<SOLVED> How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

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santin
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<SOLVED> How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by santin »

EDIT: Solved by updating the BIOS

Hi everybody. I've recently installed Linux Mint and I'm having this problem where my laptop freezes solid and I have to turn it off by pressing the power button for a few seconds. I know that this method is not recommended as it risks damaging files or the computer itself, but no other methods or key combinations that I've found online seem to work. The freezing doesn't seem to be causes by any specific program, but I noticed it only happens when connected to the Internet. Can anyone suggest any troubleshooting methods, e.g. where to look in the logs to understand what is causing the issue?

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-58-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 5.6.7
    tk: GTK 3.24.33 wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 21.1 Vera base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: VivoBook 15_ASUS Laptop X540MA_X540MA v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X540MA v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends
    v: X540MA.314 date: 10/01/2019
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 16.3 Wh (67.6%) condition: 24.1/33.3 Wh (72.3%) volts: 11.1 min: 11.1
    model: ASUSTeK ASUS Battery serial: N/A status: Charging
CPU:
  Info: dual core model: Intel Celeron N4000 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Goldmont Plus rev: 1 cache:
    L1: 112 KiB L2: 4 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2518 high: 2549 min/max: 800/2600 cores: 1: 2549 2: 2487 bogomips: 4377
  Flags: ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel GeminiLake [UHD Graphics 600] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915 v: kernel ports:
    active: eDP-1 empty: HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:3185
  Device-2: IMC Networks USB2.0 VGA UVC WebCam type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-5:3
    chip-ID: 13d3:5a11
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 driver: X: loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa
    gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: Chi Mei Innolux res: 1366x768 dpi: 101 diag: 394mm (15.5")
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 600 (GLK 2) v: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.5 direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Celeron/Pentium Silver Processor High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:3198
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-58-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter vendor: AzureWave
    driver: rtw_8821ce v: N/A pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:c821
  IF: wlo1 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: IMC Networks Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-1:2
    chip-ID: 13d3:3529
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block:
    hardware: no software: yes address: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 62.17 GiB (26.1%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Kingston model: RBUSC180DS37256GJ size: 238.47 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    serial: <filter>
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 233.18 GiB used: 31.08 GiB (13.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 5.2 MiB (1.0%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swapfile
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 9 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
  Device-1: 1-1:2 info: IMC Networks Bluetooth Radio type: Bluetooth driver: btusb rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s chip-ID: 13d3:3529
  Device-2: 1-5:3 info: IMC Networks USB2.0 VGA UVC WebCam type: Video driver: uvcvideo rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 13d3:5a11
  Device-3: 1-6:4 info: Realtek RTS5129 Card Reader Controller type: <vendor specific>
    driver: rtsx_usb,rtsx_usb_ms,rtsx_usb_sdmmc rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 0bda:0129
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 7 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 38.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0
Repos:
  Packages: 2391 apt: 2383 flatpak: 8
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-earth-pro.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] http: //dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
    1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com vera main upstream import backport
    2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy main restricted universe multiverse
    3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates main restricted universe multiverse
    4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted universe multiverse
Info:
  Processes: 192 Uptime: 11m Memory: 3.66 GiB used: 1.14 GiB (31.2%) Init: systemd v: 249
  runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 11.3.0 alt: 11 Client: Unknown python3.10 client inxi: 3.3.13
Last edited by LockBot on Sat Jul 29, 2023 10:00 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
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AZgl1800
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Re: How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by AZgl1800 »

I still get Freezes where the mouse and kybd will not respond,
and I have to use Power Off key to force BIOS to shut it down.

knock on wood, this has never, ever, caused a problem for me....

BUT, I have LO Office set to perform an Auto backup every 1 minute.

IF, I am using XED and it freezes, poof!
that is gone

Firefox?
always reboots to the exact place I was on every Tab that was open.

No Suggestion has ever solved this problem for me, and it has been with every laptop I own, and with LM17 thru 21.1

with as little as 4gB RAM and now 16bB RAM
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Re: How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by santin »

AZgl1800 wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 8:42 pm I still get Freezes where the mouse and kybd will not respond,
and I have to use Power Off key to force BIOS to shut it down.

knock on wood, this has never, ever, caused a problem for me....

