Linux Mint shutdown issues occur when the system fails to exit properly.
Linux Mint shutdown issues occur when the system fails to exit properly.
I set up the newest Mint Cinnamon version and really enjoy it, and it runs smoothly on my laptop. The main issue is that it freezes the screen and hangs for a couple of minutes when I shut it down or run sudo shutdown now. It’s frustrating since I’m at university and don’t want to end classes early or sit through shutdowns. Have you tried any fixes? Also, I’m weighing switching to Arch Linux as a potential solution—my old machine works fine there, so it might be worth considering.
It was a frequent issue where the system paused before stopping, never actually doing so. The kernel version you're using might affect the behavior. What causes the delay? Check the relevant files like system.conf and user.conf to fix it or adjust them. A workaround involved disabling network and signing off before shutdown, which usually resolved the problem.
There seems to be an issue where the system doesn't shut down correctly and systemd takes a long time to terminate. You should provide some logs for analysis. As a temporary fix, repeatedly press Ctrl+alt+cancel until you notice the "forcing shutdown" message on the screen.
You can retrieve logs by using the appropriate logging interface or command once the system is powered off, ensuring it captures the freeze during shutdown.
Mint should keep logs in /var/logs like Ubuntu does. For this problem, examine dmesg which appears in kern.log—look at the timing. More sessions should show up. I don’t recall the exact behavior of systemd shutdown logging, but you might try the journalctl command, which records logs there. It’s unclear if any extra parameters help, but I’m not familiar with Linux systems.
You didn’t succeed. I made the changes using sudo nano /etc/system/system.conf.
You might run the journalctl command with those options: journalctl -b -2. This will display the logs from the last two boot events, helping you review system activity after a restart. Paste this here if you'd like to share the output: pastebin