machine does not shut down

[apcrcom]

new install debian 9

select shut down

Desktop closes, and then blank screen - black, no text

Stays on this screen until manually powered off with long press power button.

Can anyone help?

[Lysander]

How long are you waiting for until you do a hard shutdown?

As far as I recall systemd can invoke a shutdown after 90 seconds. I would recommend waiting at least this long. A hard shutdown should be a last resort.

Also you may find it pertinent to do a little research yourself. You'll find quite a few topics about hanging on shutdown on this forum, and with other systemd distros on Google.

[dasein]

powered off with long press power button.

Power button bad. The "magic" SysReq keys are your friend.

For reasons I totally don't understand, Debian ships with those keys only partially enabled. To fully enable, add the following line:

Code: Select all

kernel.sysrq=1

to the file /etc/sysctl.conf and reboot.

[Bulkley]

An alternate is to put a 1 in /proc/sys/kernel/sysrq . I like dasein's better. I think someone has updated the sysctl.conf script.

[Bulkley]

apcrcom, something is interfering with your shutdown. Go into a terminal and enter

Code: Select all

systemctl poweroff

Let us know of any differences and/or any error messages.

It is important that you close any running programs before shutting down or the process will have to take the time to do it for you.

[dasein]

An alternate is to put a 1 in /proc/sys/kernel/sysrq

That works too, but it doesn't survive a reboot.

[Bulkley]

An alternate is to put a 1 in /proc/sys/kernel/sysrq

That works too, but it doesn't survive a reboot.

From experience, yes it does.

It is curious that Debian turned this feature off a couple of years ago. For many years the default was on. I learned about it years ago when I had some bad hardware that would freeze the screen. As someone said at the time, the kernel was happily chugging along underneath everything so the sysrq REISUB was my magic out.

[dasein]

An alternate is to put a 1 in /proc/sys/kernel/sysrq

That works too, but it doesn't survive a reboot.

From experience, yes it does.

Hard to imagine how, since /proc is a virtual filesystem.

It is curious that Debian turned this feature off a couple of years ago.

Did they actually turn it off completely? Historically, Debian only enabled certain keys, and the default config was basically useless.

I know that systemd broke the SysReq keys, but I thought that someone (HoaS?) had verified that Debian had applied a patch that re-enabled the functionality.

(Speaking of HoaS, he's been conspicuously absent of late. Hope he's okay.)

Sorry for the rambling semi-hijack.

[GarryRicketson]

I've noticed he (H_O_A_S) has been active on another forum, so I think he is ok.

[dasein]

Good to know. Thanks, Garry

[Bulkley]

Hard to imagine how, since /proc is a virtual filesystem.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by surviving a reboot.

Ten years ago I simply used the REISUB stuff and it worked. I don't remember doing anything to enable it. A couple of years ago, after doing an upgrade I had to enable it. Regardless, it is a handy tool when the gremlins are at play.

BTW, my desktop is built of cannibalized parts, none of which is newer than six years old and some quite a bit older. So, yes, I know what it's like to run older equipment.

Sorry about the side track.

[dasein]

Pertinent historical thread: viewtopic.php?p=432168