BUT, I have LO Office set to perform an Auto backup every 1 minute.

IF, I am using XED and it freezes, poof!
that is gone

Firefox?
always reboots to the exact place I was on every Tab that was open.

No Suggestion has ever solved this problem for me, and it has been with every laptop I own, and with LM17 thru 21.1

with as little as 4gB RAM and now 16bB RAM
If it was once a week I wouldn't worry as much, (maybe, because a lot of sources say the power button should be avoided...), but in the last few days it's happening so often that my computer is almost unusable. Like once an hour, sometimes as soon as I connect it to the Internet or load up a couple pages. I realized I might have understated my problem a little bit. It even froze while I was trying to update the kernel :shock:
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Re: How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by AZgl1800 »

santin wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 6:46 pm I realized I might have understated my problem a little bit. It even froze while I was trying to update the kernel :shock:
that definitely is NOT a good thing, and could leave your system in Limbo, forcing a new install

however, I do hope that you are using Timeshift?
I have it set for 5 days and 2 weeks.

that allows me to back up at least two weeks in an emergency situation.
even if a kernel install goes bonkers, you can boot up on the flashdrive ISO and when in Live Session, active Timeshift and recover your system.
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Re: How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by all41 »

in a freeze situation first try ctrl+alt+backspace.
If this doesn't offer a login screen then try a more graceful exit:
press and hold alt key while entering this sequence: prtscn r e i s u b (on some keyboards prtscn is also labeled 'sys req') then release the alt key
Everything in life was difficult before it became easy.
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Re: How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by AZgl1800 »

all41 wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:28 pm in a freeze situation first try ctrl+alt+backspace.
If this doesn't offer a login screen then try a more graceful exit:
press and hold alt key while entering this sequence: prtscn r e i s u b (on some keyboards prtscn is also labeled 'sys req') then release the alt key
for the 1st poster, and myself, that is a useless exercise,
as the kybd is not functional

when it locks up, it is LOCKED UP, PERIOD
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Re: How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by all41 »

AZgl1800 wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:49 pm
all41 wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:28 pm in a freeze situation first try ctrl+alt+backspace.
If this doesn't offer a login screen then try a more graceful exit:
press and hold alt key while entering this sequence: prtscn r e i s u b (on some keyboards prtscn is also labeled 'sys req') then release the alt key
for the 1st poster, and myself, that is a useless exercise,
as the kybd is not functional

when it locks up, it is LOCKED UP, PERIOD
The op stated his keyboard was completely locked up and unresponsive?--must have missed that part
Everything in life was difficult before it became easy.
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Re: How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by santin »

AZgl1800 wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 7:58 pm however, I do hope that you are using Timeshift?
I have it set for 5 days and 2 weeks.
Yes I'm using it, and with some luck I managed to update the kernel in the end.
By now I'm sure that the problem has something to do with the Internet connection and not CPU or graphics - to test this, over the last few days I've been playing an offline game that's very intensive on the GPU and it just runs smoothly no problem.
I do have an update for the Wi-Fi card that I didn't install because I tried once and it couldn't connect any more so I had to reinstall (it was the first day of installation and I hadn't installed Timeshift yet), so I've left it alone ever since.

Anyway yeah, my keyboard becomes completely unresponsive when the system freezes, no key combination works unfortunately.
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Re: How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by AZgl1800 »

I have 8 WiFi channels to choose from.

2 Hotspots with 2.4g and 5g each

2 Gateways with 2.4g and 5g each

the two Hotspots are IFFY now of late, the 5g channels are useless,
the 2g channels are okay for TEXT, but won't load up the Subscription page on YouTube

the T-Mobile Gateway on 5g is my best of the lot, at approx 120-150 down 75% of the time

the Verizon Gateway is a sluggard, at 40-50 down sometimes, and 15 down in Prime Time.

