random frozen ttys after a few hours (maybe physlock related)

Xyne · 2016-03-06 02:36:34

I log in on tty1 as user 1 and launch Openbox with startx. I log in on tty2 as user 2 and launch another instance of Openbox with startx. I can switch to the other ttys and between the X servers running on tty1 and tty2 using ctrl+alt+Fx. I sometimes lock the system with physlock which displays the normal physlock password prompt. Unlocking the system works as expected and I can switch between ttys and X servers as before.

2 or 3 times in the last few weeks, after the system has been running for a few hours (laptop with integrated Intel graphics chip, connected to an external monitor via HDMI), I lock the system with physlock and instead of seeing the normal password prompt, I see the frozen console output from tty2 (the command-line output from startx and the X server). I can enter the password despite the frozen screen and I get back into the X server from which I ran physlock. I can still switch between the X servers on tty1 and tty2, but switching to any other tty shows the same frozen screen with the output of tty2.

The frozen screens are still responsive and I can log in and run startx, but nothing that I type nor any output is shown. Only the frozen screen with tty2's output is visible. The X server starts normally. Exiting X drops me back to the frozen screen. I can enter commands but the display does not change.

Testing is difficult because this appears to be random or time-dependent. So far I have tried restarting the getty service for e.g. tty3 or killing agetty on tty3 but that changes nothing. I haven't yet tried the same for the service running on tty2 or whichever tty the frozen screen shows (I'll try that next time it happens). Exiting the X servers on tty1 and tty2 drops me to the same frozen tty screen. Logging out both users on tty1 and tty2 changes nothing. The screen remains frozen but responsive. I have tried rebuilding physlock but the problem persists.

I don't know enough about ttys or even the correct terminology to know where to start looking. It seems as if whatever is responsible for "drawing" the ttys locks up. It may be linked to physlock which does some sort of tty locking magic, but right now as I type this I am able to lock and unlock the system with physlock without any problems. Normally I do not switch to unused ttys so maybe they are freezing up while I'm working and I am only noticing when I use physlock after a few hours.

Just to try to clarify what I am seeing on the frozen screen, it's exactly what you would see back when the first X server would be attached to tty7 and you switch back to the tty that launched X. I see that on all non-X ttys after a while.

Any ideas?

XDarkAngelX · 2016-03-23 11:15:01

I am having the exact same issue but in my case it doesn't seem random as every time my used memory gets to 2 Gib (half of my all my RAM) this issue seem to happen.
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=210362 --> my thread about the issue.

Arch Linux

#1 2016-03-06 02:36:34

random frozen ttys after a few hours (maybe physlock related)

#2 2016-03-23 11:15:01

Re: random frozen ttys after a few hours (maybe physlock related)

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