Help needed with new HTPC problem

[modman]

A few months ago, I purchased a Gateway PC for use as a HTPC. I selected this particular model because it had a small form factor, and it's vent and DVD configuration allowed it to be used on its side.

This thing is driving me crazy. It rips CD's fast and accurately, sure enough...and it plays WAV files superbly. But here's the problem...

It is set up to go to sleep after 10 minutes of inactivity. When it does this, I wake up in the morning to a locked-up PC and a rapid-fire beeping sound coming from it (the same sound you get if you hold down a keyboard key too long).

I contacted Gateway, and (after a LONG LONG time...they suck) I was able to get up with a support person. I followed their instructions for doing a hard reset -- remove all cables/connections (including the power cable), depressing the power on button for 15 seconds, then restoring the cables and powering up. The beeping is still there. HOWEVER, if I power up after the reset and THEN restore the cables...the computer works fine -- BUT THE BEEPING IS THERE AGAIN FEW MORNINGS LATER.

The funny thing is this behavior is only discovered in the morning (does not happen during the day) and does not happen every day...it is an erratic behavior.

Gateway, as a sucky company, wants me to ship the unit back to TEXAS (I am in NC) in a completely different box, with oodles of restrictions and packing instructions. No options for local inspection and repair. Did I mention that they suck?

So, do any of you computer-savvy folks have any clues? Is it not acceptable to use the computer laying on its side, even if no vents are blocked? Is it possible one of the peripherals is corrupted?

Thanks

 

[GlocksRock]

Try setting it to not go to sleep, or do a fresh install of windows if all else fails.

 

[guggas]

Yeah, try going to control panel and set sleep to: never, also click on advanced power settings and set "turn hard drive off" to: never, assuming your on windows 7..

 

[Grador]

Try and see if you have the same issues on hibernate, or if it's one specifically with sleep.

If it also does it in hibernate... Your computer has some very large issues. I'd try a clean windows install and if that fails [like i'm guessing it will] it's time to get a new computer.

If it is sleep only: Make sure all your drivers are up to date, taking special care with the video driver [only because I've found more often than not a driver issue is the video driver]. Try reproducing the issue by sitting there and putting it in standby and then waking it repeatedly, taking note of how often it fails, more information is always nice. If the drivers don't help, try posting some more information here, like system specs [including all hardware] and what software you have running when this happens. Reinstalling windows here is also an option of last resort [or first if you don't really have anything important on the system].

 

[sholling]

I know what you're going through with their customer service and I wouldn't recommend a Gateway to anyone. I just don't dislike anyone enough to inflict Gateway on them.

Is it just a repetitive "I'm stuck" beep or did it do a reboot and is now giving a beeping a beep code? The first thing that I'd do is make sure it has plenty of ventilation and that the CPU fan is working. The second thing that I'd do is make sure all patches and drivers are up to date. If none of that works I'd just do as the others have suggested and turn off sleep. Just to be sure of one thing it does have Windows 7 correct? I ask because some of the older versions of Windows didn't recover form sleep mode well.

 

[modman]

Situation Update

I took the most excellent advice of the nice folks on this forum and disabled the sleep, hibernation, and hard drive sleep options on the troublesome PC. Next morning....PC is locked up and beeping again.

So tried an experiment. I reset the PC, but I did not plug any of the peripherals back in (no keyboard, mouse, external drive, net, or HMDI). Two days..and no shutdown or beeping.

Yesterday, I plugged the keyboard back in. As of tonight...no beeping.

I just plugged the mouse back in and will see what happens.

So, any thoughts? Why is the system stable when nothing is connected to it?

Thanks for your kind efforts.

 

[modman]

Follow up..

Sorry, Sholling...didn't see your post when I did mine. It runs Windows 7....the ventilation fan is working....I had already elevated the PC on lifters to make sure the bottom side was not getting hot...it's a repetative "I'm stuck" beeping code.

 

[Grador]

Liking your methodology here, I'd try the HDMI next as that pertains most to the video card where i presume the problem may lay.

 

[sholling]

Besides HDMI I'd try another keyboard as well if you have one laying around.

 

[GlocksRock]

Sounds like a driver issue. I would do a fresh install of windows and only install what you need. That way you can get the lastest drivers and you don't have a bunch of other stuff running that you don't need, so there will be less chance of anything conflicting or causing problems.

 

[Beatmatcher247]

That sounds an awful lot like a stick of bad memory (RAM). Check this link out, it has a guide as to how to use that software.

How to Use Memtest86 to Check for Bad Memory (RAM) in a PC

If its not ram, try the following

Try opening msconfig (Start>Run/open>msconfig), click the startup tab and disable everything. Restart your computer, and see if this resolves the issue.


***********************************************************

Another thing to check out is power saving settings in the bios, be careful in here if you do not your way around. You hit either the F1 or F2 key for gateways I believe to enter the bios. Check the power saving settings and make sure it doesn't have sleep mode settings. If you change something on accident and don't know what the setting was, simply "exit without saving changes." If you make a change that you want to stick, "Save and Exit."

