Shutdown just after power on

Question

About 1 in 10 boots, just after I hit the power button to turn on my I8600, it turns itself right off. The next time I hit the power button, I get a message after the POST routine that my computer shut itself off due to high temperatures. The thing is... it has done this when the laptop has been shut off for hours... and so the CPU should be a room temperature (say around 25C) and it should not be too hot. It has done this with BIOS version A02, A04, A07 and A08. The fans are not blocked in any way... and in short this behavior is unexplainable to me.

Any ideas?

amaretto · Answer

I think it's time to call Dell and get them to take a look at it, you might need the heatsink or the processor replaced....

cademetz · Answer

I would think though, that if the heatsink were bad, when playing 3 hours of Halo or Raven Shield that as well would cause problems... but it doesn't.

parkerti · Answer

It might do that as a failsafe if the CPU fan fails the post test. You may have a CPU fan ready to shoot craps. I'd call for service. Regards,

cademetz · Answer

Below is the word for word message I receive. Again, I get this error from time to time when I first hit the power button, the computer shuts itself off, then, on the next boot, after POST and BIOS checks, I get the message. I have never had it shut itself off two boots in a row though.

"Your system automatically powered itself off because it became warmer than expected. This may have been caused by:
o) operating or storing the system in an enviroment where the ambient temp is too high or,
o) obstructing the air flow from the system fan vents.
If this problem recurs please call Dell Support with error code #M1004."

Well, the computer has never powered itself off while running, so that eliminates half of the first option (operating). The laptop is inside where the ambient temp is at maximum 25C (75F), which eliminates the second part of the first option (storing). That leaves me with the second option... well, the fan vents are clear, and free of dust, and as I mentioned, this has only happened JUST after hitting the power button to boot the computer.... so air flow a split-second after being turned on shouldn't cause warmer than expected problems anyways.

Which, leaves me confused.

workalready · Answer

I am getting nearly the exact same behavior. I shut down my machine cleanly last nite (no temp alarms or anything). When I started the machine, there were no temp warnings at all. I logged in, and the machine shut down within 5 seconds. On restart, it then gave the M1004 error, and now Im stuck in a loop. The fans are running normally, ambient temp is normal, room is AC cooled, Im not running any applications at all.

BIOS is version A07, and all the Tech Support pages say that this (falso positive) error should only affect machines w/ A03 or less. Machine is a Lattitude C640.

I tried a different hard drive (same OS, Win2K), and I get the same error on POST, but after hitting F1 the machine boots normally, I can login normally, and run apps under Administrator normally. There is none of the performance degradation that I encounter when the machine gets too hot.

So Im wondering if it is the machine itself (heat sink, CPU fan, whatever) or something just hung up in software somewhere.

Thoughts?

pieter_nl · Answer

Hi workalready,

I'm expiriencing the same problem. My computer was working fine. I switched in on earlier today, and got an eroor message at startup:

code M1004..

did u get your problem solved?

Cheers,

Pieter

Zambayoshi · Answer

I have a similar problem in that my Inspiron 5150 (3.06GHz) will sometimes switch off suddenly. I have figured out that the problem happened when the CPU usage was at 100% and the speedstep kicked in to boost the CPU up to 3.06GHz, after which the machine just turns off (after a small amount of time at full power). My friend said it could be a problem with the CPU fan voltage regulator being faulty and that in this case the fan was spinning too slowly, causing the CPU to overheat. I don't know if you guys have the same problem since your computer is switching off after startup. It could be though that at startup the machine is using all its horsepower to load everything up, meaning that the CPU gets stepped up to full power. Maybe it doesn't happen during gameplay because the graphics card is doing more work... just my thoughts.

dawax · Answer

I experienced this problem (unexplained shut down while running) the past 2 days with my Inspiron 5100. The 1st day, it happened repeatedly, so I gave up. Later in the day, I restarted and booted up fine. the following day, the laptop shut down again. When restarted this morning, it's fine.

Interestingly, my remote office has been quite warm the last 2 days. When I take the laptop home (and the temperature is cooler), it ran fine and I experienced no shutdowns. I downloaded the latest BIOS today, and on restart, saw this error message for the first time. I'm wondering if the repeated shut downs are symptomatic of a potential hardware failure? But if so, why did I not see this error message until AFTER updating the BIOS, and why did it appear only after a normal restart?

