kubuntu shuts down by itself whenevr it wants.

[vinpor]

hi, i'm new to kubuntu. have been using it for a few weeks now. the problem is it shuts itself down whenever it feels like. sometime while i'm away and sometimes while i am using it. its really annoying. i don't think its hanging because it actually goes through the whole shutdown procedure with the splash screen and all.

An suggestions on how to fix this anyone?

[kevinc]

Re: kubuntu shuts down by itself whenevr it wants.

Try Kmenu > System Settings > Advanced > Session Manager

Look at all of the options offered and change any that you think will help.

Also look at Kmenu > System Settings > Advanced > Login Manager

There are several tabs including general and shutdown.

Also look at ... Power Management. It may be that you have shutdown selected if your computer is inactive for more than x minutes, rather than hibernate, suspend or do nothing.

[Oceanwatcher]

Re: kubuntu shuts down by itself whenevr it wants.

There is a plasmoid (one of those things you can add to the desktop) that shows temperature. Add it and check the temperature of your PC.

A friends laptop had a problem of shutting down like that. Turned out that the factory had forgotten to remove a patch covering the air intake! So after passing 100 degrees Celcius it shut down automatically

[vinpor]

Re: kubuntu shuts down by itself whenevr it wants.

i took your advice ocean watcher and installed a temperature plasmoid which i was monitoring. i noticed that when my notebook shuts itself down. the temp is around 80c -82c. is that too hot?

[lmilano]

Re: kubuntu shuts down by itself whenevr it wants.

This is extremely hot! Nice catch, Oceanwater! At these temperatures you are expected to have instabilities. Maybe the BIOS sends an ACPI signal to shutdown (as if you pressed the power button) and Kubuntu decide to shutdown. Regardless, you do need to address this. Is this a laptop or desktop?

[vinpor]

Re: kubuntu shuts down by itself whenevr it wants.

its a laptop.
what i have noticed is when i have the laptop resting on say a table or desk the temperature hovers at around 60c-70c. but sometimes i rest it ontop of the couch or bed. this is when it reaches temps above 80c. obviously because the soft material of the couch hinders its ability to breath. i won't be doing that anymore!

[lmilano]

Re: kubuntu shuts down by itself whenevr it wants.

This is still way hot!. Roughly speaking: 50 is warm, 60 hot, 70 too hot, 80 dangerous. Things you can try:

* Open it up if it's easy and spray with an air can. Accumulated dust can isolate the cpu and mobo parts from circulating air.
* Install and run "sudo powertop " in a konsole, and see if it gives hints to reduce power consumption
* See if you can scale back the cpu frequency (I think it can be done, if the BIOS/CPU support it, from the battery monitor and/or Power settings in System Settings.
* See if you can underclock it in the BIOS.
* Do Ctrl+Esc and see if there is a process taking over the CPU constantly

[tomp01]

Re: kubuntu shuts down by itself whenevr it wants.

This is still way hot!. Roughly speaking: 50 is warm, 60 hot, 70 too hot, 80 dangerous. Things you can try:

* Open it up if it's easy and spray with an air can. Accumulated dust can isolate the cpu and mobo parts from circulating air.
* Install and run "sudo powertop " in a konsole, and see if it gives hints to reduce power consumption
* See if you can scale back the cpu frequency (I think it can be done, if the BIOS/CPU support it, from the battery monitor and/or Power settings in System Settings.
* See if you can underclock it in the BIOS.

My God, I had something similar happen to me a while back on a Compaq laptop, you need to be aware that you could easily have cooked your hard disk

[kevinc]

Re: kubuntu shuts down by itself whenevr it wants.

what i have noticed is when i have the laptop resting on say a table or desk the temperature hovers at around 60c-70c. but sometimes i rest it ontop of the couch or bed. this is when it reaches temps above 80c. obviously because the soft material of the couch hinders its ability to breath.

Most, if not all, manufacturers include warnings saying exactly this, that it is important not to block the airflow. Unimpeded ventilation is important. In recent years there is also a perspex stand which elevates laptops to get better circulation and includes fans, all running from a single USB port.

Maybe you could find a suitable tray or something as a base for it when you want to work on the couch or bed?

[eddieg780]

Re: kubuntu shuts down by itself whenevr it wants.

I use something like this when I'm in my bed. http://www.prohoists.com/Shopping.idc?ProductID=73

I believe Best Buy has one with a pillow bottom to rest on your legs as well. Click here http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....ci_sku=9267535

Hope this helps.

[vinpor]

Re: kubuntu shuts down by itself whenevr it wants.

man, i've been trying to access this forum all weekend! i kept getting "service unavailable".

anyways i bought one of those cooling pads from ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....=STRK:MEWNX:IT

it did the trick. laptop stays nice and cool and hasn't shut down on me yet.

The only problem i have now is a strange one. when ever i start playing around with the battery settings my touchpad buttons stop working. i can move the curser around fine and the keyboard works but the touchpad buttons don't work!!! its real annoying. the only way to overcome it is to restart. the computer.

Any suggestions?