I got some old 386 luggables at an auction awhile back, and while pondering what to do with them ran across some spare parts - namely an Asus socket 7 mobo and AMD K6 500 processor. So, I decided to be adventurous and update the machine with some new guts. Added the mobo and processor with a decent heatsink and cooling fan (came from a socket 8 processor), came across some free 72 pin 32MB simms (for a 128MB total) and added a CD drive. The one key thing I didn't replace was the rather unique power supply, which has its own specialized housing designed specifically to fit this case. I had questions about whether it was adequate, but noting the "200 watt DC output" printed on it (the *only* thing printed on it), I decided it might just squeak by. And, it does in fact power the unit ok . . . that is until it's been running for awhile (more than a couple hours or so). After it's been going for a bit, it begins to spontaneously reboot at random intervals. This is not, as you might guess, an operating system reboot (like issuing "reboot" at the command line in Linux), but rather like a power-off power-on cycle. So, it's not really what you'd call ready for mission-critical use.
The question I'd like to pose about it is whether an inadeqate power supply might be the source of the symptoms I'm seeing? I can't totally rule out other hardware failure: I picked up the mobo at a used computer parts place for $6. Maybe someone dumped it because it was acting up like that? But I do want to check other possible problem sources, and the power supply seems like one place to look. That, and the fact that I've come across a newer power supply of the right dimensions to fit in place of the old one - with a little work. But whereas the old power supply says "200 watts DC output," the new one - which came on a brand new computer about 3 years ago - is rated at only 120 watts. It, however, has the full table of output voltages/amerages usually seen on modern power supplies. Can anyone offer some input on this, particularly on whether an inadequate power supply might cause the random rebooting behavior I've been seeing? Thanks, James
