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Since I updated to 11.04 my Computer seems to restart randomly. The screen goes black, sometimes it comes back If I move the mouse or press a key on the keyboard (but maybe that was just coincidence) but most of the time the screen stays black for about 15 seconds and after that I see the spash screen of my BIOS and the computer is restarting.

It seems to only happen when I am not using the computer directly (manipulating mouse or keyboard). So most of the time I will come back to the computer and it will just present the login-screen or the screen will go black while I am watching a video, listening to music etc.

I am using Ubuntu Classic without effects with the proprietary nVidia drivers.

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Could you boot from the ubuntu cd and do a memtest? Those random restart could be caused by memory problems, or heat problems from the CPU or VGA. So first: memory ;-) – David Rando May 21 '11 at 15:13
I think you can even run a Memtest from an installed ubuntu? At least I remember seeing a entry in grub. But I will do and report back :) But that still would not explain why it only happens when I am NOT using the computer. Especially regarding heat problems. – Plankalkül May 21 '11 at 15:21
it very could be; acpi might enter a different mode when the computer enters sleep mode that lowers the fan speed and produces more heating, just above where the problem happens – lurscher May 21 '11 at 15:28
Yeah you can do a memtest from grub, i forgot. If it happens when you're not using the computer can be caused by the screensaver (nvidia giving a hardware error). But first, the memory have to be tested to remove it from the equation, you know ;-) You can always update the driver, test the xorg-edgers or the x-swat-updates ppa and any of that stuff, but first: let's see if that part of the hardware is ok. – David Rando May 21 '11 at 15:29
OK, so I didn't find any memory-errors. – Plankalkül May 21 '11 at 16:52
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closed as too localized by fossfreedom Feb 22 '12 at 23:16

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