Incomplete shutdown on some LTSP clients (shutdown hangs/freezes)

Thu Aug 30 10:07:35 UTC 2012

John Hupp,

I have the exact same problem, I often have tot urn my Lubuntu PC off as it does not shut down completely. It was also doing this when I was using Ubuntu Unity 12.04.

I just wanted to say that I have the same problem and I am glad this is being brought up,

Daniel McGuire

Subject: Re: Incomplete shutdown on some LTSP clients (shutdown hangs/freezes)
From: Aere at Dvorak-Keyboards.com
To: lubuntu at prpcompany.com
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:34:47 -0600
CC: lubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com

All:

I have an HP-Vectra (450 megahertz) machine that doesn't power-down as part of the shut-down process.  

It has been that way for a number of Linux releases (I don't remember when it started happening). 

 I have it on a power-strip, and when it gets to a certain point in the shut-down process (there is an audible queue) I turn off the power-strip.  

This problem is not specific to Lubuntu.  It is the same for Ubuntu-Studio, and Xubuntu.

I don't know if this is the same problem as is being addressed in this e-mail thread or not.  

The system boots okay when the power-strip is turned back on.  

- Aere

On Wed, 2012-08-29 at 14:13 -0400, John Hupp wrote:

    I'll add here that when I posted this problem on the LTSP list, here was one reply from someone else having the same problem, but noting that it worked in 11.10:

    "I second this.  I'm using LTSP on the server version of Ubuntu 12.04. With 11.10, the machines shut off, but not now.  They will reboot just fine.  It happens at least with HP Z210's.  We recently upgraded and I can't recall if it happens on other machines (and hate to interrupt anyone to turn them off)."

    On 8/27/2012 2:20 PM, John Hupp wrote:

        In reply to my post about this issue on the LTSP mail list, Alkis Georgopoulos referenced that bug report (which he first reported) in reference to my comment about the inelegant and tedious need to click Shutdown 3 times on an LTSP client (not in reference to the shutdown hang).  Excerpt from that reply:
ME: On the Edubuntu network, all clients have to invoke Shutdown from the desktop and from the login screen.  After choosing Shutdown from the desktop (and then presenting a dialog for Shutdown or Restart), it drops back to the login screen, and there one chooses Preferences: Shutdown.  [Very tedious, but that's not my real interest in this post.  And as a footnote, the server shuts down cleanly after the two clicks on the desktop.]
ALKIS: I reported that problem in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-session/+bug/491940, you can comment there if you want.

So if that bug report does not concern the hung-shutdown problem (I couldn't tell from reading the bug report), then there no patch -- not even a very old one -- to test.

-------------------

But in reference to the shutdown hang, he replied:
ME: One other behavior that was of interest to me but that I did not thoroughly document was that even on machines where Shutdown hangs, it
seems generally to be the case that Restart does not hang.  The machine proceeds smoothly to POST and reboot.
ALKIS: The "machine does not power off" problem is related to acpi/kernel. You can verify that it isn't related to ltsp by booting the client with a CD
or usb stick. You can report that upstream to the kernel, see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/kernel for instructions.

        I confirmed that it is not an LTSP issue by booting one of the affected client machines with a Live CD.  Probably due to very low-spec hardware, I didn't have a working pointer to use the Lubuntu Quit button, but Alt-F2: "sudo halt" and Alt-F2: "sudo shutdown -h now" both resulted in the machine shutdown hung at a text screen with the last line being "System halted."

        So yes, he regards it as an Ubuntu problem, specifically ACPI-related.  I looked at the link for reporting upstream to the kernel, but the First Step instructions didn't seem to apply very well to me as a non-programmer.  I did, however, send an email reporting my findings to Len Brown, the listed ACPI maintainer.  That was this morning and I haven't heard from him yet.

        ----------------

        I would be happy to play around with the BIOS Power Management settings on the affected clients if I had some good ideas about what to change.

        Does it still make sense to go to the trouble of setting up Kubuntu?

        On 8/27/2012 12:06 PM, Nicholas Skaggs wrote:

            Hmm, my first thought was that this appears to be perhaps some ACPI interaction, specific to the bios of each pc. You might be able to change some settings in the bios's on the pc to produce the intended results.

