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xp professional doesn't shut off on Dell PC
Hello,
Somebody gave me a Dell Optiplex GX 270 PC without a HD. I added a HD and installed: XP Pro + SP3 on it. Unfortunately, the PC doesn't shut off automatically, as it should - also not after Restart. I opened the BIOS, but didn't find anything useful to change or reset. Any hints? Thank you very much. Petrus |
#2
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xp professional doesn't shut off on Dell PC
On 2/19/2011 5:57 PM, Petrus Tax wrote:
Hello, Somebody gave me a Dell Optiplex GX 270 PC without a HD. I added a HD and installed: XP Pro + SP3 on it. Unfortunately, the PC doesn't shut off automatically, as it should - also not after Restart. I opened the BIOS, but didn't find anything useful to change or reset. Any hints? Thank you very much. A bunch of the GX270 were built with defective capacitors. Inspect the mother board for domed or vented capacitors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague |
#3
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xp professional doesn't shut off on Dell PC
On 2/19/2011 5:57 PM, Petrus Tax wrote:
Hello, Somebody gave me a Dell Optiplex GX 270 PC without a HD. I added a HD and installed: XP Pro + SP3 on it. Unfortunately, the PC doesn't shut off automatically, as it should - also not after Restart. I opened the BIOS, but didn't find anything useful to change or reset. Any hints? Thank you very much. Petrus As Grinder mentioned it could be a capacitor problem. You may have a setting in the BIOS configured to tell the computer what to do in the event of a power failure, remain off or power back on. If the last user had it configured as some kind of server application they might have configured the motherboard to power back on. If you have not tried it yet, a possible reset of the BIOS to factory settings might clear out things as the Optiplex was not configured by the factory to remain powered on after a power down. You might also try booting a Live Linux distribution from CD like Puppy Linux that can be found at: http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%...%20Started.htm If that can power down correctly then the problem is still in XP or a combination of XP and a motherboard settings not yet identified. |
#4
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xp professional doesn't shut off on Dell PC
Hello Grinder and GlowingBlueMist:
Thanks very much for your suggestions. Not finding anything visibly wrong with the MoBo, I checked the "add or remove programs" in Control Panel and found that only SP 2 was there. Downloading SP 3 cured the problem (I don't know why SP 3, not SP 2). This prompts another question to the specialist like you: Is there a good diagnostics software program available that would tell me about such hardware and/or software cases? (I am not a Linux user yet.) Gratefully, Petrus "GlowingBlueMist" wrote in message anews.com... On 2/19/2011 5:57 PM, Petrus Tax wrote: Hello, Somebody gave me a Dell Optiplex GX 270 PC without a HD. I added a HD and installed: XP Pro + SP3 on it. Unfortunately, the PC doesn't shut off automatically, as it should - also not after Restart. I opened the BIOS, but didn't find anything useful to change or reset. Any hints? Thank you very much. Petrus As Grinder mentioned it could be a capacitor problem. You may have a setting in the BIOS configured to tell the computer what to do in the event of a power failure, remain off or power back on. If the last user had it configured as some kind of server application they might have configured the motherboard to power back on. If you have not tried it yet, a possible reset of the BIOS to factory settings might clear out things as the Optiplex was not configured by the factory to remain powered on after a power down. You might also try booting a Live Linux distribution from CD like Puppy Linux that can be found at: http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%...%20Started.htm If that can power down correctly then the problem is still in XP or a combination of XP and a motherboard settings not yet identified. |
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xp professional doesn't shut off on Dell PC
On 2/21/2011 10:19 AM, Petrus Tax wrote:
