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Background: I'm trying to do a long SMB to SMB network transfer on a computer running xubuntu, but I've encountered a very weird problem:
My computer loses its network connection after random amount (in range of 10-40min) of inactivity, and any user activity (even moving the mouse) brings it instantly back up. The computer is connected via ethernet cable, not WLAN. When the connection drops, it stops answering and also disappears from the client list of the NAT router after a while.
I tried running a script that automaticly mimicks user behaviour with xdotool, but that does not seem to work. I also noticed that it's not just network activity that stops - the script outputs an increasing number every minute, and when the computer drops off network I noticed that the number doesn't increase! The script and network activity continues as if nothing had happened when I move the mouse, press shift or anything.
I found are no BIOS options relevant to this, and there's no such features in xubuntu power management I know of.
The computer is a Compaq Presario 6540fi.
Question: Any ideas what might be causing my computer to behave like this?
I'm also interested in how I could hack around the problem?
Possibly a driver issue. I don't have an answer, but maybe a pointer: http://serverfault.com/questions/104791/windows-server-2008-r2-network-adapter-stops-working-requires-hard-reboot
– TFM – 2011-07-31T18:07:05.543I have a presario F500 that I'm trying to use for an always-on robotics thing, and I'm having the exact same problem as you. I've also noticed that grub waits if there's any network activity on boot. It sounds like a hardware issue common to presario laptops, and I was shocked to find this considering I didn't even include it in my search. It would be nice if there was a solution to the problem... can you provide an update, or have you been unable to fix it? – Matt – 2012-01-14T14:17:25.980
@Matt Well, I never did fix it in any sort of proper way. I ended up taping a mouse to a rotating tabletop fan, in order to complete a large data transfer (moving any relevant data away from the thing). After that I moved on to another computer. And if I have any say in it, I'll stay at a good distance from any others like it too... Weirdest thing I've ever encountered, and very comforting to hear I'm not the only one - proves I'm not going crazy. :) – Ilari Kajaste – 2012-01-15T18:08:59.597