PC does not (re)boot

[Luigi01]

Not an Ubuntu problem, but I just wonder if anyone has a suggestion.

My computer stops booting more and more often, in a rather strange way:

sometimes at start-up, sometimes when rebooting, the boot process stops even before the POST-checks are done - My monitor will only show a "no signal" message, and although the computer is powered (fans running), nothing happens until I turn the power off/on.

Now I noticed the other day that whenever this happens (so the computer hangs during reboot) the PS-fan-speed all of a sudden seems to increase - ?? I have a dual boot system - XP and Kubuntu - so at a certain point I choose to reboot, most of the time to change from OS; the first OS shuts down, and the screen turns black; now when I at this point hear the fan speed increase I know I'm in for a power cycle. At one point I thought that the problem only occurred when the last ran OS was XP, but it appears not so anymore - unfortunately now also Kubuntu has the same problem.

I myself thought the problem to be in the Mobo at first, but I am beginning to wonder now - could it be the power supply? I did check the different voltages with a voltmeter, which seemed to be ok, maybe the oscilloscope could shine some more light on this. Just wonder what could be wrong with a power supply when a computer stops like mine does.

Anyone who could offer a suggestion of where the fault could be??

[Fintan]

Re: PC does not (re)boot

Could you give some specs on your machine? As many as possible.

I am no expert on this but someone here can help if we know what we are up against

[Luigi01]

Re: PC does not (re)boot

Ok, here we go:

- first of all, it is a very standard computer, nothing fancy
- motherboard Foxconn 761GXK8MC, BIOS AWARD version 2.2 (for as far as I know the last version,
recently updated); info at the following link:
http://www.foxconnchannel.com/produc...=en-us0000136#
- processor AMD Sempron 3000+ socket 754@ 1800 MHz
- video: since I also had a problem with the graphics card (AGP), which frequently jumped to the basic
640x480 setting, I removed it, and am now running on the on-board video driver: SiS Mirage Graphics,
128 MB mem, refresh 60 Hz, 1280x1024 max, 32 bits
- memory: 2x 512 MB
- LAN connected through a hard wired connection on the motherboard (WIFI card available, but not
used) - so this is the only inserted card
- only added is a build in memory card reader, and an extern USB hub (4 ports)

So, this is about it. During reboot last night I noticed that the PS-fan speed briefly increases, but then again slows down after which the boot process continues (all takes less then a second) - so of course this is when all goes well. Hope someone has an idea.

[Fintan]

Re: PC does not (re)boot

Well first off there seems to be a problem with your video card and *ubuntu:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=691458

Part of your problem could be a x.org issue.

For the rest I would wait for the hardware guys

sorry I can't be of more use

[Luigi01]

Re: PC does not (re)boot

The graphics problem mainly occurred in XP though.

Interesting though, I recently was changing some parameters in Kubuntu, including the monitor type (using the 'system' menu in KDE). Now I did not change any screen settings like refresh rate/pixels or so, but as soon as I rebooted the screen went haywire: I got 4 columns, 4 mouse pointers, etc.

So what do you do when you're stuck? Of course went straight to this forum, searched for display issues, found 2 solutions (reconfigure, and the location of the xorg file); back on my computer, went for the file, noticed that the wonderful OS first made a backup of the old file before changing the working version, so copied the backup into the working version and was back on line in minutes!
Which made me wonder, are there more config files of which it would be handy to make an occasional backup to be able to fall back on in case of an emergency (like the operator fooling around with all sorts of settings)?

[Fintan]

Re: PC does not (re)boot

There tons of config files in Kubuntu.
Most are in /etc. Others are in /home/username/./kde and otherfilesrefixed with a ./.
./means they are hidden so you will have to activate "show hidden files" in Konqueror/dolphin->view.

It is always a good idea to have a backup of your /home/username and some /etc files like x11/xorg.config, /etc/fstab (your partition listing with permissions) and others.

[nukedathlonman]

Re: PC does not (re)boot

My lpatop is an Acer 5002WLMi and has virtually the same video adapter.

There is no Open GL support or DRI support if you want to run Beryl or Compiz. Worse still, the shared graphics memory can lead into some very odd issues unless configured very meticulously. Worse still, SiS support stinks badly due to complete and total non-existant manufacturer support - they say they'd supply the drivers, and instead Thomas Winishhofer had to slave away on makeing a driver that they point to (******)...

However, with a good amount of patenice and using the information from Thomas Winischhofer's website ( http://www.winischhofer.eu/linuxsispart1.shtml ), these intergrated chipsets aren't completly hopeless to use in Linux - they are just rather pokey and limited. They are surprisingly flexable (I'd like to add here "Great work Thomas!"). Later today I can post my xorg config if you think it would help - just keep in mind I'm useing Thomas's Linux frame buffer driver and most likely will not work for you out of the box (took me a good week of playing to get it dialed in perfectly a long time ago).