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From: dave@westmark.WESTMARK.COM (Dave Levenson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: AT clone spontaneously reboots
Message-ID: <1023@westmark.WESTMARK.COM>
Date: 22 Sep 90 03:48:39 GMT
References: <4209@husc6.harvard.edu>
Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA
Lines: 25

In article <4209@husc6.harvard.edu>, waldman2@husc4.HARVARD.EDU (Bruce Waldman) writes:
> A problem recently developed in my 4-yr old AT clone, after I added
> a second 40mb hard disk.  (I am not sure if this is related, however).
> The machine spontaneously reboots while running a program, or even
> if just left idling.  This happened to me twice when I was trying to
> load a new software package yesterday, although as I said, it even
> occurs if I leave the machine running idle, or as a dumb terminal.

This is most-likely caused by the second hard disk overloading your
power supply.  The supply generates a power-good signal to the
motherboard.  If the supply is operated at its capacity or beyond,
this signal may occasionally drop, which normally forces a hard
reset and a cold boot of the PC.

You can probably replace your power supply for about $50.  Get one
rated at least 150 Watts, if you're running two hard disks.  If
you've got most of your expansion slots filled, or if you're using
other hungry peripherals, consider a 200-watt supply -- probably
priced about $75.

-- 
Dave Levenson			Voice: 908 647 0900  Fax: 908 647 6857
Westmark, Inc.			UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
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[The Man in the Mooney]		AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave