Ubuntu 20.04 sudden crash while processing, how to know why?

[Bo Berglund]

On Sat, 13 Mar 2021 13:40:55 +0100, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:

>On Sat, 13 Mar 2021 at 13:03, Colin Law <clanlaw at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> You possibly need to clean out the vents and filters, it should be
>> capable of running flatout without overheating.
>
>Agreed. A properly-functioning notebook should be able to run more or
>less indefinitely, flat out at 100% on all cores, with fans going, and
>at worst the CPUs' built-in thermal protection measures may cut in and
>forcibly reduce the speed a bit. It should not overheat and crash.
>

I bought this notebook as a high-end workstation back in 2010. To be used for
programming and CAD work.

Then it crashed after about 4 months and the 24 hour on-site HP service was not
acknowledged by HP, instead they quoted that they would come as soon as they got
a spare motherboard from USA. That would take another 2-3 months.

So I bought a new notebook, an HP 8560w instead because I could not stop working
for that long.

When the serviceman finally appeared he made some tests and then opened up the
notebook down to the CPU and showed the fan and cooling system, which was
clogged up with dust on the *inside* of the exhaust.

After he removed the heatpipe system from the CPU he could access the clogged
part and could clean it. In my view it was a terrible design where there is no
user access to clean out the clogging dust...

Since then I put this notebook in the hands of my wife and it was OK.
I also tried to regularly blow out the dust using an air duster can.

But she did not really put the laptop to its limits and now it has been
repurposed as a Ubuntu machine which I wanted to convert videos with...

I should probably try to find a way to clean out the cooling system, but I am
unable to do what the serviceman did.


-- 
Bo Berglund
Developer in Sweden