Defekt energy supply?

[CHAOS30]

Hi everyone,

I have got a strange problem since a while. I searched the internet but couldn't find anything like this.

I hope that someone can help me here.

 

When I play games with my "AC/DC Adapter" and my "NVIDIA GPU", the games crash after some time (5-15min).

In the best case the screen just gets black and I can here the music still playing (but it seems like I can't move) and get acces to my desktop throug STRG+ALT+DELET.

But in the worst case my laptop complety freezes and the music is strangly disorted (sometimes the freezing stops for some secounds but sometimes I get a bluescreen after a while). The effect stanges from game to game.

I tried to set the resolution to the minimum but it dosn't seem to help much, it just crashes a bit later.

I also tried the adapter from a friend (it's exactly the same adapter, just newer) and I had the same problems.

 

The strange thing is that if I play with my battery (which I charged with the same adapter) I can play as long the battery isn't  "empty".

 

 

My specks are:

Laptop:                            Dell XPS l502x

GPU:                                NVIDIA GeForce 540M

AC/DC Adapter output:      19.5V; 6.7A (Model: DA130PE1-00)

Battery output:                 11.1V; 7800mAh/87Wh

(The values are written on the devices and so they could be different to the actual ones)

 

 

I though that booth adapters could be defect but maybe someone had a similar experience and knows what's going on.

English isn't my native language and so I hope that I am somehow understandable and there are probaply a lot of mistakes in my text,

I am sorry for that.

 

[windpl]

It maybe be damaged psu(adapter in case of laptop), or something is overheating. When you are connected with battery - laptop automatic set lowest voltage on whole system. Remove battery, and connect laptop to power line, then set laptop power setting to lowest in system power management - and look if it still lock ups. If yes, then mostly likely psu was damaged, if not then maybe something is overheating or is damaged as well (cpu or gpu)

[CHAOS30]

@windpl

I'm sorry but I don't fully understand what you mean with: " the lowest power setting". Are you talking about the energy saving mod in the power options menu or am I missing something here?

 

Still thanks for the help

[windpl]

@windpl

I'm sorry but I don't fully understand what you mean with: " the lowest power setting". Are you talking about the energy saving mod in the power options menu or am I missing something here?

 

Still thanks for the help

 

Yes, it is easiest way you can also set cpu voltage (in bios) or flash your gpu but honestly that would be overkill. Just set system to power saving and look how it works.

[CHAOS30]

Well, I tested it even with the lowest possible graphic options but it's still the same.

I think that you are right and that the psu is the problem, but because I tested it with even two different psu's it's somehow hard to belive.

Are there any energyflow regulators integrated in laptops which don't interfere with the battery? (Maybe I'm asking to much but maybe someone knows it)

[lidowxxx]

Are you graphic card drivers up to date? It could be a drivers issue, if they are the latest, try to roll back to earlier drivers and see if you still have the problem. Also make sure none of your PC components is overheating, which is commonplace for laptops nowadays, check the temps with softwares like HWmonitor(google it).

[CHAOS30]

Well, at somepoint I lost my mind for some time and formated my hard drive to reinstall everything. Even with the drivers from my backup-cd which did worked in the past I had the same problems. (And at the moment my driver is up-to-date)

I will look into the overheating thing, but if that would be the problem shouldn't it not work at all? (Because everything is fine with my battery)

Thanks again for the advices.

[windpl]

If you set system to energy saving as you said, while on psu and It still lock up then it not overheating issue. As you said it should also overheat on battery because of same settings. It may be adapter or some conductors inside. I think you cant fix it by yourself without having spare parts to fiddle with.

[CHAOS30]

-.- I already expected something like this but I hopped for the best.

Thanks for all the help, I though of build a new tower computer anyway but it's still a shame for my laptop.

 

[windpl]

Give it up to repair. Call service(any other than manufacturer service:P) describe problem and give some hits what you think is wrong and ask for price. It wont be expensive, it could be around 20-40e/p/$ depending where you live and you will have working laptop.

[CHAOS30]

I will probapley try to run my laptop with a modulatable psu und check if it really is just my own psu or the hardware in my laptop.

I will have to buy some connectors online because dell used their own size so it could take a will till I get the chance to test.

I'm going to look into the service thing if the hardware makes the trouble.

[prideslayer]

Almost certainly it's the AC adapter failing. I've seen weird things like this before when they start to wear out and can't supply the needed wattage any more. Things work fine until the power load increases, the supply tries to keep up resulting in an undervoltage, which the laptop simply can't cope with.

[CHAOS30]

I will tell you what it is when I know, it could just take a month or something like that till I can test it.

