LM 20.1 unuseable on my machine - Solved

[oliverjames]

After many years happily enjoying LM 19.1 - 19.3 I finally decided to try LM 20.1. After a fresh install all appeared fine, until I left to drink a coffee. Returning to my desk I find a blank screen and so I hit the spacebar...nothing, mouse activity nothing, so I hit the start button, and my machine promptly shut-down. It's done this 5 times so clearly something is wrong.

I welcome any thoughts as to what the problem might be.

Here's some inxi data:

Code: Select all

richard@timelinx:~$ inxi -F
System:
  Host: timelinx Kernel: 5.4.0-74-generic x86_64 bits: 64 
  Desktop: Xfce 4.14.2 Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Aspire 4820TG v: V1.25 
  serial: <superuser/root required> 
  Mobo: Acer model: JM41_CP serial: <superuser/root required> BIOS: INSYDE 
  v: 1.25 date: 03/16/2011 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 17.4 Wh condition: 17.4/66.6 Wh (26%) 
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i5 M 430 bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
  Speed: 1421 MHz min/max: 1199/2267 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1336 2: 1399 
  3: 1329 4: 1362 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Core Processor Integrated Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel 
  Device-2: AMD Madison [Mobility Radeon HD 5650/5750 / 6530M/6550M] 
  driver: radeon v: kernel 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: ati,modesetting,radeon 
  unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1366x768~60Hz, 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics (ILK) v: 2.1 Mesa 20.2.6 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 5 Series/3400 Series High Definition Audio 
  driver: snd_hda_intel 
  Device-2: AMD Redwood HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 5000 Series] 
  driver: snd_hda_intel 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-74-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR8151 v1.0 Gigabit Ethernet driver: atl1c 
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: c8:0a:a9:64:f8:0a 
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k 
  IF: wlp3s0 state: down mac: 78:e4:00:1a:77:37 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 331.94 GiB (71.3%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 840 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 36.89 GiB used: 8.47 GiB (23.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
  ID-2: /home size: 10.02 GiB used: 1.39 GiB (13.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
  ID-3: swap-1 size: 6.45 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 44.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 43 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 194 Uptime: 9m Memory: 3.53 GiB used: 1.14 GiB (32.4%) 
  Shell: bash inxi: 3.0.38 
richard@timelinx:~$ 

Thank you.

[motoryzen]

If a more experienced LM user chimes in on this ...he or she may ask you to post the results of >>>> inxi -Fxxxrz

1. I'm curious about screensaver being involved here. Check your screen saver settings. Could the default..OOTB screensaver settings in 20.1 be different than the 19 mint varieties? I've always set mine to off as I couldn't care any less about a screen saver.

2. Check your power settings is it set to power saver? cpupower-gui can be your best friend on a side note.

also Chris Titus Tech has been known for some good Linux helpful content such as >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1iRxoyT4EA started around 38 second mark

3. I wonder if the problem has something to do with the laptop going sleep and not waking up properly and possibly involving the gpu driver you have.

Some have reported the Radeon driver ( meaning you went to amd.com and followed their instructions on downloading and installing their Linux driver..instead of just leaving the original driver as it built into the Kernel). instead of the regular " amdgpu" driver as the source of the problem. The machine wakes up properly, but the video driver doesn't load or do the normal..things all the way and that's why the screen is blank and the system almost completely unresponsive.

I never install drivers on my LM 20.1 Cinnamon machine from amd for my rx 580 vid card as there has never been a need . Mine shows

**** Graphics:
Device-1: AMD Ellesmere [Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590]
vendor: Sapphire Limited Nitro+ driver: amdgpu ****** Thus driver: amdgpu

