Notebook shuts down automatically.....why?

[fred the great]

...yes automatically?  OS is Ubuntu 10.04 and I have never had this problem before. I have checked all power connections which are fine, played with System Preferences and Administration with no solution being found.
It usually happens when the notebook is inactive for a while with my browser minimized.
Help please

[hubner]

Maybe it's overheating.

[fred the great]

The notebook has an auxiliary fan arrangement upon which it sits. This needs to be replaced as overheating may be the issue - not sure as previous computers located in the same position without extra fans have been OK.

[Kim]

What does /var/log/syslog say at the time it shut down?  Would give you a clue as to whether it's a clean shutdown or the hardware conking out...

[fred the great]

Sorry, it chooses to shut down when I'm not present .

Do I sudo to check the syslog 'cos I'm no power user?

[Cunobelin]

May be a silly question, is there a time triggered "sleep mode"?


There are some compatibility issues where Ubuntu has issues with sleep modes triggered by hardware

[fred the great]

No, but if one uses suspend which I have never done Ubuntu does and can shut the computer down.

I tried this about one hour ago and the machine booted up again when the 'on' button was pressed.

Oh, I haven't changed any hardware neither, exactly the same set up for yonks.

[Jaded]

You could try installing Windows and see if it still happens?

[fred the great]

Strangely, all this evening it decided to behave. Recently there have been quite a few large security  updates making me now think that they may have caused the problem.  Reinstall Windows? Never, thank you .

[fred the great]

My notebook now sits on a raised stand complete with  8" fan underneath. We were out shopping for about 5 hours during which time the computer remained switched on and hadn't shut down in our absence.
So the automatic switch off remains unsolved but hopefully corrected. Time will tell

[fred the great]

Four days later and the Notebook is still performing well; no more silly switch offs and the exhaust temperature of the internal fan is now noticeably less. I'm fairly certain the frequent large OS updates played a major role in this frustrating problem and it's possible, that by using the suspend command maybe helped to cure it. I cannot prove it, hence that's pure speculation. Certainly it wasn't an overheating issue as I got it working again using the original auxiliary fans neither of which were performing too well. The replacement was dirt cheap and keeps the Notebook away from any accidental drink spills

[fred the great]

I may have solved the shut down headache? Previously I reported that the suspend link may have had something to  do with it and for a while the notebook started to  behave  properly again. Until recently, that is, when it decided to go on automatic again and shut down every  time it was left unattended for an hour or more. For some unknown reason I guessed the screen saver may be causing it, changed it to another one and for the last week it has been back to normal again.

Big sigh of relief because I hate having to re-install the OS, update everything and recover the back-up files. This totals about 3 hours work which is not a lot but I would prefer not to have to do it.