Computer freezes after latest kernel 5.8

[sickpig]

They have their forum name like you have yours Kroneos and its not gent.

[Kroneos]

They have their forum name like you have yours Kroneos and its not gent.

cool story ... you have a good day there pal

[stevepusser]

The procedure is to update your DKMS drivers, which includes Nvidia, before you update the kernel to a new major version. Otherwise, the old ones will fail to build automatically when you install the new kernel, leading to madness and despair.

This is not a secret--I also backport the same newer kernels for the MX Linux repos, and I have been making the same point in the kernel update posts for years now. That how I knew what your "freeze" was from the beginning.

Your buddy is very probably not running Debian Buster, but some other distro with a 5.8 kernel and compatible Nvidia drivers by default. Be wary of any other advice they give if that's the case.

[Bloom]

If he's running 5.8, he's not running Stable but either Testing or Sid.

[Kroneos]

The procedure is to update your DKMS drivers, which includes Nvidia, before you update the kernel to a new major version. Otherwise, the old ones will fail to build automatically when you install the new kernel, leading to madness and despair.

This is not a secret--I also backport the same newer kernels for the MX Linux repos, and I have been making the same point in the kernel update posts for years now. That how I knew what your "freeze" was from the beginning.

Your buddy is very probably not running Debian Buster, but some other distro with a 5.8 kernel and compatible Nvidia drivers by default. Be wary of any other advice they give if that's the case.

Got it, thank you very much. That was it!

[stevepusser]

If he's running 5.8, he's not running Stable but either Testing or Sid.

There's no indication that the buddy is running Debian at all. They could be running Arch, Ubuntu, or anything else, for all we know. They may know enough to know that the OP's hardware could be new enough to require a newer kernel and Nvidia driver, such as a newer Ryzen CPU with a Nvidia 2060, but not enough about Debian to avoid the pitfalls of installing those on a Buster base.

[Bloom]

And then asking for help on a Debian forum? Some people are weird.

[Kroneos]

If he's running 5.8, he's not running Stable but either Testing or Sid.

There's no indication that the buddy is running Debian at all. They could be running Arch, Ubuntu, or anything else, for all we know. They may know enough to know that the OP's hardware could be new enough to require a newer kernel and Nvidia driver, such as a newer Ryzen CPU with a Nvidia 2060, but not enough about Debian to avoid the pitfalls of installing those on a Buster base.

Heya, sorry I should have indicated. My friend/buddy/colleague/gent (sorry, sicpig made it weird) is indeed running Debian Buster with kernel 5.8 and Nvidia driver 450. I have just confirmed.
Like you kindly outlined, it was my fault for upgrading kernel prior to updating the drivers which most likely my buddy forgot to mention. I did go by Debian wikis and cannot recall seeing this order importance (which I could have missed).
Either way, I learn through this journey and not being knowledgeable lands me into these situations.
I am truly grateful to people that are willing to land a hand despite the triviality of the problem.

[Islander]

I've just setup Debian for gaming, and games run very well. I use whole drive encryption (LUKS) and it doesn't affect performance noticeably.

Basically, the new Vulkan drivers, that replace OpenGL and DirectX, have done wonders for Linux graphics performance. Not just for native games, but also for games running in Wine.

You still need to do a lot of configuring, though. Basically, after installing proprietary nVidia drivers, you need to install 32- and 64-bit Vulkan support, and 32-bit and 64-bit wine. Then you need to install gamemode and configure Steam and Lutris to use them. All of them from buster-backports.

Then individual games may need to be configured, and you never know if a game will stop working because an update changed something in the installer/updater.

[stevepusser]

This situation becomes even more relevant, what with the Debian 5.8 kernels not yet being patched for that Bluetooth exploit, and only the 4.19.152 kernel in Buster and 5.9.1 in Sid being fixed. Unfortunately, we're still waiting for the driver updates for the 5.9 kernels, since the builds fail on that with even the latest Debian drivers.

I'm sure the upstream kernel and driver maintainers are tearing their hair out right now, though.

[Kroneos]

I've just setup Debian for gaming, and games run very well. I use whole drive encryption (LUKS) and it doesn't affect performance noticeably.

Basically, the new Vulkan drivers, that replace OpenGL and DirectX, have done wonders for Linux graphics performance. Not just for native games, but also for games running in Wine.

You still need to do a lot of configuring, though. Basically, after installing proprietary nVidia drivers, you need to install 32- and 64-bit Vulkan support, and 32-bit and 64-bit wine. Then you need to install gamemode and configure Steam and Lutris to use them. All of them from buster-backports.

Then individual games may need to be configured, and you never know if a game will stop working because an update changed something in the installer/updater.

Great value here, thank you.
I will try gamemode to see if it further boosts gaming performance.

[Kroneos]

This situation becomes even more relevant, what with the Debian 5.8 kernels not yet being patched for that Bluetooth exploit, and only the 4.19.152 kernel in Buster and 5.9.1 in Sid being fixed. Unfortunately, we're still waiting for the driver updates for the 5.9 kernels, since the builds fail on that with even the latest Debian drivers.

I'm sure the upstream kernel and driver maintainers are tearing their hair out right now, though.

Thanks or this quite important bit. Reading up on this!

[Islander]

Great value here, thank you.
I will try gamemode to see if it further boosts gaming performance.

I did a practical test, and gamemode improved my fps from 65-ish to 85-ish. It was really surprising how effective it was.

[Kroneos]

Great value here, thank you.
I will try gamemode to see if it further boosts gaming performance.

I did a practical test, and gamemode improved my fps from 65-ish to 85-ish. It was really surprising how effective it was.

Sadly, I see no difference with or without.
I set

Code: Select all

gamemoderun %command%

and have verified it is active during gameplay.
Probably missing something here.

[Islander]

Sadly, I see no difference with or without.
I set

Code: Select all

gamemoderun %command%

and have verified it is active during gameplay.
Probably missing something here.

I saw the improvement in Elder Scrolls Online. I did the test by logging in a low populated zone (a delve) and noting the fps when just standing around.

From your code paste, it looks like you're running a Windows game through Steam, which is what I did with Elder Scrolls Online. So I'm not sure why you don't notice any difference.

EDIT: I'm using a very old motherboard and CPU, but a new graphics card, so CPU performance is probably the bottleneck in my system. So reprioritising CPU tasks, like gamemode does, probably makes a much larger difference on my system.