tonight on linux to see what is going to happen

 

If it always happens at the same hour and it doesn;'t happen in Linux, it's almost certainly software, namely some scheduled task...

I know Media Center checks for updates regularly, do you have that installed? Maybe even Windows update has gone bad, check the scheduled times on that too. Antivirus scan was already mentioned, any other programs with auto-updates are candidates.

 

I did not change anything and yesterday nothing happend. Also in linux the computer was running fine there were no problems. I dont have anything scheduled so I dont think that is the problem ... I'll see again is there something but I doubt it

 

can you give this a try
just install flash XP without doing any update, and see. Let it run for over night. if the computer shutdown which mean hardware problem, you might need to call asus.

so far you are running linux with no problem, which is a good news. But if you a windows person, it going to take a while to get everything back up running.

ALSO, do you use a cooler fan?

 

Actually I havent got the problem for 2 days.No problems yesterday and no problems now. I hope it is all over. I'll monitor the computer and leave it running for couple of days non stop. I dont use a cooler fan.

 

19:13 It just made the same thing (shut donw) I'll have to leave it on linux for a hole day. Can you tell me a linux distribution that looks like windows and I can use to watch movies at least or use the internet

 

use Ubuntu

 

Yeah, but also Knoppix should do that (not sure if Ubuntu can run live off optical disk, probably there are versions that do). Use the DVD version of Knoppix, it should be practically fully featured and have drivers for most WiFi and LAN cards out there.

Certainly it should have a decent media player.

 

Ok I'll try with Koppix... I was thinking, can it be a software glitch between RMClock and Asus Power4Gear. Because I use RMClock for monitoring and P4G for controling the CPU...

 

I think the problem is from the software because i left my computer running tonight and when i got up this morning it was turned off. When I have left it with linux there was no problems

 

Did anyone suggest that you check the Event Viewer for errors registered before or during the crash? Although this kind of total crashes usually doesn't register any error, it's something that you might do.

Other than that, it's very difficult to determine which (combination of) applications leads to the problem. So maybe the best thing to do is to do a clean Windows install, and install only those applications that are essential in the first place. Run the computer for a few days. If it doesn't crash, then you can start installing useful, but non-essential applications, a few at a time, after which you again wait a few days.

In that way, you should be able to isolate which group of applications causes the problem, if it does appear again. Then you can uninstall each application of that group in turn. This is a way to determine which app causes the problem.

Of course, the happy scenario is where the reinstall totally eliminates the problem, which is also possible.

As to RMClock vs. P4G, just use RMClock for everything.

 

I cant because when i use only RMClock - windows crashes, with and without undervolting. When I set it to power saving it works for a couple of hours and the BSOD I'll Make a back up of my windows XP and install VISTA to see if there will be any problems. My notebook doesnt have drivers for XP as you know, and I have to find them myself, so I'll trq with the vista and see

 

If it crashes with RMClock definitely don't use it...

If you have WinXP you must by definition the drivers, right? Or did someone else install it for you?

 

I installed them myself but I used F3Ke drivers and some other. I had several problems with the drivers so maybe its because of them

 

Alright, give Vista a try then.

 

I'm on vista Cross your fingers for me

 

2 days on Vista no problems so far hope there won't be any in future

 

Let's hope so. Post back if you encounter any, though.

 

There were no problems today either,so the problem I thinks were the drivers or some services that I stoped.I dont wanna use Vista , I dont like it I'll asume that the problems were from the drivers because I did almost everything from the service guide when I was disabling them... Where can I find a pack of good drivers for F3Ka... That is a stupied question , right ? I think that I can find almost all drivers except the ATK , I dont know where can I find a good ones

 

Does this F3 S guide help at all? http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=210431

The F3Ka is not such a popular computer to have an XP guide lying around for it, I'm afraid. You could try the FTP server:
ftp://dlsvr02.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/
(this is for Europe, you may need to change the server index in dlsvr)

There are about a zillion F3 subtypes there, look for XP drivers, see if you find something that matches your hardware (although it can be difficult or impossible to tell from the file name).

The Vista version of ATK sometimes works in XP as well. I would just give the driver on the CD a try. Also, chipset will probably work, and ATK utilities as well.

 

I'm very thankful for everything

 

You're quite welcome.