Here's my inxi -Fxxxrz

Code: Select all

Kernel: 5.11.16-051116-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 wm: muffin 4.8.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: X570 Taichi serial: <filter> 
  BIOS: American Megatrends v: P4.10 date: 03/08/2021 
CPU:
  Topology: 12-Core model: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Zen 3 L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 177588 
  Speed: 2228 MHz min/max: 2200/3700 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 2228 2: 2495 3: 2311 4: 2194 5: 2301 6: 3102 7: 3208 8: 2566 9: 2462 
  10: 2261 11: 2225 12: 2243 13: 2264 14: 2371 15: 3143 16: 3191 17: 2955 
  18: 2702 19: 2225 20: 2414 21: 3056 22: 2490 23: 2759 24: 2197 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Ellesmere [Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590] 
  vendor: Sapphire Limited Nitro+ driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus ID: 0b:00.0 
  chip ID: 1002:67df 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: amdgpu,ati 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa tty: N/A 
  OpenGL: renderer: Radeon RX 580 Series (POLARIS10 DRM 3.40.0 
  5.11.16-051116-generic LLVM 12.0.0) 
  v: 4.6 Mesa 21.1.2 - kisak-mesa PPA direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] 
  vendor: Sapphire Limited driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 0b:00.1 
  chip ID: 1002:aaf0 
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: ASRock 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 0e:00.4 chip ID: 1022:1487 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.11.16-051116-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Intel I211 Gigabit Network vendor: ASRock driver: igb v: kernel 
  port: f000 bus ID: 06:00.0 chip ID: 8086:1539 
  IF: enp6s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 14.37 TiB used: 6.62 TiB (46.1%) 
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Intel model: SSDPEDMW800G4 size: 745.21 GiB 
  speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> rev: 8EV10174 scheme: MBR 
  ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Toshiba model: HDWR11A size: 9.10 TiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> rev: 0603 
  ID-3: /dev/sdb vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 4TB size: 3.64 TiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 4B6Q scheme: GPT 
  ID-4: /dev/sdc vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 1TB size: 931.51 GiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 3B6Q scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 732.02 GiB used: 55.96 GiB (7.6%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 36.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 47 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 1711 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list 
  1: deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caldas-lopes-ppa-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/caldas-lopes/ppa/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/cappelikan-ppa-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/cappelikan/ppa/ubuntu focal main
  2: deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/cappelikan/ppa/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kisak-kisak-mesa-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kisak/kisak-mesa/ubuntu focal main
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/lunarg-vulkan-1.2.162-focal.list 
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/lutris-team-lutris-focal.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://mirrors.evowise.com/linuxmint/packages ulyssa main upstream import backport
  2: deb http://la-mirrors.evowise.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://la-mirrors.evowise.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://la-mirrors.evowise.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/openshot_developers-ppa-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/openshot.developers/ppa/ubuntu focal main
Info:
  Processes: 419 Uptime: 39m Memory: 125.73 GiB used: 3.10 GiB (2.5%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38

3. One thing that is most often mentioned is a kernel update away from 5.4.whatever-whatever to 5.8.x.-x . Most often if the kernel s the problem, going to 5.8
will fix it as that kernel is said to contain many code patches/fixes.

I always recommend taking a Time Shift snapshot backup before doing major kernel updates, but I've never heard of anyone having problems when updating from 5.4.x-x to 5.8 varieties done through the Update Manager built into Linux Mint


---- ---- There may be something more applicable I'm missing here. Perhaps SMG or another more experienced LM user here will chime in ------ --------

[oliverjames]

If a more experienced LM user chimes in on this ...he or she may ask you to post the results of >>>> inxi -Fxxxrz

1. I'm curious about screensaver being involved here. Check your screen saver settings. Could the default..OOTB screensaver settings in 20.1 be different than the 19 mint varieties? I've always set mine to off as I couldn't care any less about a screen saver.

2. Check your power settings is it set to power saver? cpupower-gui can be your best friend on a side note.

also Chris Titus Tech has been known for some good Linux helpful content such as >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1iRxoyT4EA started around 38 second mark

3. I wonder if the problem has something to do with the laptop going sleep and not waking up properly and possibly involving the gpu driver you have.
....

....
4. One thing that is most often mentioned is a kernel update away from 5.4.whatever-whatever to 5.8.x.-x . Most often if the kernel s the problem, going to 5.8
will fix it as that kernel is said to contain many code patches/fixes.

