Thanks for all the prompt and helpful replies. This list is a great
resource.
I *hope* I have this solved now - time will tell.
Sun sent me a new mother board which I installed a few hours ago.
By far the most common suggestion was that the machine shut itself off
due to an overheated cpu - caused by either a bad fan, or blocked vents.
(the bad fans aparently have 5 blades, the good have 7 - both mine had 7)
This should put a Thermal Overload Warning message in /var/adm/messages.
I did not have such a message, but, who knows maybe this was the problem
and it did not get logged (one person suggested this may not get
logged in 2.5.1).
Some people suggested I had power management software installed and
activated. No signs of SUNWCpmu or SUNWpmu packages on this machine,
which I believe are the ones for power management.
Several people suggested I check for a cron job that ran "init 5".
This was not my problem - machine stop time seemed random (I
started putting a timestamp in a file once a minute to see if
there was a regular shutdown time)
Some people reported similar strange intermitent problems
with Suns hanging for no apparent reason. This was not the
case here, since when a machine hangs the fan at least keeps
turning.
One person suggested a "happy hacker" might be causing me problems.
I hope not, but changed root password just in case...
> Hi,
> We have an ultra 2 creator running 2.5.1 with recommended patches
> as of 12/17/97.
> The last three nights in a row the machine has been off
> in the morning. No fan running, nothing. Turning the power
> switch off then on again reboots the machine and all seems well.
> It is almost as if somebody had turned the power off at night,
> except, then it should not be necesary to turn the power off
> before turning it back on. Power managment software is not installed
> on this machine. There are no entries in /var/adm/messages
> to indicate a problem.
> I think I'll call sun service, but, would be interested
> in hearing what people think might be causing this.
> Thanks
>
> David Knight
> Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Tel: (518)-442-4204
> SUNYA ES-228 Fax: (518)-442-4494
> Albany, NY 12222 Email: knight@atmos.albany.edu
>
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