[SOLVED] Mint 20 totally locks up, generally unstable and various oddities

[MrEen]

Understood.

I was just relating my experience giving users the xed admin:/// command. If I know they won't have the file, I have them use sudo touch first otherwise they come back saying they got that same error. A few do say the file did open though.

[SMG]

Understood.

I was just relating my experience giving users the xed admin:/// command. If I know they won't have the file, I have them use sudo touch first otherwise they come back saying they got that same error. A few do say the file did open though.

Now I understand your comment.

Since he should be changing an existing line in a file, then there's a problem if he doesn't have that file.

Let us know, Eric23, if you do not have that file. Your Nvidia driver may not have installed properly and that could cause many of the issues you are having.

[Eric23]

I have no idea if I installed the OS in legacy or EFI mode. I just booted from the usb drive, then when I got to the desktop I clicked the install linux mint icon. I then picked the option that formats and erases everything. It then runs through keyboard set up and time zone settings and made me name the computer and make a user account. It then made me reboot and remove the usb stick.
On first boot the round linux mint loading icon looks nice and crisp, but after I load up, install updates, the Nvidia driver and reboot, the linux mint loading icon looks much bigger, blurrier and not round. I guess the Nvidia driver messes with the boot screens resolution and aspect ratio in a bad way.

Understood.

I was just relating my experience giving users the xed admin:/// command. If I know they won't have the file, I have them use sudo touch first otherwise they come back saying they got that same error. A few do say the file did open though.

Now I understand your comment.

Since he should be changing an existing line in a file, then there's a problem if he doesn't have that file.

Let us know, Eric23, if you do not have that file. Your Nvidia driver may not have installed properly and that could cause many of the issues you are having.

I entered the command again and it said the same thing again, it did open a window with nothing in it after typing my password twice.
From the page you linked me too I was expecting to see a list of stuff. I thought I had to find the line that had nvidia-kms modeset=0 and change it to nvidia-kms modeset=1
but the confusion in that post about kms being mixed up with drm just confused me even more. As all i get is a blank window I assumed it didn't work.

basically the command results in this in the terminal

Code: Select all

owner@owner-fast:~$ sudo touch /lib/modprobe.d/nvidia-kms.conf
[sudo] password for owner:         
owner@owner-fast:~$ xed admin:///lib/modprobe.d/nvidia-kms.conf

** (xed:3004): WARNING **: 07:23:39.234: The specified location is not mounted

It then popped up a window and made me enter my password twice and gave me an empty window called
nvidia-kms.conf (admin:///lib/modprobe.d)
I thought this window would have a bunch of stuff in it that I had to find the correct line and change a 0 to a 1.
So do I just put either nvidia-kms modeset=1 or nvidia-drm modeset=1 into the blank window and save it?
If there is meant to be a bunch of other config data in there, how do I fix that?

On a different note, is it actually possible to go out and buy a gaming pc made for linux that works properly without all this faffing about? I know my pc is plenty fast enough to play the games I have, but if the hardware isn't going to play nice with linux then I might look for a new faster pc that is more compatible with linux.
I have only ever installed linux on crappy old windows vista laptops that can hardly watch a 480p video without stuttering. Though they don't completely lock up like this much faster gaming pc does.

[SMG]

I have no idea if I installed the OS in legacy or EFI mode.

You replaced a drive on a computer with Windows 7 so it is likely it had legacy boot, especially since your last BIOS was updated in 2011.

On first boot the round linux mint loading icon looks nice and crisp, but after I load up, install updates, the Nvidia driver and reboot, the linux mint loading icon looks much bigger, blurrier and not round. I guess the Nvidia driver messes with the boot screens resolution and aspect ratio in a bad way.

Your initial boot probably had the nouveau open-source driver loaded. That driver gets unloaded (which is where it is in your inxi graphics info) when the Nvidia driver is installed. The Nvidia drivers are known to prevent the Mint logo from showing on boot. They might have changed that for recent driver versions, so that might be why you are still seeing the logo. Or maybe you are seeing it because not all the files installed properly.

From the page you linked me too I was expecting to see a list of stuff. I thought I had to find the line that had nvidia-kms modeset=0 and change it to nvidia-kms modeset=1
but the confusion in that post about kms being mixed up with drm just confused me even more. As all i get is a blank window I assumed it didn't work.

