Kodak matchprint proofer dell computer shuts down.........tech support says electric

[Stew]

we tried another outlet but the matchprint dell computer still shuts down unexpectedly more and more.....nothing else in the plant has this problem.....our electrician says there is nothing wrong with electric.

The problem has been 'escalated' in kodak tech support but nothing else happened....

any ideas?

[Stephen Marsh]

Control Panel/Power Options?

Just for fun, run a virus check on the workstation. The are a number of infected RIPs out there...

If you don't have antivirus installed, there are free trial verions of various antivirus software on the market. Housecall from Trend Micro is also a free option if you don't have live protection.

This may not resolve the issue, however it should not hurt. I personally don't like Norton or McAfee products.


Stephen Marsh

[maxon]

I don't have any experience with matchprint configurations but I advise you to take a closer look inside the Dell computer. Motherboard capacitors around the processor tend to swell/burst in some Dell boxes like optiplex. If so you can either replace them or the entire motherboard. Dell power supplies and coolers rarely fail. Hope this helps.

[buckeye]

How long does it stay on before shutting down? I was going to say the obvious and say that it sounds like a power supply, but maxon said Dell power supplies rarely fail.

-Erik

[Greg_Firestone]

Power supplies will still fail, even if usually reliable... so it's worth checking.

Dell usually has a hardware diagnostic app you can download. Couldn't hurt to try it.

Greg

[Johu]

I'm with Greg on this one. The most likely reason is the power supply. It'll cost probably only 50-70$. So it is also quite cheap just to try.

[esmith214]

Power Supply: Machine shuts down consistently at about the same time from start. Longer from a true cold start, shorter from a hot restart.
Motherboard or CPU: Usually it will power up lights and drive but not boot. Sometimes you might get an error message on screen or beeping/error lights from board.
RAM: Inconsistent shut down but usually while doing heavy processing. First, pull and reset the strips. They may have worked loose from moving the machine or not been seated properly to begin with. Might pop an error message, might not.
Hard drive: You'll get an error message at start up or when the machine crashes.

If it's a recent server level machine there should be some built in hardware diagnostic with designator lights and terse description. Could be inside the case or accessible via BIOS.

[Mark]

The Dell on our matchprint (and Integris before) had bad motherboard capacitors. Dells are cheap for a reason.... they are cheap.

[Paint]

PSU... easy way to test just take another PSU from a dead computer
(we all have them) and open up the Dell and plug that PSU into your mbo
and drives, then plug it in and see what happens. Most Dell replacement PSU's
can be bought online for 25.00 or less, I have replaced a few in Dell's here,
they seem to go all the time...

[DGaynor56]

I think Mark ha it right. It is probably the Mother board capacitor. They were a real problem in the matchprints,
If you open up the computer and search the mother board you can probably see the bad cap. It is bowed on the top instead of flat. Their monitors had the same problem.