On Tuesday, September 05, 2017 12:46:58 AM Sam Smith wrote: > Well I guess I really spoke too soon.... Just got a random reboot a > minute ago... Pretty much at a loss now. The only thing that hasn't been > replaced now is the CPU, battery, and power adapter. I do have a spare > battery and power adapter. Guess I'll try running with those for a month > or so and see what happens. Though not really sure how either one of > those would make the computer reboot randomly once a month. Laptop is > mounted in a docking station. At least for the last 6 months, every > reboot was while it was docked. But I do remember times last year > sitting at the kitchen table undocked and getting a reboot so I don't > think the docking station is the issue.. But have no idea now :/
I haven't paid much attention to this before today, but, if I had a problem with unexplained reboots, the first area I'd look at is the power supply "chain"--that is, the battery, the connections between the battery and the laptop, power "glitches" to the house,etc. I run a laptop with a known bad battery--if I disconnect the power supply it crashes in seconds. OTOH, if your battery is good, it serves as a (long lived) UPS--you should be able to ride out hours long power glitches. If I had a known good battery, I might try examining the contacts between the battery and the laptop--are they clean / shiny, is the "springy side" still "springy", does the battery fit snugly in the case or is there enough clearance for it to possibly move and break contact with the laptop? I might even try picking up the laptop and reasonably gently shaking it (while running) to see if it reboots. (You don't want to shake it so hard that you damage something else.) If you have a known bad battery, I'd look at the chain from the power outlet through the various cords and contacts on both sides of the power adapter. Try shaking the power adapter. Is the power to your house reliable--is there any chance you've had brief power outages overnight? (In the US, most electric utilities have automatic reclosers on the power line circuit breakers--if they detect a fault they open, then try closing again after a few seconds (in hopes that either the fault has cleared (maybe a shorting tree branch has either blown or burned), away, open again if there is still a fault, again try to reclose, after a few seconds. In most cases, they try this something like 3 times, with a somewhat longer delay before the last retry. Oh wait, you have (presumably known good) spare battery and power adapter--try those.
