[NTLUG:Discuss] somewhat odd boot behavior

[Fred James]

Gilbert Morrow wrote:
> In the OS GUI (KDE , Gnome) you have the ability to set a power button
> event , meaning when you push the power button it initiates a event such as
> bringing up a power down option , ie ... restart , power down , hibernate ,
> etc..
> I have mine set to power down the computer when power button is pressed
> (not held) , you can set it so it will ask if you want to do the action or
> just power down without any further user input (my choice) .
> Everything I am alluding to is in KDE , I am not a Gnome fan thus do not
> use Gnome , but it should do it as well .
>   
(omissions for brevity)
Yes, thank you for the clarification ... this feature is available in 
Gnome as well ... however (and it is my fault for not making this clear 
enough to begin with), the question revolves entirely around GUI events 
(mouse clicks).

To be clear ... my physical buttons (power and reset) work just fine, 
and as desired ... these can also be altered in this version of BIOS, 
but you may already know that.

It is the GUI "buttons" that are at issue here ... in Gnome the 
navigation is ...
    System -> Shut Down
... which brings up a dialog box to display choices in the form of 3 GUI 
buttons ...
    "Restart" "Cancel" "Shut Down"
... with the additional dynamic message that if one does not choose one 
of those three option withing 60 seconds, the system will automatically 
shut down.

ON the surface, if one isn't watching, the system appears to be acting 
properly ... that is it come back with a login screen/prompt.

HOWEVER, if one watches one will notice that the shut down and boot 
displays are missing AND just as with simply restarting X or logging 
out, if there is a system level issue (outside of the X domain) the 
problem persist.

GRANTED, there are perhaps better ways to deal with the problems then 
rebooting, BUT the user in question is "allergic to things too 
technical" and prefers to do what she knows will work ... except it sort 
of doesn't.

We do have a workaround (the physical buttons), but I was just looking 
for something a little more elegant, if such is available.

I apologize again, for not being clear enough in the beginning.

Thank you
Regards
Fred James

System specs again, in case anyone is interested ...

Gigbyte(tm) S-Series G41M-ES2L motherboard
Intel Dual-Core E6600 LGA775 cpu
ATX-1072BP case from Frys (380W power supply)
OS: Mandriva 2008.0  (2.6.22.19-desktop-2mdv)

and the BIOS is Award v6.00PG and the Motherboard model and BIOS version are G41M-ES2L F9c