Frequent freezing requiring hard reboot

[acerimusdux]

In a case like this, it's usually a good idea to check the logs, and see what if any errors are actually being reported when this happens.

Try:

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journalctl -b -k -p 3

To see any messages from the current boot (-b or -b 0), related to the kernel (-k), with a high priority (3 or less). Check "man journalctl" for other options for sorting through the log output, there are lots of them. To check the above for the previous boot, do:

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journalctl -b -1 -k -p 3

Another useful option is -S, which shows logs "since" a specified time. Such as:

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journalctl -S "1hour ago"

[jhanarato]

OK, so exactly a month after my last freeze, it's happened twice today. GPU right now is 51C and the CPU 45C.

The first freeze happened with my lock screen on, with the time shown about half and hour earlier than present. I ran through the trusty alt-sysrq but no dice.

The second freeze was odd. I was watching a YouTube video in Mozilla and the screen froze with the sound running in a short loop. Alas I forgot to try the alt-sysrq sequence and did a hard shutdown.

Note that I've not been able to run fsck. I chose to encrypt the whole drive and could not figure out how to run fsck before the OS starts up.

If I can't figure it out I'll try installing 20.3. If that doesn't work I might be in the market for a new graphics card.

Cheers & have fun,

J.R.

[jhanarato]

In a case like this, it's usually a good idea to check the logs, and see what if any errors are actually being reported when this happens.

Try:

Code: Select all

journalctl -b -k -p 3

To see any messages from the current boot (-b or -b 0), related to the kernel (-k), with a high priority (3 or less). Check "man journalctl" for other options for sorting through the log output, there are lots of them. To check the above for the previous boot, do:

Code: Select all

journalctl -b -1 -k -p 3

Another useful option is -S, which shows logs "since" a specified time. Such as:

Code: Select all

journalctl -S "1hour ago"

OK, here we go: Big Red Letters.

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jr@JR-Desktop:~$ journalctl -b -k -p 3
-- Logs begin at Wed 2022-01-26 14:47:47 AWST, end at Wed 2022-01-26 15:11:04 AWST. --
Jan 26 14:47:47 JR-Desktop kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.PCI0.SAT0.PRT2._GTF.DSSP], AE_NOT_FOUND (20190816/psargs-330)
Jan 26 14:47:47 JR-Desktop kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.PCI0.SAT0.PRT2._GTF due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20190816/psparse-531)
Jan 26 14:47:47 JR-Desktop kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.PCI0.SAT0.PRT2._GTF.DSSP], AE_NOT_FOUND (20190816/psargs-330)
Jan 26 14:47:47 JR-Desktop kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.PCI0.SAT0.PRT2._GTF due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20190816/psparse-531)
Jan 26 14:47:58 JR-Desktop kernel: Could not find key with description: [a17121fa015325a5]
Jan 26 14:47:58 JR-Desktop kernel: Could not find valid key in user session keyring for sig specified in mount option: [a17121fa015325a5]
Jan 26 14:47:58 JR-Desktop kernel: Error parsing options; rc = [-2]

[jhanarato]

Hmm... there's no history with journalctl for previous boots:

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jr@JR-Desktop:~$ journalctl --list-boots
 0 9be75be954304b978b611c7447860962 Wed 2022-01-26 14:47:47 AWST—Wed 2022-01-26 15:26:45 AWST

[jhanarato]

Hmm... there's no history with journalctl for previous boots:

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jr@JR-Desktop:~$ journalctl --list-boots
 0 9be75be954304b978b611c7447860962 Wed 2022-01-26 14:47:47 AWST—Wed 2022-01-26 15:26:45 AWST

So, Reading The Fine Manual:

https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/ma ... onf.5.html

Storage=
Controls where to store journal data. One of "volatile",
"persistent", "auto" and "none". If "volatile", journal log
data will be stored only in memory, i.e. below the
/run/log/journal hierarchy (which is created if needed). If
"persistent", data will be stored preferably on disk, i.e.
below the /var/log/journal hierarchy (which is created if
needed), with a fallback to /run/log/journal (which is
created if needed), during early boot and if the disk is not
writable. "auto" behaves like "persistent" if the
/var/log/journal directory exists, and "volatile" otherwise
(the existence of the directory controls the storage mode).
"none" turns off all storage, all log data received will be
dropped (but forwarding to other targets, such as the
console, the kernel log buffer, or a syslog socket will still
work). Defaults to "auto" in the default journal namespace,
and "persistent" in all others.

