system errors and update manager

[rhia_starsong]

I just started having this problem about 30 minutes ago.  I am running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, and the update manager came up while I was working saying I had important security updates to do with Firefox.  I told it to run, but it does that thing where it greys out the window because the system's thinking too hard, and wouldn't work.  Eventually, it

Comments

[sapphorlando]

I'm willing to bet you've got a hardware issue, not software, and maybe a serious one. I think you might have a failing HDD, and should back everything up immediately and investigate it.

[rhia_starsong]

I was afraid it might be something like that; the computer's over five years old, so it could be. Thanks for the help, though!

[vortex]

Yeah, I think the Dah Daaah Dah sounds is the main sign.

When hard drives go physically bad, they typically make strange noises. 5 years old is not really that long for one to last, I still have some Maxtor and Seagate Hard Drives that I've used 24/7 since 2003-ish (they are 120GB drives I use in the security computer I have setup running Zoneminder to record/monitor my security cameras.

One thing you can do to check is boot up with a Ubuntu cd/dvd, open a terminal and run either "fsck" or "e2fsck" (Do not rune either of these on a file system that is mounted). Both commands check the file system for errors, though I have not yet figured out what the specific differences are. I think e2fsck has more/better support for ext4 system that is the default install for newer versions of Ubuntu...

[rhia_starsong]

Okay, I'll try the disk boot thing tomorrow; all the hard drives I've had go bad before now made different noises; this one was new! It's a Dell laptop; I'm amazed it's made it this long. Of course, now I have to decide whether it's better to just get a new hard drive for the same laptop or get a new laptop. I know which is a cheaper option, just not which is better. :(