Shutting down Ubuntu properly on laptops
Source: Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) on the Asus Eee PC
I was experiencing problems when shutting down Ubuntu on two laptops. The display shuts down completely however the machine still seems to be running with the green power light on. This can only be resolved with manual shutdown by holding the power button for 5 seconds.
The symptom first appeared on my Asus Eee PC after installing Ubuntu but later on my Sony VAIO laptop did exactly the same thing.
I came across the following link which had a section about how to properly shutdown the operating system on the Asus Eee PC. This worked for the Asus Eee PC as well as the Sony VAIO laptop.