Hello Grinder and GlowingBlueMist: Thanks very much for your suggestions. Not finding anything visibly wrong with the MoBo, I checked the "add or remove programs" in Control Panel and found that only SP 2 was there. Downloading SP 3 cured the problem (I don't know why SP 3, not SP 2). This prompts another question to the specialist like you: Is there a good diagnostics software program available that would tell me about such hardware and/or software cases? (I am not a Linux user yet.) Gratefully, Petrus id wrote in message anews.com... On 2/19/2011 5:57 PM, Petrus Tax wrote: Hello, Somebody gave me a Dell Optiplex GX 270 PC without a HD. I added a HD and installed: XP Pro + SP3 on it. Unfortunately, the PC doesn't shut off automatically, as it should - also not after Restart. I opened the BIOS, but didn't find anything useful to change or reset. Any hints? Thank you very much. Petrus snip I'm not aware of programs that could diagnose a problem like yours. A software problem could cause almost anything imaginable to happen making a good diagnostic program just about impossible to write. Trying to duplicate the problem or symptoms using an alternate boot source, like a Live Linux distribution or other operating system is one way to help isolate a power on/off problem. If a Live Linux CD can boot and shutdown properly then the problem is 99% Windows software related, if not then it usually remains to be a hardware issue. I personally don't run a Linux system other than for training and for correcting problems that appear to be Windows related. I keep a couple of Linux CD's around for testing problems such as yours or to remove a Windows style virus using a Linux Boot CD with good anti-virus removers installed. Possibly in your case SP3 had tried to install and failed but did remove or change something the system needed to correctly power down. Running the SP3 install again seems to have reset or reloaded the offending bit of software. While there might be log files that could indicate where the problem was but at this time it's not worth the effort needed to locate and go through them. Just be glad you were able to resolve the problem with out having to go through the time and effort of reloading the entire operating system and updates... |
#6
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xp professional doesn't shut off on Dell PC
GlowingBlueMist wrote:
On 2/21/2011 10:19 AM, Petrus Tax wrote: Hello Grinder and GlowingBlueMist: Thanks very much for your suggestions. Not finding anything visibly wrong with the MoBo, I checked the "add or remove programs" in Control Panel and found that only SP 2 was there. Downloading SP 3 cured the problem (I don't know why SP 3, not SP 2). This prompts another question to the specialist like you: Is there a good diagnostics software program available that would tell me about such hardware and/or software cases? (I am not a Linux user yet.) Gratefully, Petrus id wrote in message anews.com... On 2/19/2011 5:57 PM, Petrus Tax wrote: Hello, Somebody gave me a Dell Optiplex GX 270 PC without a HD. I added a HD and installed: XP Pro + SP3 on it. Unfortunately, the PC doesn't shut off automatically, as it should - also not after Restart. I opened the BIOS, but didn't find anything useful to change or reset. Any hints? Thank you very much. Petrus snip I'm not aware of programs that could diagnose a problem like yours. A software problem could cause almost anything imaginable to happen making a good diagnostic program just about impossible to write. Trying to duplicate the problem or symptoms using an alternate boot source, like a Live Linux distribution or other operating system is one way to help isolate a power on/off problem. If a Live Linux CD can boot and shutdown properly then the problem is 99% Windows software related, if not then it usually remains to be a hardware issue. I personally don't run a Linux system other than for training and for correcting problems that appear to be Windows related. I keep a couple of Linux CD's around for testing problems such as yours or to remove a Windows style virus using a Linux Boot CD with good anti-virus removers installed. Possibly in your case SP3 had tried to install and failed but did remove or change something the system needed to correctly power down. Running the SP3 install again seems to have reset or reloaded the offending bit of software. While there might be log files that could indicate where the problem was but at this time it's not worth the effort needed to locate and go through them. Just be glad you were able to resolve the problem with out having to go through the time and effort of reloading the entire operating system and updates... The soft power function, is as far as I know, an item in the ACPI table passed by the BIOS. If you disabled ACPI in the BIOS, then firstly, the Windows installer disk would complain. The Computer entry in Device Manager would say something like "Standard PC" instead of having the word "ACPI" in the title of the HAL. If you disabled ACPI in the BIOS, after the OS was installed, I bet the OS wouldn't be happy about that at all :-) If the GX270 wasn't ACPI compliant, we'd have heard about it by now. Testing with the power button on the front of the machine (soft power button), should tell you whether the PS_ON# signal is working or not. And if it is, then it would be a real puzzle. Maybe the registry on the PC is scrambled, and just the item for Soft Power is broken ? Or maybe the ACPI entry in the BIOS is turned off ? Or maybe a "clear CMOS" with the power off, is needed to clear any phantom bits in the CMOS RAM that are affecting what the BIOS is passing ? Or how the BIOS behaves. It's funny that installing SP3 would fix it. I