            Reading the bug, perhaps there is something wrong on the software side here. Since the bug is marked as being in gnome-session, can you try and see if it affects you if you don't run gnome session? For instance, does kubuntu exhibit this behavior? 

            Short-term you could get a package with the patch in it and test that. Longer term, helping get a fix in is of course best. I would likely open a new bug for this after you've narrowed the cause of what's going on.

            Nicholas

            On 08/25/2012 04:11 PM, Phill Whiteside wrote:

                Hi John, 

                it was marked as a "will not fix" [1]. This seems completely stupid to me, as the ltsp team agreed the fix.

                @ nicholas, can you chase this up? ltsp [2] have simply wished me luck to get the bug fixed..... It appears that people do not consider it a task worth doing?.... wtf...

                Regards,

                Phill.

                1. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-session/+bug/491940

                2. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP/

                On 25 August 2012 20:03, Phill Whiteside <PhillW at ubuntu.com> wrote:

                    Hi John, 

                    I've asked on the ltsp team. I do not think it is a lubuntu issue, nor an edubuntu one, but a generic issue.

                    I have cc'd this to the guy who looks after general QA, I'm sure that he will chase it up for you.

                    For your information LTSP are at [1].

                    Regards,

                    Phill.

                    1. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP/

                    On 25 August 2012 19:31, John Hupp <lubuntu at prpcompany.com> wrote:

                        On my Lubuntu and Edubuntu 12.04 LTSP test networks, I find that some clients do not shut down completely.

                        On the Lubuntu network, one eMachine client stops at a black-and-white text screen that says:

                            Ubuntu 12.04

                            .... * Asking all remaining processes to terminate ...

                            [255.161402] SysRq : Power off

                            [255.173722] Power down.

                                                                                              [OK]

                            [255.280060[ SysRq : Power Off

                            [255.280220] Power down.

                            * All processes ended within 1 seconds ....    [OK]

                        A simple press of the power button does not turn off the machine at that point.  I have to press and hold it 5 seconds or so.

                        Also on the Lubuntu network, an HP stops at the same screen, but a simple press of the power button turns it off.

                        A Dell on the Lubuntu networks shuts off cleanly and completely within a few seconds.

                        ---------------------

                        On the Edubuntu network, all clients have to invoke Shutdown from the desktop and from the login screen.  After choosing Shutdown from the desktop (and then presenting a dialog for Shutdown or Restart), it drops back to the login screen, and there one chooses Preferences: Shutdown.  [Very tedious, but that's not my real interest in this post.  And as a footnote, the server shuts down cleanly after the two clicks on the desktop.

                        But regarding specific client machine behavior on the Edubuntu network, the above eMachine hangs at a black screen after Preferences: Shutdown from the login screen.  I forgot to make a note of whether a simple press of the power button shuts it off from here, or whether a press-and-hold was required as it was on the Lubuntu net.

                        The above HP hangs at a white screen after Preferences: Shutdown from the login screen.  A simple press of the power button shuts it off from here.

                        The above Dell shuts down cleanly after Preferences: Shutdown from the login screen.

                        ---------------------

                        One other behavior that was of interest to me but that I did not thoroughly document was that even on machines where Shutdown hangs, it seems generally to be the case that Restart does not hang.  The machine proceeds smoothly to POST and reboot.

                        ---------------------

                        So I am wondering if I can get all the clients to shut down cleanly via the interface Shutdown commands.

                        If not, is there a script that will produce a clean shutdown?

                        Or failing that, can I insert a splash screen at the end of the shutdown process something like Windows 95/98 used on machines where it could not execute a complete shutdown automatically?  (The screen said something like "It is now safe to turn off your computer.")

                        Speaking of Windows 95/98's shutdown process, I recall that the issue had to do with power management drivers not fully supporting the hardware on some motherboards, or not finding the hardware that power management did fully support.  But beyond that, it was possible to not-install/uninstall/disable power management on machines that did support full shutdown, then install/reinstall/re-enable power management but not recover the ability to do a full shutdown.  So it wasn't always just a question of supported hardware.

                        Also regarding Win 9x, that splash screen may have been an integrated part of all shutdowns.  I recall seeing it flash on-screen for a split second even on machines that were on their way to a full automatic shutdown.

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Sincerely,
Aere

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