Sam spontaneously hard-resetting :( [SOLVED]

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great news Chris ..you should update the thread title to resolved now...btw, ya resistors would also do the trick..the important thing is keeping the rpms of the fan low to reduce noise..heck I have one directly on mySam440 cpu too

@ChrisH Quote:
After transporting my Sam440, the problem reappeared again, even with both fans active, so it doesn't seem to have been directly due to overheating.

After some more fiddling it looks suspiciously like it may have been a slightly loose RAM module... except that last time I had the problem I thought I'd tried reseating it (but perhaps not well enough?).

So more testing to do...

@ChrisH

Trust me Chris you can only do good to your Sam by adding some ventitlation to it so just reduce the power to the fans to slow them down a bit as previously mentioned and it should drastically reduce any noise..

as for the loose ram, this is very possible afetr moving the machine but I would also check all connections to the MB now that you ahve the case off and re-set any cards you have in your Sam as well

@328gts

This is really scary. I've been moving all my PCs around a good bit but never had any problems with RAM modules or any other parts becoming loose. I thought the build quality of the SAM was originally meant for the INDUSTRIAL market, and I'd expect the build quality to be in line with its purpose and price.

Knock on wood, my SAM has been running fine and stable for a year now. But hearing such user experience, I'll think twice about taking it to Amiga parties. This machine has to stay

@trixie Quote:
Don't be! I was moving my Sam440 frequently (on a monthly basis) to the ANT club meeting, without problems for over a year. It's only recently I started getting this problem, which co-incided with me dismantling it to fit the Sam's backplate.

Does that mean you won't fit a backplate now?!?

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I don't see what build quality has to do with it! All plug-in cards can come loose, whether they be PCI, RAM, or whatever. It can take time, but eventually heating+cooling cycles + vibration + perhaps poor installation can lead to stuff coming loose in ANY machine. And I have seen in happen in quite a few PCs.

If anything, my experience so far just says that you need to be very careful when dismantling & putting your system back together.

@ChrisH

I've recently suffered similar issues. I?m afraid that problem appears after I?ve got the Uptade2 installed?.
Yesterday I?ve got two hard resets on OS4 startup (after the kickstart load) and another one when downloading stuff from the OS4Depot. After that it was stable for
But I?ve got additional symptom: from time to time Ringho constantly displays error that the hub USB ?can?t initialize a device?.

@Radov

Oh dear - as I mentioned in this thread http://www.amigans.net/modules/newbb/ ... t_id=50988#forumpost50988 my SAM440ep got really sick and was sent back to ACube - and guess what kind of errors I saw in UBoot and on Workbench/Rhingio?

And, btw, the problems started shortly after installing Update 1 AND the backplate - but I can't really see, how this should trigger such errors...

But all of this maybe really by a total coincidence - as it has been said already: Knock on wood! I still would say: Cool your SAMs - it can't be a bad idea, even if it might not be necessary.

EDIT: typo

@ChrisH

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Fitted already

Looks like I finally found the REAL cause of the problem (nothing to do with the Sam440 itself!) :

The spontaneous hard-resetting problem recently reappeared, not long after I transported my tiny Sam440 in my backpack (!). Reseating the RAM module didn't help, so I tried a few other things that previously seemed to help, and finally fixed it again.

Looks like the problem is down the tiny case I modified to fit my Sam440. Because my Sam440 is an old model where the PSU cable comes out the side (why on earth ACube did this I do not know), I had to move the PSU inside my tiny case. This meant it was only held by one screw, and so could pivot a bit. Although I had put masking tape on the bottom to prevent any shorts, it appears it still managed to do that occasionally somehow, if it had moved (pivoted). As a temporary measure I just moved the PSU back to where it should be ("unpivoting" it).

EDIT: After taking a closer look, I discovered a piece of a tiny metal wire stuck to the masking tape under the PSU :( . That could certainly cause a short (and hence make the PSU go bananas) but I hate to think how it got there in the first place.

@ChrisH

So we were all right in the first place! It was the power supply all along!

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well, not really, it was short at the PS but not the PS itself..anyhow good news that you fianlly found the cause of the problem