Gateway DX4300

[mgrant41705]

i have a gateway DX4300 with a 300w psu, ATI RADEON hd 4650, 8 gb ddr2, 1 tb hdd. it constantly shuts down with provocation. the lights remain on in the tower and the fans run slowly but i get no response from the tower and it refuses to shut down manually with the power button. this machine is only four months old. can anyone tell me what the is wrong with this PC?

 

[o1die]

I would send it in under warranty.

 

[kie2326]

I am having the exact same problem and have sent it in three times to the authorized reair center in Temple Texas. The repair center replaced the hard drive and reloaded the operating system and it is still shutting down. The last time it was sent in, they sent it back refusing to repair it unless I paid 200 dollars the replace the bottom of the case due to a dent {very small cosmetic dent} I am sending it in to a local repair place today and see what they say, will post back the answer I get.

 

[mgrant41705]

thank you please let me know what they say. It was my fault for getting a gateway, a mistake i will never make again.

 

[mgrant41705]

I have yet to send mine in at all because i need it for school and i want to find a solution that deosn't require loosing my comp for three weeks. plus they want me to pay for the shipping on a five month old computer that was obviously not built to live out it's warranty. I have been poking around and there is alot of errors in the event log concerning the harddrive and the ati card i think that one of the two or a combo might be causing it. the errors involve failed access to the harddisk by the ATI radeon programs.

 

[shovenose]

sounds like driver or hard drive problems...what version of windwos are you using?

 

[mgrant41705]

I agree with the hard drive issue and gateway will fix it for free aside from shipping. all of the drivers are up to date and i scan for virus' nightly. my friend also said sounds like a hard drive issue becuase of the errors. I run windows vista and to tell the truth i turn off the widows aero garbage and turned off all of the other windows graphics and i haven't had a problem since; but i fear that i have only alleviated the symptoms and not fixed the problem. I am going to send it in and see. i am just so pissed that gateway sucks at making computers and their customer service sucks too; being bad at both is just asinine.

 

[jlscabs]

I agree with the hard drive issue and gateway will fix it for free aside from shipping. all of the drivers are up to date and i scan for virus' nightly. my friend also said sounds like a hard drive issue becuase of the errors. I run windows vista and to tell the truth i turn off the widows aero garbage and turned off all of the other windows graphics and i haven't had a problem since; but i fear that i have only alleviated the symptoms and not fixed the problem. I am going to send it in and see. i am just so pissed that gateway sucks at making computers and their customer service sucks too; being bad at both is just asinine.

Are you still having this problem? I have been having the exact same issue - I run Win 7 professional. Interestingly, the problem occurred while I was running memtest86+ (which runs from a boot cd prior to loading Windows), so I am pretty sure the problem is not in the software or the drivers. I had a long talk this morning with a 2nd-level tech at Gateway, who gave me a couple of other things to try before I send it back. My guess is it's either something in the power supply or video card. I'm going to try running on the video on the mainboard and remove the ATI card... Pretty frustrating

 

[jlscabs]

I am having the exact same problem and have sent it in three times to the authorized reair center in Temple Texas. The repair center replaced the hard drive and reloaded the operating system and it is still shutting down. The last time it was sent in, they sent it back refusing to repair it unless I paid 200 dollars the replace the bottom of the case due to a dent {very small cosmetic dent} I am sending it in to a local repair place today and see what they say, will post back the answer I get.

Did you ever get this resolved? I'm having the same issue, and I'm struggling to narrow it down...

 

[kie2326]

Yes, it is running fine now.
I replaced the power supply with a 600 watt. I also upgraded the video card while I was in there with a Radeon 5770.... {figured it would run games better for my son} Been up and running for three weeks striaght.

 

[jlscabs]

Thanks so much - testing a new PSU is my next step. It's nice to know it worked for you. I noticed several people have had this issue, and many others have suggested it is woefully underpowered with a 300 watt PSU. So you would think Gateway by now has gathered this information and realized what their mistake was. Unfortunately, not so. The first level techs have a very limited script they are working from (in addition to working in a second language), and the 2nd level tech, who was much less inflexible, was nevertheless completely in the dark because Gateway doesn't collect data on the performance of their models and make it available to the techs.

