Arch Linux

gdlr

Member

Registered: 2014-05-01

Posts: 9

Complete freeze without log

Hi,
   Having recently installed Arch on my latop, I am experiecing a very frustrating issue : my computer freezes completely, up to the point that I have to reboot by holding down the power button, but after rebooting I can't see any log entry about that. This happens approximately once every 3-4 hours of use.
    By complete freeze, I mean that touchpad and keyboard are unresponsive, I can't even switch to a virtual console with Ctr-Alt-F2. By no log entry, I mean that after rebooting, the output of "sudo journalctl -b -1", has no entry around to the freeze time. Is there something I could try to understand the issue?
    The context is the following : I am installing on a Dell XPS 13 (2015 Windows edition), following the advice in https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/De … %282015%29. In particular this means that I am using the linux-mainline kernel. I am also adding the options "pcie_aspm=force i915.enable_fbc=1 i915.enable_rc6=7 i915.enable_ips=0" to my boot parameters.

I'd be happy to understand why I don't get the log of the crash, but you just know how to avoid it, I will take the advice!

Thanks,
Guillaume

Draje

Member

Registered: 2007-06-21

Posts: 102

Website

Re: Complete freeze without log

Same issue here on the same exact laptop, though I'm using kernel 4.1.2 from testing.

Freezing still occurs even when booting without the pcie_aspm=force and i915.enable_ips=0 parameters. Currently testing to see which of the other i915 parameters is the culprit.

gdlr

Member

Registered: 2014-05-01

Posts: 9

Re: Complete freeze without log

Thanks for the reply. I have a mild feeling that the freezing occurs a bit more often when i915.enable_ips=0 is used, but this could be sheer luck, or rather lack of luck. I have not enough statistics to really support the claim.
Let me know if you find a workaround. I'll keep on investigating myself too.

bulletmark

Member

From: Brisbane, Australia

Registered: 2013-10-22

Posts: 713

Re: Complete freeze without log

linux-mainline in the AUR is 4.1rc7-1, in the AUR4 it is 4.2rc1-1. Which version are you guys using?

I have the same laptop and as I reported here https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=199112 I was getting complete lockups also on 4.1 kernels. The good news is that I upgraded to testing/linux-4.1.2-1 a couple of days ago and the lockups have gone. That is the stable arch kernel that is pending release. The bad news about that is, as I reported here https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=199350, the 4.1 kernel accidently lost the patch required for our mic to work just before the final release version. I have patched that in to testing/linux-4.1.2-1 and everything, including the touchpad, has been working great. I am using stock libinput 0.19.0-1 and configured as per the wiki. I may put my patched kernel in the AUR for others if no other options appear.

Last edited by bulletmark (2015-07-13 07:15:33)

gdlr

Member

Registered: 2014-05-01

Posts: 9

Re: Complete freeze without log

I was using 4.1rc7-1 (though I am pretty sure I got it on AUR4, but maybe I missed the 4.2).
    Thanks for your links. I have just tried to upgrade to testing/linux-4.1.2-1, but still got a lock-up. Can you tell us what boot options youu are using, so that I can try them?

P.S. The question may seem naive, but I am not very keen on changing kernel : to upgrade to testing/linux-4.1.2-1, is it enough to 1) add the testing repositories to pacman 2) upgrade the linux package 3) modify (in the case where I am switching from mainline) the arch entry in /boot/loader/entries/, or is there something I am missing?

bulletmark

Member

From: Brisbane, Australia

Registered: 2013-10-22

Posts: 713

Re: Complete freeze without log

I am using options i915.enable_ips=0 pcie_aspm=force i915.enable_rc6=7 on 4.1.2-1. They are all straight from the XPS 13 wiki page. That wiki also suggests i915.enable_fbc=1 but if I enable that one I get frequent video refresh glitches.

Regarding your question about the kernel, yep that is all i did. I always install the corresponding docs and headers packages as well.

bulletmark

Member

From: Brisbane, Australia

Registered: 2013-10-22

Posts: 713

Re: Complete freeze without log

Sorry, I just realised that one of the small patches I applied to testing/linux-4.1.2 was this one https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commi … ea73f211da which is probably why I am not seeing lockups anymore.

