System shutdown on boot: software or hardware?

[Jim Canfield]

Mureika, Jonas wrote:
> Beginning about two weeks ago, I noticed that my Enterprise Server (WS) running on a Dell Dual Processor machine started to spontaneously reboot.  The problem became more frequent, and this morning I discovered that I cannot boot the system to completion.  The machine is still running, but the video signal to the monitor seems to be cut.  I thought this may just be a monitor problem, but I cannot access the machine remotely either.
>
> Has anyone else experienced similar problems?  Does this sound like a software issue that can be fixed with a patch, or a hardware issue?   The machine is almost 3 years old, and has never given me problems in the past.  Any insight would be very much appreciated.
>
> --JRM
>
>
>   
Could be lots of things. Excluding software, I would be looking at 
hardware - particularity the motherboard and fans.

Fans:  Make sure they are running freely and heat sinks are free of dust 
- this can cause overheating.

Motherboard:  Look for swollen or leaking capacitors.  This is the #1 
indicator of MB failure in my experience.  I've seen this a handful of 
times and very bad things can result if you continue to run (if 
possible) a machine with bad caps.

Also, run server diagnostics.  Many manufacturers allow you to test 
hardware from boot disk or utility partition.

Good luck.

Jim