Any ideas??

dshukle · Answer

I have the same problem with my Inspiron 5100. The system will just power down when running large processes. I am going to try and find some motherboard diagnostics which will allow me to monitor temperature to see exactly what is happening. When I contacted tech support, their response was to shut down some startup apps using MSCONFIG. I tried to explain to them that the problem is when I run big processes which max CPU usage.

Anyways, I was attributing the issue to XP SP2, not sure now though.

dshukle

arrtee121 · Answer

I have the same problem with my 8600.  Dell replaced my laptops motherboard and it seemed to work fine for a while but the problem came back.  Does anyone have the answer yet?

indybeats · Answer

Found a solution for this. a good portion of the time this is caused due to too much dust collecting inside the casing of the laptop.

I have had my inspirion 5150 for about a year now and I noticed over time performance dropped and also the body of the laptop itself would get extremely warm.

Solution: Unplug and remove the battery. Using a can of Compressed air, blow into the exhust and intake areas of the case (located on the underside and backside of the case).

I took it a step further and removed my keyboard and cleared out that area also. My CPU was running close to 60 degrees C. It now runs at a much cooler 35 degree C. There is a noticeable performance gain also.

Mibble · Answer

i would bet you are still having the problem, most likely a failure of a driver with windows.

By definition, this message is ALWAYS caused by a network driver/windows mismatch. Whether you think the fault is with the driver or with Windows is immaterial. As far as Windows is concerned it is always the driver which is at fault.

It occurs when the driver attempts an unauthorized call to the NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification) implementation in Windows. Authorization is dependent upon the context in which the driver process is running - known as its IRQ Level (IRQL).

This has nothing to do with its IRQ number.

There are three levels available to the driver:

PASSIVE - lowest priority, largest list of authorized routines
DISPATCH - higher priority, smaller list
DIRQL - highest priority, smallest list. Basically no NDIS subroutines are available here. The driver runs only its own interrupt service routines at this level.

To make NDIS calls, the driver must be running at a priority level lower than or equal to the context in which the called routine is designed to run. It is possible (and necessary) for the driver software to dynamically set this level as appropriate before issuing the call. If it does not, you get the error.

Windows-certified drivers should not cause this problem. In general, and if possible, let Windows detect and install its own drivers for whatever device you are installing rather than use the proprietary drivers it came with and you shouldn't have the problem - assuming you have a network connection so that windows can check the most current list of drivers for your OS. Windows update also checks for the latest drivers - but if your device is working fine it is not always advisable to install them.

Some devices and software are simply incompatible with certain versions of Windows - particularly network-capable video games and devices designed for previous Windows versions (or just badly written software!). This is simply a fact we must all live with.

Here is MSFT's brief explanation:

" IRQLs:
Every driver function called by NDIS runs at a system-determined IRQL, one of PASSIVE_LEVEL < DISPATCH_LEVEL < DIRQL. For example, a miniport driver's initialization function, halt function, reset function, and sometimes the shutdown function commonly run at PASSIVE_LEVEL. Interrupt code runs at DIRQL, so an NDIS intermediate or protocol driver never runs at DIRQL. All other NDIS driver functions run at IRQL <= DISPATCH_LEVEL.

The IRQL at which a driver function runs affects which NDIS functions it can call. Certain functions can only be called at IRQL = PASSIVE_LEVEL. Others can be called at DISPATCH_LEVEL or lower. A driver writer should check every NDIS function for IRQL restrictions.

Any driver function that shares resources with the driver's ISR must be able to raise its IRQL to DIRQL to prevent race conditions. NDIS provides such a mechanism.

1kracing · Answer

Inspiron 5150

Got the following error message:

"Your system automatically powered itself off because it became warmer
than expected. This may have been caused by:
o) operating or storing the system in an enviroment where the ambient
temp is too high or,
o) obstructing the air flow from the system fan vents.
If this problem recurs please call Dell Support with error code #M1004."

The computer failed to recognize the a/c power after that. Purchased new battery and power adapter, worked fine for one day and the same thing occurred.

Tried to update bios as suggested by Dell but download won't work because it asked you to connect a/c plug which it is not recognizing.

Waiting for answer from Dell...lot of valuable stuff on laptop.

Anyone experiencing the same or have gotten the problem fixed?

1kracing · Answer

Inspiron 5150 Got

Mibble · Answer

are you actually waiting on a reply?  lol, i have only one post yet to get any reply to.

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Shutdown just after power on

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