random boots & shutdowns

[db3]

Hi,

I've been having an issue where my computer would randomly boot up and shutdown. It started on Mint 15 w/nvidia driver. I found a post somewhere that suggested changing UTC line (in BIOS) in /etc/default/rcS to "no" would help and it actually seemed to for a bit. Until i upgraded to Mint 16 (64-bit, cinnamon), it was working fine and it was fine for a few days after, but recently started up again. Since upgrading, i've barely installed anything other than a few cron scripts for backup and fstrim.

Temperatures seem fine. While using the computer, i sometimes get prompted to shutdown as thought i pressed the power button. After cancelling a few times, it just shuts down without warning. it would then boot up again later -- sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes 5 hours. its completely random.

I suspected dying power supply, but that doesn't really explain the boots, just the shutdowns (right?). I think it is hardware-related -- i tried running memtest this morning and it was fine for a while, but eventually shutdown -- not sure what happened since i wasn't in the room at the time.

Below is my inxi output. Anyone have any ideas what this could be? Thanks.

System: Host: theMachine Kernel: 3.11.0-12-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.1) Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 16 Petra
Machine: Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M4N98TD EVO version: Rev 2.00 Bios: American Megatrends version: 1301 date: 04/14/2011
CPU: Quad core AMD Phenom II X4 965 (-MCP-) cache: 2048 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4a svm) bmips: 27199.1
Clock Speeds: 1: 3400.00 MHz 2: 800.00 MHz 3: 2200.00 MHz 4: 2700.00 MHz
Graphics: Card-1: NVIDIA G92 [GeForce 9800 GTX+] bus-ID: 04:00.0
Card-2: NVIDIA G92 [GeForce 9800 GTX+] bus-ID: 05:00.0
X.Org: 1.14.5 drivers: nvidia,nouveau (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1920x1080@60.0hzMachine: Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M4N98TD EVO version: Rev 2.00 Bios: American Megatrends version: 1301 date: 04/14/2011
CPU: Quad core AMD Phenom II X4 965 (-MCP-) cache: 2048 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4a svm) bmips: 27199.1
Clock Speeds: 1: 3400.00 MHz 2: 800.00 MHz 3: 2200.00 MHz 4: 2700.00 MHz
Graphics: Card-1: NVIDIA G92 [GeForce 9800 GTX+] bus-ID: 04:00.0
Card-2: NVIDIA G92 [GeForce 9800 GTX+] bus-ID: 05:00.0
X.Org: 1.14.5 drivers: nvidia,nouveau (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1920x1080@60.0hz
GLX Renderer: GeForce 9800 GTX+/PCIe/SSE2 GLX Version: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 319.32 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card-1: NVIDIA MCP72XE/MCP72P/MCP78U/MCP78S High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:07.0
Card-2: Logitech QuickCam Communicate MP/S5500 driver: USB Audio usb-ID: 046d:09a1
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.11.0-12-generic
Network: Card-1: NVIDIA MCP77 Ethernet driver: forcedeth port: a480 bus-ID: 00:0a.0
IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Card-2: Ralink RT2800 802.11n PCI driver: rt2800pci ver: 2.3.0 bus-ID: 01:09.0
IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 3060.6GB (42.8% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: ST2000DM001 size: 2000.4GB
2: id: /dev/sdb model: OCZ size: 60.0GB 3: id: /dev/sdc model: ST31000528AS size: 1000.2GB
Partition: ID: / size: 55G used: 36G (68%) fs: ext4 ID: /home size: 1.8T used: 638G (37%) fs: ext4
ID: /var size: 2.9G used: 1.3G (47%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 2.10GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
RAID: No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 34.0C mobo: 27.0C gpu: 0.0:50C
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 2436 sys-1: 2710 sys-2: 2057
Info: Processes: 208 Uptime: 2 min Memory: 1162.5/7985.4MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.1 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4

[TechGuyAndrew]

I have a few ideas about this:

1) Do you have your computer connected to a battery backup? Random power surges or brownouts could cause erratic behavior like that.
2) How old is the system. This could be a problem with the motherboard and POWER_GOOD signal that it must detect to keep the system on.
3) If your computer is a desktop model, try uplugging the connector for the power switch and reconnecting it to the motherboard again. You could also try changing the setting in Mint for what the power button does to "Do Nothing" if the system will stay up long enough.

Those are my suggestions.

[db3]

I have a few ideas about this:

1) Do you have your computer connected to a battery backup? Random power surges or brownouts could cause erratic behavior like that.
2) How old is the system. This could be a problem with the motherboard and POWER_GOOD signal that it must detect to keep the system on.
3) If your computer is a desktop model, try uplugging the connector for the power switch and reconnecting it to the motherboard again. You could also try changing the setting in Mint for what the power button does to "Do Nothing" if the system will stay up long enough.

Those are my suggestions.

Thanks Andrew. I'll respond in line with your questions.

1) My computer is connected to a battery backup. I tried connecting directly to the wall as well thinking the battery might be the issue.

2) Looks like i built the system in 2005 and upgraded the drives in 2010/2011. I'm beginning to think it's time for a new one...

3) I tried reseating the power connectors. i noticed that the data cable to the SSD (the 60 gb drive on /dev/sdb) was unplugged, but that probably happened while unplugging the power. I turned on the computer, waited for a full boot, and walked away for about 10 minutes. It was off by the time i returned. I'll try changing the power setting next -- maybe it will at least keep it up for a bit.

one thing i forgot to point out before was that pushing the power button doesn't always start the pc either. So sometimes i'm just stuck. :-/

[TechGuyAndrew]

It sounds most like a MB issue to me. You are probably going to have to build or buy a new computer soon.