Intermittently won't start, needs disk check.

I'm running Zorin OS Lite 12 on an HP Pavilion laptop, which is less than a year old. Every now and then, it won't start, displaying this:

Sometimes this is preceded by it acting strangely while it's running, e.g. Discord locking up or displaying error messages (Discord seems particularly badly affected by this) or the computer simply freezing altogether and having to be forcibly shut down by holding down the power button. Generally the next time I switched the computer on after that, it would fail to start.

I get it going again by using my live USB stick of Zorin to run "fsck -y", and it's all right again for a while and then breaks down again. It happened more and more often as time went on and eventually "fsck -y" no longer did the job. It was sent back to HP for repairs and they replaced the hard drive and I reinstalled Zorin. (I'd backed up my files already, in case it was the hard disk.) But no more than a few weeks after that, I think, it started happening again.

So if it's not the hard disk, what is it?

It's happening once or twice a week now. If it progresses at the same rate as before, it'll be a few weeks or months yet before it fails altogether, but I'd like to get it sorted out before that happens!

My father wondered if it could be due to a fault in my live USB stick of Zorin. I used the same one to install it both times, so I suppose it's possible. Could that cause something like this? (He's no Linux expert, he was just guessing.)

ACPI error. Which suggests Graphics fault.
You might try:

Code:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi=strict"

Or

Code:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi=off"

Or try using nomodeset.

OK. Where do I enter those, at the command line, or at the error screen? And are they dangerous? That is, could they cause a problem which a complete amateur like me would not know how to put right, and prevent me getting on the Internet to ask anyone else? I'm no Linux expert either.

If it boots in spite of errors it is nothing to be concerned about. See here:

https://www.linuxquestions.org/question ... 175628907/

But it doesn't boot, like I said. Not until I've used the live USB to run a "fsck", and last time (before the hard disk was replaced) it eventually got to the point where even that didn't fix it, and it looks like it's slowly heading that way again now.

wombat140 wrote:OK. Where do I enter those, at the command line, or at the error screen? And are they dangerous? That is, could they cause a problem which a complete amateur like me would not know how to put right, and prevent me getting on the Internet to ask anyone else? I'm no Linux expert either.

Wombat, it is in /etc/default/grub. On Linux, anything can be safe or dangerous. Yes, if you typo it - it could create an issue and you would have to repeat the process to fix it.
Advice: Don't typo it. Triple check everything before you save and exit.

Usually, the instructions you find online will use Nano in Terminal.

Let's go about it the GUI way, since that is more familiar to many people.
For Zorin 12.4 Lite, in terminal put;

Code:

gksudo thunar

In Zorin 15 Lite

Code:

pkexec thunar

and enter your password at the prompt. In Zorin 12.4 Core/Ultimate or Zorin 15 Core/Ultimate, you would replace Thunar with Nautilus. In Zorin 15 Intimate, you would use 'pkexec naughtiness.'
You are now in your file manager with elevated privileges.
Hit "File system" from the top left of the treeview pane.
Now you will see the top group folders, including the /etc folder. Open that. Move down to 'default' and open that folder.
Within the default folder, is a Text File called "grub." Open that with whichever text editor you prefer. I use Geany and Mousepad.
Near the top you will see a group of lines like this:

Code:

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

That line at the bottom- that is the one we want. Look at it. Sitting there... smirking...
Above, I gave the options for ACPI to be 'strict' or 'off'. There's where you want to make your changes.

Code:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi=strict"

or

Code:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi=off"

Let's say that you are doing this from a boot up and you do not have your flash disk handy:
Hold the Left Shift Key at boot up to move to Grub. Highlight the kernel you want (Probably the first one) and then hit 'e' to edit it.
This same information will appear on your terminal screen. Make your changes and save and exit.
To do NOMODESET:

Code:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nomodeset"

No mode set disables loading graphics drivers at boot. I think.

Once all of the above is done, in terminal, run

Code:

sudo update-grub

wombat140 wrote:But it doesn't boot, like I said. Not until I've used the live USB to run a "fsck", and last time (before the hard disk was replaced) it eventually got to the point where even that didn't fix it, and it looks like it's slowly heading that way again now.

If I can suggest, look into cooling your notebook.
An ACPI error is not likely to burn the HDD out. However, heat, can. And if your last HDD went out, you are correct that you are in danger of a repeat.
I keep my system at about 104degrees F or under 36degreesC. How - I assembled a computer fan that my notebook sits on top of- the fan is plugged into the wall outlet.
-shrug- Po'boy solutions.

You can get an inexpensive cooling tray for a Notebook computer. If it is a desktop, you can attach additional fans to the case just as I have. Zipties and such. You probably could stand to clean out dust or other insulating foreign objects with compressed air.
Get it clean, hook up more cooling or a tray that cools- use your ingenuity. It can be done dirt cheap with materials or scraps at hand or you can go really high end about it with major gamer mods.
But as long as you keep your HDD temp down, I am sure it will help extend the lifetime of the device.

Hope all this helps.

EDIT: Come to think of it, heat can also cause graphics issues as the graphics card overheats...