[LordWabbit]

To test if it's overheating - if you have a fan handy crank it up to full speed, point it at the laptop and lift the laptop so that it will get most of the wind through the ventilation ports (may be a bit awkward) and then play as normal.  If you get to play longer, you are overheating because of fans/heatsinks which have collected too much dust and need to be replaced or cleaned.

[CHAOS30]

@LordWabbit

Thanks for trying to help me, but I already tried that one time and there was no change. I also monitored the temperature direktly trough the sensor.

I also think, like mentioned above, that it is the adapter. So when I get the chance, I will test that.

[sorsharavenwing]

As a hardware/software tech who specialises in laptops, I'm fairly confident when I say that it's not likely a problem with the AC adapter especially given that you tested a second AC adapter and had the same results.  Most likely the problem is with the system board or the video sub-card. I know that Dell has some pretty good built in diagnostics that you can use. If you boot up the system while holding down the FN key or tapping F12 it should boot into the built in diagnostics. Run memory tests as well as tests on the graphics subsystem and system board. And don't just run a single pass, let it run at least ten times through each diagnostic. Usually one pass yields nothing when dealing with a problem that takes time before it crops up.

[CHAOS30]

@sorsharavenwing

Wow, now that is something new. I never heared of these functons but I will give it a try when I can.

The interesting part was, when I tested it with a secound adapter it took a bit longer till it crashed, that is why I thought that I maybe had bad luck and booth were damaged.

But I will try these diagnostic tool for sure. Thanks for this amazing tipp

[CHAOS30]

@sorsharavenwing

It did these tests and it seems that my HDD is damaged in some way, but everthing else was fine.

I can't imagine that the HDD is the problem because it still works with my on-board gpu.

 

So I will have to wait 3 other weeks till I can test the energy supply. I'm gone post again then.

[sorsharavenwing]

Is the system under warranty? Because if it is, Dell should take care of all hardware defects found with it under terms of the warranty. I still think it's very unlikely that the problem is with the power supply. Only because you'd be seeing other issues as well. It's hard to troubleshoot hardware issues like this without seeing the system in question. If I were trying to diagnose the issue with the system, I'd reseat all the components. But if you've never done that, it's a bad idea. And if it's under warranty, it can nullify the warranty.

 

Just odd curiousity, but have you tried to run the game on your friend's laptop? If it works normally, you can easily rule out your power supply, by running the game on that laptop with your power supply. If it doesn't crash, you know your AC adapter is OK. Just a thought.

[airdance]

@sorsharavenwing

It did these tests and it seems that my HDD is damaged in some way, but everthing else was fine.

I can't imagine that the HDD is the problem because it still works with my on-board gpu.

 

So I will have to wait 3 other weeks till I can test the energy supply. I'm gone post again then.

 

Did you check the output of your power supply on a scope?

If you do and you see a "ripple " in the voltage it is definitely the Power supply.  This ripple will cause the components and hardware to mess up especially at high clock speeds.   There is usually a small diode chip often called a bridge which will convert the AC to DC before it gets to the regulation circuitry.  Many things can effect this component such as power outages, and surges.  The component will continue to operate even when it is 75% damaged, but as it fails it causes the rest of the components to "wear out", and can in the long run damage your laptop.

 

[CHAOS30]

@sorsharavenwing

My laptop just had a 1 year warantay and that one expired a long time ago (I think I have my laptop since 3-4 years).

I'm not 100% percent sure what you mean wtih reseat, but some weeks ago (I already had my problems before) I opened my laptop and cleaned it compley of dust. So I also had to "unplug" everything and "put it together" again. (If that is what you mean).

And it won't be posible to check it out on my friends laptop.

 

@airdance

I didn't tried it yet but I will if I can. But I will have to find out how for the beginning.

[sorsharavenwing]

That's exactly what I meant. Reseating is just a tech-nerdie way of saying that you want to take out the components and make sure that when they get put back in they're securely seated in the slot. Bummer about the warranty. That would really make this much easier for you.

 

A multimeter/volt-ohm meter will also show you whether your AC adapter is within normal range if you don't have access to a scope.

[zxcvb999]

Im sorry, where did you get the idea that the issue is definately associated with power suppy? From what ive read in this thread it may be ton of other problems, and - since you experience the issue while running performance heavy software (games) - i would rather bet on some kind of memory leaks, caused even solely by broken system. Problem may be hiding in misbehaving software - have you tried booting a separate system from another hdd or live-cd and stress-testing then? That would most certainly rule out many of the possibilities.

 

Overheating is also rather unlikely since you would definately see the difference in performance just before the crash (micro-stutter from autodownclocked gpu for example or lower framerate). Not to mention noisy fans and stream of hot air on the table ;P

 

EDIT:

sorry, i somehow missed the part of running well on the battery. - -'

But this still could be issue (even more likely) with the system/drivers. I'd dig into that.