the random shut off: a gothic tale of mystery and intrigue

[bradley]

i have  this wierd problem with my computer, it shuts off randomly. i
have sent a bug report in and we have tested some things  but i feel
that i have gone beyond the support that they provide, so i will bring
this to our group.

here are the details:

1. no oopes or panics in the kernel log (it is a long list but i am
pretty sure)
2. it doesn't seem to shut off if i'm not running in a graphic mode
(i've had to re-install breezy and i lost graphics for some time while
setting up the nvidia card) 
or when watching a dvd
3. it does shut off if i don't use it for a while-- if it has been in
screensaver mode for a couple minutes 
or sometimes the CPU is being fully (100%) used for a period of time
(whether or not i am running large applications or not)
and potentially it just shuts off sometimes
4. i installed a 'CPU temperature applet' and last night it was up to
about 80C (then i shut it off (even right now it is at 64C and the fan
isn't on (--i looked at some webpages that suggested intel chips could
go up to 85C)
i don't often hear the fan on.
5. it didn't shut off a couple of weeks ago when i was running XP but it
did it in breezy and now in dapper.
6. my computer is a toshiba satellite 5200 (notebook)
7. the person responding to my bug report said that it could be a heat
issue, a memory issue, or a video card issue (they all seem reasonable
to me)

there is definately a (good) chance that this is purely a hardware issue
--but i think that hardware and software interact at so many points that
i would like to explore that more before accepting it as hardware fate.

i would be happy to recieve any general advice, or where and how to
toggle these settings. if anyone has questions about my system please
ask.

well, thanks for reading this whole thing

bradley.