[LAPTOP] Thinkpad Yoga X380 turns off completely without warning

[djbridges]

Hi everyone,

Am not sure where to start, but have the above laptop with Kubuntu 20.04 and pretty much every day it crashes. Not like a screen freeze, but it suddenly turns off, no lights, no screen, nothing. As far as I can tell it is random as done it when I am doing different tasks. Is there a log or something I can look for to try get a handle on what is happening?

Sorry for being vague, but no idea where to start.

Thanks in advance!

[oshunluvr]

Usually, random crashes unrelated to what you are doing are hardware related. Often, it's heat. I'd start by monitoring the temps to be sure that's not the cause. To monitor temps, install and configure lm-sensors

Also, if your battery is removable, take it out and clean the connections. When you put it back, be sure it's seated well.

To view logs, the easiest way is to launch KSystemlog. With it, you can review existing logs and even see new info as it's added. However, it's much more likely to be a power or heat issue.

[djbridges]

Thanks Guest for your response. I think it may be something to do with heat, but didn't know where to start. Have now installed lm-sensors and fancontrol and may have found the issue. Here is the last bit of the output from fancontrol:

[FONT=monospace][COLOR=#000000]Found the following PWM controls: [/COLOR]
  hwmon4/pwm1           current value: 0
hwmon4/pwm1 stuck to 0
Manual control mode not supported, skipping hwmon4/pwm1.
There are no usable PWM outputs.[/FONT]

Does this mean that the system is not turning on the fan? If so that is strange as I can hear a fan running on the laptop..... Will keep digging to find out more, but any advice very welcome....

[oshunluvr]

More likely means the sensor is not supported or there isn't one.

Does you BIOS have a hardware monitor in it? Mine does. If it does - boot up when it's totally cold and looks at the temps. Then after using it for 10-20 minutes, reboot to BIOS and check temps again. Then the next time it shuts down - restart it right into BIOS and check a third time.

If it's not the temps, then I'd suspect a power issue - which usually means a crack in the mobo or something like that when we're talking about a laptop. Bad news. You'll probably have to send it in for service. I can't think of a way to monitor the power without specialized tools and cracking the case open.

[djbridges]

Thanks oshunluvr for your helpful suggestions. Unfortunately my BIOS does not have a hardware monitor, but I believe the issue is temperature base as rebooting directly after a crash shows high temps for my CPU cores >85 degrees C. Am now using a mini-fan to try reduce temps and eke out some remaining life.....

[Snowhog]

When was the last time the laptop was properly cleaned; opened up and cleaned of dirt/dust? Dust accumulation is the Achilles Heel of laptops.