[SOLVED] PC shutting off at 30min interval after post, with no error event.

[daskallu]

Hello, I've noticed that my PC started shutting off since the beginning of march 2020. I trsted various things and concluded that it is not PSU related (voltages are stable during log, able to run intensive games as usual), tried various methods of downclocking and reseting the CMOS via battery and also pin.

I tried booting in safe mode and waiting and also just staying in bios menu... But no matter, the PC just shuts off after 30min precisely after first post.

Scouring the internet I found a comment somewhere that said that this is a corrupted BIOS or EC (embedded controller) doing a 30min check, and if that fails, the motherboard shuts off.
I'm also now investigating Intel Management Engine and some reports of it's vulnerabiloties and possible links.

Note: This morning I also tried unplugging the ethernet cable, changing the clock back one year and rebooting in BIOS with a 2019 date. Still, it shut off, and now for some reason, aa soon as windows loads, the mobo shuts USB power off. This is most likely an OS issue, since the mouse, keyboard and bootable flash drives do work before OS load. (I did a chkdsk /r this morning, not sure how that messed it up).

Also note that nothing has changed with the PC, physically, during the past 3 weeks; it's an Asus Z87-K with an i5 4500 or 4550 (can't remember).

Anyway, has anyone experienced this issue or a similar one?
Is there a way to modify the BIOS or disable the check?

Right now, I downloaded this modded bios and will try to flash it tonight, after better understanding it.
https://www.win-raid.com/t4783f44-OFFER-ASUS-Z-K-BIOS-UEFI-v-complete-mod.html

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

So, you've made a couple of assertions in there, that may not be correct. However, firstly lets start at the start. Please list your full PC specs exactly, including exact CPU, GPU, Ram type/quantity, and PSU. Then we can get a fuller picture.

1st assertion: I wouldn't rule out the PSU being the issue. Often, restarts like that point to the PSU, and although the PSU might appear normal voltage wise when monitoring (and what way you are monitoring that) that doesn't rule out that being the issue. Knowing the make and model will help with advice.

2nd assertion: It's very likely it's not an OS issue, but still possible.

With regard to the modded bios, for me, that's a mistake. I would advise not to do the bios upgrade with the modded version. You simply don't know what it will do, and although it very well may work, it's very possible you could brick your mobo altogether! Updating you bios most of the time is not needed. Often the argument is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. However, with modern systems, it's almost essential. Specially with Ryzen based systems, but also Intel. Having your bios up to date will help with compatibility issues and ensure the smooth running of your PC. Introducing a modded bios to that, when trying to diagnose an issue, is not a good idea, but particularly not a good idea regardless, and in general terms.

Although you've said you've done a CMOS clear, it's not clear that you've updated to the latest bios. I'm assuming you did!?

Are all your system drivers, GPU drivers up to date too? Obvious questions, but we need to be clear to troubleshoot.

 

[Mattp2017]

Yea definitely stay away from the modded bios. Have you checked event viewer?

 

[daskallu]

Hey there,

Yea definitely stay away from the modded bios. Have you checked event viewer?

So i checked event viewer at the beginning and i'm only seeing some DistributedCOM errors regarding folder/file permission and an event that states that the previous windows sessions was shut down unexpectadly (this one appears after every windows logon, if previously the PC shut of).

My specs are:
Asus Z87-K with latest bios 1402 (tried v1401 too, same issue)
Intel i5 6570k but this is incorrect, i'm 99% sure. I remember gettign an i5 45xx, in any case a non K version.
2x 8gb Kingston DDR3 1600mhz (the frequency is listed at 0mhz in bios)
PSU is a TechSolo 650W

Last night I installed all the drivers from Asus Support, but the one I couldn't install is Intel ME 10.0.1146, the setup just returns platform not supported. In the bios menu, the ME version is lsited as N/A.
I was then looking for a way to force flash the Intel ME into the bios, but couldn't wrap my head around how to.

I really don't see how this is an OS issue; my only lead was a comment with someone stating that the "BIOS or an EC Embedded controller does a 30min check and if that check fails, the PC is shut off); this is linked to Intel ME which from what I gathered is an independent controller on the motherboard that works togheter with the BIOS one.

 

[daskallu]

Update: I really really think that this is related to the Intel ME and it's embedded controller; either the programmed part is corrupted or the chip itself got faulty.
Looking back at the event logger, the first shut off started on the 6th of march 2020; prior to that I can see events with logged times spamming over 1 hour and no unexpected shut off events.

I have to get the work now, but when I return, I'll make a 20gb partition and install windows 7; maybe the platform not supported is really something to do with windows 10 (the current OS)

 

[Mattp2017]

So i checked event viewer at the beginning and i'm only seeing some DistributedCOM errors regarding folder/file permission and an event that states that the previous windows sessions was shut down unexpectadly (this one appears after every windows logon, if previously the PC shut of).

My specs are:
Asus Z87-K with latest bios 1402 (tried v1401 too, same issue)
Intel i5 6570k but this is incorrect, i'm 99% sure. I remember gettign an i5 45xx, in any case a non K version.
2x 8gb Kingston DDR3 1600mhz (the frequency is listed at 0mhz in bios)
PSU is a TechSolo 650W

Last night I installed all the drivers from Asus Support, but the one I couldn't install is Intel ME 10.0.1146, the setup just returns platform not supported. In the bios menu, the ME version is lsited as N/A.
I was then looking for a way to force flash the Intel ME into the bios, but couldn't wrap my head around how to.

I really don't see how this is an OS issue; my only lead was a comment with someone stating that the "BIOS or an EC Embedded controller does a 30min check and if that check fails, the PC is shut off); this is linked to Intel ME which from what I gathered is an independent controller on the motherboard that works togheter with the BIOS one.

Hmm I remember I used to get random shut downs with that same DistributedCom error on my old system. I had an i7 3770. Is it Event ID 10016? It's not supposed to crash your system and is common from everything I read but I know that was what was causing it. Other people had the same issue if you do a search on that Event ID 10016. All I can say is good luck, it about drove me insane and I never figured out how to fix it. I tried pretty much every fix I found on the web with no luck. As a matter of fact here is a post I made on these forums back in october of 18...... https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/event-id-10016-this-is-driving-me-nuts.3385647/

 

[daskallu]

Update: So I seem to have fixed the problem now (PC has been stable for over two hours now). In the end I rewritten the bios chip completely using a CH341A Mini Programmer and now intel ME version is visible in bios menu and DDR3 frequency is no longer listed at 0mhz (probably some other wierd issues fixed also).

I recommend grabbing one of these https://www.onetransistor.eu/2017/08/ch341a-mini-programmer-schematic.html if anyone else encounters this issue. For me, it was cheaper than getting a new bios chip or sending the old one to a repair shop. The bios reflashing itself is pretty intuitive also.

In the case of Asus, the bios file is a .cap file, so use UEFITool to open the .cap file, "extract the body" and save it as a .rom file (the CH341A flashing software I found could only use .rom or .bin files).