Omen 16 restarts unexpectedly while playing game or browsing on web.

[tsanith]

Hello. I recently acquired an Omen 16 laptop in November 2023. Since then, I've increasingly encountered a problem during July 2024: the screen will suddenly go black while the laptop is in use, without actually turning off. It shows a completely black screen for a brief moment, no more than a second or two, before the system immediately restarts, displaying the Omen logo followed by the lock screen. This issue occurs most frequently during intensive tasks such as gaming, but it has also occurred just after startup, while browsing the internet, using a chat client, and editing documents in both a standard word processor and an IDE. The computer does not overheat before or during these restarts, and the fans rarely spin faster than normal afterward. In the Event Viewer, two errors are consistently logged at the time of the sudden restart: EventLog Event ID 6008, indicating an unexpected system shutdown at a time when the computer was functioning normally, and Kernel-Power Event ID 41, stating that the system rebooted without a clean shutdown. The details always show a BugcheckCode of 0, BugcheckParameterX values of 0x0, and a PowerButtonTimestamp of 0. I have tried done hardware diagnostics and troubleshooting many times, but it says everything is fine. I also tried turning fast boot off, but it seemed to not work. 

[Nal_NR]

Hi @tsanith,

Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

I'd be glad to help you! 

It sounds frustrating to have these unexpected restarts interrupt your work and gaming.

I have a few questions here to assist you better.

• When you conducted the hardware diagnostics, did you also check if the GPU or RAM showed any errors?
• Have you noticed if the issue happens when using a specific power source (battery vs. plugged-in) or with certain applications open?
• Has your system gone through any recent updates, like BIOS, drivers, or Windows updates, that might coincide with when the problem started?

In the meantime let's try these steps.

Check for BIOS & Driver Updates: Go to the HP Support site to see if there are any BIOS, GPU, or chipset updates for your model. Sometimes updates address compatibility issues that can cause random restarts.

Update or Roll Back Graphics Drivers: Try updating your graphics driver to the latest version from the HP website or the GPU manufacturer’s site. If it’s already updated, consider rolling back to a previous version if the issue was introduced with a newer update.

Adjust Power Settings: In the Windows Control Panel, go to Power Options and set your power plan to High Performance.

 Then, go to Advanced Power Settings and ensure options like PCI Express - Link State Power Management and Processor Power Management are set to maximum performance.

Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure: This will prevent the system from auto-restarting on errors, potentially showing you a blue screen or error message that can give more insight. Go to System Properties > Advanced System Settings > Startup and Recovery and uncheck “Automatically restart.” This will allow error codes to appear, which might help pinpoint the issue.

Run a Clean Boot: Sometimes third-party software can interfere with system stability. Run a clean boot by going to System Configuration (msconfig), selecting Selective Startup, and disabling all non-Microsoft services under Services. Restart and test if the system still restarts unexpectedly, which could indicate that software conflicts are involved.

These steps should help us determine if the issue is hardware-related or if there are software conflicts at play. Please let me know if you observe any changes or new error messages along the way!

Please mark this post as “Accepted Solution” if the issue is resolved and if you feel this reply was helpful click “Yes”.

[tsanith]

• When you conducted the hardware diagnostics, did you also check if the GPU or RAM showed any errors? I did check for CPU and RAM problems, conducting CPU stress tests and other tests, and it showed nothing out of the ordinary. It always said I had nothing wrong when I conducted these diagnostics so I do not know what the issue is.
• Have you noticed if the issue happens when using a specific power source (battery vs. plugged-in) or with certain applications open? I always have my laptop plugged-in when gaming and doing other tasks. With applications, I sometimes only have one game open and it still restarts unexpectedly. I also allow my laptop to vent so it shouldn't be an overheating problem.
• Has your system gone through any recent updates, like BIOS, drivers, or Windows updates, that might coincide with when the problem started? I always check for recent updates and have the latest window updates. I also updated my BIOS to the newest at 08-02-2024, but the problem still persists after and before the update. The problem started around June 2024 and the updates didn't help with the random restarts.

[tsanith]

I have done the steps listed below and I have the latest BIOS and windows update, adjusted my power settings, disabled automatic restart, ran a clean boot, and updated drivers to the latest one. However, I was recently on Youtube and it restarted unexpectedly. I testing it three times just to make sure and it restarted at all times. I did not stress my CPU too much for it to overheat, so I do not know what the cause of the restart was.

[Nal_NR · Accepted solution]

Hi @tsanith ,

We apologize for the inconvenience. The issue seems to persist even after attempting the troubleshooting steps mentioned above.

This might require one-on-one interaction via remote assistance to fix the issue. 

I've sent you a private message with further instructions. In order to access your private messages, click the private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Support Community profile, next to your profile Name or simply click on this link.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution button, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!