Sudden outage

**triplemaya** · July 25th, 2021

Using as normal and suddenly dead as if there was a power cut, but there wasn't.
I have posted the syslog into https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/tFfVp6JgXJ/
Running ubuntu mate 20.04. All up to date.

**TheFu** · July 25th, 2021

So ... hardware fails all the time. Could be anything. PSU, cracked motherboard, bad GPU, loose wires, cables, overheating, anything. The typical troubleshooting would be to isolate a part and test. Do that for each part involved.

**Autodave** · July 25th, 2021

As TheFu already said, it could be anything. Some things you may try:

Does anything at all happen when you press the power ON switch? Do any fans run or even maybe just jump a little? If so, a power supply would be my first guess and first thing to try. If nothing at all happens, then a power supply would be most likely.

Are you sure that the outlet that the PC is plugged into has power? (I have seen this before!)

**TheFu** · July 25th, 2021

Is the power outlet one of those with circuit protection like bathrooms all have? Maybe the protection circuit tripped and needs to be reset by pressing the red button? Just thinking out-loud.

**triplemaya** · July 27th, 2021

Thanks for the replies. Absolutely nothing obvious that I can see with power supply. I have put it on a different one now in case that is the problem.

**triplemaya** · July 27th, 2021

Marked it as solved as it seems I have got all the info!

**TheFu** · July 27th, 2021

Originally Posted by triplemaya

Thanks for the replies. Absolutely nothing obvious that I can see with power supply. I have put it on a different one now in case that is the problem.

A PSU is almost always an internal component to a computer. We aren't talking about a different wall plug, though that would be worth testing too.

I had a wall plug in the garage die a few weeks ago. The circuit breaker wasn't tripped. It has one of those zero-fault ground protections and that wasn't tripped either, but even a night light won't light from either plug, much less the weed whacker. The next step is to replace the wall box. Just need to get to a home center to get one.

Troubleshooting is all about isolating the different parts that could be non-functional. Start big and move to smaller and smaller components.

The circuit, wall plug, device have to be checked. If the wall power is fine, then it is on the computer. Try a different PSU, different boot media, isolate hardware issues from software issues. If nothing starts when the power button is pressed, no fans, no lights, no beeps, then it is power related. Could be the cord, PSU, power switch, or a short circuit in any of those or some other internal component. I've had a cracked motherboard that didn't show any symptoms at all - just no power. Because it was under warranty still, I hunted down the requirements to get it fixed/replaced. Fortunately, they decided to just pay me, so I was able to choose a replacement locally. They did require a computer business write up a troubleshooting statement and estimate the cost of repair. Faxed that into the insurer and they credited my account with the money about a week later.

Most of my equipment isn't covered under insurance now. It is all very old, besides a few storage devices. It isn't like my 15 yr old KVM-switch would be insured by anyone and I don't have a separate home insurance policy for computer equipment. The household policy has a limit on computer equipment, that wouldn't cover replacement costs, but it higher than all of it is worth. Gotta love insurance.