would have thought that a Service Pack wouldn't be an opportunity to change the HAL, or fix the HAL, but maybe it can do that. If I run the free version of Everest and get the hardware related report section... http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html this is an example of an ACPI entry. The BIOS passes a Plug and Play entry, for the soft power function. What Windows actually does with this, from a registry perspective, I haven't a clue. The values, like PNP0C0C are standardized, and Windows is supposed to have a driver to connect to that item. At least some of these, appear in the System section of Device Manager, but with bogus names. [ System devices / ACPI Power Button ] Device Properties: Driver Description ACPI Power Button Driver Date 7/1/2001 Driver Version 5.1.2600.5512 Driver Provider Microsoft INF File machine.inf Hardware ID ACPI\PNP0C0C PnP Device Power Button In this thread, there is an example of things like that ACPI\PNP0C0C entry for the GX270. The GX270 passes about 17 items in its ACPI tables. http://www.myitforum.com/forums/tm.a...mpage=1#195919 http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic.php?pid=34657 ============ ACPI Devices ============ ACPI\FIXEDBUTTON\2&DABA3FF&0 : ACPI Fixed Feature Button ACPI\GENUINEINTEL_-_X86_FAMILY_15_MODEL_2\_0 : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz ACPI\PNP0000\4&1506BB2E&0 : Programmable interrupt controller ACPI\PNP0100\4&1506BB2E&0 : System timer ACPI\PNP0200\4&1506BB2E&0 : Direct memory access controller ACPI\PNP0401\4&1506BB2E&0 : ECP Printer Port (LPT1) ACPI\PNP0501\1 : Communications Port (COM1) ACPI\PNP0700\4&1506BB2E&0 : Standard floppy disk controller ACPI\PNP0800\4&1506BB2E&0 : System speaker ACPI\PNP0A03\4 : PCI bus ACPI\PNP0B00\4&1506BB2E&0 : System CMOS/real time clock ACPI\PNP0C01\1 : System board ACPI\PNP0C01\B : System board ACPI\PNP0C04\4&1506BB2E&0 : Numeric data processor ACPI\PNP0C0C\2&DABA3FF&0 : ACPI Power Button ACPI_HAL\PNP0C08\0 : Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System ROOT\ACPI_HAL\0000 : ACPI Uniprocessor PC 17 matching device(s) found. I think you could spend quite a while, trying to track down what's wrong. Maybe somewhere between the Everest report and setupapi.log on the PC, the answer is buried in there. Maybe if a PNP item no longer had a driver, the setupapi.log file would have a record of the failure ? HTH, Paul |
#7
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xp professional doesn't shut off on Dell PC
Hello GLowingBlueMist and Paul,
many thanks for your informative replies, which I will print out for later reference. I check out, repair (if possible) and upgrade computers which are being donated to a Caring Center in my church, then given for free to people in need here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Go Heels!). Approaching the (young) age of 80, I am getting very time-conscious so that I like solutions to my problems that are manageable, especially time-wise. I am still learning a lot, also from user groups, sometimes by osmosis. Any help that this ACH group so generously provides can set me on a new track! Occasionally I can contribute myself with some advice Keep going and thanks! Petrus "Paul" wrote in message ... GlowingBlueMist wrote: On 2/21/2011 10:19 AM, Petrus Tax wrote: Hello Grinder and GlowingBlueMist: Thanks very much for your suggestions. Not finding anything visibly wrong with the MoBo, I checked the "add or remove programs" in Control Panel and found that only SP 2 was there. Downloading SP 3 cured the problem (I don't know why SP 3, not SP 2). This prompts another question to the specialist like you: Is there a good diagnostics software program available that would tell me about such hardware and/or software cases? (I am not a Linux user yet.) Gratefully, Petrus id wrote in message anews.com... On 2/19/2011 5:57 PM, Petrus Tax wrote: Hello, Somebody gave me a Dell Optiplex GX 270 PC without a HD. I added a HD and installed: XP Pro + SP3 on it. Unfortunately, the PC doesn't shut off automatically, as it should - also not after Restart. I opened the BIOS, but didn't find anything useful to change or reset. Any hints? Thank you very much. Petrus snip I'm not aware of programs that could diagnose a problem like yours. A software problem could cause almost anything imaginable to happen making a good diagnostic program just about impossible to write. Trying to duplicate the problem or symptoms using an alternate boot source, like a Live Linux distribution or other operating system is one way to help isolate a power on/off problem. If a Live Linux CD can boot and shutdown properly then the problem is 99% Windows software related, if not then it usually remains to be a hardware issue. I personally don't run a Linux system other than for training and for correcting problems that appear to be Windows related. I keep a couple of Linux CD's around for testing problems such as yours or to remove a Windows style virus using a Linux Boot CD with good