STRANGE SHUT DOWNS

[Maurice Murphy]

Hi Peter and Simon,

Thank you for your thoughts.  You've given me some homework for tomorrow!

I have actually filed a bug report as well, as I wanted to clarify 
whether this was not an intentional action to prevent strangers from 
snooping in the absence of the owner.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again, Maurice

Peter Whittaker wrote:
> On Sun, 2007-01-04 at 19:10 -0400, Maurice Murphy wrote:
>   
>> I usually leave my computer on 24/7.  My power settings are set at 
>> Never/Never.  Yet, for some reason or other, after a period of 
>> inactivity, ubuntu reverts to its login screen.  I've had a look 
>> at my BIOS settings and everything seems normal.  What gives?
>>
>> Has anyone experienced the same problem, or should I file a bug report?  
>> I'm running Feisty Beta, fully updated.
>>     
>
> There are some known problems with certain machines overheating and
> shutting themselves down (the kernel shuts down to prevent damage to the
> machine). For example, there's https://launchpad.net/bugs/22336
>
> What should you do next? Hmm, that's a tough one. Depending on far you
> feel like going to triage, you can review that bug report and try to
> determine if it applies to you (refer to [1], below).
>
> You can also try searching launchpad for keywords such as unexpected
> reboot, unexpected shutdown, surprise reboot, surprise shutdown, etc.
>
> Another thing to check is that the CPU heatsink is properly attached and
> bonded. Please note that I am not a hardware guy, so I cannot help you
> much with that. There is a device glued to your CPU that is covered with
> fins or prongs and its whole purpose in life is to dissipate heat from
> the CPU. If it as come loose, or was never properly attached, the CPU
> cannot cool properly, and the machine may shutdown occasionally.
>
> The odd thing is that your session is ending whilst the machine is idle,
> and one would think an overheating problem more likely when the machine
> is very active.
>
> BUT! If you are running Gnome screensaver, your machine is NEVER really
> idle: Some of those screensavers are very CPU intensive, which is why
> I've set my screensaver to blank screen. Try that, and if the problem
> persists, it's probably something else. But if the problem goes away,
> well, it might suggest an overheating problem.
>
> Those are my $0.02, others may have more useful thoughts,
>
> pww
>
> [1] There is a quick way to determine if this bug is NOT affecting your
> machine - try this command in a terminal window:
>
> cat /proc/acpi/processor/CPU0/throttling
>
> If the result is NOT "<not supported>", then your machine is NOT subject
> to this bug. Sorry for the triple negative... ...to put it another way,
> if you try that command and the result is "<not supported>", then your
> machine MAY be subject to that bug (not IS, but MAY) - hence all the
> negatives the first time round (if not "<not supported>", not the same
> bug). More work would be required to determine if that bug is in fact at
> work, hence the triple negative, which is an easy way to eliminate that
> particular bug.
>
>
>
>
>   

-- 
I'm using Ubuntu Version 7.04...
ubuntu - linux for human beings <http://www.ubuntu.com>