Linux Mint OS always freezes when laptop is not charging

Question

I'm using Linux Mint 17.3 OS on my HP Compaq nc6400 laptop. The OS always freezes after a while if I'm using my laptop without charging it but never does so if I'm charging my laptop while using it.

Also, sometimes if I'm charging my laptop while using it and the power goes off and comes back immediately, it freezes.

Before I started using Linux Mint OS, I have been using Ubuntu OS on the same laptop and have always experienced the same problem but I can't remember if it does the same thing while the laptop is charging.

I've noticed that the freezing normally occur when I'm moving the cursor using the laptop's trackpad.

What's the problem and how can I fix it?

Answer 1

As far as I can tell from a quick Google search, this is a laptop that was released in 2006. That's a ten year old laptop! Frankly, I'm quite surprised it works at all.

What you describe sounds like a hardware issue of some sort. You can try installing Windows to check if the problem also occurs there but the fact that it happens on two different (albeit very similar) distributions is already a bad sign. Also, that this seems to depend on whether you're using the battery, and not on one of the components of the system where the driver would likely be making a difference, also suggests that this is a hardware issue.

I'm afraid we can't really help you here. Laptops have a limited life expectancy and 10 years is well beyond it. You will likely start experiencing more problems as time goes by.