shutdown

[dzon65]

I'm a computer neanderthal so I've got a question for those who now what they're talking about.The laptop suddenly stopped,no heating whatsoever,just stop.Pushing the start button didn't help.So I took it in to have it fully cleaned,thermal grease,the works.Still,nothing.Since the processor was checked,next thought was a broken motherboard.Then I remembered this simple trick and ,with nothing to loose,gave it a shot.Remove powersupply and battery,hold the shutdownbutton for some 30 secs,put the powersupply back in (not the battery) and start.The first couple of times,it actually booted but turned off after a few secs.Now,it's working for ,say,an hour without shutting down.So,hoping for the best.
My question is,what does this procedure actually do?And what does it stand for,in terms of what's the problem with the laptop?
kind regards,J.

[Lucradia]

Did you recently have a black out, brown out, or something that caused the power to either flicker, cut out suddenly, or something similar?

Also, what were you running right before it did this?

Have you tried replacing the RAM? (If this is not possible, then you might consider replacing the entire system; most of the time, if a computer does not restart, it's because of a faulty internal component of ANY kind, though usually it's the RAM's, processor's or power supply's fault.)

[dzon65]

Hi.Wasn't running anything at the time,only desktop.It just turned off..I started it up in the kitchen.Seemed stable,did a couple of reboots,worked fine.Placed it back to it's original place and whamm.Have to start allover again.

[Lucradia]

Do you have a radio or stereo system near the computer when this happens?

[Joe of loath]

Run memtest from the live CD, that will test the memory and, to a lesser extent, the processor. If you're confident with opening up complex mechanical stuff (A laptop is like a ship in a bottle inside...) then have the top off and remove and reseat the components.

[dzon65]

No radio or other electronic device for that matter.However,a bunch of stuff was totally reset.For instance,the opening page of firefox was set to some ubuntu artwork file;No matter how I tried to change it,it kept trying to open that god.... file,along with some chrome settings (?!?!)Found some other totally weird changes.My openbox menu xml was a total mess and some more stuff.Decided to do a total reinstall,which I'm setting up wright now.
Like I said,the laptop had a total revision.The HD is brand new and it has been taken apart to remove any form of dirt.Looks like new.Gonna finish the new setup and hope for the best.I'll let it know if that crap happens again.But for now it's working flawlessly.Very strange.

[MasterNetra]

This belongs in help or Hardware.

[warfacegod]

Hi.Wasn't running anything at the time,only desktop.It just turned off..I started it up in the kitchen.Seemed stable,did a couple of reboots,worked fine.Placed it back to it's original place and whamm.Have to start allover again.

Try keeping it in the Kitchen for a while. If it stops misbehaving there, I'd say you have a short in the wiring circuit you had it on originally.

[MasterNetra]

Try keeping it in the Kitchen for a while. If it stops misbehaving there, I'd say you have a short in the wiring circuit you had it on originally.

+1

That makes sense.

[dzon65]

Well,it seems stable now but does shutdown ocassionally when running some flash.Still,better than nothing at all.
Kind regards,J.