(Solved) Darn, Another Shut-Down!

Well, I had thought I had put it behind me. But I suspect I may know the cause. I had just downloaded a desktop background. It's that scene of stars above hills, and it apparently won some kind of contest. but it was the wrong resolution (higher than what my monitor is). I tried it anyway. The instant I clicked to get out of an internet page, my computer shut down. I immediately got rid of it and put one of the default Zorin wallpapers on. I also changed the theme to Zorin Light (had it on Blue). So, is this a likely cause? It makes sense, because I like that picture, and had also put it on Ubuntu, when I had that on my computer. I had shut-downs of Ubuntu also. Likewise with mint (except for Xfce). Maybe some pictures are just too much for my video card, a GS8400?

Interesting post here - in Zorin you just press 'E' to edit the boot parameters:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/i ... stion.html

Interesting read there, Swarf. But I've decided to try this: Yet another reinstall of Zorin (I'm getting good at this: I now know how to do it correctly, using Gparted to delete the present Linux drives; update Grub, etc); but this time, I am leaving things exactly as they are. No tweaking of any sort. The Zorin Light theme, the default icons, etc. Hopefully, stressing my machine as little as possible will stop these irritating shut-downs. If not, I'll have to install Zorin on my music computer, an I-7 with 16GB of Ram. That should be able to handle any Linux. But I've avoided putting anything but Windows on it so far. But I must have Zorin! I will have have Zorin! nothing can stop me! (Excuse me, the short days are getting to me - cabin fever already - not good).

Hi Friend, if you intend to put it on a 16Gb rig then you would be best installing the 64-bit version of Zorin to benefit all that RAM.

Oh, definitely the 64 bit. Which makes me wonder: should I try the 32 bit on the older machine? I always go with 64 bit. but I'm not running anything that needs 64 bit, although that could change, if I decide to try music creation on Linux. Actually, I should say when. I definitely plan to try it at some point. Anyway, if I get shut-downs with this "virgin" install, I will try 32 bit.

32-bit has more compatibility than 64-bit, especially with regards to WINE if you intend to use any Windows applications that will run.

Well, shortly after my last post, I got my first shut-down with the latest 64-bit install, the one I left with default settings. I have just installed Zorin 32-bit. Just trying it out now. So far, it seems faster, smoother, though that could be wishful thinking. I'll let you know. If no shut-downs, that would clinch it.

The Zorin 32-bit ran very well last, but I had a shut-down almost immediately today. But I now may have a culprit: last night, I had only one hard drive connected. (I usually disconnect the one I'm not installing to, to simplify the process). Before I started today, I hooked up the other one. so I'm suspecting possibly an overheating problem. This computer has only one fairly weak rear fan. (It has of course a CPU fan, power supply fan, and the video card has its own fan). I think I may need a fan in front to prevent overheating of the hard drives. To test this, and until I get another fan, I am going to disconnect the other hard drive and see if that stops the shut-downs. The computer is designed to handle two hard drives, but only came with one, so maybe I should have put in another fan when I got a second drive. Does this make sense?

Also make sure you have enough power to share between your devices on-board too!

Hmm, hadn't thought of that. Maybe the 450 Watt PS is not enough for two 500GB/7200rpm drives. And I just bought that about a year ago. Well, one solution is to use one drive at a time. Drive A this week, Drive B next. Or just settle on one, with the other a backup. I could mothball the Windows drive, for all I use it, which is to update Windows once a month. I'll have to calculate the power needs and see if that is the problem. Thanks for the suggestion, Swarf!

There is an online checking tool that various motherboard manufacturers have - the other thought is weather there is a faulty power rail in the PSU (Power Supply Unit. I've read about people making 'bread boards' to test PSU's but I would be very wary about messing with the PSU Physically - as Death by electrocution is a strong possibility which is why you don't physically ever take a PSU apart!

The only thing this moron is qualified to do with power supply units is replace them, which I did a couple years ago. I put in an Antec Earthwatts 450. I'm assuming it's good, and that overheating is the problem. I did some checking and that PSU is more than enough watts for what I have. So an extra fan might be the ticket. Unfortunately, Best Buy was out of them, (of course). Guess I'll have a drone deliver one from Amazon. (Unless a Fed Ex driver shoots it down).

I do hope not - heard of a horrendous case whereby an individual lost control of a drone and it spliced his neighbour's toddler's right eye with one of the rotors after it crashed off a tree - they should be banned (on Consumer Programme on TV this week!)

Mystery solved. I tried running both drives by themselves, with the other one not connected. The Seagate with Zorin and Mint worked fine, but the W.Digital with W-7 and Zorin had a shutdown. I was on the Mint forum, and was clicking on Forum topics, as this for some reason seems to be the thing that triggers the shutdowns. So, that drive is the problem. It did get a "caution" from a disk utility, so I know it has problems. Now I will leave that drive unconnected, and use the Seagate exclusively.

Hi, thanks for keeping us updated friend!

My thinking about these shutdowns is evolving. The shutdowns only happen with Firefox on Linux. They don't happen with Firefox on Windows, or IE on Windows. So I am now trying another browser, Chromium, to test this. So far, no shutdowns, after a few days. And I really like Chromium. It's fast and sleek and very intuitive. I'll give it a week or so, and if no shutdowns, I think that will finally solve it. Some folks on the Mint forum disagree, and think the problem is with my hardware. We'll see. In any case, I think I will be ditching Mint. Their forum has too many ads, for one thing. They also can sometimes be a bit condescending, something I have not experienced here.