When I have Connection problems, I switch channels to see if one is better, and usually one of them is.
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Re: How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by SMG »

santin wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 11:51 amBy now I'm sure that the problem has something to do with the Internet connection and not CPU or graphics - to test this, over the last few days I've been playing an offline game that's very intensive on the GPU and it just runs smoothly no problem.
I do have an update for the Wi-Fi card that I didn't install because I tried once and it couldn't connect any more so I had to reinstall (it was the first day of installation and I hadn't installed Timeshift yet), so I've left it alone ever since.
Please describe this "update for the Wi-Fi card".

The data you posted initially does not even show the WiFi card as being used.

Device-1: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter vendor: AzureWave
driver: rtw_8821ce v: N/A pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
chip-ID: 10ec:c821
IF: wlo1 state: down mac: <filter>

If this is the correct link Product Support For X540MA: BIOS it appears your system is missing several updates. The latest version is 319. ASUS updates usually do fix problems (although I can not guarantee they will fix this one).

Machine:
Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: VivoBook 15_ASUS Laptop X540MA_X540MA v: 1.0
serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X540MA v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends
v: X540MA.314 date: 10/01/2019
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Re: How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by santin »

SMG wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:06 pmPlease describe this "update for the Wi-Fi card".

The data you posted initially does not even show the WiFi card as being used.
I think it shows it as not being used because I had turned it off to prevent it from freezing, since it was happening repeatedly as soon as it connected.

The update was shown in the System Reports utility as
"This device doesn't work.
rtl8821ce-dkms (open source)
Version 5.5.2.1-0ubuntu10
DKMS source for the Realtek 8821C PCIe Wi-Fi driver"

Yesterday I tried to install it but it froze again in the process, no idea if it actually completed (it's not showing anymore).
SMG wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:06 pmIf this is the correct link Product Support For X540MA: BIOS it appears your system is missing several updates. The latest version is 319. ASUS updates usually do fix problems (although I can not guarantee they will fix this one).
Thank you for the suggestion! I've updated the BIOS now and so far I haven't been getting freezes for the first couple of hours. Though I don't want to get my hopes up too much :D
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Re: How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by SMG »

santin wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 9:33 pm
SMG wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:06 pmPlease describe this "update for the Wi-Fi card".

The data you posted initially does not even show the WiFi card as being used.
I think it shows it as not being used because I had turned it off to prevent it from freezing, since it was happening repeatedly as soon as it connected.

The update was shown in the System Reports utility as
"This device doesn't work.
rtl8821ce-dkms (open source)
Version 5.5.2.1-0ubuntu10
DKMS source for the Realtek 8821C PCIe Wi-Fi driver"

Yesterday I tried to install it but it froze again in the process, no idea if it actually completed (it's not showing anymore).
I do not usually help with Wifi issues so I do not know what the above means in relation to what might be needed next to get it working. If you want to follow up on that, I suggest making a topic in the Networking forum.
santin wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 9:33 pm I've updated the BIOS now and so far I haven't been getting freezes for the first couple of hours. Though I don't want to get my hopes up too much :D
Hopefully, that good news will continue. :)
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Re: How to solve frequent freezes in Mint?

Post by santin »

SMG wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 9:45 pm
santin wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 9:33 pm
SMG wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:06 pmPlease describe this "update for the Wi-Fi card".

The data you posted initially does not even show the WiFi card as being used.
I think it shows it as not being used because I had turned it off to prevent it from freezing, since it was happening repeatedly as soon as it connected.

The update was shown in the System Reports utility as
"This device doesn't work.
rtl8821ce-dkms (open source)
Version 5.5.2.1-0ubuntu10
DKMS source for the Realtek 8821C PCIe Wi-Fi driver"

Yesterday I tried to install it but it froze again in the process, no idea if it actually completed (it's not showing anymore).
I do not usually help with Wifi issues so I do not know what the above means in relation to what might be needed next to get it working. If you want to follow up on that, I suggest making a topic in the Networking forum.
santin wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 9:33 pm I've updated the BIOS now and so far I haven't been getting freezes for the first couple of hours. Though I don't want to get my hopes up too much :D
Hopefully, that good news will continue. :)
The issue has disappeared since the BIOS update. Marking this as solved! Many many many thanks!
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