Medion PC wakes up in the night.

[Davren]

Anyone any thoughts on this?

Medion Akoya P4340. MD8840, Intel Core 2 Duo E7400. 1TB S-ATA HD. 4GB SDRAM. Windows 7.

I've had this PC for just over 4 years without any problems (apart from several new mice sent under warranty) but for the last few weeks It "sort of" wakes itself up during the night.

It doesn't fully wake up as though it's come out of sleep or hibernation, but the power button light is cycling on and off at 2-3 second intervals, and at the same frequency the fan starts and stops. For a while, just pressing the power button started it normally, but now it getting more difficult. I have to continually press and release the button for anything up to 15 minutes for it to start.

I usually buy a new one every 3 years so this one is overdue for repacement, but I need it to work for another 2-3 months.
.

 

[Eklipze3k]

It might be set to "Wake on LAN", I didn't realise mine was and if I ever accidentally left my media centre PC on it would keep waking my main PC up to check the network drives.

 

[ChrisUK]

My money is on the power supply unit. It hasn't fully failed yet but probably will by the sounds of it. Nothing you can do about that either other than replace it.

 

[RJS]

As Chris said it sounds like the PSU failing. In the meantime try switching off at the mains overnight - it may help with it starting in the morning and is also safer if the PSU is on the way out.

 

[Davren]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I've tried unplugging a few things over night. First the network cable to see if that was waking it up. Didn't make any difference. Then the external plug in hard drive that sits on top of the PC. That didn't make a difference either.

Never even considered the PSU, I'd assumed that as it worked perfectly for about 16 hours every day once I'd managed to switch it on, the PSU would be OK. I'll try switching the master PSU switch on the back off tonight.
.

 

[Davren]

Switching the PSU off over night didn't work. Immediately I switched it back on this morning, the power button light and the fan started cylcing again. Had to keep pressing the button for about 15 minutes before it started. Once it eventually started, it's working OK.

Would fitting a new PSU stand a "reasonable" chance of fixing it? Obviously I can take the PSU out to test voltages, but as it works OK once switched on, they would probably all show as OK.
.

 

[dombooth]

Replace the PSU would be my next step.

Dom

 

[Eklipze3k]

I'm actually wondering now if it's a dodgy power switch, mine packed up a while back and would only work if it was held in. Swapped it on the board with the reset switch and all worked fine (of course I now don't have a reset switch but no biggie).

 

[Davren]

I'm actually wondering now if it's a dodgy power switch, mine packed up a while back and would only work if it was held in. Swapped it on the board with the reset switch and all worked fine (of course I now don't have a reset switch but no biggie).

Hmmm.... that sounds like the cheaper option to try first. Don't really want to buy a new PSU just for 2-3 months. Doesn't have a reset switch, but 2 bits of wire hanging out the front will do.
.

 

[sludgeguts]

You could always ask on http://medion.adslweb.co.uk/phpbb2/portal.php
It's the Aldi Medion owners forum.

 

[ChrisUK]

You could buy a suitable PSU from ebuyer for about £15-£18 delivered. Doesn't need to be anything special to keep it running for a few month. If I could be bothered with postage i'd send you one for free lol.

 

[Davren]

You could buy a suitable PSU from ebuyer for about £15-£18 delivered. Doesn't need to be anything special to keep it running for a few month. If I could be bothered with postage i'd send you one for free lol.

Ha ha... you're the same as me Chris, I've got loads of stuff here I could probably sell on eBay, but I think, nah, couldn't be bothered wrapping it and taking it to the post office.

 

[Davren]

Just to update, haven't done anything but for the last 4 days it's been working OK. Plans have changed a bit and only need it to last another week now, so I'm not bothering to open it.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.