The laptop randomly freezes, apparently without any trigger like CPU, I/O, memory load, etc. It can run perfectly for 3 day or freeze 3 times in 10 minutes.System: Host: dell Kernel: 4.9.0-6-amd64 x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 6.3.0) Desktop: LXDE (Openbox 3.6.1)
Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch)
Machine: Device: portable System: Dell product: Studio 1749 serial: 70J0SM1
BIOS: Dell v: A08 date: 03/24/2011
Battery BAT1: charge: 29.8 Wh 99.9% condition: 29.8/57.7 Wh (52%) model: Simplo DELL U150P05L status: Full
CPU: Dual core Intel Core i7 M 620 (-HT-MCP-) cache: 4096 KB
flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 10639
clock speeds: max: 2667 MHz 1: 1333 MHz 2: 1199 MHz 3: 1333 MHz 4: 1199 MHz
Graphics: Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Madison [Mobility Radeon HD 5650/5750 / 6530M/6550M]
bus-ID: 02:00.0
Display Server: X.org 1.19.2 driver: N/A tty size: 266x65 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Network: Card-1: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 [Taylor Peak] driver: iwlwifi bus-ID: 08:00.0
IF: wlp8s0 state: down mac: d2:59:7f:4d:1c:20
Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 5000 bus-ID: 20:00.0
IF: enp32s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 5c:26:0a:06:53:72
Drives: HDD Total Size: 2512.5GB (37.7% used)
ID-1: model: ST2000LM003_HN
ID-2: model: Samsung_SSD_850
Info: Processes: 212 Uptime: 59 min Memory: 1344.8/7848.6MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 6.3.0
Client: Shell (bash 4.4.121) inxi: 2.3.5
When it freezes, it doesn't respond to anything, including SysReq - B (to reboot). The only way is to stop it from power button.
Absolutely nothing is written in logs (/var/log/messages and dmesg).
It isn't a heat issue, if I believe sensors and the laptop doesn't heat anyway:
The last temperature, could be wrong, because it is displayed from the beginning and it is hard to believe that the GPU achieves 59 degrees Celsius in just a few seconds after the laptop is started, especially when there is a powerful cooler underneath.radeon-pci-0200
Adapter: PCI adapter
temp1: +48.0°C (crit = +120.0°C, hyst = +90.0°C)
coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Core 0: +46.0°C (high = +95.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 2: +48.0°C (high = +95.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
dell_smm-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
Processor Fan: 0 RPM
CPU: +47.0°C
GPU: +59.0°C
Also, another sensor displays 48 degrees for radeon-pci-0200, so this might be closer to reality.
The CPU settings are:
I investigated and the solution was to add intel_idle.max_cstate=1 to cat /etc/default/grub#cpupower frequency-info
analyzing CPU 0:
driver: acpi-cpufreq
CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
maximum transition latency: 10.0 us
hardware limits: 1.20 GHz - 2.67 GHz
available frequency steps: 2.67 GHz, 2.67 GHz, 2.53 GHz, 2.40 GHz, 2.27 GHz, 2.13 GHz, 2.00 GHz, 1.87 GHz, 1.73 GHz, 1.60 GHz, 1.47 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1.20 GHz
available cpufreq governors: ondemand performance schedutil
current policy: frequency should be within 1.20 GHz and 2.67 GHz.
The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
within this range.
current CPU frequency: 1.20 GHz (asserted by call to hardware)
boost state support:
Supported: no
Active: no
3067 MHz max turbo 2 active cores
3333 MHz max turbo 1 active cores
Apparently there is an issue about this i7 first generation and the kernel not being able to change the CPU frequency properly.GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet intel_idle.max_cstate=1"
There is already one week since is running in this configuration, I run some stress tests and the laptop performed flawlessly, no matter the load. Also, prior to that, I run memtes86+, internal hardware tests and no hardware issues were detected. Prior to this, there was no problem with Debian 8.
But now suspend and hibernate functions do not work anymore. I mean the computer does suspend (to RAM or disk), but it is not able to resume, I can only see a blank screen, but no mouse cursor. I press Ctrl-Alt-F2, login into console and reboot from there.
Any ideas?