Computer keeps freezing

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olejl

Computer keeps freezing

Post by olejl »

Hi
I'm very happy with Mint, but I have some problems with my computer completely freezing. I don't think it is a Mint issue but maybe compatibility between my HP Compaq 6910p and Linux. I haven't tried any other Linux distro on this computer.

What happens is that my computer freezes, but the current screen is still visible. No keys etc. is working. I can't Ctrl+Alt+Fx to exit X. Only way to restart my PC is to hold the power button. Sometimes (rarely) the mouse pointer is still moving around.

I'm using a "stock" Mint6 32bit, without any modifications except installing extra packages through the apt-get GUI. In the beginning I got an error message in 'messages', but after adding 'hpet=disable' to the kernel parameter the error message disappeared, but the crashes kept coming. I found this in a blog post, but I'm not able to track it down again. I have noticed that when stepping in gdb, the error seems more frequent, and it is driving me crazy. Just when I'm closing in to the good stuff ... freeze.

My computer:
Linux olejl-laptop 2.6.27-7-generic #1 SMP Tue Nov 4 19:33:20 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux
VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc M64-S [Mobility Radeon X2300]
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7500 @ 2.20GHz

If nobody have any tips on how I can solve this problem I was wondering about upgrading the Video (using the radeon driver btw) driver and/or kernel. Is there a testing repo available I can use with Mint6? If it is how can I enable it?
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Husse

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Husse »

First - to reboot you can use
Press AltGr and SysRq/Prtscr simultaneously and constantly
Key in R E I S U B
and you get a reboot
It can be the video driver
Use envy to install the proprietary driver
In a terminal - envyng -t
If that does not help run lspci (in a terminal) and post together with any info you may have on when/how it happens
drgonze1

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by drgonze1 »

I'm having this problem too though it happens when I use Deluge Bittorrent client. I haven't been able to figure out what to do about it and can't find much of anything helpful in the Ubuntu forums either :S
drgonze

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by drgonze »

So one thing I did that has SO FAR worked for me (only been testing it about for 6 hours or so)

I turned down the graphics and that seems to be making my CPU work so hard and I've had zero freezes where I used to have a couple every hour or so.

This might sound rude if you know how to do it :p but didn't at first so I'm sharing how to do it so you don't have to mess around too much.

start, preferences, appearance, Visual effects. I just selected 'none'. When you select none your computer screen probably will flash a little bit.

Maybe this will help you out :)
Katzedecimal

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Katzedecimal »

Is anything coming up in the logs?

MintMenu > Administration > System Log

Usually Messages and SysLog will show something.
drgonze

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by drgonze »

Nothing really. There is only one thing thats on there 'unknown button pressed' and then tells me to set it up. But i'm on an Acer aspire 6920 with gemstone blue.. it's the hold button that it can't recognize.

Other than that.. nothing.
Katzedecimal

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Katzedecimal »

Do either of you (Drgonze and Olejl) have an IDE drive and a SATA drive on the same motherboard?
Andyoops

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Andyoops »

Hi

Apologies for butting in on this but i have exactly the same problem as described by olejl and drgonze. I love Mint but I must have installed it more than 10 times trying to find a configuration that works. I've tried installing updates, not installing updates, I've even reverted to Mint 5 which worked for a bit longer before it's first freeze. I have a Geforce graphics adapter so i tried with/without the proprietry driver and also reduced all visual effects with no luck. Strangely I tried Ubuntu some time ago and found it didn't like my hardware either.
Katzedecimal

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Katzedecimal »

Andyoops, if you can get it to boot long enough from the liveCD to open a terminal, can you type in the command

Code: Select all

lspci
and post the result here? The lspci command tells us about all of the components on the computer, and the chipsets those components are using. Thanks :)
Andyoops

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Andyoops »

Took the option lspci and this was the result:

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8377 [KT400/KT600 AGP] Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 PCI Bridge
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: National Semiconductor Corporation DP83815 (MacPhyter) Ethernet Controller
00:0b.0 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies Inc. VT1720/24 [Envy24PT/HT] PCI Multi-Channel Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 82)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 74)
00:14.0 Multimedia audio controller: C-Media Electronics Inc CM8738 (rev 10)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV17 [GeForce4 MX 440] (rev a3)


P.S. In the interim I tried installing Ubuntu again and while it ran OK for a while it eventually started freezing in exactly the same manner.
Thanks
Husse

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Husse »

This topic has become complicated :)
drgonze - do I understand you right that the problems are solved for you
olejl - the list with MARK you added in the beginning - are the times when you computer is freezing? The first posts are exactly 20 minutes apart. Something is obviously happening at twenty minutes intervals - can you explore that
You have pretty normal Intel inside + an ATI card
In /etc/X11/xorg.conf do you have the line
Driver "fglrx" in Section "Device" ?
Andyoops - your hardware is a bit "suspicious"
Can you run lspci -v and post
(lspci is a funny little command - you can run it as is or with -v, -vv and -vvv as well as with or without sudo - you get more or less information depending...)
Andyoops

