M6809 on battery sometimes just shuts down - Page 13

No shutdowns yet since the last time I tightened down the heatsink screws.

Now that we can monitor the temp of the cpu what temps are you guys running on AC power.

Temp monitoring program (with logging every second - needs a time stamp and only records the Mhz when the program is launched) link http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=103639

Mine seems to sit between 50 and 65 deg C. You can take the log and plot in excel. For the approx 1/2 hour I logged it had a min of 51 and a max of 67 deg. C. Seems kind of high but the fan only comes on when it passes 60. The offset might be wrong but at least its a baseline that we can use to compare.

Mine runs between 45C to a max of 55C (fans come on around 53C). A lot of times when I open the lid after it has been sitting idle for a while it is around 40C. This is using the temp readings from the prerelease RMClock though. There may be some calibration difference. I will pop that stanalone in and compare the two.

Updtae: Getting the same readings on both software ... currently at 43C. I have yet to see it go over 55C.

Yeh, I tried the pre-release rmclock also and got the same values as the standalone.

I am running a stock M6805 with XP-SP1 and the 0F08 bios update from the emachines site.

I guess we need a few other people to check it out and report their temps.

As far as shutdowns are concerned most of the time when mine happened it rarely made it into windows so that any logging could begin, but I did add the temp monitor to my startup programs so hopefully, the next time it does shutdown cold maybe I will catch the readings after windows loads and I login.

I logged today from cold start for 2 hrs on battery and it reported a min of 37 from the time it started logging to a max of 67 deg c. Basically it ramped from 37 to 64 then cycled between 52 and 64 with one spike to 68. Its sitting at 57 deg C as I type this.

Put in other tested parts today for more testing. Initial boot, it shut down right away. Made it to windows the next time and loaded temp monitoring program, it was about 47C when it shutdown. Definitely not overheating.

This indeed may be a motherboard problem. I have not had the problem since I did an extreme makeover of my 6811. My 7422GX never had the problem.

Eunix

Here is a chart of some of my temps from today.



Where was this program when I was having all my shutdown issues? To think that I am actually wishing that it would shutdown cold to see what temps it might capture before lights out.

Not sure its a MB issue. Still leaning towards contact of the heatsink to CPU and feel that it may sometimes bind on its guide pins as it cools and then fails to make good contact until things heat up on the next power cycle - and if the gap is too big then it sends the fans to high and shuts down. Nothing else has really been changed on my system and just loosening and tightening the heat sink screws has always resolved any of my shutdown issues. (They were very bad at one point - cost me a new bios chip). Now it is rare - going on several months without a problem.

Most of the machines with this problem that I have received were easily fixed with new thermal paste. This time is an exception, the cpu die and heatsink makes perfect contact, I even put a piece of paper between them to check if there is any space. Seems strange that it has the same exact symptoms of overheating. I'm banking on a faulty cpu temp monitor.

My temps are nowhere near that high. I have a 7426GX that had the fan problem. I applied new thermal paste and now I see my fans kick on when the CPU hits 41C and they turn off when it hits 31C. Running at full load I see a max CPU temp of around 55C. I think I'm getting much better thermal transfer to the heatsink. If the thermal sensor is on the heatsink then it's turning on sooner as I'm heating up the heatsink more now with a better contact.

I sent my 6805 in last year for hinge cracks and they fixed it 1 month out of warranty. And then about a month later it started the start up shut down fans running on high. Sent it in again and this time when it came back it still did it and the screen started flickering. I just let it go for till about a month ago I decided to take it apart and do a dvd burner upgrade at the same time. I cleaned the thermal pad off (flaky and hard) and put some heatsink paste in, tightened up the screws and then removed the cable to the inverter and replaced it and then did the recommended hot melt glue near the connector. Reassembled and the screen is perfect and no shutdowns. Here is the site for help in disassembly etc. http://emachines.fizi.ca/guides.php

Back on May 9, 2006, I replaced the thermal conductive compound between the cpu and the heatsink with Arctic Silver 5. For almost 2 months it ran great, then on July 4,2006, the autoshutdown occurred 2 more times. Somewhere close to that time, I also had to re-solder the connector that goes into the laptop for the second time. Since then, (2 more months) I have not had a single autoshutdown. So, I think that between fixing the connector and replacing the thermal compound, the problem is fixed for good. Just keeping everyone posted on how long these fixes last.

I followed murel's guide as to how to get access to the cpu/heatsink. I did the scrape-the-old-stuff put-on-the arctic-silver-5 method and right afterwards I booted up. No fan noises (which means the PC doesn't think it's getting hot after a cold boot = good) but my T and Y keys weren't working :P Opened it up again, loosened up the keyboard, moved it around a bit without twisting the keyboard wire-ribbon, and put it back into place. So far so good as of 1 hour.

I guess the last poster's situation was a bit more specific - my soldering seems intact. But I believe replacing the thermal compound is the meat of fixing the solution as the old thermal compound became as dry and powdery as baking soda after 2+ years of use (not including time between manufacturer and my purchase). That is not thermal paste - that is crap. The Arctic Silver should hold up for a long time.

Yes, I think replacing the dried out thermal compound is a great help. The other thing that really really contributes to eliminating the shutdown problem is tightening the heat sink screws.

