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What would you do to troubleshoot this?

Booting my system requires unlocking the drive (OPAL SED w/PBA), then restarting. If the computer (more specifically the drive) loses power during the restart, the drive is locked again, meaning I have to enter the password again. I get stuck on this loop at least four times these days. Eventually, it always works, but I fear it's getting worse.

All of the hardware is 6-7 years old, but high end. I've never once noticed the platinum power supply turning on its fan, and I've never smelled anything like a burnt capacitor out of it. With how reliably everything else works, I can't imagine there being a serious motherboard fault either.

Perhaps a year ago, I did a thorough cleaning, wiping down non-electronic surfaces and using compressed air in some places. I hadn't used the system much since - I'm a remote worker preferring to use my laptop. The COVID-19 situation has left me at home constantly, so I found myself wanting to use the more powerful desktop, meaning I really started to notice the problem.

One theory so far: something is worn out, or damaged by icy compressed air, and some electronic junction needs to get hot in order to carry current reliably. The multiple restarts may be leaving time for it to warm up. This sounds far fetched, but it's all I've got.

thatthatisis
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    Is this computer owned by your employer, or your personal drive? If it's your company's computer you must bring this to their attention. If it's your own computer, there are too many possible places this fault could be and you should either begin replacing hardware yourself until you identify the faulty components, or take it to a qualified computer technician to diagnose and resolve. – music2myear May 24 '20 at 16:27
  • First, try boot your build with *other drive* and check out if your OS is able to startup seamlessly. Second, try your *PSU* in other build and check out if it works. That way we could know if there are some problem either in the *driver* or in the *PSU* or if they work very well. – Jorge Luiz May 24 '20 at 16:27
  • It's mine, despite being used for work, and it's the only desktop system and PSU here. I'll just leave it alone until it outright fails before resorting to replacing bits and hoping they were broken. I suppose I just hoped someone had an idea I hadn't thought of. I'm certain it's not to do with the drive since this is about what happens after the reset signal is sent. It's likely the mobo or psu in my eyes. – thatthatisis May 24 '20 at 16:36
  • It could be useful if you manage to get through to run a stress test like Prime95. During boot, the PC temporarily can use quite a bit of power, and this will also be the same during a stress test. If it's the PSU, I'm quite sure this must trigger a shutdown as well. It's never a 100% sure when you can't test it, but if this works to initiate a shutdown, I would just order a new PSU. – BramMooij Jun 08 '20 at 11:38

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