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Andyoops »

The results of lspci -v

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8377 [KT400/KT600 AGP] Host Bridge
Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8377 [KT400/KT600 AGP] Host Bridge
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 8
Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable)
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 PCI Bridge (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
Memory behind bridge: e8000000-e9ffffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: d8000000-e7ffffff
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: National Semiconductor Corporation DP83815 (MacPhyter) Ethernet Controller
Subsystem: Netgear FA311 / FA312 (FA311 with WoL HW)
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 16
I/O ports at c000
Memory at ea010000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable)
[virtual] Expansion ROM at 50000000 [disabled]
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:0b.0 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies Inc. VT1720/24 [Envy24PT/HT] PCI Multi-Channel Audio Controller (rev 01)
Subsystem: Unknown device 4930:4553
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 20
I/O ports at c400
I/O ports at c800
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 17
I/O ports at cc00
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 17
I/O ports at d000
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 17
I/O ports at d400
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 82) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 17
Memory at ea011000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable)
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
Flags: bus master, stepping, medium devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT8233/A/C/VT8235 PIPC Bus Master IDE
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 19
[virtual] Memory at 000001f0 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
[virtual] Memory at 000003f0 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
[virtual] Memory at 00000170 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
[virtual] Memory at 00000370 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
I/O ports at d800 [size=16]
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 74)
Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine II] Embeded Ethernet Controller on VT8235
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 18
I/O ports at e400 [size=256]
Memory at ea012000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:14.0 Multimedia audio controller: C-Media Electronics Inc CM8738 (rev 10)
Subsystem: Chaintech Computer Co. Ltd Unknown device 1100
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 21
I/O ports at e800 [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV17 [GeForce4 MX 440] (rev a3) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 248, IRQ 22
Memory at e8000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
Memory at d8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=512K]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at e0080000 [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities: <access denied>

I realise it must be something to do with my hardware setup. I've run every physical check I can but can't find any faults.
Husse

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Husse »

This is odd - I had expected lspci -v to return also this info
Kernel driver in use: ohci1394 #or whatever
Kernel modules: ohci1394 #or whatever
Try lspci -vv and finally -vvv and see if you get that info
If you get it post it here - else just tell me you did not find it
There's something going on here...
Andyoops

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Andyoops »

I ran lspci with all the v's but there is no mention of the kernel.

Should I just throw this aging PC in the bin and build a new one?
Husse

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Husse »

Maybe not throw it in the bin, but as it does not use any kerrnel modules it might not feel so good :)
And then I'm not surprised if it freezes repeatedly
Husse

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Husse »

Well - I should have known, the --MARK-- is just the syslog daemon telling us it's ok - you can set the interval it writes to something other than 20 minutes but that is the default Ubuntu
It's is very hard to figure something out. You have pretty standard hardware the same as many I see (I see a lot of lspci files especially when I try to fix sound problems)
There is one difference though and that is the Ricoh things you have.
Try to disable these. At least something should be possible to do in BIOS but perhaps not, as many laptops have close to no options in BIOS
That's all I can think of for now
And as it is a more or less fresh install I think it is a hardware problem - or of course a compatibility problem
The funny thing is that my computers are stable even though I buy hardware and update software to try to get them unstable to learn from the experience ....
Andyoops

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Andyoops »

Just a quick update. I tried running KDE mint but it eventually as well. I then installed XFCE edition and so far it is working great. I even get mentions of the kernel when I run lspci -v :). Thanks for all your help.
drgonze

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by drgonze »

Sorry I've been in Paris for a while now,

just got back but the freeze happened once or twice after I changed my graphics settings and then just completely stopped. i don't know whether it was an update that did it for me. But it hasn't frozen in weeks. Though the other day it shut off by itself in the middle of the night which was strange but doesnt worry me.

No more freezing for me.
Husse

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by Husse »

OK so I consider this solved
drgonze

Re: Computer keeps freezing

Post by drgonze »

I guess it was just going through an up phase. freezing started again.

Very rapidly at first, every 10 or 20 minutes, a couple of times it was only on long enough to start up.

Now its been a week or so and it has slowed way down. every 4 hours or so it freezes. Very odd. I've been trying to figure out what it could be.

The bluetooth light comes on, and I have both uninstalled bluetooth (after the freezing started) and do not have a bluetooth device on my computer. The caps lock light also comes on and flashes on an off, and the fan kicks on.

I can't seem to find out what could be causing this as I have not changed my graphics settings or any of that. I think I'm going to install a Ubuntu instead or Kubutnu and see if anything is different with that OS.

Also I do have one question. Any body else on here using an Acer? I think it might have something to do with the hardware in the computer. I did have sound issues when I first installed mint as well.
Locked

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