computer keeps crashing at boot

[starcry]

Hello,

My computer is doing weird things and I'm not sure where to go to see the cause so I can fix it.

It doesn't happen every time but sometimes at boot the system hangs and I have to do a hard reboot and then run fsck on /dev/sda1. I have to do this many times and it can take up to 30 minuites for me to get booted up. Then sometimes my browser will crash and exit and I have to do a full reboot to get it back.

I've checked the logs but I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for or where to start.

Does anybody have any suggestions?

[DuckHook]

Your problem may be HW and not the OS.

First, describe your HW completely. It is difficult to advise without good info. See the link in my sig: How to Ask for Help

Things to check:


Disk health. Post back results of:
sudo smartctl -H /dev/sda
RAM health using memtest86+ by choosing memtest at your next boot. Caution: memory testing can take a long time, depending on your amount of RAM.
PSU for dependable, unvarying power. A failing PSU causes all sorts of strange behaviours that are very vexing because they seem random and inexplicable.
It could also be a cracked/failing MOBO which creates random faults similar to PSU.

Try running from a LiveUSB/DVD to see if problems persist. If they do, then problem is likely HW. If the LiveUSB/DVD runs reliably, then the problem may be a corrupted OS. This can be caused by bad disk sectors, a bad update file or installation of non-repository apps.


Do you use PPAs? If so which do you have installed?
Have you installed any software from outside of the repos?
When did you last update your OS? Any unusual events/messages?

[Bucky Ball]

As above. What is on sda1??? Windows, if a dual-boot?