It happens within a couple of seconds, you said. But how much of a stop is it? Does the main power light go off? That would suggest a BIOS (thermal or other) shutdown which I wouldn't quite call a crash.

If any lights stay on, is the NumLock light flashing? That would indicate a Linux kernel panic - a software (including hardware drivers) issue.


eta: I'm thinking a memtest is definitely a good idea.

Huh.. I have no idea then. I can't think of anything really, someone else here at lq might be able to help more.

May be best to take it to be repaired, or have someone nearby take a closer look at it for you, if you're not comfortable enough (or familiar enough) with the hardware to take it apart yourself.

1:56am PST apx. it last crashed in the usual fashion of first an instantaneous black screen for about two seconds followed with the laptop turning off. It stays off for about ten seconds and then it turns back on and reboots with no problem.

1. Blank black screen. The screen turns off for about two seconds. While this is happening, there are no blinking lights. My laptop has a green power light, a blue internet or network connections light, an orange light if the sound is on mute. There are two other green lights, too, for the hard drive or caching or for a light that blinks when a bunch of programs are running, or when the hard drive speeds up, when it is busy doing a bunch of things.

2. it turns off right after that in a second. It stays off for ten or so seconds. Totally off. Except the orange mute light sometimes stays on even after the laptop lights goes off and the laptop is totally off for ten or less seconds. But no light blinking.

Less than ten seconds: first black screen for some seconds: then laptop goes off for some seconds (except that the orange mute light stays on I think). Then it turns back on and reboots.

Total stop.
Could it be a BIOS issue ? Or thermal or what ?
Main power light turns off too. All the lights turn off, except maybe the orange mute light usually I think. But no blinking lights ever.
I am guessing this might be a Linux kernal panic maybe because the orange mute (for the audio sound speakers/headphones) light stays on sometimes if I already had it on mute when the laptop was on before the laptop crashed (or turned off).


The mute light isn't the numlock light & it doesn't blink. So I don't know.


The screen goes blank for some seconds
Then laptop turns off for some seconds (all lights except maybe the mute light goes off): it goes silent & off
Then it turns back on

I'd suggest running memtest.

If that doesn't show anything, do you have another partition in which you could make a clean install of another OS e.g. Ubuntu 10.04 LTS?

Both these things obviously take a bit of time ...

How do you run a memory test? I restart, and during boot, press like F8 or something ?

Because my laptop is connected to an external monitor (because my laptop's monitor has broke some months ago when I must have slept on my laptop), I cannot see anything on the external monitor until it finishes booting up.

After my laptop last crashed some minutes or less ago, while it was booting back up, I ran into the memory test because it is one of the options below picking the current Ubuntu 11.04 operating systems and a couple modification versions and maybe even a safe mode option.

I can see some of the one side of the laptop's monitor, so I was able to see the memory test option and picked it and the memory test started.

But then I stopped the test and restarted because I cannot see enough of the laptop's screen to see what the results would be.

Yes, it's the memtest86+ option on the GRUB screen when you boot up. But if your laptop screen is not working it's going to be difficult!

... How old is the laptop? What do you think about getting a new one? If you slept on it maybe the fan housing was damaged as well as the screen.

I bought the laptop May 2011 from Free Geek (http://FreeGeek.org). They sell, get, donate, make use-computers, laptops, parts, things.

End of August 2011, I had a bunch of video editing programs open and the laptop froze.

After forcing the laptop off, when I turned it back on, all of my data was gone.

My laptop was running Ubuntu 11.10 but it suddenly was back to 11.04. It downgraded. It has new partitions. New directories. It is like a new laptop. I lost around like 80 GBs if mostly videos.

I mostly want to find my lost data and restore it to my Ubuntu tower.

Most laptop hard drives are removable and can be put into a USB caddy of the right size (probably 2.5inch). That could be the best way to recover your data.

How motivated are you to fix the laptop itself? It sounds like getting another might be best. Maybe freegeek can look at refurbishing this one (again)?

I lost 80 GBs of projects I was working on: videos, documents, drawings, pictures, music, audio files, games, programs.

How much does a USB caddy cost? Can you give me a link to one ?

Not expensive, I think. Never bought one myself, but perhaps someone else can advise. You might want to post which country/region you are in.

JoeyArnold, ignore this post - won't help you at the moment.





Everyone else, remember to back up your data! I hate situations where people have lost valuable data and have neglected backups. (Especially when it's happened to me!)