Unless Nvidia has made significant changes to their modules within the past two months (which I doubt), you should have had that file and you should have been able to find the line options nvidia-drm modeset= and either make sure the value was 1 or changed it to 1.

I thought this window would have a bunch of stuff in it that I had to find the correct line and change a 0 to a 1.
So do I just put either nvidia-kms modeset=1 or nvidia-drm modeset=1 into the blank window and save it?
If there is meant to be a bunch of other config data in there, how do I fix that?

If that file is missing then it is possible other files are missing as well. It is probably easiest to uninstall the driver and reinstall it.
(Note: I have been seeing people having problems with the 450.80.02 driver, so please do not try installing that one until we get your stability issues cleared. One problem at a time, please. )

On a different note, is it actually possible to go out and buy a gaming pc made for linux that works properly without all this faffing about?...
I have only ever installed linux on crappy old windows vista laptops that can hardly watch a 480p video without stuttering. Though they don't completely lock up like this much faster gaming pc does.

I think you are getting the lock ups because the video driver didn't install properly. I do not game, so I can not make any recommendations for that.

[SMG]

I wanted to install steam and try running some games, and I did get Planet Coaster to run, but again after a few minutes the whole pc locked up. I tried downgrading the graphics driver from 450 to 390, but Planet coaster wouldn't load because it said it couldn't find DirectX. I upgraded the driver back to 450 and the game loaded but locked up the pc after a minute or two.

Where you doing all these graphics driver changes using Driver Manager?

[Eric23]

I wanted to install steam and try running some games, and I did get Planet Coaster to run, but again after a few minutes the whole pc locked up. I tried downgrading the graphics driver from 450 to 390, but Planet coaster wouldn't load because it said it couldn't find DirectX. I upgraded the driver back to 450 and the game loaded but locked up the pc after a minute or two.

Where you doing all these graphics driver changes using Driver Manager?

Thank you for all the help so far.

I think I have made some progress with the lock ups this afternoon, though its too early to be 100% sure.

I had the pc custom built back in 2011, It was overclocked buy the company to 4.6ghz.
I opted for windows 7 instead of 8 and they shipped it pre configured. I ran the computer like that until last week when the HDD finally failed. In all that time I only encountered 2 BSOD (once out of the box because of graphics drivers, and again a few years later when I upgraded the graphics cards)
It was a super stable and reliable machine.
I junked the HDD and put in an old but hardly used 750 GB one I had with some old backups i didn't need any more. I downloaded mint 20 using a crappy old laptop running mint 19 and made a USB boot drive and installed it.

Anyway, this afternoon I decided to rest the BIOS back to default (losing my overclock) and so far it has not locked up despite playing Planet coaster for an hour, and Cities Skylines for about 2 hours today. Though Cities Skylines did crash once, but the system didn't lock up.

I also changed my keyboard out as the crash reports were keyboard related, so maybe that is part of it. Oh there was a Kernel update this morning that happened before I reset the BIOS.
There are so many variables I have no real clue what's worked. I guess the BIOS was the problem but I can't be sure.

I guess overclocking is not a good idea with Linux? The overclock that I had been running since 2011 was stable in windows, but maybe Linux hated it? I don't know how to overclock my CPU and now that its gone I guess it will have to stay at 3.5ghz.

I think there is still some work to do to get the Nvidia settings tweaked, as the intermittent screen tearing in Firefox is slightly annoying. Though in games there isn't any that i noticed.
I used the driver manager to install the Nvidia drivers. I'm on 450, I have tried 390, 418 and 435.
390 was a total no, games on steam just wont launch. I think 435 worked for games, I can't remember now. I have tried so much stuff I have lost track.
I have only tried 450 since resetting the BIOS, so maybe 435 will work better.
In the software manager if i search for nvidia it shows that I have Nvidia settings, Nvidia-prime and Screen-resolution-extra installed. I didn't knowingly install them, I guess the driver manager did?

I wish it was easier to know what driver you need for your card. I kind of like going to the website and picking the exact one listed for your card. At least you know you have the correct one. In Linux it seems to be a guessing game.

I bet after writing this the system will freeze up just to spite me. Though it would have frozen up several times buy now, so its looking promising.
If I can get rid of the screen tearing in Firefox then I don't think I will have much to complain about. Apart for losing my overclock

I will continue to look for solutions for the screen tearing, and if after a few day there are no lock ups I guess I will mark this post as solved.

