F
Fred1632
Problem: While gaming, my system just shuts down. More specifically, the display goes black, like it's been disconnected. The PC stays on. The Keyboard stops responding. Usually it's in a modded Minecraft game, an older version like 1.7.10. But it has also happened in World of Warships (steam version), Neverwinter Nights Gold edition, and in newer vanilla version of Minecraft. Been trying to figure out what is going on. I ran several virus programs, including Defender and Malwarebytes. Nothing. I wiped the harddrive, partitioned it and reinstalled WIN10 and Ubuntu - three times now. The First time I installed Ubuntu, I was learning LINUX and and was just tired of the constant Windows Updates (the crash logs were lining up with the update logs). I thought it was a Windows problem. After I screwed up my Ubuntu the first time, I wiped the drive again and reinstalled Ubuntu and Win10 (why not right? I had already lost everything on the harddrive 
). I then began stress testing and component testing and found Windows kept adding 3 things (further research revealed they were rootkits? from 2016?). Anywho - I found them through Ubuntu - Defender and Malwarebytes never detected them. So, the third wipe and reinstall of everything. Everything I have been ready says it's a hardware issue, but after finding the suspicious files, I had doubts. Third install and same thing is happening. I re-ran the stress tests and the hardware fault detection from just about every online source I could find, including the PC's maker. Nothing. The tests will not replicate the fault. Even running the tests while trying to play the vanilla version of Minecraft will not crash it. Online sources say it could be a cooling problem, but the monitors (like Open Hardware Monitor and Dell's Alienware Controller) say the same thing - the CPU never gets over 70 Celsius - in fact I have a hard time even getting to 65. The voltage from various monitoring devices seems to indicate a fairly consistent voltage across the entire platform. No real spikes or dips, even under testing - although two things do have the label XXX3V and the reported voltage is slightly above 3 volts, in a range from 3.1110 to 3.8000, so I really don't know if the XXX3V means it's supposed to be at that and if an increase of point 1 to point 8 is enough to make a difference (but having said that - I can't get it to crash during the tests).
Long story short. I am stuck. Ideas? I thought it was hardware, cleaned everything, took it apart, inspected it for damage or burnt parts, wiped the drive, ran the virus/malware cleaners, reinstalled several times to get clean OSs, tested. I just just can't duplicate the fail consistently, so I can't pinpoint what the problem is. I would say it's a mod from Minecraft, but it happens in other games and they are un-modded. That leads to it's a GPU failing, but interestingly in all my testing the GPU was cool and didn't even blink under stress. I think never got over 35 Celsius. I am just stuck. I thought switching to LINUX would stop it, since the ONLY thing I could link the crash log times to was the update logs.
Thanks in advance.
Ok - here's what I am working with. It's a clean install from Microsoft, from a backup boot USB.
I am using an HDMI cable with a Samsung C27series monitor.
From Sys Info
OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.19042 Build 19042
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name XXXXXXXXX
System Manufacturer Alienware
System Model Aurora-R4
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU Aurora-R4
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3820 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3601 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Alienware A11, 11/26/2013
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer Alienware
BaseBoard Product 07JNH0
BaseBoard Version A00
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State Off
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.488"
User Name XXXXXXXXXXXX
Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 12.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 11.9 GB
Available Physical Memory 8.98 GB
Total Virtual Memory 14.3 GB
Available Virtual Memory 11.3 GB
Page File Space 2.38 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes
[Original Title: Help - and don't be a tech **** - you're wasting my time and yours]
Continue reading...
). I then began stress testing and component testing and found Windows kept adding 3 things (further research revealed they were rootkits? from 2016?). Anywho - I found them through Ubuntu - Defender and Malwarebytes never detected them. So, the third wipe and reinstall of everything. Everything I have been ready says it's a hardware issue, but after finding the suspicious files, I had doubts. Third install and same thing is happening. I re-ran the stress tests and the hardware fault detection from just about every online source I could find, including the PC's maker. Nothing. The tests will not replicate the fault. Even running the tests while trying to play the vanilla version of Minecraft will not crash it. Online sources say it could be a cooling problem, but the monitors (like Open Hardware Monitor and Dell's Alienware Controller) say the same thing - the CPU never gets over 70 Celsius - in fact I have a hard time even getting to 65. The voltage from various monitoring devices seems to indicate a fairly consistent voltage across the entire platform. No real spikes or dips, even under testing - although two things do have the label XXX3V and the reported voltage is slightly above 3 volts, in a range from 3.1110 to 3.8000, so I really don't know if the XXX3V means it's supposed to be at that and if an increase of point 1 to point 8 is enough to make a difference (but having said that - I can't get it to crash during the tests). Long story short. I am stuck. Ideas? I thought it was hardware, cleaned everything, took it apart, inspected it for damage or burnt parts, wiped the drive, ran the virus/malware cleaners, reinstalled several times to get clean OSs, tested. I just just can't duplicate the fail consistently, so I can't pinpoint what the problem is. I would say it's a mod from Minecraft, but it happens in other games and they are un-modded. That leads to it's a GPU failing, but interestingly in all my testing the GPU was cool and didn't even blink under stress. I think never got over 35 Celsius. I am just stuck. I thought switching to LINUX would stop it, since the ONLY thing I could link the crash log times to was the update logs.
Thanks in advance.
Ok - here's what I am working with. It's a clean install from Microsoft, from a backup boot USB.
I am using an HDMI cable with a Samsung C27series monitor.
From Sys Info
OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.19042 Build 19042
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name XXXXXXXXX
System Manufacturer Alienware
System Model Aurora-R4
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU Aurora-R4
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3820 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3601 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Alienware A11, 11/26/2013
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer Alienware
BaseBoard Product 07JNH0
BaseBoard Version A00
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State Off
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.488"
User Name XXXXXXXXXXXX
Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 12.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 11.9 GB
Available Physical Memory 8.98 GB
Total Virtual Memory 14.3 GB
Available Virtual Memory 11.3 GB
Page File Space 2.38 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes
[Original Title: Help - and don't be a tech **** - you're wasting my time and yours]
Continue reading...