Random restarts but ONLY when not in use?

hughtrimble · 3 Oct 2020 at 19:01

Evening,

A strange one - my PC has started randomly restarting when I step away from the PC. It has not once restarted when I've been sitting in front of it, e.g. watching YouTube (i.e. not even touching peripherals).

It's like it knows when I step away and it restarts - I can be away for a minute and it restarts. Sometimes 10 minutes and it restarts. But never when I'm sitting in front of it.

What the heck could cause that?

hughtrimble · 3 Oct 2020 at 21:48

Thank you for this - I've tried it, but soon after got a restart whilst away from the desk again. Still looking to see what could be going wrong!

hughtrimble · 3 Oct 2020 at 23:19

Hakanese said:
Check power settings, set it on ultimate and see if it still does it.

Still does it, sadly

hughtrimble · 3 Oct 2020 at 23:21

69Dude said:
check the system event logs and identify if the restart was logged, indicating which process triggered it.

Good call. Yes, logged as 41 (63)

Looking around, that seems to be a general error code for when there's an unexpected shutdown.

hughtrimble · 4 Oct 2020 at 11:37

Hakanese said:
are you running an overclock or xmp?
Try dialling down the overclock, disable xmp and let the memory run at stock, I know with xmp there can be issues where it needs a bit more power then the 1.35v it get, one last thing befeore messing around with Bios, set your monitor to never sleep in your power saving and see if it still does it

Alas, no overclock and the monitor has always been set to never sleep!

hughtrimble · 4 Oct 2020 at 12:26

Hakanese said:
Well if you've done the ram reseat, checked your cables, uninstalled, an clean installed your drivers, maybe to an older or newer version, checked your windows, and maybe even tried a clean install of that, I would suggest that your psu is becoming faulty, but this has been a problem for a lot of people, some have fixed with clean windows install, some haven't. wish you luck dude. Maybe try another psu if you have access to a spare

I really appreciate the time you've spent helping @Hakanese

The peculiar thing remains with this - if I'm sitting there, there are no resets. It's only when I'm away from my desk (and I'm at it a heck of a lot more than away when the PC is on!).

I need to find a way to replicate me sitting there...nice bit of placebo I'm sure.

hughtrimble · 4 Oct 2020 at 18:44

Lots of great suggestions - thank you. I'm going to be methodical with this and make changes one at a time to see if they make a difference.

Alas, no cat (though that would be great).

First one:

Hakanese said:
Last resort, do you have a case reset button? try unplug the cable from the reset header on your mobo

Unplugged that, and it's been multiple hours with no restarts...seems promising! Though I'll have to see how it behaves tomorrow whilst working as it's on pretty much all day then.

I'll keep this thread updated!

hughtrimble · 7 Oct 2020 at 13:42

Hakanese said:
Fingers crossed for you fella

Damn!

Three days after unplugging the restart button on the case, and no random restarts in that time despite my PC being on for much of it one just occurred after I stepped away from it for four minutes!

I can't see an error just before that restart though, given the most recent one before then is almost 10 minutes prior?

hughtrimble · 7 Oct 2020 at 14:05

Hakanese said:
What gpu do you have? And are you running an undervolt? I had something similar with that error message when i was undervolting but not locking the voltage down enough to keep it stable

980ti Waterforce - running stock, no tweaks by me. How might I check if it's undervolted, or is it something I'd know if I'd done it?

hughtrimble · 7 Oct 2020 at 14:06

Plec said:
Is there any chance that you knock/vibrate the system as you walk away as it restarts (would explain the odd discrepancies)?

Or, are you well away form the machine when it restarts?

Well away from the machine, often in another room.

I was thinking it might be me somehow doing something, but it's only when I'm not at my desk, and it's never when I'm near it either!

hughtrimble · 7 Oct 2020 at 19:06

adrichardson81 said:
It'll be a pain but could your try physically removing it from the case and running it on a bench? Chasis might be possessed. Or just transferring low rpm fan vibrations.

Before I go and destroy something, what part in particular are you suggesting I remove from the case?

Hakanese said:
That's an idea ^^

Plec said:
Call your local priest!

/The body of Christ compels you...

***It's odd that you had 3 clear days unplugging the reset button. You could unplug the rest of cables from the front panel and short the pins to start - and see how long it runs. It could be the whole header is at fault not just the reset pins.

Yes, very odd. It just happened again as I walked into the kitchen - I hear the fans revving up and there it goes restarting again. Only. Ever. When. I'm. Not. There.

I've just unplugged the power button and LEDs from the header to the mobo (the empty USBs, heaphone and mic must still be connected though) and I'll see how that goes!

It's really extraordinarily strange.

hughtrimble · 7 Oct 2020 at 19:44

Hakanese said:
best motion sensor pc build 2020

If I didn't have the webcam covered up, I'd agree!

hughtrimble · 7 Oct 2020 at 20:59

Plec said:
Hope you get some luck for your efforts...

No luck, just restarted again despite disconnecting the on/off button, LEDs etc. And funnily enough, I wasn't there.

Looking at the error logs, there's something strange:

At 20:50:04 there's error 41 (63) which is the restart. That's preceded by error 6008, but check the times in blue, and yellow in the 'General' box. They're not the same. It's logging in the 'General' box a system shutdown at 20:16:00 which didn't happen, whilst the time in the log list itself, is correct.

Maybe this is daft, but could an issue with central timing be a cause for something?

Though that would not at all explain the restarts only occurring when I'm not at my computer.

hughtrimble · 8 Oct 2020 at 14:11

Plec said:
i may be pee'ing into the wind - but when you leave the computer do you use anything electrical somewhere else - e.g. Kettle, TV, secret iMAC?

cchaos said:
Potentially daft question: what are you doing when you are away from your comtuter when this happens (eg make a hot drink etc)?

Thank you both - I've had a long think about it, and there is no consistent activity that could be doing something that I am aware of.

Sometimes I'll be on the sofa, sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes elsewhere. I'm definitely not doing something consistent like boiling the kettle or throwing a light switch etc. There are no wires underneath the floor where I sit whilst at my desk, or anything like that either.

I wish I was always doing the same thing when the restarts happen, as then I'd have something outside of that damn cramped case to have a crack at fixing!