Thanks again

[SMG]

I used the driver manager to install the Nvidia drivers. I'm on 450, I have tried 390, 418 and 435.
390 was a total no, games on steam just wont launch. I think 435 worked for games, I can't remember now. I have tried so much stuff I have lost track.
I have only tried 450 since resetting the BIOS, so maybe 435 will work better.

It's my understanding there's a bug in Driver Manager and not all the files are always removed when one switches back and forth between versions. It's possible you could have files from multiple versions of the drivers. I'll check to see what might be the best way to determine that and, if necessary, fix things.

In the software manager if i search for nvidia it shows that I have Nvidia settings, Nvidia-prime and Screen-resolution-extra installed. I didn't knowingly install them, I guess the driver manager did?

It probably did.

Nvidia-prime only applies to laptops, so you can ignore that. There is an app Nvidia X Server Settings which you should be able to open. See if you can and whether or not there are any error messages there.

I wish it was easier to know what driver you need for your card. I kind of like going to the website and picking the exact one listed for your card. At least you know you have the correct one. In Linux it seems to be a guessing game.

I checked your GeForce GTX 970 on the Nvidia GeForce Drivers website. Do not install drivers from the site like you would have for Windows (extra steps are needed to install the files from the website on Mint), but use it to find out which ones are available. Driver Manager does not always give the correct recommendations, so check before you install from Driver Manager.

On the Nvidia site I see the 430, 440, 450 and 455 drivers listed for your card. There were multiple versions of the 455 released. The drivers are available on the Nvidia site before they are available in Driver Manager. Ubuntu repackages the drivers to make them available in Driver Manager which means there will be a lag between when drivers come out and when you will see them in Driver Manager (or Update Manager).

I will get back to you with recommendations about how we might determine if your Nvidia drivers install is correct and appropriate for the 450.66 Driver.

[Eric23]

Yes I can open the Nvidia x server settings, and both my GTX 970 cards are showing.

I was having trouble with it forgetting my settings when I quit out of the window.

Under "x server display configuration" I read that enabling "Force Full Composition Pipeline" will fix the screen tearing, but Firefox still does on occasion when scrolling.
I clicked "Save to X Configuration File" and so far the settings have stuck. I haven't rebooted yet, so they might be gone again when I do reboot.

I don't want to reboot yet as the system still has not locked up (Thankfully) its been the longest session I have ever had. 10 hours so far.

I definitely think a complete purge of the graphics drivers and a fresh install of the correct ones for my card would be a good idea. God knows what I have done to them with all this messing about.

[SMG]

I definitely think a complete purge of the graphics drivers and a fresh install of the correct ones for my card would be a good idea. God knows what I have done to them with all this messing about.

It must not have been too bad if the display is working. Just enjoy your games and go for an uptime record.

[Eric23]

I just wanted to say a thanks to everyone who contributed in this thread.
It has been a few days without a single lock up, so I have marked this thread as solved.

I also found a solution to the screen tearing in Firefox. It seems that the "use hardware acceleration" option in the settings does nothing. I found that disabling smooth scrolling helped, but I would rather have smooth scrolling enabled.
I happened to find a YouTube video that seems to have fixed it.

In the URL bar type:
about:config

Once past the warning screen, copy and paste the following:

layers.acceleration.force-enabled

It is set to false by default. (even though I had hardware acceleration enabled in the settings) Toggle it to true and restart the browser. No more tearing when scrolling, even with smooth scrolling enabled. So I'm a happy chappy now

Thanks again

[SMG]

Glad you got the screen tearing fixed.

The more I looked into the Nvidia files and what is being done with the current packages the less capable I felt in being able to help you. It's seems best to assume what you have is correct since it appears to be working.

[Eric23]

Glad you got the screen tearing fixed.

The more I looked into the Nvidia files and what is being done with the current packages the less capable I felt in being able to help you. It's seems best to assume what you have is correct since it appears to be working.

I'm inclined to agree with you. Everything seems to be running ok. I have been playing games made for windows using Steam/proton. While I have noticed a few bugs compared to running them on windows, it feels like they actually run smoother.
It's not perfectly stable as after a few hours Planet Coaster suddenly lagged out. The FPS suddenly dropped down to 1FPS. I managed to save my progress and quit the game. It didn't run smoothly again until I rebooted the machine.