My chat session with the first level tech was particularly frustrating, because it seemed that he was ignoring everything I said. You may be able to relate - here's an excerpt:

...Larry Sturm says:
the black screen occurs randomly after that. sometimes after 1 hour, sometimes after 6 or 7 hours. Sometimes when only Msoft Excel is running, other times with no programs running. As I said - it also happened when Windows was not running - I booted from a cd using memtest86+, and it happened then too
Larry Sturm says:
it is a hardware issue
GWSI1199 says:
Alright.
GWSI1199 says:
Please check in the safe mode by pressing the F8 button.
Larry Sturm says:
I'm typing to you on the machine in question - I cannot go into safe mode right now
GWSI1199 says:
Alright.
GWSI1199 says:
We will perform a recovery to fix this issue.
Larry Sturm says:
How do you know that will work?
GWSI1199 says:
We will provide you the link to perform the recovery.
GWSI1199 says:
It will definitely work as the computer will be restored back to factory settings.
GWSI1199 says:
Please do take a back up before you perform the recovery.
GWSI1199 sent a link to .[http://support.gateway.com/s/software/microsof/Vista/7515910/7515910su4.shtml]
Larry Sturm says:
I think we're missing something here. restoring the SOFTWARE to factory settings will not fix the problem. It happens independent of Windows
Larry Sturm says:
Plus - the link you gave me is for Vista. Please - have you been reading what I am typing?
GWSI1199 says:
Yes this will resolve the issue and please dont worry.
GWSI1199 says:
May I know the operating system you have in your computer?
Larry Sturm says:
I can't help but worry. You haven't told me what is causing the issue, and I have seen evidence that others tried the same thing, and it DID NOT WORK
GWSI1199 says:
This issue may be due to the corrupted operating system.
GWSI1199 says:
We need to perform the recovery as it would get the computer to factory settings.
Larry Sturm says:
No - that is definately NOT the case. I tested that by booting the machine using memtest86+. Which means that Windows 7 - the operating system - was never running. And yet the problem still occurred
GWSI1199 says:
Please perform the recovery as it would definitely resolve the issue.
Larry Sturm says:
I would like to escalate this issue please.
Larry Sturm says:
Are you there? What do I need to do to go the the next level of technical support?
GWSI1199 says:
Please dont worry Larry and please try the recovery.

 

[kie2326]

Yea, it seems doomed when talking to the first level guys, all they do is go through a fishbone analysis and do what the computer tells them instead of putting a little thought in the problem. I did talk to one 2nd level guy that has suggested the power supply might be the issue.
So far I have replaced the motherboard with an in-kind from another computer, replaced the hard drive and operating system{windows 7 now} power supply and graphics card. The only thing original is the DVD and the case. I am pretty close to buying a cooler master HAF 932, transferring the guts over to it, and sending the old Gateway case back to Gateway along with a copy of the complaint filed with the Texas attorney general. {Just a little personal satisfaction}
Give the power supply a try and let us know in case it was just luck on my end.

I was reading the conversation you had with the 1st level tech, and you are right about it not being the operating system. They tried to get me to do the same thing saying "it may be a corrupt operating system" They didn't know what to say when I told them I had unpacked the computer 20 minutes earlier directly form their repair center and it wasn't even connected to the internet yet!!!! And they had replaced the hard drive and reloaded the operating system.
From now on, I will build my own {learned quite a bit about computers from this adventure}

 

[jlscabs]

It wasn't just luck - it was the power supply. I should have put 2 & 2 together when it crashed during standby mode too. I replaced it with a 500W PSU, and not only have the crashes stopped, the temps are all down 5-10 degrees C as a result of the large fan in the PSU.

Corporate culture never ceases to amaze me. I know the market is competitive, and margins are razor thin. But this "me too" behavior of the PC manufacturers (Gateway, HP, Dell, etc) - where they seem to place the highest premium on price - has led to the manufacture of computers that are buggy, break WAY too soon, and are looked at as commodities. My last - and I do mean LAST - HP laptop died in only 18 months because the heat generated by the CPU eventually fried the wlan card and then the mb. Did HP stand behind it like they do their printers? No, because ink is what drives that model. There is no ink cash-cow when they sell a laptop.

And take the DX4300 we bought. Nice case, decent specs, decent performance. Price was fine. But it is always the little things that truly define a customer experience, and in this case one of the "littlest" things was the power supply. Seriously, 300W is too small for a system like this, and the one that was included is inadequate on every level. So we paid, what, around $700? Even if they pass the cost on to us, what would it add to the price to put in a PSU that would do the job adequately for 3-5 years? $20-30 tops. I would have paid that in a heartbeat. What would our impression of Gateway have been? Would we be likely to buy again? And to recommend Gateway to friends who would have no idea how to build their own system? Was the savings in PSU cost worth creating a bad customer experience? Or are they so jaded that they assume that all their competitors are building the same boxes of crap too? There is a reason that Apple customers are willing to pay more, and it starts with the little things...

I bought this system for the convenience, and I trusted that the components were selected with some care. (I've built my own before - it is fun, but it takes time.) My mistake - the Gateway of today is not the Gateway from whom I bought my first mail-order computer 20 or so years ago.