I always recommend taking a Time Shift snapshot backup before doing major kernel updates, but I've never heard of anyone having problems when updating from 5.4.x-x to 5.8 varieties done through the Update Manager built into Linux Mint


---- ---- There may be something more applicable I'm missing here. Perhaps SMG or another more experienced LM user here will chime in ------ --------

Here's the result of inxi -Fxxxrz

Code: Select all

richard@timelinx:~$  inxi -Fxxxrz
System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-74-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Xfce 4.14.2 tk: Gtk 3.24.13 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm4 
  dm: LightDM 1.30.0 Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Aspire 4820TG v: V1.25 serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Acer model: JM41_CP serial: <filter> BIOS: INSYDE v: 1.25 
  date: 03/16/2011 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 17.4 Wh condition: 17.4/66.6 Wh (26%) volts: 12.9/11.1 
  model: SIMPLO AS10B7E type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: Full 
  Device-1: hid-00:1f:20:4d:b9:9d-battery model: Logitech K810 serial: N/A 
  charge: N/A status: Discharging 
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i5 M 430 bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Nehalem rev: 2 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 18088 
  Speed: 1463 MHz min/max: 1199/2267 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 1463 2: 1463 3: 1463 4: 1463 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Core Processor Integrated Graphics 
  vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
  chip ID: 8086:0046 
  Device-2: AMD Madison [Mobility Radeon HD 5650/5750 / 6530M/6550M] 
  vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 
  chip ID: 1002:68c1 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: ati,modesetting,radeon 
  unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1366x768~60Hz, 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics (ILK) v: 2.1 Mesa 20.2.6 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 5 Series/3400 Series High Definition Audio 
  vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
  bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:3b56 
  Device-2: AMD Redwood HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 5000 Series] 
  vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
  bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 1002:aa60 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-74-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR8151 v1.0 Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: atl1c v: 1.0.1.1-NAPI port: 2000 
  bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 1969:1073 
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter 
  vendor: Foxconn T77H047.31 802.11bgn driver: ath9k v: kernel port: 2000 
  bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 168c:002a 
  IF: wlp3s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 331.94 GiB (71.3%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 840 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB 
  speed: 3.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: BB6Q scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 36.89 GiB used: 8.47 GiB (23.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
  ID-2: /home size: 10.02 GiB used: 1.38 GiB (13.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
  ID-3: swap-1 size: 6.45 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 45.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 45 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft-edge-beta.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] http://packages.microsoft.com/repos/edge/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/packages.linuxmint.com/packages ulyssa main upstream import backport
  2: deb http://ubuntu.univ-reims.fr/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://ubuntu.univ-reims.fr/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://ubuntu.univ-reims.fr/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teams.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/ms-teams stable main
Info:
  Processes: 201 Uptime: 7m Memory: 3.53 GiB used: 1.36 GiB (38.6%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 
richard@timelinx:~$ 

Regarding 1. I never use a screensaver. I'll take a look at power manager. OK it should not be invoked now. NB. If the default screensaver setting was off, it would be a little easier to know that it caused problems when turned on.

Regarding 3. I just left the default LTS kernel (5.4). My LM 19.3 install works perfectly with the 4.15 kernel.

I don't like Time Shift - it has something of a Windows feel to it - so I use Clonezilla before making any major changes, but you're right one should always backup.

Thank you. I'll see if the screensaver is the culprit. Yes, taht seems to have fixed it. Thank you.

[SMG]

Some have reported the Radeon driver ( meaning you went to amd.com and followed their instructions on downloading and installing their Linux driver..instead of just leaving the original driver as it built into the Kernel). instead of the regular " amdgpu" driver as the source of the problem.

In this cases, the radeon driver is the only one available for that card and it did install from the kernel (as indicated by the v: kernel). This card is too old to be able to use the amdgpu driver.

Device-2: AMD Madison [Mobility Radeon HD 5650/5750 / 6530M/6550M]
driver: radeon v: kernel

Thank you. I'll see if the screensaver is the culprit. Yes, taht seems to have fixed it. Thank you.

Please edit your first post in this thread and add [SOLVED] so others know you no longer need help on this issue.