I noticed the fans in my system don't ramp up like they did in windows. After 30 minutes of gaming they would normally be blowing quite hard. So maybe it got too hot and thermal throttled killing my FPS? Maybe resetting my BIOS thus removing the overclock keeps my CPU cool enough that it doesn't need to ramp up under load? I don't really know, its either a bug that killed the FPS or it got too hot.

I did look at the fan profile in the BIOS and I tried setting the CPU fan to "turbo" but it didn't seem to make any difference to the fan speed under load.
Is there an easy way to monitor the CPU and GPU temperature while running a game?

[SMG]

It is probable that the overclocking made the system hotter and thus the fans ran more.

You could check in Nvidia X Server Settings to see what fan and/or temperature controls are there. There might also be settings related to your FPS, but I'm not sure.

I know some gaming platforms have options one can set at the platform level, but I'm not familiar with Planet Coaster, so I can not provide any help with that. There is a Gaming on Linux subforum which is for "Anything related to gaming on Linux Mint including game discussion or questions concerning Steam or Wine."

Nvidia X Server Settings does not put values on the screen while you are gaming. I seem to hear the app "Conky" a lot with regards to keeping tabs on temperature and the cpu, but I'm sure there are others.

[deepakdeshp]

Terminal command

Code: Select all

india -Fxz|grep -i temp

will give the temperature. Please copy paste it.

[Eric23]

It is probable that the overclocking made the system hotter and thus the fans ran more.

You could check in Nvidia X Server Settings to see what fan and/or temperature controls are there. There might also be settings related to your FPS, but I'm not sure.

I know some gaming platforms have options one can set at the platform level, but I'm not familiar with Planet Coaster, so I can not provide any help with that. There is a Gaming on Linux subforum which is for "Anything related to gaming on Linux Mint including game discussion or questions concerning Steam or Wine."

Nvidia X Server Settings does not put values on the screen while you are gaming. I seem to hear the app "Conky" a lot with regards to keeping tabs on temperature and the cpu, but I'm sure there are others.

Thanks, I will have a look at Conky, the reviews seem a bit mixed, but it seems like a nice small program if it works.
I was looking at GreenWithEnvy that seems to be a Nvidia GPU overclocking and fan control program, but it requires 2.6GB of disk space so I'm not keen on that. Conky seems to require just a few MB so I will try that out first.

Thanks once again, It nice to know there is a gaming section on the forum, I'm sure I will bother everyone over there soon

[Eric23]

Terminal command

Code: Select all

india -Fxz|grep -i temp

will give the temperature. Please copy paste it.

Thanks for that, it will come in handy.
I have been going to the system reports window to find the CPU temp and the Nvidia X server settings for the GPU temps. I was hoping to find an overlay that displays on top of the game I'm playing to monitor them. As dropping the game to check them will lower the temps slightly so I wont know how hot they really got while playing.
I'm also not sure how accurate the readings are as the last time I was in the BIOS the CPU temp was 42C but when I loaded into the desktop a minute later it said 35C.

Oh well, I'm just happy the freezing up has been cured

Thanks

[MrEen]

Terminal command

Code: Select all

india -Fxz|grep -i temp

will give the temperature. Please copy paste it.

Thanks for that, it will come in handy.

No it won't!

I suspect an autocorrect error. Should have been this:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz|grep -i temp

[deepakdeshp]

Terminal command

Code: Select all

india -Fxz|grep -i temp

will give the temperature. Please copy paste it.

Thanks for that, it will come in handy.

No it won't!

I suspect an autocorrect error. Should have been this:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz|grep -i temp

Thanks for catching that. Indeed that was smart typing by my phone.

[MrEen]

Thanks for catching that. Indeed that was smart typing by my phone.

Ha! The phone's think they're so so smart. But they're not! Are they?

[SMG]

I'm also not sure how accurate the readings are as the last time I was in the BIOS the CPU temp was 42C but when I loaded into the desktop a minute later it said 35C.

Having been on threads where people's computers were having temperature issues, I seem to recall the cpu temps being able to change pretty quickly. It's a matter of the cpu being able to regulate the processes which in turn result in temperature changes as much as it is the fan's ability to cause temperature changes.

btw - I had wondered what this india program was; had never heard of it before.