Random reboots on Aspire TC-865-NESelecti5, could the power supply be the cause?

snoogins34 · February 27

Sorry up front for the long post!

A friend of mine was in the market for a new PC back in 2018 - something not too expensive and good for basic internet browsing, email, and MS Office productivity work for his small business. I ended up recommending the Aspire TC-865-NESelecti5 at the time (Core i5-8400, 8GB, on-board graphics). We had it shipped to me initially to do the OOTB setup, basic installs, etc.

At the time, it had some issues with crashing/rebooting if left idle, and I saw some others having the same issue where they worked around it by turning off hibernation in the power profile, so I did the same and it seemed to do the trick. I delivered it to him, set it up, and thought we were good to go.

About a year ago, he told me that they've been having problems with it rebooting on its own while they are in the middle of working - sometimes multiple times a day. Not crashing - no BSOD's or anything like that - just rebooting. I tried troubleshooting it remotely, but that was difficult so a few weeks ago I picked it up from him and set it up at my place. I grabbed their 27" monitor as well to help duplicate their setup.

When I tried to recreate it, I was only able to get it to happen once over the course of a week. I tried "stressing" the machine by playing multiple videos at once while copying files off USB and optical discs at the same time - it had no issue, other than that one isolated incident. I had it set up on my dining room table, so it was out in the open and well ventilated. I had my friend send me pics of where the machine was kept at their place, and I could see that ventilation might be an issue. So, my next test was to move it into my office under my desk where my other towers are. It's a little warmer there with all the equipment, and I placed it so there was about 2" of clearance on the left side where the side venting is on the chassis. Not terrible, but intentionally not great either.

Now, I can replicate the issue fairly easily with about 10-15 minutes of use. I've noticed things like hovering over YouTube videos to get the video preview to play is especially effective in getting it to reboot. There is nothing in the Event Viewer other than the Kernel and EventLog entries that happen when a machine reboots unexpectedly - no indication that anything is throwing a fault. If I leave the machine idle, it doesn't happen at all - I left it untouched for the last 5-6 days prior to testing again today, and it never rebooted during that time. Even when it happens, there's no obvious signs of overheating - the chassis isn't warm, the internal fan isn't kicking into another gear, etc.

Since it seems like the machine is just power-cycling, my thoughts turn to the power supply. I had a power supply tester, so I hooked it up to the Acer PSU and everything looked OK as I expected. I bought an after-market 480W replacement one from KDM on eBay, but I didn't want to replace it unless I thought it was really the problem since it's not my machine.
Based on my description of the problem, what do you all think? I know stock PSU's on lower-end PC's can be underpowered at times. I've replaced a few PSU's in my time, but I'm not some master hardware guy either, so looking for some other opinions.

Thank you!

StevenGen · February 27

Random reboots on Aspire TC-865-NESelecti5, could the power supply be the cause?

snoogins34

Feb 27, 2025

Sorry up front for the long post!

A friend of mine was in the market for a new PC back in 2018 - something not too expensive and good for basic internet browsing, email, and MS Office productivity work for his small business. I ended up recommending the Aspire TC-865-NESelecti5 at the time (Core i5-8400, 8GB, on-board graphics). We had it shipped to me initially to do the OOTB setup, basic installs, etc.

At the time, it had some issues with crashing/rebooting if left idle, and I saw some others having the same issue where they worked around it by turning off hibernation in the power profile, so I did the same and it seemed to do the trick. I delivered it to him, set it up, and thought we were good to go.

About a year ago, he told me that they've been having problems with it rebooting on its own while they are in the middle of working - sometimes multiple times a day. Not crashing - no BSOD's or anything like that - just rebooting. I tried troubleshooting it remotely, but that was difficult so a few weeks ago I picked it up from him and set it up at my place. I grabbed their 27" monitor as well to help duplicate their setup.

When I tried to recreate it, I was only able to get it to happen once over the course of a week. I tried "stressing" the machine by playing multiple videos at once while copying files off USB and optical discs at the same time - it had no issue, other than that one isolated incident. I had it set up on my dining room table, so it was out in the open and well ventilated. I had my friend send me pics of where the machine was kept at their place, and I could see that ventilation might be an issue. So, my next test was to move it into my office under my desk where my other towers are. It's a little warmer there with all the equipment, and I placed it so there was about 2" of clearance on the left side where the side venting is on the chassis. Not terrible, but intentionally not great either.

Now, I can replicate the issue fairly easily with about 10-15 minutes of use. I've noticed things like hovering over YouTube videos to get the video preview to play is especially effective in getting it to reboot. There is nothing in the Event Viewer other than the Kernel and EventLog entries that happen when a machine reboots unexpectedly - no indication that anything is throwing a fault. If I leave the machine idle, it doesn't happen at all - I left it untouched for the last 5-6 days prior to testing again today, and it never rebooted during that time. Even when it happens, there's no obvious signs of overheating - the chassis isn't warm, the internal fan isn't kicking into another gear, etc.

