Arch Linux

pkejr

Member

Registered: 2018-04-30

Posts: 20

Re: [Solved] System freeze randomly

Hi,

No freezes since a week of uptime now. I saw there were multiple BIOS updates for my Laptop recently so I will try to update my BIOS again and maybe try removing the intel_idle.max_cstate=0 line from my boot parameters, to see if only the BIOS update fixes it.

The initial issue seems fixed, however I have new errors as stated above. But I think a BIOS update might fix it. And then I'll try switching back to the latest kernel (no LTS).
I will write a more detailed answer later, to help people who had the same issue.

Thanks again everyone for your help.

Last edited by pkejr (2018-06-26 08:50:45)

whites11

Member

Registered: 2010-03-23

Posts: 31

Re: [Solved] System freeze randomly

I am having the same exact issue on my dell inspiron 15 (2015 version).

I replaced my SSD because it was unhealthy and I thought it was the cause of the (recently appeared) hangs, but unluckily it was not.
I just tried to add the intel_idle.max_cstate=1 kernel parameter, let's see what happens.

whites11

Member

Registered: 2010-03-23

Posts: 31

Re: [Solved] System freeze randomly

I am having the same exact issue on my dell inspiron 15 (2015 version).

I replaced my SSD because it was unhealthy and I thought it was the cause of the (recently appeared) hangs, but unluckily it was not.
I just tried to add the intel_idle.max_cstate=1 kernel parameter, let's see what happens.

16 days without a freeze now. What I still am missing is how and when this problem arose. My laptop worked just fine for about 3 years, then suddenly started freezing. Was the problem triggered by a kernel update?

fofoni

Member

From: Rio de Janeiro

Registered: 2015-04-29

Posts: 18

Re: [Solved] System freeze randomly

I am having the same exact issue on my dell inspiron 15 (2015 version).

I replaced my SSD because it was unhealthy and I thought it was the cause of the (recently appeared) hangs, but unluckily it was not.
I just tried to add the intel_idle.max_cstate=1 kernel parameter, let's see what happens.

Also the exact same issue here, and also a Dell Inspiron 15 5000 Series (5548) with an i5. Freezing can happen with a few minutes of uptime, or sometimes a few days. I tried

intel_idle.max_cstate=0

as suggested here, but if anything there the freezing was more frequent. I'll try

intel_idle.max_cstate=1

now.

CarbonChauvinist

Member

Registered: 2012-06-16

Posts: 413

Website

Re: [Solved] System freeze randomly

I am having the same exact issue on my dell inspiron 15 (2015 version).

I replaced my SSD because it was unhealthy and I thought it was the cause of the (recently appeared) hangs, but unluckily it was not.
I just tried to add the intel_idle.max_cstate=1 kernel parameter, let's see what happens.

Also the exact same issue here, and also a Dell Inspiron 15 5000 Series (5548) with an i5. Freezing can happen with a few minutes of uptime, or sometimes a few days. I tried

intel_idle.max_cstate=0

as suggested here, but if anything there the freezing was more frequent. I'll try

intel_idle.max_cstate=1

now.

Please note those steps were really only recommended as steps to try and rule out (or in) cstate(s) as the cause of the issue with the goal of then taking further steps to address as needed; running a laptop with the max_cstate locked at 0 or 1 is not a long term solution.

You stated the freezes were more frequent with cstate_max=0? If that's the case have you looked at what scaling_driver you're using? Are you using intel_pstate or acpi_cpufreq? What's your actual processor? Do you have turbo enabled? In my case, after much back and forth, and a ton of help from kernel bugtracker - my issue was narrowed down to something with turbo states. If I disable turbo on my box (i5-6440HQ) I no longer experience the freezes anymore. I've since disabled turbo via my BIOS and have had zero issues (albeit I'm stuck at 2.6 base/max clock!). I haven't really had time to drill down much further since then, but it's on my list.

---

"the wind-blown way, wanna win? don't play"

fofoni

Member

From: Rio de Janeiro

Registered: 2015-04-29

Posts: 18

Re: [Solved] System freeze randomly

You stated the freezes were more frequent with cstate_max=0?

I'm really not sure. I did experience two freezes in an hour, but this would also happen now and then when I had a clean kernel cmdline. I didn't stick to cstate_max=0 for more than this one hour, so I don't really have much statistical evidence to be sure that "freezes are more frequent with cstate_max=0".

If that's the case have you looked at what scaling_driver you're using? Are you using intel_pstate or acpi_cpufreq?

$ sudo cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_driver
intel_pstate
intel_pstate
intel_pstate
intel_pstate

What's your actual processor?

I actually don't know much about CPUs, so I don't know exactly what you're asking. lscpu says "Model name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-5200U CPU @ 2.20GHz".

Do you have turbo enabled?

Never heard of this. I guess I'll take a look at the wiki. Thanks
EDIT: i7z gives "TURBO ENABLED on 2 Cores, Hyper Threading ON"

I did read the info on disabling cstates not being a good long-term solution, but those freezes are really inconvenient. What are the harms (besides high power consumption)?

Last edited by fofoni (2018-11-09 18:51:11)

zokker13

Member

Registered: 2018-11-11

Posts: 2

Re: [Solved] System freeze randomly

Hey there,

I've experienced similar issues and tried to set my c_state=0 as well but with no effect. Next thing I did was to take the LTS kernel and see and that worked for the last 3 days.
I decided to remove the c_state kernel paramter and see how that is going.

My LTS kernel version is: 4.14.79-1-lts
The kernel I used previously was linux-zen: 4.18.16.zen1-1

enyakee

Member

Registered: 2018-10-31

Posts: 1

Re: [Solved] System freeze randomly

This issue doesn't seem to be solved.... I'm having the same problem, the system freezes from time to time. It's in a Lenovo Ideapad 100 Laptop with an i3 5005 CPU, Kernel 4.19 now. It seems to occur only when the CPU has "high" usage, especially when watching Youtube videos on Firefox. 
 
EDIT: Tried to get a freeze and sure got one. I had run "stress --cpu 4 --vm 2" for a while with no problems, and then I started firefox, opened 20 tabs in random sites with one focusing a playing video in Youtube and shortly after came back to a frozen system.

Last edited by enyakee (2018-11-23 00:55:58)

lknix

Member

Registered: 2008-10-20

Posts: 19

Re: [Solved] System freeze randomly

Hey,

I'm experiencing the same issue on my laptop (i5-5200U CPU). One interesting thing: most of the time I'm plugged in and using an external screen and freezes NEVER happen. I have started experiencing them when I unplug (not sure if relevant) and don't use an external screen. Odd. Will do a bit more testing over the weekend and report back. Any updates from others?

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 23,218

Re: [Solved] System freeze randomly

The OP has solved the original issue, there are good chances that whatever issues any of you are still experiencing with more modern kernels have the same underlying issue is relatively low. Please open up your own threads with diagnostic information from your own systems and exact hardware and driver configurations.

Closing.