Re: Dead computer after system shutdown.

[songbird <songbird@anthive.com>]

Thomas George wrote:

> Selected shutdown from the window manager and the operating system 
> turned off the computer as usual. Tried to restart the computer from the 
> switch on the desktop box but it was totally dead.

  try holding the power button down for a while 
and see if that restarts it.


> Where to look for the failure? CPU, motherboard, power supply or 
> mechanical switch?

  if i didn't see smoke or hear strange noises
i usually assume it's not too serious.  :)

  always check fuse panel for that circuit,
power strip, plugs, then power supply connection.
usually there's at least one LED somewhere lit
along the way to say how far power might be.


> I never thought before about how the operating system shuts down the 
> computer. I know there are two wires from the power supply which the 
> desktop switch connects to turn on the power supply. How does the 
> operating system turn it off?

  there are settings in various places which can
affect how a system starts up and restarts after
previous shutdown.  hard to know for sure without
system in front of me.


  songbird