When you carry your laptop around, the case slightly torques the heatsink. It pushes up on the corner of the heatsink and over time can cause it to loosen... I wonder if a screw lock compound/nail polish would help?

As many previous posters have stated, don't overtighten the screws, they do easily break....

Mark

Hey guys, this is my first post and I thought I could shed a little more light on this situation. I bought a used EMachines M6805 through ebay and when I received it I was not able to put Windows Media Center on the machine due to sporadic shutdowns. I eventually was able to install the operating system along with most of the drivers (only one missing is Wireless but I haven't had time to look for it). I tried opening up the laptop and just losening some of the heatsink screws but that did not work so I took the laptop to a local electonics store Microcenter to see if they could fix it. I spent $95 for diagnostics and labor and would only pay extra if there were new parts involved I picked it up a week later with them saying that they could not fix it and they could not find the source of the problem but they think it maybe the motherboard. So I lost $95 in that then I decided to check out this board and many of you have the same problem and recommended reapplying the thermal compound which I did and while the fans were not blarring at full capacity any more the machine would still shutdown. It also seems that many of your M6805 laptops would shut down once or twice a day mine however seems to shutdown every 20 minutes I think the longest it has been on since i have had it is 4 hours. I went looking on ebay for a new motherboard and came across an item that really caught my attention it was a coupon for fixing the M6805 laptop the coupon was 10% off I beleive. I sent the guy and email to see if he had dealt with this problem before and if he had a solution his reply is below.

Hi,
Thank you for your email regarding about using our laptop repair service. Your computer has motherboard problem. The cause should be bad thermal chip or bad CPU controller.

In general, the cost to fix the motherboard is $125 to $275 (part and labor). 60% of the time, the cost is in the mid- range. 35% of the time, the cost is below the mid-range. 5% of the time, the cost is above the mid-range.

We will replace the TI chips, Texas Instrument, which is better than the original one (China made chip). For your laptop, even you buy a new motherboard, the same problem will come back again; however, after we fix the computer with a TI chip, this problem will not come back.

We offer 90 day warranty for all our services.



We offer free diagnosis; Processes to fix laptop at our company are as follows

• Send your laptop to our company at

Laptop Rescuer Co.
280 Martin Ave.
Suite 2
Santa Clara, CA 95050

• Attach a memo of your contact info, your name, phone number, email address, and a short description of your computer’s problem.
• Right after receiving your computer, we will call you to give you work order number
• In the same day, our engineers will detect problem and call you again for the cause, cost, how to fix, and turn around time. If you are happy with our solution, we will proceed fixing your computer; otherwise, you don’t have to pay anything.

Thank you very much and we are looking forward to serving you.

Sincerely,


Long Le MSCS, MBA
Laptop Rescuer Co.
280 Martin Ave.
Suite 2
Santa Clara, Ca 95050


I thought I would try it I mean the laptop would shut off roughly every 20 minutes if it went 3 months without a sudden shutdown then I'd know this was golden.


I just sent my laptop in today and if you guys want I will let you know how it went and if it worked.
I would buy a new laptop and sell this one for parts but this really is a nice laptop I bought it for med school and with a little bit of work will be perfect. People like to bad mouth Emachine laptops but even with this disastrous problem I still like the laptop.

Read my last post, two posts above yours. I fixed my problem simply by following the guide in the hyperlink in my post. I haven't had a SINGLE shutdown since then and my fan is as quiet as a mouse. It only revs up when I'm gaming for a long period of time, which isn't even much anymore since I'm too busy with college.

If you are somewhat competent with the insides of a computer, you'll be able to fix it yourself. I guess you already sent it in, but let them know to replace the thermal compound for you so your problem is actually fixed.

Mapex, I did use the Thermal Arctic 5 compound but the problem still occured which is why I sent it in.

My bad, in that wall of text I must have missed it :P

I've had the same problems with the random shut downs.

I have a Hitachi 7200 rpm 80Gb hard drive and 1.2Gb of ram. I have replaced the thermal paste on the cpu/heatsink and the issue did seem to get better, BUT....I think I may have found the source of my problems. I think the hard drive was causing the random shut downs on my system. I replaced it with the factory hard drive and I haven't had the problem once. Granted, it has only been 2 days since I have had the old drive in my laptop. I guess I'll find out and report back.

Hey guys,

I have not received my laptop back yet but I did get a call from Laptop Rescuers and what they had to say was not real good news for me. They did take a look at the laptop and did find the problem which was the CPU Controller the guy said that it was malfunctioning and causing the shutdowns. He would replace this which would take a week and the cost would be a whopping $245, after thinking about it I told him to do it mainly because of the time I have put into it. Plus there is a 90 day warranty so if it still has problems I will ask for a refund and just put the comp on ebay and get something else. I really like this laptop though I bought the laptop used for $300 had Microcenter try to fix the shutdown problem but to no avail for $95 and purchased thermal paste and sandpaper for $12 and now spent $245 for Laptop Rescuer suppoprt for the shutdown problem. I still have to replace the cracked hinges and purchase paint so I can paint the laptop. Alot of money spent but I find this an intersting project plus I have to up the RAM to 1GB it only has 256MB right now cause the moron that sold it to me on ebay took the ram out of the bottom slot and never mentioned it, no biggy though. Should have the laptop returned late next week.

Be sure to let us know if the cpu controller fixed the problem.