STRANGE SHUT DOWNS

[Peter Whittaker]

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.




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