Mysterious reboots

fivemack · 2016-07-11, 22:50

Twice in the last ten days, I've logged into my compute node 'wheat' to find no jobs running and an uptime of a few hours - it's silently rebooted. Nothing useful appears in the logs in /var/log.

What's the normal cause of this? The machine is just over three years old, does it make sense to replace the power supply?

firejuggler · 2016-07-11, 23:15

heat?

Mark Rose · 2016-07-11, 23:16

What are the last messages in /var/log/syslog before the fresh boot logs?

Power supply is my guess. Is the computer on battery-backup?

bgbeuning · 2016-07-12, 02:17

Toddler in the home that likes to push buttons?

But seriously, I agree with power supply as most likely and cheapest to try.

LaurV · 2016-07-12, 03:24

Dust clogs? (which translates to heat, as asked by the posters above, already).
When was last time you dusted it and re-seat the CPU? (like in "cleaning the cooler of the old paste and adding a new paste").

fivemack · 2016-07-12, 07:23

The computer's not on battery backup. It's in an outbuilding with five other computers and none of the others have glitched in the last five months. Could well be heat, I suppose - it's on a shelf with other computers to the left and right of it. Haven't cleaned it since I bought it three years ago, it's been running in the shed all that time.

henryzz · 2016-07-12, 09:10

I would sling in a spare power supply if you have one. With that many pcs a spare power supply will end up getting used for testing if nothing else. I used to keep a power supply with a noisy dying fan around to check whether the power supply was the problem. My current pc has been through a good few power supplies. The last one got really clogged with dust.
The rest of the pc could probably do with dusting as well.

xilman · 2016-07-12, 10:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by fivemack

Haven't cleaned it since I bought it three years ago, it's been running in the shed all that time.

Spiders and/or mice?

Spiders are common inside unattended computers running outside clean machine rooms; their webs are extremely good at catching dust and hindering airflow. I once found a vacated murine nest inside a machine.

2016-07-11, 22:50	#1
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 1936₁₆ Posts	Mysterious reboots Twice in the last ten days, I've logged into my compute node 'wheat' to find no jobs running and an uptime of a few hours - it's silently rebooted. Nothing useful appears in the logs in /var/log. What's the normal cause of this? The machine is just over three years old, does it make sense to replace the power supply?

2016-07-12, 07:23	#6
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 2·7·461 Posts	The computer's not on battery backup. It's in an outbuilding with five other computers and none of the others have glitched in the last five months. Could well be heat, I suppose - it's on a shelf with other computers to the left and right of it. Haven't cleaned it since I bought it three years ago, it's been running in the shed all that time. Last fiddled with by fivemack on 2016-07-12 at 07:24

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2016-07-11, 23:15	#2
firejuggler "Vincent" Apr 2010 Over the rainbow 5504₈ Posts	heat?

2016-07-11, 23:16	#3
Mark Rose "/X\(‘-‘)/X\" Jan 2013 2³·5·7·11 Posts	What are the last messages in /var/log/syslog before the fresh boot logs? Power supply is my guess. Is the computer on battery-backup?

2016-07-12, 02:17	#4
bgbeuning Dec 2014 377₈ Posts	Toddler in the home that likes to push buttons? But seriously, I agree with power supply as most likely and cheapest to try.

2016-07-12, 03:24	#5
LaurV Romulan Interpreter "name field" Jun 2011 Thailand 24041₈ Posts	Dust clogs? (which translates to heat, as asked by the posters above, already). When was last time you dusted it and re-seat the CPU? (like in "cleaning the cooler of the old paste and adding a new paste").

2016-07-12, 09:10	#7
henryzz Just call me Henry "David" Sep 2007 Liverpool (GMT/BST) 1011110001111₂ Posts	I would sling in a spare power supply if you have one. With that many pcs a spare power supply will end up getting used for testing if nothing else. I used to keep a power supply with a noisy dying fan around to check whether the power supply was the problem. My current pc has been through a good few power supplies. The last one got really clogged with dust. The rest of the pc could probably do with dusting as well.