HP g6 random crash (tricky)

grumpycrab

A neighbour with a random laptop crash. It's a nasty one...
- crashes 3/4 times a day (I can see it in the Event Log)
- crashes happen on battery or with external power
- battery is "weak" - can a weak battery crash a laptop (even if its plugged in)
- strange1. (red-herring?) hardware clock isn't being maintained. the log shows that after poweron the clock is resynced to current time; the g6 has a CMOS battery; could this be faulty?
- strange2. log has system error "ATI EEU PnP start/stop failed"
Haven't researched this one. Fan/heat don't appear to be a problem.

Even stranger, I have not experienced any system failure while I've been using it. However, it went to sleep - reason "battery" in the event log - while I was using it; this was a hibernate. The battery has reportedly 12min 45% left.

I think a new battery is an obvious task.

DoaM

What about running it on mains power without the battery fitted? Does that change anything?

Strange1 certainly sounds like a new CMOS battery is needed.

grumpycrab

DoaM wrote: »

What about running it on mains power without the battery fitted? Does that change anything?

Strange1 certainly sounds like a new CMOS battery is needed.

Yes, need to spend some time with neighbour (with battery removed). The CMOS (RTC) battery is buried in the depths of this model - dammit.

GunJack

yup, first things first, change the cmos battery....if the hw clock's resetting t could be causing gfx driver issues...also, use power options to stop it sleeping/hibernating - turning off the display is ok though. And, to agree with doam above, run just off the mains, take the battery off.

psychic_teabag

When it crashes, does it actually turn off, or just reboot the software ? I'd have though the CMOS battery only mattered when power was actually removed. (And for a laptop, that might even mean taking the normal battery out.) Didn't think the CMOS battery could have any effect while the system was powered up.

Has the laptop always done this, or has it only just started happening ?
When you were testing it, were you using in the same way. (At work, my OH had a computer that kept crashing. MIS would take it away for a few days, and bring it back saying it was fine. But they were just leaving it turned on and sat there, not pushing it hard.)

I tend to associate random crashes with either bad memory, or overheating (eg poor thermal coupling between cpu and heatsink). Others tend to point at bad drivers.

If 12mins is considered 45%, the battery is clearly ill. If it's degrading fast enough, the computer's estimate of its lifetime may be off. (My old smartphone has a similar annoying flaw - it pops up a warning to say that I ought to connect the charger since battery is running low, then it powers down a few seconds later.)

But if crashes happen even when plugged in, I'd be looking for something else.

GunJack

grumpycrab wrote: »

The CMOS (RTC) battery is buried in the depths of this model - dammit.

A stupidly common trend of the last 7-8 years, that. Some Dells and others have needed a complete tear-down to be able to change the cmos......It's a consumable part !!!!!!, have it easily accessible :mad:

grumpycrab

psychic_teabag wrote: »

When it crashes, does it actually turn off,

Has the laptop always done this, or has it only just started happening ?
When you were testing it, were you using in the same way.

The crashes are reportedly like restarts.

Laptop started doing this in the last month. And you're quite right, the neighbour will use it differently to me.

I have turned off sleep/hibernate and will take it to neighbours to run without battery.

agrinnall

grumpycrab wrote: »

The CMOS (RTC) battery is buried in the depths of this model - dammit.

Maybe it depends on the model but I replaced the CMOS battery in my old G6 without any great difficulty - it didn't fix the problem, but for a cost of a couple of quid it was worth a try.

grumpycrab

agrinnall wrote: »

Maybe it depends on the model but I replaced the CMOS battery in my old G6 without any great difficulty - it didn't fix the problem, but for a cost of a couple of quid it was worth a try.

From the pics I've seen the RTC battery location varies between model variants. It's sometimes next to the disk drive connector (easily accessible) but on mine its on the reverse side of the motherboard and totally inaccessible. (BUT I can see the twisted pair cable+connector so I guess I could disconnect existing battery and fit new one snuggly next to the hard disk connector.... that's an idea.)

DoaM

grumpycrab wrote: »

but on mine its on the reverse side of the motherboard and totally inaccessible

Does that mean it's under the keyboard? Could you access it by popping out the keyboard?

grumpycrab

Back again. Neighbour kept quiet for a week.
Summary:-
1. random crashes (reset without BSOD) on battery only (no mains)
2. random crashes (reset without BSOD) on mains only (without battery)
3. done all basic tests - memory; disk; thought it was heat related but I've been running Prime95 and max temp 99degC - yes, very high - but no reset AT MY HOUSE
4. it last crashed in my hands at his house just as I was about to look at the CPU temp; couldn't restart it or anything (certainly looked like a heat issue); brought it back here - no issue;
5. the fact it doesn't BSOD makes me think its not software; I haven't changed the RTC battery.

Event log typically has 2 critical errors :-
- the system shutdown unexpectedly
- the system has rebooted. This error is caused because the system stopped responding and the hardware watchdog triggered a system reset.

Something he is running/interacting with at his house is causing this random reset.