Interesting Crash

Darg · 1 Jul 2008 at 13:01

Just thought I'd let you know about an odd occurrence last night. My computer was running, humming away folding and running BOINC. It'd been fine for 4 hours or so as I was watching TV. Anyway I come into the room and I was messing around with a small 1.5V (ish) motor. As soon as I switched it on my computer went haywire. Crashed completely with the odd squealing from the speakers sound. At first I thought it was just interfering with the speakers but the entire system had gone. This usually only happens if I OC the gfx card too much and run Bioshock (only game it happens in).

Not sure what exactly caused it, I was about 4ft away, no case on the computer so it must have disturbed some vital little component. Anyone ever had this happen to them before?

Wayne~ · 1 Jul 2008 at 14:46

Nope but that sounds crazy, demon motor...

FrostedNipple · 1 Jul 2008 at 17:59

Well it is a magnet with electricity flowing with it. Try it again to confirm, because i have a few motors that i put more than 1.5V through sometimes and nothing happens. Also fans are motors, so it could just be really weird coincidence.

Darg · 3 Jul 2008 at 03:10

FrostedNipple said:
Well it is a magnet with electricity flowing with it. Try it again to confirm, because i have a few motors that i put more than 1.5V through sometimes and nothing happens. Also fans are motors, so it could just be really weird coincidence.

I would think so too but it was literally at exactly the same moment I turned the motor on, and it never happened randomly before or since.

Perhaps it is demons. I've used the motor other times without the same thing happening. It's just too much of a coincidence that the only time it happens outside of Bioshock just happens to be when i turned the motor on.

I'll just notch it up to another unsolved mystery I guess.

MontyUK · 3 Jul 2008 at 07:31

Electrical noise and spikes from the motor will create fields and upset signals on the MB - particlularly sensitive crystals that oscillate to generate clocks. If your case is earthed - sounds like it isn't - the noise will find it harder to get through and cause less effect, but won't rule it out completely.

EMC is difficult to control