Since it seems like the machine is just power-cycling, my thoughts turn to the power supply. I had a power supply tester, so I hooked it up to the Acer PSU and everything looked OK as I expected. I bought an after-market 480W replacement one from KDM on eBay, but I didn't want to replace it unless I thought it was really the problem since it's not my machine.
Based on my description of the problem, what do you all think? I know stock PSU's on lower-end PC's can be underpowered at times. I've replaced a few PSU's in my time, but I'm not some master hardware guy either, so looking for some other opinions.

Thank you!

Has this TC-865 desktop got the last bios 2020/07/17 version R01-C3 installed and all the Win-10 updates to February 25, 2025—KB5052077 (OS Build 19045.5555) Preview, as that is an important update that this desktop should have.

Those symptoms seem to be from the mobo EC chip that could be on its way out as its freezing, do a hard reset by disconnecting the main power lead, take ram out and then the bios battery out and CLEAR_CMOS (see caption below), leave the desktop like that 1 hour (preferably overnight) afterwards reconnect every components and see if this resets the EC, chipset chip and bios chips. If not then it could be a heating with the cpu or an issue with the mobo that needs diagnosing by a technician. Hope this helps you out.

CLEAR_CMOS for the TC-865

If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

snoogins34 · February 27

StevenGen

Feb 27, 2025

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/721555/random-reboots-on-aspire-tc-865-neselecti5-could-the-power-supply-be-the-cause
Has this TC-865 desktop got the last bios 2020/07/17 version R01-C3 installed and all the Win-10 updates to February 25, 2025—KB5052077 (OS Build 19045.5555) Preview, as that is an important update that this desktop should have.
Those symptoms seem to be from the mobo EC chip that could be on its way out as its freezing, do a hard reset by disconnecting the main power lead, take ram out and then the bios battery out and CLEAR_CMOS (see caption below), leave the desktop like that 1 hour (preferably overnight) afterwards reconnect every components and see if this resets the EC, chipset chip and bios chips. If not then it could be a heating with the cpu or an issue with the mobo that needs diagnosing by a technician. Hope this helps you out.
CLEAR_CMOS for the TC-865
https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/MG7M0T6596HL/image.png
If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

Thank you for the detailed response!

As far as BIOS updates, no - this was something I was going to do once I felt I was past this issue, because if there was some sort of issue with the PSU, I didn't want it to power-cycle while the BIOS updates were being flashed. I will go through this process, and if I feel better about its stability after that, I'll definitely do this - unless you think I should have an updated BIOS before I clear the CMOS. FYI - it's on BIOS revision R01-B4, so definitely needs an update.

Win10 is up to date. I was going to move it to Win11, but like above I wanted to have confidence that it would not power-cycle halfway through.

Again, I work with hardware just enough to be dangerous, so I want to make sure I understand your instructions:
1) By the "main power lead" on the mobo, I'm assuming you mean the 24-pin power connector? I can leave the 4-pin (6? can't remember) CPU power lead plugged in?
2) On that CLEAR_CMOS DIP switch, I'm assuming I should flip it all the way to "3"? Seems weird to me that "2" can mean either "NORMAL" or "CLEAR"

Thanks again - I will try this and report back.

StevenGen · February 27

snoogins34

Feb 27, 2025

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1328617#Comment_1328617
Thank you for the detailed response!
As far as BIOS updates, no - this was something I was going to do once I felt I was past this issue, because if there was some sort of issue with the PSU, I didn't want it to power-cycle while the BIOS updates were being flashed. I will go through this process, and if I feel better about its stability after that, I'll definitely do this - unless you think I should have an updated BIOS before I clear the CMOS. FYI - it's on BIOS revision R01-B4, so definitely needs an update.
Win10 is up to date. I was going to move it to Win11, but like above I wanted to have confidence that it would not power-cycle halfway through.
Again, I work with hardware just enough to be dangerous, so I want to make sure I understand your instructions:
1) By the "main power lead" on the mobo, I'm assuming you mean the 24-pin power connector? I can leave the 4-pin (6? can't remember) CPU power lead plugged in?
2) On that CLEAR_CMOS DIP switch, I'm assuming I should flip it all the way to "3"? Seems weird to me that "2" can mean either "NORMAL" or "CLEAR"
Thanks again - I will try this and report back.

To do the hard reset first take the main power cord out of the mains power plug, then Clear the CMOS by changing the prong to pins 2-3 as that clears the CMOS, then take bios battery out to reset the bios chip, this is all you need to do, afterwards and when you reboot the desktop, press DELETE to get into the bios and go to EXIT and "load bios defaults" before you boot into the OS.

Afterwards, update the bios to the last version R01-C3, as the TC-865 current bios R01-B4 has had allot of bios updates to its cpu microcode, ME and performance enhancements.