Good luck with your complaint, and thanks for helping me figure out the problem with my DX4300.

 

[kie2326]

Glad to hear it worked out for you. Hope these posts can help a few others get thier DX's up and running. It's a bit too much money to just throw away or keep replacing things. I think I'm about 1200 or so into this one, and not finished with it. Every time I see the Gateway on the case, it kinda jabs at me. {new case ordered off ebay last night}

Anyway, again, glad its up and working for you!

 

[curtisj1]

It wasn't just luck - it was the power supply. I should have put 2 & 2 together when it crashed during standby mode too. I replaced it with a 500W PSU, and not only have the crashes stopped, the temps are all down 5-10 degrees C as a result of the large fan in the PSU.

Corporate culture never ceases to amaze me. I know the market is competitive, and margins are razor thin. But this "me too" behavior of the PC manufacturers (Gateway, HP, Dell, etc) - where they seem to place the highest premium on price - has led to the manufacture of computers that are buggy, break WAY too soon, and are looked at as commodities. My last - and I do mean LAST - HP laptop died in only 18 months because the heat generated by the CPU eventually fried the wlan card and then the mb. Did HP stand behind it like they do their printers? No, because ink is what drives that model. There is no ink cash-cow when they sell a laptop.

And take the DX4300 we bought. Nice case, decent specs, decent performance. Price was fine. But it is always the little things that truly define a customer experience, and in this case one of the "littlest" things was the power supply. Seriously, 300W is too small for a system like this, and the one that was included is inadequate on every level. So we paid, what, around $700? Even if they pass the cost on to us, what would it add to the price to put in a PSU that would do the job adequately for 3-5 years? $20-30 tops. I would have paid that in a heartbeat. What would our impression of Gateway have been? Would we be likely to buy again? And to recommend Gateway to friends who would have no idea how to build their own system? Was the savings in PSU cost worth creating a bad customer experience? Or are they so jaded that they assume that all their competitors are building the same boxes of crap too? There is a reason that Apple customers are willing to pay more, and it starts with the little things...

I bought this system for the convenience, and I trusted that the components were selected with some care. (I've built my own before - it is fun, but it takes time.) My mistake - the Gateway of today is not the Gateway from whom I bought my first mail-order computer 20 or so years ago.

Good luck with your complaint, and thanks for helping me figure out the problem with my DX4300.

I'm assuming the only place to get the 500W PSU is from Gateway itself?

 

[newport]

Exact same problem here. Glad I found this post, will definitely try swapping out the PSU. Gateway support is totally worthless and they really should monitor this kind of stuff. If the problem is the PSU I'd much rather be told that I need to replace the one in my less-than-one-year-old machine at my own expense -- but at least know the problem -- than to waste days and days trying to track down the culprit.

 

[Guest]

I had the same problem. The power supply is defective and should be replaced.

 

[newport]

I'd posted my results in another forum and forgot to put them here. I picked up a 500 watt PSU from MicroCenter for around $70. Put that in and ... never a problem since. It's been running for about a month now continuously. Thanks to all of you for figuring it out and pointing me in the right direction -- power supply never would have occurred to me in a million years.

 

[kscott05va]

I am having the same problem with my DX4300. It got to the point my system only stayed on for about 20 minutes at a time. Thanks to you guys I went out and got a 600W PSU and now my system is doing fine. I think I will build from scratch in the future.

 

[flcoonass]

I am having the same problem, I need to upgrade the PSU but I don't know which one to get. This is what I have now FSP300-60THA and I want to upgrade to at lease a 500 watt, what do I have to look for to make sure it will work with my Gateway DX4300?

 

[buckeye_chad]

i have a gateway DX4300 with a 300w psu, ATI RADEON hd 4650, 8 gb ddr2, 1 tb hdd. it constantly shuts down with provocation. the lights remain on in the tower and the fans run slowly but i get no response from the tower and it refuses to shut down manually with the power button. this machine is only four months old. can anyone tell me what the is wrong with this PC?

I made the mistake of buying the exact same PC. Never again will I make the same mistake. I bought it because it was a reputable name and my uncle has gateway and no issues at all. Plus, it was 659.00, lol. I bought a new video card and that did not help, so tomorrow my uncle is taking me to microcenter to get a new power supply...I'll keep you all posted if it works, and as well if it doesn't.

 

[gtwayuser]

I have the same Gateway DX4300 with the same problem. Took it to Best Buy Geek Squad and they said it was the motherboard. I did some online research found this site and decided to change the power supply first. Changed to a 480 watt power supply and problem has gone away. Thanks so much for the info, much better than diagnostics at BB.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey