I have just bought a new HP mini running Linux Enterprise 10.
I have never used Linux before so don't know what to expect, but there seems to be no on-screen option to either Shut Down or Reboot.

If I click on the shut down "button" it puts up a window offering me only the two options of Sleep or Hibernate.

Am I missing something, or is Hibernate the same as Shut Down in, ahem, certain other operating systems? It appears to switch off, but I am not convinced it is closing down properly. It also seems to loose its WiFi connectivity after it has been Hibernated it and won't then find any Wireless networks

Were you logged in? I don't know anything specific about Linux Enterprise 10, but some distros will not present a shutdown option unless you are logged in, and some require root to shutdown.

From a terminal window, as root: shutdown -h now should shutdown the system if you are stuck.

Thanks Pentode,
but it seems that it always appears this way, with only the sleep and the hibernate options. Logged in as my individual user profile or as root, I just get the same limited options. That is why I wondered if this is the normal arrangement. Hibernate isn't another term in Linux for Shut Down is it?

No, hibernate means the same as it does in Windows - it saves the system state to the HDD then shuts off. On starting the PC it will load everything back into memory and put you in the same state you were in when you hibernated.

I really don't know why there is no shutdown/reboot buttons though.

OK, If it should have on screen dialogs for Shut Down and for Reboot, how do I activate this. It is a brand new installation. Is this a selectable option somewhere?

Bump!
Can no one help with this? As I understand it some settings require a system re-boot to install them. But I don't have either a re-boot or a shut down option. How do I activate these?

What is enterprise linux 10? Are you refering to Novell's Suse Enterprise linux 10? If so can you provide what Window manager you are using? Probably should have added that if if you See like a big blue K in the app try then you are running KDE but if you See a foot then you are using gnome.

Ok so after looking around the hp mini comes with Suse Enterprise 10. If you click on the green suse button (the one with the geko or what ever it is) you should see log off. From there you should see shutdown computer.

Thanks for the response, jstephens84.
Yes it is the Suse Linux Enterprise 10 by Novell. I was trying to be brief and thought Enterprise 10 would be sufficient.

I don't have a gecko on my screen. There is a taskbar along the bottom, with the word "Computer" at the left. Right click on this tells me it is running GNOME 0.9.8 so I assume this is the Window Manager.
Left click brings up a range of normal choices: Control Centre, Install Software, Logout and Shut Down.
Clicking on the last item ONLY gives the options Sleep and Hibernate. I would expect Shut Down and Re-boot to be options there also, but they are not appearing. I presume there is a configure list somewhere for making these options available, but since I first switched the thing on a couple of weeks ago I have been unable to do a proper Shut Down.

Whether it is related or not, I have also been unable to get Wireless to work. I cannot find anything that gives any scan of available networks and as far as I can tell there is nothing to show when Wireless is active.

Guy

why are you being unable to shutdown properly? Why don't you user your terminal to perform this task? As far as your settings are concerned, Stick to pc for a while and wander around. I am sure you'll know allot:-)

Cheers!!

Lets get your shutdown problem fixed then we will move on to your wireless problem. So when you click log out what options does that give you? Also is this a default installation or has it been modified before you got it?

Baig:
"why don't I use terminal to shut down" - because I don't know how. I am completely new to Linux and do not know my way around. I looked for "Terminal" and found a thing that looks like a text editor. Is that what you mean?

Stephen:
On the Logout option I get Switch User and Log Out. I have 2 users. Root and my own user profile. Switching to either of these still does not give me access to the missing Shut Down and Re-boot choices.

I mention the WiFi issue in case it was relevant, or gave a clue. I suspect that the WiFi problem is because network settings may require a reboot in order to implement changes (as in MS?) and since I cannot re-boot.....

Guy

try running it should allow you to add those buttons on there. I was looking around and this seems to be a somewhat fairly common problem.

Thanks Sephen,
I ran gdmsetup. It allows one to select various startup and log in options but still doesn't have anything that I can see about the Shutdown option. It looks close, but no cigar!

Guy

I got it to shutdown and reboot from "Terminal" (which I now understand gives access to a command line!).
Although it took several attempts to log back in - screen hung twice and then on next attempt got an error message saying that the "Session had lasted less than 10 seconds" This seems to be a very Flakey OS! I thought Linux was supposed to be transparent and reliable!!
Having rebooted and logged back in it still only shows the same Sleep amnd Hibernate options as before.

Guy