The problems you are having is why I do not buy Dell, Gateway, etc... you are always money ahead to buy a case, non-proprietary motherboard, and whatever components you may need and put it together yourself. If you are not comfortable with that, chances are there is someone who lives near you who enjoys doing this sort of thing for a modest price.

Read reviews about the build quality of every component, choose wisely, and you will end up with something that will last you a lot longer than anything you can buy from a big-volume computer mfg. There isn't a lot of money in designing something to last a long time. They often fail just outside of warranty because that is a lot better for their bottom line than selling something that lasts a great deal longer.

I hope some of this is helpful to you. No more buying mass produced computers.

 

[Showmecables_Jo]

Bios update or re flash i would think is in order.

 

[dpc]

As Beatmatcher247 said, I would run memtest first. It's also possible that the memory might not be seated properly in their slots. If you're using a video card (or any other add-on card) that's not integrated on the motherboard, it may not be seated properly. If you're comfortable with trying this, popping them out and re-seating them may fix your problem.

If the computer is restarting, those could be BIOS beep codes you're hearing. Every motherboard manual I've ever seen will list what these codes mean in a troubleshooting section. Gateway should be able to get this information for you if it's not listed on their website. Another option would be to look for a model on the motherboard and search the web to see if you can find it on the manufacturer's site.

It's definitely possible that it's a faulty driver causing this as GlocksRock suggested. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take a look at the Windows Device Manager to see what hardware you've got, go to the manufacturer's website, find the product support page and download & install the latest drivers. Although they wouldn't likely have the latest drivers, Gateway should have newer drivers than those that came with your system listed all in one place on their site. It would take a bit to hunt down all the drivers for each individual component, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to start with Gateway's site.

 

[modman]

HTPC mystery update (at long last)

Folks, sorry it has been so long since my last post about this problem. Work has been keeping me away from my audio hobby!

When I last communicated about this issue (strange beeping and stuck computer discovered in the mornings), I had taken the good advice of people in this forum and turned off all sleep/hibernate functions on the computer. The next morning -- the beeping was back.

So I reset the computer with nothing connected. Then, I connected each peripheral/cord and waited patiently for at least a week after each connection.

Connected keyboard -- nothing
Connected mouse -- nothing
Connected internet -- nothing

At this point, I was thinking "a-ha! I knew it was a communication error with that 1TB external hard drive!" (the hard drive was to this point unconnected). But I realized that I had not re-connected the HDMI cable. So I did so (hard drive still unconnected)...two mornings later....beeping and frozen PC!!!

So what does that mean? And why is the beeping discovered ONLY in the mornings?

Thanks for your continued help.

 

[jinjuku]

Folks, sorry it has been so long since my last post about this problem. Work has been keeping me away from my audio hobby!

When I last communicated about this issue (strange beeping and stuck computer discovered in the mornings), I had taken the good advice of people in this forum and turned off all sleep/hibernate functions on the computer. The next morning -- the beeping was back.

So I reset the computer with nothing connected. Then, I connected each peripheral/cord and waited patiently for at least a week after each connection.

Connected keyboard -- nothing
Connected mouse -- nothing
Connected internet -- nothing

At this point, I was thinking "a-ha! I knew it was a communication error with that 1TB external hard drive!" (the hard drive was to this point unconnected). But I realized that I had not re-connected the HDMI cable. So I did so (hard drive still unconnected)...two mornings later....beeping and frozen PC!!!

So what does that mean? And why is the beeping discovered ONLY in the mornings?

Thanks for your continued help.

Try a new HDMI cable. Also you can often get a Radeon 64XX series card for around $15-20 after rebate.

 

[jonnythan]

What's the HDMI port plugged into? TV, receiver, soundbar?

 

[modman]

HDMI cord

The HDMI cord is a good quality one...but I guess trying a new one won't hurt. The HDMI port is connected to my receiver.

I'll keep you posted on what happens. But the question remains...why do I discover this beeping only in the morning? Never during the day.

 

[Grador]

The HDMI cord is a good quality one...but I guess trying a new one won't hurt. The HDMI port is connected to my receiver.

I'll keep you posted on what happens. But the question remains...why do I discover this beeping only in the morning? Never during the day.

Is your home cooler in the morning? This is a giant shot in the dark, but I have (once) encountered a temperature dependent hardware failure in the past.

 

[Audioseduction]

Sounds like a driver issue. I would do a fresh install of windows and only install what you need. That way you can get the lastest drivers and you don't have a bunch of other stuff running that you don't need, so there will be less chance of anything conflicting or causing problems.

I would agree.

 

[modman]

Orientation Issue?

I am using this PC in the horizontal orientation...this is possible because the vents are only on one side and the DVD player is orientated vertically when the unit is in its (normal) vertical orientation.

Is it possible that using it in the horizontal orientation is doing this? Gateway's docs don't say that the unit can be used in anything but the vertical orientation...but I am not blocking any vents. My rack is open, and there is plenty of open space on top (main vented side) and sides. I have a spacer that keeps the bottom (unvented) side about 1" off the rack.