anti-virus removers installed. Possibly in your case SP3 had tried to install and failed but did remove or change something the system needed to correctly power down. Running the SP3 install again seems to have reset or reloaded the offending bit of software. While there might be log files that could indicate where the problem was but at this time it's not worth the effort needed to locate and go through them. Just be glad you were able to resolve the problem with out having to go through the time and effort of reloading the entire operating system and updates... The soft power function, is as far as I know, an item in the ACPI table passed by the BIOS. If you disabled ACPI in the BIOS, then firstly, the Windows installer disk would complain. The Computer entry in Device Manager would say something like "Standard PC" instead of having the word "ACPI" in the title of the HAL. If you disabled ACPI in the BIOS, after the OS was installed, I bet the OS wouldn't be happy about that at all :-) If the GX270 wasn't ACPI compliant, we'd have heard about it by now. Testing with the power button on the front of the machine (soft power button), should tell you whether the PS_ON# signal is working or not. And if it is, then it would be a real puzzle. Maybe the registry on the PC is scrambled, and just the item for Soft Power is broken ? Or maybe the ACPI entry in the BIOS is turned off ? Or maybe a "clear CMOS" with the power off, is needed to clear any phantom bits in the CMOS RAM that are affecting what the BIOS is passing ? Or how the BIOS behaves. It's funny that installing SP3 would fix it. I would have thought that a Service Pack wouldn't be an opportunity to change the HAL, or fix the HAL, but maybe it can do that. If I run the free version of Everest and get the hardware related report section... http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html this is an example of an ACPI entry. The BIOS passes a Plug and Play entry, for the soft power function. What Windows actually does with this, from a registry perspective, I haven't a clue. The values, like PNP0C0C are standardized, and Windows is supposed to have a driver to connect to that item. At least some of these, appear in the System section of Device Manager, but with bogus names. [ System devices / ACPI Power Button ] Device Properties: Driver Description ACPI Power Button Driver Date 7/1/2001 Driver Version 5.1.2600.5512 Driver Provider Microsoft INF File machine.inf Hardware ID ACPI\PNP0C0C PnP Device Power Button In this thread, there is an example of things like that ACPI\PNP0C0C entry for the GX270. The GX270 passes about 17 items in its ACPI tables. http://www.myitforum.com/forums/tm.a...mpage=1#195919 http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic.php?pid=34657 ============ ACPI Devices ============ ACPI\FIXEDBUTTON\2&DABA3FF&0 : ACPI Fixed Feature Button ACPI\GENUINEINTEL_-_X86_FAMILY_15_MODEL_2\_0 : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz ACPI\PNP0000\4&1506BB2E&0 : Programmable interrupt controller ACPI\PNP0100\4&1506BB2E&0 : System timer ACPI\PNP0200\4&1506BB2E&0 : Direct memory access controller ACPI\PNP0401\4&1506BB2E&0 : ECP Printer Port (LPT1) ACPI\PNP0501\1 : Communications Port (COM1) ACPI\PNP0700\4&1506BB2E&0 : Standard floppy disk controller ACPI\PNP0800\4&1506BB2E&0 : System speaker ACPI\PNP0A03\4 : PCI bus ACPI\PNP0B00\4&1506BB2E&0 : System CMOS/real time clock ACPI\PNP0C01\1 : System board ACPI\PNP0C01\B : System board ACPI\PNP0C04\4&1506BB2E&0 : Numeric data processor ACPI\PNP0C0C\2&DABA3FF&0 : ACPI Power Button ACPI_HAL\PNP0C08\0 : Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System ROOT\ACPI_HAL\0000 : ACPI Uniprocessor PC 17 matching device(s) found. I think you could spend quite a while, trying to track down what's wrong. Maybe somewhere between the Everest report and setupapi.log on the PC, the answer is buried in there. Maybe if a PNP item no longer had a driver, the setupapi.log file would have a record of the failure ? HTH, Paul |
#8
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xp professional doesn't shut off on Dell PC
Petrus Tax wrote:
Hello GLowingBlueMist and Paul, many thanks for your informative replies, which I will print out for later reference. I check out, repair (if possible) and upgrade computers which are being donated to a Caring Center in my church, then given for free to people in need here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Go Heels!). Approaching the (young) age of 80, I am getting very time-conscious so that I like solutions to my problems that are manageable, especially time-wise. I am still learning a lot, also from user groups, sometimes by osmosis. Any help that this ACH group so generously provides can set me on a new track! Occasionally I can contribute myself with some advice Keep going and thanks! Petrus Sounds like you have more practical experience than we do :-) :-) Good luck in your recycling efforts. Paul |
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