For the past few months my Ubuntu laptop (hardware list to follow) has been crashing very often when plugged in (and to a lesser extent when not), and there seems to be a series of events that will make this more likely, though system stability is rather poor at all times.

Here's what I can confirm:
1. Plugging the machine in to charge while using it GREATLY decreases stability, and crashes extremely often when trying to do an intensive task such as opening Azureus or when Firefox attempts to load a complex page like, say, gmail. (except when system runs from a CD, see point 2)
2. The machine is much more stable when plugged in and run from a LiveCD such as Knoppix, the Ubuntu LiveCD, or even Kororaa. Not perfect stability, but almost.
3. I highly doubt that the machine is overheating, as it will crash at any temperature (from my judgement of external heat, anyway)
4. I also highly doubt this is an issue involving software either, as the machine will even crash while attempting to load an intense LiveCD (like Kororaa) if it is plugged in. (However, once the system is fully loaded, I can plug the machine in while running Kororaa and it will run VERY
stable, so only startup becomes an issue in this case).
5. The machine is semi-stable when running from battery power, but not nearly what one would expect from a Linux machine.

It has not always been this way - for several months it ran very stable, and one day just "decided" to crash very often while charging. I highly doubt this is a Linux issue and very much suspect damaged/faulty hardware, so I apologize for that, but as I'm running Ubuntu I thought that running it by a hardware guru or two might help me ascertain what specific part (or parts) is/are to blame.

Here's my hardware list, as ripped from the invoice:
ADAPTER: Universal AC-DC Adapter
BATTERY: Li-Ion 8-Cell PACK, 14.4V x4400 mAh
CD: 8X DVD REWRITABLE DRIVE
CPU: AMD MOBILE ATHLON(TM)64 3400+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology
FLASHMEDIA: Built-In 3in1 Media Reader
FLOPPY: NONE
HDD: 80GB 5400RPM ULTRA ATA 100 HARD DRIVE
IEEE_CARD: BUILT-IN 1394 IEEE FIREWIRE PORT
KEYBOARD: BUILT-IN KEYBOARD
MOUSE: BUILT-IN TOUCHPAD
MOTHERBOARD: SiS Chipset Mainboard
MEMORY: 512 MB PC3200 400MHz DDR MEMORY (CORSAIR XMS NOTEBOOK MEMORY
MONITOR: 15.4" WXGA WIDE-SCREEN TFT LCD DISPLAY Max: 1280x800 PIXELS
MODEM: BUILT-IN 56K V.92 FAX MODEM
NETWORK: BUILT-IN 10/100 NETWORK CARD
PCMCIA: (1)Type II PCMCIA 32-Bit PC Card Bus
SOUND: BUILT-IN AC 97 SOUND
SPEAKERS: BUILT-IN STEREO SPEAKERS SYSTEM
VIDEO: MOBILE ATI RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB VIDEO

Please let me know if more/what information would be helpful.

Sounds to me like you might of damaged your power supply.

Do you ever plug your laptop in after you've pluged the charger into the outlet? Thats really dangerous because it can send a charge back into your laptop and blow it. Thats just one possiablity and not by far the only one.

When she crashes is she hot? If you powersupply is faulty she might be running hot even though the room isn't. Check it next time your computer crashes.

Use a volt meter to check the output of the power adapter (DC voltage).

Does your battery charge when the system is plugged in, or has it stopped recieving a charge?

If your machine runs while plugged in and battery is out then the DC-Inverter is fine.

However, if you check your adapter and its spitting out a higher voltage than normal then you may have fried something or damaged something on the logic board.

I would also remove the battery and just run on AC adapter.

Also, download and run xmbmon so that we can see the temps/fan speeds when the system acts up.

See my thread for help here

Also, output the results of 'top' from the command line. Just wondering about processor usage....

Scott

To be honest, I'm not really sure if I've plugged the machine in BEFORE plugging it into the wall so the answer is sadly "Probably".

And, as for the charger, yes, it heats up pretty good alright, though if that were a cause of the crashing... shouldn't running the system from a LiveCD be just as unstable?

Also of note, the machine in question (sadly this is my primary machine) just crashed while reading this page... doing absolutely nothing so... I'm at a bit of a loss.

Yes, it does charge when plugged in and the system is running.
The Output:
"No Hardware Monitor found!!"
"InitMBInfo: Success"

Probably not what you were looking for. Any ideas on alternatives?

This is going to sound stupid, but... could you tell me how? I'm sad to say my CLI skills are novice level at best. Also, I don't presently have access to a voltmeter (I'll pick one up at the next oppurtunity) so I really can't tell what the adapter is up to.

Thanks for the help thus far, guys.