is my power supply dieing?

[Steve Litt]

On Fri, 3 Jul 2020 09:36:04 -0400
Michael via PLUG-discuss <plug-discuss at lists.phxlinux.org> wrote:

> sometimes my computer freezes. is iut the power supply?
> 

Nobody has a crystal ball to tell you whether your computer's power
supply is dying. This question pops up every few years for every
computer user. The best practice test is to have a known-good, modern
power supply on hand, and swap it for the one currently in the machine.

Your problem is intermittent, as evidenced by your statement that your
computer *sometimes* freezes. If, after switching power supplies, your
computer goes 4 times longer than usual without a freeze, you almost
certainly uncovered the root cause, in which case you should mark the
old power supply with a sharpie as "intermittent", throw it away, and
order a new spare power supply so  you're ready to do this test in the
future.

If the symptom continues to happen, replace the known good power supply
with the original (put the original back) and troubleshoot other
subsections of the computer, including software.

More to the point, please read, reread, and read again the article "How
To Ask Questions The Smart Way", by Eric Raymond and Rick Moen, at
http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html . Following the advice
in this article enables you to ask questions that can be answered,
without all sorts of speculation, interrogation, and back-and-forth on a
nice mailing list like plug-discuss, or a deafening silence on less
tolerant mailing lists.

I answered the literal question you asked. How you came to suspect the
power supply is unknown. Later you speculated it might be the graphics,
or it might be chrome, oh wait, you meant chromium, then a suggestion
from "the computer gal", whoever that is, then ram, then the hard drive.

Your most recent post was a top post that said simply "hard drive".
What about the hard drive? We just don't know.

Mike, when you ask for help on a mailing list, you need to do your due
diligence. That means asking questions the smart way. That means
learning just a little bit about computers and software so you can
perform several consecutive troubleshooting steps in a row, without
asking for help. 

And it means learning the mindset and structure of troubleshooting.
Here's a hint: Effective troubleshooting involves binary search, not
sequential search. 

Binary search means to keep dividing in half. Start with *major*
subsections, such as: "Is it hardware or software?" Boot up a live
Linux system such as Knoppix: Anything different from your
distribution. If the problem ceases (and in the case of an
intermittent, ceases for four times the interval between typical
occcurrences), it was a software problem. Then try dividing your
original software situation in half. If the problem still occurs in the
live CD, it's probably hardware. Find ways of quickly dividing that
in half, then in half again, and soon you'll fix the problem.

Sequential search means to test all the tiny sub-subsystems. Maybe it's
the power supply, let's test that. Maybe it's Cromium, let's test that.
Maybe it's the hard disk, let's test that. Maybe it's the graphical
hardware, let's test that. Maybe it's the Ram, let's test that. Maybe
it's the mobo/cpu combination, let's test that. Sequential search takes
huge amounts of time, and usually leads to confusion rather than a root
cause.

In summary, learn the contents of "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way".
Learn not just the major subsystems of a computer loaded with Linux,
but the interactions between those subsystems and the sub-subsystems
they contain. Learn enough troubleshooting methodology that you rule
out approximately 1/2 the remaining root cause scope with each
test (this is a gross oversimplification, but serves as a starting
point). When you learn these things, not only will you no longer
be dependent on others every single step of the way, but you'll
start being one of the people who advises others on *their*
technical problems. These skills can't help but improve your
career.

SteveT