I 'm sorry for spamming the list with this, but I noticed these errors, that I'm pretty certain they didn't happen when I first installed linux on the machine. Could they be relevant to the issue?
Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896065] ------------[ cut here ]------------ Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896073] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 37 at /build/buildd/linux-3.13.0/arch/x86/kernel/check.c:140 check_for_bios_corruption+0x10f/0x120() Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896074] Memory corruption detected in low memory Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896075] Modules linked in: cuse snd_hda_codec_hdmi(OF) rfcomm bnep bluetooth binfmt_misc arc4 uvcvideo iwldvm videobuf2_vmalloc mac80211 videobuf2_memops videobuf2_core videodev snd_hda_codec_realtek(OF) snd_hda_codec_generic(OF) snd_hda_intel(OF) snd_hda_controller(OF) snd_hda_codec(OF) snd_hwdep snd_pcm snd_page_alloc snd_seq_midi snd_seq_midi_event snd_rawmidi snd_seq kvm snd_seq_device snd_timer iwlwifi radeon joydev serio_raw r592 memstick snd lpc_ich cfg80211 ttm drm_kms_helper mac_hid drm i2c_algo_bit soundcore sony_laptop parport_pc video ppdev coretemp lp parport hid_generic usbhid hid sdhci_pci sdhci psmouse firewire_ohci ahci firewire_core libahci crc_itu_t sky2 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896120] CPU: 1 PID: 37 Comm: kworker/1:1 Tainted: GF O 3.13.0-35-generic #62-Ubuntu Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896122] Hardware name: Sony Corporation VGN-FW21M/VAIO, BIOS R1100Y0 08/27/2009 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896125] Workqueue: events check_corruption Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896127] 0000000000000009 ffff880139683d30 ffffffff8171e320 ffff880139683d78 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896130] ffff880139683d68 ffffffff8106775d 0000000000000000 ffff880000010000 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896133] ffffffff81eb21f0 0000000000000001 ffff880000000000 ffff880139683dc8 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896135] Call Trace: Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896140] [<ffffffff8171e320>] dump_stack+0x45/0x56 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896144] [<ffffffff8106775d>] warn_slowpath_common+0x7d/0xa0 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896146] [<ffffffff810677cc>] warn_slowpath_fmt+0x4c/0x50 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896149] [<ffffffff810524af>] check_for_bios_corruption+0x10f/0x120 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896152] [<ffffffff810524ce>] check_corruption+0xe/0x40 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896155] [<ffffffff810839d2>] process_one_work+0x182/0x450 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896163] [<ffffffff810847c1>] worker_thread+0x121/0x410 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896166] [<ffffffff810846a0>] ? rescuer_thread+0x430/0x430 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896169] [<ffffffff8108b4a2>] kthread+0xd2/0xf0 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896171] [<ffffffff8108b3d0>] ? kthread_create_on_node+0x1c0/0x1c0 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896174] [<ffffffff8172ecbc>] ret_from_fork+0x7c/0xb0 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896176] [<ffffffff8108b3d0>] ? kthread_create_on_node+0x1c0/0x1c0 Oct 26 12:00:44 vaio kernel: [ 60.896178] ---[ end trace 300adf7bd3d057f3 ]---