Then I found this:

https://unix.stackexchange.com/question ... r-centos-7

And now I have this:

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jr@JR-Desktop:/var/log$ sudo ls /var/log/journal
aaa642a1efb049fba8d6ca0c8d22ff0a

Hopefully I'll have a record of the previous boot now.

[jhanarato]

And yes, I do:

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jr@JR-Desktop:~$ journalctl -b -1 -k -p 3
-- Logs begin at Thu 2022-01-27 07:57:08 AWST, end at Thu 2022-01-27 10:22:57 AWST. --
Jan 27 07:57:08 JR-Desktop kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.PCI0.SAT0.PRT2._GTF.DSSP], AE_NOT_FOUND (20190816/psargs-330)
Jan 27 07:57:08 JR-Desktop kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.PCI0.SAT0.PRT2._GTF due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20190816/psparse-531)
Jan 27 07:57:08 JR-Desktop kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.PCI0.SAT0.PRT2._GTF.DSSP], AE_NOT_FOUND (20190816/psargs-330)
Jan 27 07:57:08 JR-Desktop kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.PCI0.SAT0.PRT2._GTF due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20190816/psparse-531)
Jan 27 07:57:40 JR-Desktop kernel: Could not find key with description: [a17121fa015325a5]
Jan 27 07:57:40 JR-Desktop kernel: Could not find valid key in user session keyring for sig specified in mount option: [a17121fa015325a5]
Jan 27 07:57:40 JR-Desktop kernel: Error parsing options; rc = [-2]

I'll let you know if & when I get another freeze.

Many thanks,

J.R.

[jhanarato]

I'll let you know if & when I get another freeze.

Froze again today... just booted up, launched a few tabs in mozilla and then it locked up. Alt-sysrq didn't work. I do, however, have a log of the previous boot:

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-- Logs begin at Thu 2022-01-27 07:57:08 AWST, end at Sun 2022-01-30 16:28:59 AWST. --
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: microcode: microcode updated early to revision 0xea, date = 2021-01-05
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: Linux version 5.4.0-96-generic (buildd@lcy02-amd64-007) (gcc version 7.5.0 (Ubuntu 7.5.0-3ubuntu1~18.04)) #109~18.04.1-Ubun
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.4.0-96-generic root=/dev/mapper/mint--vg-root ro quiet splash vt.handoff=1
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: KERNEL supported cpus:
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel:   Intel GenuineIntel
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel:   AMD AuthenticAMD
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel:   Hygon HygonGenuine
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel:   Centaur CentaurHauls
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel:   zhaoxin   Shanghai  
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x001: 'x87 floating point registers'
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x002: 'SSE registers'
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x004: 'AVX registers'
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x008: 'MPX bounds registers'
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x010: 'MPX CSR'
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: x86/fpu: xstate_offset[2]:  576, xstate_sizes[2]:  256
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: x86/fpu: xstate_offset[3]:  832, xstate_sizes[3]:   64
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: x86/fpu: xstate_offset[4]:  896, xstate_sizes[4]:   64
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: x86/fpu: Enabled xstate features 0x1f, context size is 960 bytes, using 'compacted' format.
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000057fff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000058000-0x0000000000058fff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000059000-0x000000000009efff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000000009f000-0x00000000000fffff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000100000-0x000000003fffffff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000040000000-0x00000000403fffff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000040400000-0x00000000c61fcfff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000c61fd000-0x00000000c61fdfff] ACPI NVS
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000c61fe000-0x00000000c61fefff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000c61ff000-0x00000000cdbe5fff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000cdbe6000-0x00000000ce095fff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000ce096000-0x00000000ce14bfff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000ce14c000-0x00000000ce505fff] ACPI NVS
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000ce506000-0x00000000ceffefff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000cefff000-0x00000000ceffffff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000cf000000-0x00000000cfffffff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000f8000000-0x00000000fbffffff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fe000000-0x00000000fe010fff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fec00000-0x00000000fec00fff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fed00000-0x00000000fed00fff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fee00000-0x00000000fee00fff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000ff000000-0x00000000ffffffff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000100000000-0x000000042effffff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: NX (Execute Disable) protection: active
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: e820: update [mem 0xc3f77018-0xc3f97857] usable ==> usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: e820: update [mem 0xc3f77018-0xc3f97857] usable ==> usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: e820: update [mem 0xc3f65018-0xc3f76857] usable ==> usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: e820: update [mem 0xc3f65018-0xc3f76857] usable ==> usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: extended physical RAM map:
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000057fff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000000058000-0x0000000000058fff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000000059000-0x000000000009efff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x000000000009f000-0x00000000000fffff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000000100000-0x000000003fffffff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000040000000-0x00000000403fffff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000040400000-0x00000000c3f65017] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000c3f65018-0x00000000c3f76857] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000c3f76858-0x00000000c3f77017] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000c3f77018-0x00000000c3f97857] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000c3f97858-0x00000000c61fcfff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000c61fd000-0x00000000c61fdfff] ACPI NVS
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000c61fe000-0x00000000c61fefff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000c61ff000-0x00000000cdbe5fff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000cdbe6000-0x00000000ce095fff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000ce096000-0x00000000ce14bfff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000ce14c000-0x00000000ce505fff] ACPI NVS
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000ce506000-0x00000000ceffefff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000cefff000-0x00000000ceffffff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000cf000000-0x00000000cfffffff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000f8000000-0x00000000fbffffff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000fe000000-0x00000000fe010fff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000fec00000-0x00000000fec00fff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000fed00000-0x00000000fed00fff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000fee00000-0x00000000fee00fff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000ff000000-0x00000000ffffffff] reserved
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000100000000-0x000000042effffff] usable
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: efi: EFI v2.70 by American Megatrends
Jan 30 16:12:50 JR-Desktop kernel: efi:  ACPI 2.0=0xce14c000  ACPI=0xce14c000  SMBIOS=0xceb93000  SMBIOS 3.0=0xceb92000  MEMATTR=0xca2e6018  MPS=0xfcb30  ESRT

