computer fails to shutdown
 

1. click on quit
2. shutdown
3. renders lm screen
4. screen blinks and back to LM screen
5. screen is scrambled for a moment
6. back to LM screen and freezes.

have tried all the grub instructions from internet and will not work.
Note: the keyboard is dead at this time.
I have to hold the reset button to shutdown computer.

I assume you are using Linux Mint from your reference to "LM." Which version and desktop environment?

what happens when you open a terminal and issue the following command?

As an aside, shutdown should not involve GRUB in any way.

Have you looked in the log files to see whether they shed any light on this?

are you trying to Quit the desktop or reboot? i'm not clear on that.

quitting the desktop should lead back to login (and not have a graphics freeze)

"shutting down computer" should end in a freeze - but you should have visual indications of whether it's safe to power off

many system use halt(1) at the end of a system take-down for both reset and halt - it resets if invoked as reset, it halts if invoked as halt - it fucks up if there is a library or compilation issue (if the distro made it wrong). furthermore - when i built a small distro myself i had more than one halt so i had to be careful which one

now - if you have some glitchy desktop? maybe it quits the desktop and freezes before it ever actually issues "shutdown" (in that case - use the advice of the last poster is your choice - or upgrade - but upgrade will bring you just different problems is my bet - some fixed, others now broken, linux just seems to get hacked these days)

or maybe it's your VIDEO CARD - perhaps that causes the freeze (you can dry vesa driver and see if your restarts work?). you did see video abberations.

you could have a RACE ISSUE. perhaps the desktop is shutting down while the system is, and shutdown kicks it just when the (X server) is doing video writes and freezes your screen

YUP - need more evidence. that's what we need.

quickly - i forgot

whenever we're talking "a desktop issue" ALWAYS TRY THIS FIRST:

log in as a new user (or guest) and see if the other "clean" user has the same issue. if not - then some prefference files in your $HOME need updating or removing.

try logging out (where you see the user login) and selecting shutdown from there if there is a button for you there to do so. it may work.