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Computer randomly suspends

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by estreetjerseygirl

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I'm working on someone's computer for the past 2 days, and I can't figure out how to fix this problem. It's a Sony Vaio Notebook, model # PCG-F180 with a P2, 333MHz processor and 64MB of RAM, and running Windows ME. When I first got it, it would shut down within 20 seconds of startup. Actually, shutdown isn't the proper word; I'm not quite sure what it's doing. The monitor turns off, and it sounds like the computer powers down, but the fan is still running and the power light is still on, even if I unplug it from the AC adapter. I have all the BIOS and power management settings set to never hibernate, suspend, sleep, or turn off the hard drives, monitor, or anything else unless I shut the computer down. I thought this might have been the solution I was looking for (http://www.physik.uni-freiburg.de/~zwerger/cip/Vaio/indexeng.htm) but after trying all of those steps short of putzing with the motherboard itself, I'm still not able to keep the laptop running. I tried swapping in a new hard drive, and now the computer will run normally for about 10 minutes, but then it does the same thing of sounding like it's shutting down, but still being on, and no display appears (from here on out when I say "shut down," this is what I'm referring to, since it's easier than saying all this every time). I've run virus scans, spyware scans, tried running in safe mode, nothing works. The other strange thing is that, when I'm in BIOS setup or installing the O/S, it doesn't shut down, it runs perfectly normally. I don't get any errors or warnings before it shuts down.

Can ANYONE at all help me? I'll be eternally grateful, plus give you a Gold Star and a Scooby Snack! :-)

Thanx,
Jennifer

26 replies

by rtetzlaff

Sounds to me like a problem with your power supply, or excessive heat. I see that you've already explored that option so the next step would be installing the latest version of the BIOS, sometimes older versions wreak havoc on the system.

by estreetjerseygirl

I searched for a BIOS update, but was unable to find one. I contacted Sony about it and they said that an update hasn't been released yet. Thanx for the suggestion, though!

by hal 9000

Well perhaps I can shed some light on what is happening here although I don't think that you're going to like the reply.

There are numerous Electrolytic Capacitors around the CPU which are going faulty so with an unstable power supply to the CPU it is shutting down but leaving the rest of the system running so while you loose everything that looks like a computer or in this case NB the items powered are still running but not the CPU any longer. So things like Fans Lights will stay on but to all intents and purposes the computer is stooped.

There is really only one cure for this and that is to replace all the Electrolytic Captors that smooth out the power to the CPU. These are polarized parts and need to be replaced the same way that they came off so that the positive side goes to the positive side and the negative goes to the negative.

First strip the NB down to the M'Board and inspect these capacitors and look for any leakage or bulging around the top of them. If they have leaked them most likely the M'Board will have been damaged so it time for a new NB but if they haven't as yet leaked you can get by with replacing them if you have the right soldering equipment or have access to a tech who has the right equipment. This is not everyones Cup of Tea and should be treated only as a last resort.

You can try swapping out the CPU if you have a spare one available just to make sure that it isn't something that has happened to the CPU over the years as a P2 333 is not that new by todays standards so it is conceivable that sometime during its life it has been cooked by having the cooling vents blocked and if that works you have the culprit but this is a long shot and really I think you'll find that it's time for a new NB which I think you'll find that the owner is accepting of as this problem has not happened over night and has been slowly building up to the stage where they could no longer use the item so they have brought it to you for repair.

by hal 9000

Even doing this work Dirt Cheap the results will at best be marginal as you are very likely to do as much damage to the M'Board as has been done and at the very least you'll need a small Temp Controlled Soldering Iron that only heats up to 315 C which is 5 C above the melting point of Solder. Then you'll need a supply of similar Electrolytic Capacitors while they do not need to be the same brand they do need to have the same electrical ratings although they can be rated to a higher Temp. Being Electrolytics there is very little else that you can do as they can also be affected by the heat pumped out by the CPU.

Col

by estreetjerseygirl

I had thought about the capacitors being faulty, also, though it seemed like a long shot since the computer isn't shutting down consistently. If it was the capacitors, I'd expect the notebook to shut down regardless of whether scandisk or defrag was running or not. I figured it couldn't hurt to check, though, so last night I took the notebook apart and took a look at the motherboard. All the capacitors look perfectly normal - no leaking, bulging, or anything else out of the ordinary.

Thank you for your very thorough response, though!! :-)

by willcomp

Jennifer,

Let's see if we can isolate problem a bit. Boot from a bootable CD and run system tests. I recommend the Ultimate Boot CD (Google it) which has a lot of useful freeware/shareware utility and test software. A very handy tool.

If notebook runs without shutting down while running tests, problem likely lies within Windows itself. If it shuts down while running tests, most likely a hardware or BIOS problem.

Dalton

by willcomp

Colin (Hal9000) may be correct, but behavior is somewhat different from what I've seen when caps were failing.

by willcomp

Although there isn't a newer BIOS available, you can still reload the current version or even a prior version if BIOS appears to be the culprit.

