Arch Linux

AquaSZS

Member

Registered: 2016-06-26

Posts: 23

[Solved] System randomly freezes completely with no log output

Recently, my system started freezing completely: mainly accepting no keyboard and mouse inputs at all. Because my only way of interacting is with the power button, I have no idea if the GUI is also stuck.

The first time was when trying to unlock from screensaver (MATE). Because I couldn't type in my password, I was forced to force restart.

The second time happened on another day right after booting  at the LightDM greeter. I could see the login screen fine, but had no way of interacting with it.
Then, the third time happened after I force reboot. I managed to log in this time, but the system froze at the desktop.

The most frustrating part about all this is that there is nothing in journalctl that points to what the problem may be. Oddly, during all these freezes, the CPU was more active than usual (loud whir). Could this be a hardware issue then?

EDIT: Just happened again while I was working on terminal. The fans did not seem too active this time.

OS: Arch Linux x86_64 
Kernel: 5.3.7-arch1-1-ARCH 
CPU: Intel i7 860 (8) @ 2.794GHz 
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 730

Last edited by AquaSZS (2019-10-30 08:30:21)

seth

Member

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 51,273

Re: [Solved] System randomly freezes completely with no log output

I'd first try whether this happens w/ the lts kernel as well. (Don't forget to install nvidia-lts if you're using the blob)

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AquaSZS

Member

Registered: 2016-06-26

Posts: 23

Re: [Solved] System randomly freezes completely with no log output

I haven't tried LTS kernel, but I did notice the freezes started after upgrading linux from 5.3.6 to 5.3.7.

I did a full system upgrade again today, and I have not experienced a freeze so far. I am not sure which package upgrade fixed the problem, or even which package upgrade caused the linux build hook to run.

pacman.log

[ALPM] transaction started
[ALPM] upgraded aspell (0.60.7-1 -> 0.60.8-1)
[ALPM] upgraded btrfs-progs (5.2.2-1 -> 5.3-1)
[ALPM] upgraded glib2 (2.62.1-1 -> 2.62.2-1)
[ALPM] upgraded haskell-asn1-encoding (0.9.5-103 -> 0.9.6-1)
[ALPM] upgraded haskell-asn1-parse (0.9.4-114 -> 0.9.4-115)
[ALPM] upgraded haskell-x509 (1.7.5-32 -> 1.7.5-33)
[ALPM] upgraded haskell-x509-store (1.6.7-31 -> 1.6.7-32)
[ALPM] upgraded haskell-x509-validation (1.6.11-31 -> 1.6.11-32)
[ALPM] upgraded haskell-tls (1.4.1-84 -> 1.4.1-85)
[ALPM] upgraded haskell-x509-system (1.6.6-99 -> 1.6.6-100)
[ALPM] upgraded haskell-connection (0.3.0-20 -> 0.3.0-21)
[ALPM] upgraded haskell-http-client-tls (0.3.5.3-138 -> 0.3.5.3-139)
[ALPM] upgraded haskell-juicypixels (3.3.3.1-9 -> 3.3.4-1)
[ALPM] upgraded libblockdev (2.22-1 -> 2.23-1)
[ALPM] upgraded libuv (1.32.0-1 -> 1.33.0-1)
[ALPM] upgraded lm_sensors (3.5.0-1 -> 3.6.0-1)
[ALPM] upgraded pandoc (2.7.3-60 -> 2.7.3-62)
[ALPM] transaction completed
[ALPM] running '30-systemd-daemon-reload.hook'...
[ALPM] running '30-systemd-udev-reload.hook'...
[ALPM] running '30-systemd-update.hook'...
[ALPM] running '90-linux.hook'...

I will keep the system running for a day and report back whether the problem is solved.

UPDATE: 23 hours in, no freeze. I guess something in the update (btrfs maybe?) fixed a kernel issue.
UPDATE 2: AAHAHHAA, just happened again. Then, again as I tried to edit this post.

Last edited by AquaSZS (2019-10-24 02:57:26)

AquaSZS

Member

Registered: 2016-06-26

Posts: 23

Re: [Solved] System randomly freezes completely with no log output

That system upgrade did not fix the problem. I will try linux-lts and nvidia-lts.

I still have little idea what triggers the freezes, but I will report back after keeping the system running until the weekend.

UPDATE: Another freeze. LTS kernel does not solve the problem. The freeze happened when I left the system idle for a few minutes to take care of another matter then tried typing in the terminal emulator again. Judging by how the cursor stops blinking, the whole system does freeze, not just keyboard input. The loud whir also started as the system froze.

Is it safe to assume at this point that this is a hardware problem?

Last edited by AquaSZS (2019-10-24 05:49:21)

AquaSZS

Member

Registered: 2016-06-26

Posts: 23

Re: [Solved] System randomly freezes completely with no log output

Setting intel_idle.max_cstate kernel option to 1 fixed the freezes for now, although the reason why the freezes started are still unclear. Moved discussion to Kernel & Hardware