I have a laptop with lubuntu 13.04
When given the shut down command, it exits the graphical interface, shows the lubuntu logo and then the screen goes black, but the computer never actually goes off until I press and hold the power button.
Is it possible to fix?
Try shutdown -h or shutdown -P, for halt or poweroff. It should turn off the machine completely. Apparently the -P option is safer (meaning it is more likely to cause the poweroff in different Linux distros), as it is more explicit and much less dependent on the implementation.
From the man page of shutdown:
-h Requests that the system be either halted or powered off after it has been brought down, with the choice as to which left up to the system.
-P Requests that the system be powered off after it has been brought down.
Here's one more useful link as it says using only shutdown doesn't turns off the system you need to add extra parameters to it as well.
sudo shutdown nowin the terminal?init 0. what is the result for it.init 0can also be used to shutdown systems orshutdowncommand can also be used. Here's a link cyberciti.biz/faq/shutdown-ubuntu-linux-computer Try the different types of commands listed and notice if there is anykind of unusual behavior still by your system.shutdown -horshutdown -P(forhaltorpoweroff, respectively)?shutdownby itself doesn't work on any of my machines running Ubuntu or Mint, while when run with-hdidn't work only for some older Supermicro server boards with long-outdated BIOS (a BIOS update helped).shutdowninstead ofshutdown -h- the behavior is consistent with the commands. As a workaround, you may try to bind the power button to a specified action - help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/… If you are happy enough with the terminal option, you may accept Tarun's answer, or I may post mine.