Question Linux Freezing

[SirKarmios]

Not quite sure where to start looking; depending on how intensely I'm using my computer, the system will completely freeze a few times a day - I cannot switch to a tty or anything, and I am forced to restart.

I thought this was an overheating issue, but I'm fairly sure it's happened once or twice while my CPU was below 70 degrees.

Whilst this could be a hardware issue, it would be strange since this problem has never occurred when running Windows.

Primarily running Arch Linux, dual booted with Windows.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Hard freezes, to the point that a hard reset is required, are 99%+ hardware related. Most likely a driver is at fault. The problem not occurring in Windows (completely different driver set) pretty much ices it.

 

[Satan-IR]

As said not happening in Windows lowers probability of a hardware problem.

What's the ssytem specs?

 

[SirKarmios]

As said not happening in Windows lowers probability of a hardware problem.

What's the ssytem specs?

OS: Arch 5.1.4
CPU: i7-7700K
GPU: GTX 1080
RAM: 64GB

Let me know if you need more.

 

[SirKarmios]

Hard freezes, to the point that a hard reset is required, are 99%+ hardware related. Most likely a driver is at fault. The problem not occurring in Windows (completely different driver set) pretty much ices it.

Sounds about right - is there any way I can begin to narrow down and/or fix the source of the problem?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Arch 5.1.4 appears to have a few issues at the moment. You might want to back level for a few weeks until they iron out the wrinkles. It's possible that your problems stem from that. Part of the price of living on the ragged edge.

 

[SirKarmios]

Arch 5.1.4 appears to have a few issues at the moment. You might want to back level for a few weeks until they iron out the wrinkles. It's possible that your problems stem from that. Part of the price of living on the ragged edge.

I've rolled back to the 1st of April, version 5.0.5, and so far so good.
Thanks a bunch for the help - hopefully no more freezes 😁

 

[Satan-IR]

Yes as said, apparently newer kernels have some issues and rolling back to earlier versions can help.

I asked about hardware because apparently some Arch users with Broadwell CPUs have problems related to Intel SpeedStep too.

Hope it works.

 

[SirKarmios]

Had another freeze 🙁

 

[Satan-IR]

When it freezes, do any of the keyboard indicators start flashing? That would indicate it's probably a kernel panic. Somehow the Linux equivalent of a BSOD.

 

[SirKarmios]

When it freezes, do any of the keyboard indicators start flashing? That would indicate it's probably a kernel panic. Somehow the Linux equivalent of a BSOD.

I haven't noticed that, I'll look out for it next time it happens.

 

[Satan-IR]

Yes see if that happens and if you can use NumLock or CapsLock or not. The system is frozen but check if pressing the keys would turn the relevant LED lights ON/OFF and if you can repeat that.

Specially the NumLock key which is processed on a lower level then the other keys. If NumLock LED changes (ON/OFF), it could mean that the kernel/CPU are still responsive to user input and the problem is more likely in an application/driver.

Also to check with higher probability whether it is a hardware fault or not you can run a Live Linux distro through the optical drive or a USB device. Play around a bit and stress things and if you still get freezes you can know for certain that it is not an OS fault but a hardware fault.

If this is the case you might want to test memory, hard drive, CPU. Although as I said before not having problems in Windows indicates that a hardware problem is less likely.

There are also cases of drivers crashing because of power saving settings. You might want to look into that as well.