Nothing remarkable that I can see.

[jhanarato]

I made a USB with the 20.3 ISO and fsck reported no errors.

[mikeflan]

Have we eliminated the graphics driver? Did you try the nouveau driver? Is there a way to replace or remove the Nvidia graphics card just for testing?

If the graphics card is not the issue then I would move on to RAM next. Reseat the RAM. Get other RAM installed.

[jhanarato]

Have we eliminated the graphics driver? Did you try the nouveau driver? Is there a way to replace or remove the Nvidia graphics card just for testing?

I haven't changed the graphics driver yet. I have had problems with it in the past:

viewtopic.php?f=59&t=352246

I'll have a go at that then.

Many thanks,

J.R.

[jhanarato]

I did a fresh install of 20.3 about a week ago and had another freeze this morning. Looks like a hardware problem then.

[Reddog1]

Open Disks and run a full SMART check from the 3-dot menu. I've had a couple of drives fail exactly that way, and one was an ssd--at least you can eliminate a hd/ssd problem.

[JoeFootball]

And as mikeflan suggested, consider the RAM as well.

[jhanarato]

Open Disks and run a full SMART check from the 3-dot menu. I've had a couple of drives fail exactly that way, and one was an ssd--at least you can eliminate a hd/ssd problem.

No problem there, thanks!

[jhanarato]

And as mikeflan suggested, consider the RAM as well.

OK - so install memtest86+?

[JoeFootball]

OK - so install memtest86+?

It's also an option on the Linux Mint live session boot menu.

[jhanarato]

OK - so install memtest86+?

It's also an option on the Linux Mint live session boot menu.

Yeah, oops! Figured that out after reflashing my USB stick.

But yes, got it running.

At this point it stops, except for the flashing + next to Memtest86. The time remains at 0:00:01 and hitting esc, c or scroll lock does nothing.

That would be suggestive of a memory problem then? I've run it a few times and it stops at the same place a second or so after starting. I'm not sure how long a memory test would usually take.

Edit: Oh hang on - it can take days? Yikes. However, would the time not update?

[jhanarato]

Never mind!

I booted PassMark Memtest86 V9.4 Free edition and ran a 4 pass test. No errors. Took 3 hours to run.

So the SSD & RAM both appear to be fine.

[JoeFootball]

So the SSD & RAM both appear to be fine.

Yet it froze during the prior RAM test. I can't say why one test froze and another passed without incident, but I'd still not dismiss it.

[jhanarato]

So the SSD & RAM both appear to be fine.

Yet it froze during the prior RAM test. I can't say why one test froze and another passed without incident, but I'd still not dismiss it.

Never mind. For now I'm keeping regular backups.

Thanks again!