One is not limited to updates only.

by estreetjerseygirl

Tried the Ultimate Boot CD, but it didn't really help me. The computer doesn't shut down while running tests such as ScanDisk and Defrag; I tried reinstalling Windows ME, and tried installing Win98, but the problem still persists.

by sgt_shultz

wonder if this thing would run without the battery installed. is good voltage coming out of the power cord?
a new laptop battery would be about $80 for a refurb. how old is the present battery? maybe if you took it to a pc shop they might have a battery to let you try...

by estreetjerseygirl

The battery's pretty old, and the owner didn't condition it properly, so it doesn't hold a charge. I don't think that the power supply is the problem, though, because if it were, I would expect that the computer would shut down consistently and not stay on for hours when running tests (sorry, I know I forgot to add that in the comments!).

by estreetjerseygirl

Good thought, but the link that the website gives to resolve the problem comes back with a "page not found" error. Would have liked to try that, too!

by rtetzlaff

Hey Jenn.. I checked out the Sony website and they have a firmware upgrade for your model, I'd give it try. A shot in the dark, but could help. Good luck

by estreetjerseygirl

Didn't want to rate this one unacceptable yet, but I couldn't PM you. Could you point me in the direction of that firmware update? I'm having a Senior Moment this month and can't find it.

Thanx!

by estreetjerseygirl

This is very weird ... I downloaded the file and tried to install it, but got an error message. I wasn't able to write down the exact message because the damn notebook shuts down before I get a chance to, but it says that this upgrade is only for certain models ... but one of the models listed is the PCG-F180. Makes no sense to me at ALL. I was REALLY hoping that would have worked, too!
By the way, it's Jen with 1 "n", not 2! :-)

by sgt_shultz

well she did say she was only offing gratitude, gold star and scooby snacks. next time we'll believe here.
get a grip on google jennnn and keep your points, you'll need 'em

by estreetjerseygirl

Hmmm ... strangely enough, that didn't really help me at all!! Imagine that?? I was contemplating at first whether I should actually dignify this with a response ... I really don't think your last post was called for. I'm sorry if you're mad that I didn't accept your answers and give you points, but they didn't help me in fixing this problem with the computer. And I believe that an answer which helps me fix the problem is the reason to award points in TechRepublic, is it not?

One last thing ... if you're going to try to insult me or whatever the point of this comment from you is, you MIGHT want to spell things properly, and I'm not even referring to my name. It's pretty comical to read what I guess is supposed to be a jab at me, but it doesn't quite succeed because it's just too damn funny.

by bobdank

I had a similar problem with an eMachine notebook, and it turned out to be the cooling of the CPU was not working properly. It would work fine in BIOS, or off of a CD, but soon after launching Windows (hard drive being worked and adding heat to the unit) it would "shut down". I verified this by pointing a small desk fan at the CPU cooling intake and raising the laptop off the desk using post-it note pads under the feet. Then the laptop would work all day long w/o a hitch. Remove the fan or post-it risers and it would "power off" exactly as you describe. Funny thing was I could hear the cpu fan working just fine inside the laptop. I suspect the user was a bit rough on the unit and may have jostled the cpu heatsink & fan combo loose. Thankfully it was repaired under warranty.

by estreetjerseygirl

Sounds almost exactly like my problem, only the computer will run for hours if ScanDisk or Defrag are running. I have the back of the notebook propped up with an ashtray, but I don't think heat is the cause, since the computer will stay on for hours running a thorough scan. I checked out the heatsink and fan, and there are no problems with them being loose. Thanx for the suggestion, though!

by willcomp

I'm rather sure at this point that you do have the problem described in link you posted in original question.

When you re-installed Me on new HDD, did you follow his instructions for a clean install using OEM CD instead of Sony CD?

May be helpful to contact him, provide your experience, and see if he has another solution for you short of replacing caps on motherboard.

Dalton

by giannidalessismo

[not an answer just a comment (per answer 11)] it's amazing how
many problems are addressed (in one form or other) with a
reinstall of the OS. cos it's windows.

by virden

Hi folks
I just had this fault on a F305 (=F350 in U.S.). Having Googled for advice, and as an electronics tech, I removed and checked all the large capacitors around the processor for charge/discharge time & leakage. All were within spec. Having replaced them, I measured the A.C. ripple across the top left cap at 5V, way too high. I hung a 2200uF electrolytic across it, and the ripple & fault dissapeared. I have soldered this new cap on leads, and tucked it behind the speaker etc connector. The processor now runs much cooler, and the fan does less work.
I suspect there is a capacitor dying in the 5V regulator circuit on the motherboard somewhere, and these 'around the processor' caps are trying to do the job and not quite making it. P.S. The processor / video heat sink can be removed without major disassembly if you unhitch the left screen hinge & 'bully' the case parts a little.

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