CPU Fan Randomly Stops - wont come back on till reboot

zandergray1

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Feb 21, 2015
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I have a relatively new build, details are below.

My CPU fans randomly stop working all together, and will not restart without rebooting. I could use some help figuring this out. This is on a Gigabyte Z97-UD5H board.

In the Bios I have:
CPU fan speed control set to "Normal"
CPU/CPU OPT/System Fail Warning "Enabled"
CPU OPT Fan Speed Control set to "Normal"

I am using Gigabytes SIV (fan controller) and have "smart fan" enabled.

After the system sits idle for some time. I have noticed both CPU fans are idle (not always) and they will not restart unless I reboot.

When this happens I have opened SIV changed fan speed to other settings (max, quiet, etc) but the fans will not restart. I tried to re-calibrate the fans within SIV but they do nothing. Re-calibrating does seem to give a possible clue as windows event logs show this error (only after trying to re-calibrate). I do not see this error in the event logs unless I try to calibrate the fans when they are not working. No other related Windows events are there

Thermal Console Error Summary
System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Unable to find the specified file at Gigabyte.EnvironemntControl.CoolingDevice.Fan.FanControl.ReadCalibrateData(Int32 fanControlIndex, FanSpeedDataCollection& pFanSpeedDatas)
at ThermalConsole.SmartFanWindow.SetupFanLevel(SmartFanLevels fanLevel)

Details:
System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Unable to find the specified file. at Gigabyte.EnvironemntControl.CoolingDevice.Fan.FanControl.ReadCalibrateData(Int32 fanControlIndex, FanSpeedDataCollection& pFanSpeedDatas) at ThermalConsole.SmartFanWindow.SetupFanLevel(SmartFanLevels fanLevel)



Only rebooting gets them started again and they work fine for a day to two, then they symptoms randomly repeat

I have checked the connections, they seem fine, nothing touching the fans.
I did upgrade (ok they look better) the Noctua fans to these Noctua fans (NF-A14 iPPC-3000 PWM), but can rule this out as I had the same issues with the ugly Noctua fans.


System specs here:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card
Case: NZXT Phantom 820 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case with full side window.
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)

Zander





 
Make sure you have the Y-split cable coming off the motherboard - connected to the two low-noise adapters - connected to each fan power cable that came with your fan assembly. If you have this reversed it could cause issues.
 
No Y cables.... 1st fan is in CPU_Fan the 2nd is in CPU_Opt (optional).

When the system is behaving:
the 1st fan never cuts off. It ramps up and down as it should with the load.
the 2nd fan will cut off with low temps and ramp up as load and temps increase

When it stops working:
Both fans are off and neither will respond to load or temps until a reboot.

 
Hmm, I am wondering if both fans don't need to be connected with just that single Y-Split on the CPU_Fan connector. I just looked through the manual and that is what the company suggests. It's worth a try, right?
 
Appreciate the suggestion, but that should not cause an issue.

The 2 different CPU headers should allow for the 2 fans to be controlled independently. Each fan header has a separate power curve in SIV.

I have the CPU_OPT curve set to ramp up the 2nd fan when the CPU temp goes over 50. It works well.... when it works! Im overclocking 4.7Ghz and temps rarely go over 70 when fully stress testing for hours.

I really appreciate the suggestion as I am stumped by this one. I think something else is going on but cant figure it out.... Ive also noticed that I dont get a "warning" when the fans quit, and in the BIOS I have CPU/CPU OPT/System Fail Warning "Enabled". I would think that I should get a notice or something, but there is no warning I can find!

I opened a support ticket with Gigabyte just now... will be interesting to see what kind of support I get. My guess will be something like "re-install windows"

Below is the description from the manual. In my situation both Fan Headers (CPU and CPU_Opt) stop working. Also this issue is very random, sometimes its several days before it happens.

