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Getting regular system freezes

Linux Kernel, Network, and Services configuration.
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nickmdowson
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Joined: 2013-08-18 22:24

Getting regular system freezes

#1 Post by nickmdowson »

Hi,
I'm using Debian Stretch, currently with the Cinnamon desktop (3.2.7).
I get regular system freezes, and often have to hard reboot (hold down the power button on my laptop) to restart. Sometimes, sysreq with REISUB manages to do it.
I have no idea what's causing this or what to do about it and I haven't noticed it correlating with any particular program or activity (although I guess like most users I pretty much always have a browser open).
Any idea what I could do to diagnose/ fix this?
The laptop is a Clevo W950TU. Currently Debian 9.3, Linux 4.9.0-5-amd64, although I've been experiencing this problem for a few months - probably since the upgrade from Jessie.
Cheers

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Head_on_a_Stick
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Re: Getting regular system freezes

#2 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

nickmdowson wrote:often have to hard reboot
Did you try switching to a TTY to eliminate a simple graphics failure?

What is your graphics hardware and drivers?

Code: Select all

lspci -knn | grep -A2 '\''[030[02]\]'
You can use systemd's journal to investigate but you will have to enable persistent logging first, read the man pages or search my posts to find out how to do this.
deadbang

nickmdowson
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Re: Getting regular system freezes

#3 Post by nickmdowson »

It doesn't let me switch to a tty - I always try this first to see if I can recover it.

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display [8086:0f31] (rev 0c)
Subsystem: CLEVO/KAPOK Computer Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display [1558:5470]
Kernel driver in use: i915

I'll try enabling persistent logging now, thanks.

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Thorny
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Re: Getting regular system freezes

#4 Post by Thorny »

nickmdowson wrote:I get regular system freezes,... The laptop is a Clevo W950TU.
The system specs indicate that it would have an Intel Bay Trail processor.
Try a search with, Intel Bay Trail and intel_idle.max_cstate, keywords. You should find quite a bit of information that might be helpful, at least worth checking.

nickmdowson
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Re: Getting regular system freezes

#5 Post by nickmdowson »

Thanks - will have a look

nickmdowson
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Re: Getting regular system freezes

#6 Post by nickmdowson »

My system specs say 'Intel Pentium CPU N5320'

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Thorny
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Re: Getting regular system freezes

#7 Post by Thorny »

nickmdowson wrote:My system specs say 'Intel Pentium CPU N5320'
I'm sorry, I looked up the specs on the manufactures web site. I do know that sometimes components are changed without updating documentation and I should have mentioned the possibility.

If it had been a 3520 it would be a Bay Trail.

What did you get from H_o_a_S's advice to look at the journal? That seemed to be a sane way to troubleshoot.

nickmdowson
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Re: Getting regular system freezes

#8 Post by nickmdowson »

No worries, I think it might be a customised version of that model. I've enabled persistent logging now, so will check that again after the next freeze!
Cheers!

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Re: Getting regular system freezes

#9 Post by Bulkley »

nickmdowson wrote:Sometimes, sysreq with REISUB manages to do it.
Try REISUBO.

Is the system freezing? Or is it just X? What I'm getting at is that the screen, mouse and keyboard freeze but the kernel is functioning happily underneath. That's what Head_on_a_Stick was suggesting. Because you can sometimes shut it down with REISUB I suspect this is the case.

nickmdowson
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Re: Getting regular system freezes

#10 Post by nickmdowson »

I'll try REISUBO next time - I'm not sure how to tell if it's X or the kernel, but it's generally entirely unresponsive.

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Re: Getting regular system freezes

#11 Post by Bulkley »

Consider that you may have an hardware problem. Flaky video cards tend to work most of the time but a big load (games, movies, huge documents) can stress them.

Search the Internet for your hardware components. Look for reports that look like yours. I once discovered that a motherboard I had always failed as mine was failing. Bingo.

When was the last time you blew the dust out of your computer? A sticking fan can cause overheating. Try re-seating memory cards.

Take notes.

nickmdowson
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Re: Getting regular system freezes

#12 Post by nickmdowson »

Don't think it's a hardware problem as it wasn't happening with Debian Jessie - and it doesn't seem to correlate with doing graphics-heavy tasks. Hope not anyway!

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Re: Getting regular system freezes

#13 Post by bw123 »

nickmdowson wrote: Any idea what I could do to diagnose/ fix this?
Use a process of elimination. Check the logs before you crack it open. The previous xorg log after you reboot will let you eliminate X, or maybe give you a hint. It's almost always hardware related, heat, video config or a bad drive/cable has done this to me in the past. Reseating ram does seem to have a lot of mojo sometimes, but I can't really prove it.
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