If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

snoogins34 · February 28

StevenGen

Feb 27, 2025

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1328655#Comment_1328655
To do the hard reset first take the main power cord out of the mains power plug, then Clear the CMOS by changing the prong to pins 2-3 as that clears the CMOS, then take bios battery out to reset the bios chip, this is all you need to do, afterwards and when you reboot the desktop, press DELETE to get into the bios and go to EXIT and "load bios defaults" before you boot into the OS.
Afterwards, update the bios to the last version R01-C3, as the TC-865 current bios R01-B4 has had allot of bios updates to its cpu microcode, ME and performance enhancements.
If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

Oh boy - I guess I was overthinking it a bit with the "main power lead" reference <facepalm>.

Thanks for the clarification - I'll be doing this tonight/this weekend and will report back on how it all goes.

Thanks again!

billsey · March 1

Also, run a utility that shows you the CPU temp while running. If the temp gets over 100C the system will shut down… Not as likely as a PSU issue when it gets hot, but still quite possible.

snoogins34 · March 2

An update on my Aspire TC-865 issue…

I went through the process outlined by @StevenGen - took out the RAM sticks, the BIOS battery, and moved the CLEAR_CMOS jumper over to pins 2&3 (see attached photo). I left it like this overnight Fri-Sat, and then put everything back together yesterday - put the jumper back to its original position, replaced the RAM & battery etc. I tested it back in its spot under my office desk, and was able to crash it again fairly quickly. The test plan I've been using to get it to crash/reboot is pretty simple:
- Go to YouTube in Chrome
- Watch any video (no issue)
- Go back to YT's home page
- Find another video and hover over it to start the video/CC preview
Doing this, I can crash it after hovering over 2-3 videos for a few seconds each.

Since that process to reset the CMOS didn't work, I moved it back to the dining room table where it is much better ventilated, and it hasn't changed the frequency of the issue, so the temp/ventilation aspect was probably a red herring. It even crashed once last night while it was sitting idle and I wasn't even home.

To @billsey 's point, I did install CoreTemp and had it running while going through the above tests, and there's no indication the CPU is heating up at all - everything is in the 30-40 degree range when it happens.

I've also applied the latest Acer firmware update package that was being served up through Windows Update, and that updated the BIOS to R01-C3. That didn't fix the issue either, as I was able to crash it again after that. Note that I did go into the BIOS and did a "Load Default Settings" after the BIOS update and before my latest tests.

The only thing I haven't done from an updating standpoint is to move to Win11, but I don't have any indication that would help, but I suppose I could try. Barring that, does anyone have any other ideas, or do we think that there is a real motherboard issue here that needs professional diagnosis?

Larryodie · March 2

Possibly Hard Drive

Axxo · March 3

Generally speaking, this is most likely a hardware failure of your computer, but there are still some other options we can employ to gradually narrow down where the problem lies.

Here are some ways to prevent your computer from restarting automatically

Turn off automatic restart

1 Right-click Start and select Settings

2 Click System>About

3 Click Advanced System Settings

4 Click the Advanced tab and click the Settings button under the Startup and Recovery option.

5 Uncheck Automatically restart in System failure.

Turn off Fast Startup

1 Search for Control Panel in the taskbar

2 Click Hardware and Sound>Power Options

3 Click Choose what the power buttons do

4 Find Turn on fast startup (recommended) and uncheck it.

In addition, a faulty RAM may also cause your computer to restart automatically, please refer to the following steps to check the RAM

Tap Windows+R, type MdSched and tap Enter to open the Memory Diagnostic Tool.

Tap Restart Now and check the problem

Follow the prompts to check, wait for it to complete, and check the report to see if there is any problem detected.

If some hardware in your computer (such as CPU or GPU) is overheating may also cause your computer to restart automatically, please use some third-party software or tools to check the temperature of the hardware inside your computer to see if some of them are too hot.

————————————————————-

If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful.

billsey · March 4

Can you get it to crash without using YouTube, or does it only happen with the scenario you listed?

snoogins34 · March 5

@Axxo - thank you for the steps to try. I turned off those options and went through the memory test, but it came back showing no errors. However, I ordered some extra RAM anyway, and I think I'm going to try swapping out 1 stick at a time (it's a 2x4GB config) to see if that still might be the issue. I don't think heat is a factor, as I've run CoreTemp a few times during tests, and honestly the machine isn't running long enough to even get hot. CoreTemp shows normal temps (well below 100) when the reboots happen.

@billsey - no, it's fairly random, but that set of steps seems to be a good test because I can get to crash fairly quickly that way. However, it happened right after the restart post-RAM test tonight, and another time just a little while ago bringing up Edge but before I could put in the Acer Support URL to head there. I'm confirming these are unexpected reboots by checking the Event Log and filtering on just "Eventlog" entries since each one generates an Error entry from EventLog saying that the reboot was unexpected.

Next step is swapping RAM, and then I might bite the bullet and replace the power supply. It could be the drive, I suppose, but the fact that there are no read/write errors being generated in the Event Log makes this unlikely to me.