CPU_OPT (Water Cooling CPU Fan Header)
The fan header is 4-pin and possesses a foolproof insertion design. When connecting a fan cable, be sure to connect it in the correct orientation (the black connector wire is the ground wire). The speed control function requires the use of a fan with fan speed control design.


And from the BIOS settings page:

CPU OPT Fan Speed Control (CPU_OPT Connector)
Allows you to determine whether to enable the fan speed control function and adjust the fan speed.
Normal Allows the fan to run at different speeds according to the CPU temperature. You can adjust the fan speed with System Information Viewer based on your system requirements. (Default)
Silent Allows the fan to run at slow speeds.
Manual Allows you to control the fan speed under the Slope PWM item.
Full Speed Allows the fan to run at full speeds
 
Well, sometimes the simplest answer may be the right one😉 This is the game we all play!

That cooler does have a massive hunk of cooling fins on it. What do your temps read without the fans running? Be that thing does a great job at just passively cooling when not under load. Maybe you can get them to send you an entirely new board! Have you filed a ticket with Noctua by chance? Might be worthwhile.
 
Without the fans running I haven't done much for fear that I might cook something. But web surfing, opening SIV, simple stuff temps are cool low 30's with a light load. Some spikes in the low 40's.

would be afraid to try something stressful, and hoping that doesn't happen. Its so unpredictable. I keep looking in the case to see if the fans are working.

 
No Bios update but found a long thread disucssing a lot if issues with SIV and Gigabytes App Center.

Page 6 has the suggestion below as a fix:

I noticed that thermald.exe was not started so I created a new startup task as suggested in Plan B.

Hopefully this was the issue and solves my problem............ will give it a day or so and keep checking to see if its working.


Here are the steps suggested:

1) Purge all Gigabyte apps from your PC. Remove the apps first, then the App Center. Make sure "Gigabyte" doesn't exist in your "Program Files" folders anymore, then reboot.
2) Go to Gigabyte's website, search for your motherboard, and download the App Center and SIV ZIP files available under "Utilities" there. Install them and reboot once again.
3) Open up the App Center, and click "Live Update".
4) Check everything, click "Update", wait, and reboot when it is done.
5) Open up the App Center once again, click the gear icon at the top-right, and uncheck "Always run on next reboot", now reboot yet again.

Verify that your fan settings get applied when you start your PC & log in. I like to use a profile that shuts the fans off at low temperatures, that way, you can easily tell whether or not it is applying. If it is applying, yay! You can stop here. If it isn't applying, continue on.

Plan B!
1b) Open up Task Scheduler, and make a new, non-basic task. Name it whatever you like, I chose "thermald". Be sure to check off "Run with highest privileges".
2b) Click the "Triggers" tab, click "New...", begin the task "At startup", and click "OK".
3b) Click the "Actions" tab, click "New...", set it to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Gigabyte\SIV\thermald.exe", or wherever else your thermald.exe might be, click "OK", "OK" and exit Task Scheduler.
4b) Reboot, yet again, verifying that fan control is working.
 
latest attempt to resolve....

I have removed all gigabyte apps (SIV, appcenter etc), so just the bios should be controlling the fans.

Let it run like that for a while and still the cpu fans cut off and will not come back on.

I did notice yesterday that it seems to be related to sleep mode. Seems it happens after the computer enters sleep mode. It doesnt happen every time but only happens after the computer comes out of sleep mode.

Zander

 


Did you ever get this issue solved I've been having the same issue for 6 months or more and have tried everything I can think of to fix including clean install of windows with and without any gigabyte programs installed and the problem persists I even told my computer to never sleep thinking something similar as you did it seemed to be happening when coming out of sleep while I was at work all day but even now with it running 24/7 anytime I let it idle for a few hours and check my fans have stopped spinning and will not come back no matter what I do until a restart. I have a similar fear as to overheating something and have seen my temps get into the 90's when I started gaming and didnt notice they had stopped spinning. I'm tired of having to restart anytime I sit down at my computer before I can use it. If you ever came up with a solution I would love to hear about it.