Toshiba Satellite A60

[amjjawad]

Hi,

It is too late now and I'm fed up with the freezing thing and no real solution has been found yet. That said, I'm going to try another system and most likely older Kernel, in case that will make any difference. I have no idea whether this is a hardware issue or software? no matter what I do, the machine is frozen and Lubuntu 13.10 is not helping so I don't really have time to keep trying this or that.

I'm looking at Xubuntu 12.04.4 or something else.

Will keep you informed.

Thank you!

[mörgæs]

There are more things than memory sticks which can make the system crash. If you have a spare hard disk to swap it would be interesting to see if it makes a difference.

[amjjawad]

There are more things than memory sticks which can make the system crash. If you have a spare hard disk to swap it would be interesting to see if it makes a difference.

Hi,

No, sadly I don't have a spare Hard Drive that could fit on that old machine which is using IDE not SATA. Either way, I don't have.

As per the tests, HDD is fine and healthy.

I can't complain as the StartUbuntu Project in Real Life is giving me a huge experience; I'm learning a lot of stuff every single day. However, it is a headache, sometimes ... specially when you have no idea what is going on.

I've been busy today to covert two more machines to Ubuntu GNOME (total now 37 machines on my neighbourhood) and if this Toshiba will work fine, it would be no. 38 so I'm so much interested to get it up and running.

Can't think of better option than Xubuntu 12.04.4 and I just need to create LiveCD/DVD and try it.

Thank you!

P.S.
When I took the HDD out, put it into my PC and installed Lubuntu 13.10 there, it worked without any issue at all. Never frozen. So, I don't think it is the hard drive.

[3rdalbum]

You mention that the computer "turns off" - that sounds unusual for all problems except overheating and power supply.

You say you've cleaned out the dust, well, I think it might be the power circuitry inside the computer that's at fault. If it's on the way out it might deliver a fluctuating level of voltage which will cause crashes. If the voltage level gets really low the computer might turn off.

Without a multimeter and opening up the computer case there's not really any way of being sure, unless you eliminate all other possibilities.

And yes, any piece of bad hardware (including graphics card) can potentially cause a crash or freeze. However, graphics cards themselves are not known to cause a computer to spontaneously shut off.

[amjjawad]

You mention that the computer "turns off" - that sounds unusual for all problems except overheating and power supply.

You say you've cleaned out the dust, well, I think it might be the power circuitry inside the computer that's at fault. If it's on the way out it might deliver a fluctuating level of voltage which will cause crashes. If the voltage level gets really low the computer might turn off.

Without a multimeter and opening up the computer case there's not really any way of being sure, unless you eliminate all other possibilities.

And yes, any piece of bad hardware (including graphics card) can potentially cause a crash or freeze. However, graphics cards themselves are not known to cause a computer to spontaneously shut off.

Hi and thanks for posting

So, before I go ahead and wipe Lubuntu 13.10 and install Xubuntu 12.04.4, what do you suggest?

[3rdalbum]

I would suggest giving up on this computer.

[upchucky]

I once had a toshiba that had poor sockets for the ram, i solved the loose ram socket problem by inserting layers of thin cardboard cut to size on top of the ram sticks and allowing pressure of the access door to hold the cardboard tight to the ram sticks against the sockets

[amjjawad]

Hi,

Now that 14.04 LTS is out, I'm going to give it one last chance. If nothing will happen, I will return this machine to its owner with a sorry message that nothing can be done.

Will report back once I have time to test 14.04 LTS on that machine.

[piotrasbl]

hi amjjawad

Just to inform you, I got the very same Toshiba Satellite A60, with 768 MB of RAM
well, at leats it should be like that

I've been through serious downs with installation on this one, but today, finally, lubuntu 14.04 was successfully installed
What I have done was:
delete all the partitions with some old RIP Linux, set the BIOS for default settings, format whole drive into ext2 filesystem, placed CD with lubuntu...and it's fine now
Make sure you press F6 on boot screen ad choose first 3 options: acpi=off noapic nolapic.
After installation is completed, you may remove from grub apic=off option, but noapic and nolapic need to stay as those arrange proccessor management, and that is the cause of all those freezes.
I'm now installing all neccessary apps on that one, and it works really nice as for almost decade-old machine
Good luck man