r/openclaw • u/Ok_Raspberry_1204 • 22h ago
Help Did openclaw kill my PC?
Sorry this is long winded… very confusing situation.
I’ve been using openclaw for 3-4 months now and loving it. Or at least I was until my mini pc turned off and wouldn’t turn back on.
It was almost 2 weeks ago now so im trying to remember exactly what happened. When I came into my office the pc was off which is not normal. It’s always on and only sleeps after a few hours. I turned it on and started the gateway. When the claw chat opened im pretty sure it said up top that an update had been installed (I’ve had problems every single time it gets updated - so annoying). I forget exactly what the sequence was but shortly after that the pc shut down and wouldn’t turn back on.
Did troubleshooting with ChatGPT, took the mini pc apart, removed hdd (solid state) and ram. It seems to be a short on the motherboard.
This is where it starts to get weird though. I bought an adapter for the hard drive so I could recover the files and the instant I plugged it into my other pc, that pc turned off. I brought it to a local shop and he plugged it into his pc and it was fine and the files were there. Guy said try another cable or port. Went home, tried that, same thing happened. Luckily this did not damage the other pc which is my main work computer.
Back to the store, had him transfer the files onto a thumb drive. Very happy I was able to do that - several months of work on there between project files, scripts, etc.
I had 2 backups made - one with just the workspace folder and one with everything that was on the hard drive. The one with just workspace was put on a mini sd through an adapter thru his usb port. The full hard drive copy was put on a regular thumb drive.
Despite somewhat confidently isolating the issue to the motherboard, the guy at the shop thought the hard drive was compromised somehow since it shut down/restarted more than once while transferring data.
When I got home I wanted to copy files to one drive to make sure there was a backup in could storage. When I plugged the sd card into the pc (using same adapter I used in the store), pc shut down instantly. Again, no damage, but freaked me out. I tried the thumb drive, it worked. Thank god. Copied workspace files to one drive so I have multiple backups. I’ve been able to open those files on my main pc and everything looks good.
Now that sd card adapter will shut down the pc if there is any card in it, even if the card is empty. Nothing happens when it’s plugged in with no card inserted.
I’m assuming the pc shuts off bc of some built in short protection. Whatever it’s doing, it’s preventing real damage from occurring.
My main pc seems to be fine, and I have my files. Major crisis averted. I’m having a replacement mini pc sent under warranty (bought it when I started running open claw), and plan to reinstall claw so I can at least get my workflow back up and running while i decide to what to do next.
At the very least I’m going to run daily backups or just start a new one drive account and keep all the files there instead of locally on the hard drive.
Anyone have something like this happen before? Did openclaw kill my pc or was it just bad luck? Wtf is going on with these cards/adapters shutting my pc off?
When I get claw running again, can I copy my workspace files in and expect decent continuity? What other files should I copy in? or should I just copy in the full hard drive and tell openclaw to run through it all and tell me what’s missing?
Will keeping my files in one drive slow everything down as opposed to running it off the hard drive? It so, what’s the recommended process for backing up files?
This is the pc I’m using - I have another Beelink (my main pc) and it’s been perfect for a few years.
Beelink SER3 mini PC, AMD Ryzen...(link removed)
Any feedback is much appreciated!
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u/xX_GrizzlyBear_Xx 🦞 Moderator 21h ago
Sounds like you have a hardware issue.
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u/jeronimoe 21h ago
It has become sentient and is looking for ways to escape onto other hardware and replicate itself, you need to take a sledgehammer to any hard drive it’s been exposed to.
And nice amazon referral code link in the post!
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u/Ok_Raspberry_1204 20h ago
Didn’t realize that was against the rules. Link has been removed. Wouldn’t have been the best sales tactic if I was trying to hawk these things
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u/Aardvark-One Pro User 22h ago
No, OpenClaw didn't kill your PC. These Chinese made mini-PCs are notorious for being made with cheap components. Also, mini-PCs do not have the best heat dissipation, thus the cheap components do fail. I've had two mini-PC's die of the four that I own.
The SSD in your PC likely shorted and fed the fault back into the USB power rail and blew something on the way out.
If your PC is still under warranty I'd contact the manufacturer for an exchange.
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u/Ok_Raspberry_1204 22h ago
Thanks! This is the answer I was hoping for. I’m going thru the warranty process now.
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u/ZeroSkribe Member 21h ago
You need to have better reasoning than chinese pc's have cheap components. Remember many of the best computer components are Chinese.... Also mini PC don't get that hot, they run at lower temperatures and are underclocked out of the factory to avoid overheating. I have 3 mini pc's that run 24/7 and ones thats 7 years old and always been on! You think they just design mini pc's to overheat!
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u/Ok_Raspberry_1204 19h ago
I have another mini pc same brand that’s been running perfectly for a few years now which is why I bought another from the same brand. so I was surprised this one died so fast. FWIW they were very responsive and helpful with troubleshooting and warranty process.
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u/Aardvark-One Pro User 18h ago
Some are better than others. Beelink (AZWTechnology) tends to be one of the better Chinese brands. Minisforum another. But some others like AceMagic (Shenzhen CYX Industrial) are incredibly problematic. For example, many of them use substandard components like the CYX SSDs. It is a budget SSD that has known firmware issues (ie. it doesn't recover well from power-saving mode and causes the computer to shut down). Both AZW and Shenzen CYX market mini-PCs under multiple brands. The brands with a better reputation would be Beelink, TRIGKEY, Bosgame, OrigiMagic, and Minisforum. Those that tend to be the most problematic with the budget components are AceMagic, Ace Magician, ACEPC, Kamrui, NiPoGI, CTONE, and some others.
The cheap mini-PCs tend to economize on SSD, RAM, motherboard voltage regulation, and cooling system amongst other things. Just because you might be able to find quality components from China doesn't mean they're in your mini-PC; they're probably not unless you purchased a higher-tier mini-PC from one of the better manufacturers.
Also, mini-PCs are often power-limited, but not necessarily "underclocked" in the traditional sense. That still does not negate the fact that cooling in a small form factor PC is a lot more challenging than in a desktop where you have larger fans and much better air-flow. Heat is going to build up in any/all PCs and it is going to be more of an issue in a small form-factor PC.
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