SOLVED switch off power instead of "shutdown" command

[sadhu]

See related question: viewtopic.php?f=49&t=277517

Occasionally I'm in a hurry and don't want to wait for the system to shutdown, as in clicking shutdown from the menu, or issuing 'sudo shutdown now" from the command line. It often takes longer to shut down than to boot up! I notice that after a power-off event, the system does a file system check on the next reboot, but that usually only takes a few seconds. And it still boots faster than it shuts down!

So is there any catastrophic danger to hardware, scrambled disks, fried power supplies, etc, from just switching off the UPS when I'm in a hurry to leave?

This is a single=-user system, networking goes through a dongle, and the only other server is xampp.

Thanks\
-Sadhu

[jimallyn]

So is there any catastrophic danger to hardware, scrambled disks, fried power supplies, etc, from just switching off the UPS when I'm in a hurry to leave?

Yes, there is. While Linux has features that make it less likely to be adversely affected by an improper shutdown, it is still possible that you may corrupt your disk, lose data, etc. Definitely NOT recommended.

[catweazel]

So is there any catastrophic danger to hardware, scrambled disks, fried power supplies, etc, from just switching off the UPS when I'm in a hurry to leave?

Not if you don't care about scrambled disks and deep-fried data.

[sadhu]

further question:

first, I close all open files/applications before switching off.

Second: why does it take linuxmint twice as long to shut down as to boot?

Thanks
-Sadhu

[catweazel]

Second: why does it take linuxmint twice as long to shut down as to boot?

You might inspect the logs to determine that.

[Moem]

further question:

first, I close all open files/applications before switching off.

What's the question?

[gm10]

You might inspect the logs to determine that.

^ that. Also if it takes a while at the shutdown logo just press Esc to see what's going on.

Mine shuts down nearly instantly.

Known culprits blocking shutdowns are the various cups daemons, whatever that script in system-config-printer was called which prevents all current Ubuntus from logging out successfully, and the gnome-keyring-daemon, for example. Either uninstall if you don't need them or add a session-cleanup-script to lightdm to kill them off manually.

[sadhu]

further question:

first, I close all open files/applications before switching off.

What's the question?

Is there still a danger of scrambled files if everything is closed and I'm back to the desktop?

[Moem]

Is there still a danger of scrambled files if everything is closed and I'm back to the desktop?

Yes. Since the OS and the desktop environment are still running, they can be damaged by a hard shutdown.

[sadhu]

Thanks to everyone for their helpful suggestions.

I usually shut down gracefully, but I have to wait and wait and wait until the computer turns off before I can turn off the UPS. Otherwise, the speakers, monitor and will still be drawing power and running down the UPS batteries. About once a month we get a power cut that lasts four to ten hours, so it's important to shutdown the UPS. (I live in S. Asia)

But then I did some research and found that the UPS is supposed to be able to send a signal causing the machine to shut down gracefully. That's the related question now edited onto the original post. So what I would like to do is switch off power at the wall, causing the UPS to shut down the machine, and then itself, hopefully. Then I can just walk away from it.

I will check the logs and Alt-F8 or Esc to see what's hanging up.


Thanks again.

-Sadhu

[sdibaja]

power managers are funny, they don't always do it the way you want.

I seldom Shutdown, I prefer suspend ... near instant restart when I return, and minimal power use

My power manager is set to Suspend after 30 minutes of inactivity, and Shutdown when UPS power is low... and it works for me (occasional unreliable power here too)

I created a panel launcher with the command

Code: Select all

systemctl suspend

that suspends instantly ... for when I don't trust the power manager to suspend as instructed