Draje

Member

Registered: 2007-06-21

Posts: 102

Website

Re: Complete freeze without log

[disregard]

Last edited by Draje (2015-07-15 06:12:18)

Draje

Member

Registered: 2007-06-21

Posts: 102

Website

Re: Complete freeze without log

Sorry, I just realised that one of the small patches I applied to testing/linux-4.1.2 was this one https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commi … ea73f211da which is probably why I am not seeing lockups anymore.

Any other patches? Even after applying, I'm still getting freezes with the following options:

pcie_aspm=force i915.enable_fbc=1 i915.enable_rc6=7 i915.enable_psr=1

colinh

Member

Registered: 2014-08-23

Posts: 19

Re: Complete freeze without log

Hi Same problem, same laptop. Using 4.1.2-1 from testing.

However, I get the freeze within a couple of minutes.

EXCEPT when the power cable is plugged in. No freezes then at all, so far.

bulletmark

Member

From: Brisbane, Australia

Registered: 2013-10-22

Posts: 713

Re: Complete freeze without log

Sorry, I just realised that one of the small patches I applied to testing/linux-4.1.2 was this one https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commi … ea73f211da which is probably why I am not seeing lockups anymore.

Any other patches? Even after applying, I'm still getting freezes with the following options:

pcie_aspm=force i915.enable_fbc=1 i915.enable_rc6=7 i915.enable_psr=1

I listed the patches in this thread.

I was getting complete lockups at least once per day (had about 4 of them) but everything has been rock solid on my patched kernel.

gdlr

Member

Registered: 2014-05-01

Posts: 9

Re: Complete freeze without log

Having tried the patch https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commi … ea73f211da that you mentionned (on top of testing/linux-4.1.2), it seems to really work well. No lockups since a few days!

Thanks a lot for the help. I wonder why this was not mentionned in https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/De … %282015%29, maybe the issue does not affect all models of Dell XPS 13...

bulletmark

Member

From: Brisbane, Australia

Registered: 2013-10-22

Posts: 713

Re: Complete freeze without log

@gldr, you may want to use my kernel at https://aur4.archlinux.org/packages/linux-dell/. That is the current Arch core/linux-4.1.2-2 kernel with recent kernel.org patches for our 2015 XPS 13 such as this crash fix, plus mic and headset patches etc. Very small patches but necessary for our laptop. You mic input won't work at all, and won't switch correctly between external headset/mic and speaker without these patches. I use Skype and Hangouts extensively so can't survive without a working mic input.

I have spent a lot of time optimising my XPS 13 but I don't feel authoritative enough to significantly change the recommendations in that wiki. E.g. I think the touchpad recommendation is completely out of date. With kernel  4.1.2-2 and running GNOME you are better off leaving everything default, i.e the psmouse non-blacklisted, don't disable the GNOME mouse plugin, and just delete the 50-synaptics.conf file completely to boot using libinput (recently updated to 0.20) which works really well, better than synaptics.

gdlr

Member

Registered: 2014-05-01

Posts: 9

Re: Complete freeze without log

@bulletmark, it's good that you committed your kernel to AUR. It is so much simpler (although less instructive) than patching by hand the whole thing. I will definitely use it until those changes are merged to the arch kernel...
I understand your concern : I would agree that the wiki page seems out of date, but I have no experience whatsoever in modifying the wiki. Maybe you should suggest a change?

Thanks for your help!

gdlr

Member

Registered: 2014-05-01

Posts: 9

Re: Complete freeze without log

By the way, is there a reason you did not include the Broadcom wifi driver in the kernel?

bulletmark

Member

From: Brisbane, Australia

Registered: 2013-10-22

Posts: 713

Re: Complete freeze without log

@gdir because the point is to have as close as possible to the stock Arch kernel but with necessary patches for our XPS 13. My changes are minimal and essentially just to 2 source files.

I don't see the issue with the broadcom driver. You install broadcom-wl-dkms once ever and never think about it again. Works well too, rock solid and good speed. [That's another problem with the xps13 wiki page, it unfairly maligns the native broadcom card.]

bulletmark

Member

From: Brisbane, Australia

Registered: 2013-10-22

Posts: 713

Re: Complete freeze without log

As a follow-up here, I ran arch kernel 4.1.3 when it was first released but had a lockup after a couple of days so I then built my own kernel based on 4.1.3 with the patch I mentioned above from https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commi … ea73f211da. That has run without issue. Well the good news is that I see that the new kernel 4.1.4 released in the last 24 hours includes that patch. see https://lwn.net/Articles/653401/. The Arch kernel package has already been updated to 4.1.4-1.