Arch Linux

weltio

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2009-04-05

Posts: 90

random freezes, no journal, no alt print k working

hello

my system often freezes (mostly during playing enemy territory (aur package))

It could be a noveau thing (the last major system change - before I used nvidia but that froze more often), but I have no clue how to get detailed information

xf86-video-nouveau 1.0.16-1
Client: ET Legacy v2.76-594-g00e6870 linux-x86_64 Oct 22 2019 DEBUG
Masked as: ET 2.60b linux-x86_64 May  8 2006
Built: 2019-10-22T16:42:32 UTC

journalctl -exb -1 stops > 20 sec before the acutal freeze

If frozen, nothing works (not even alt print k) - only alt print b - although /proc/sys/kernel/sysrq is 1

Any ideas on how to gather information?

Last edited by weltio (2019-10-23 18:08:17)

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 78,171

Re: random freezes, no journal, no alt print k working

reisub instead of just k/b? (notably "s" will sync mounted filesystems, perhaps preserving the crucial log bits)
ssh into the system?
Can you switch the GPU? (optimus, spare device for replacement)
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Stress_testing to isolate GPU/CPU/RAM (load) as the ultimate cause?

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weltio

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2009-04-05

Posts: 90

Re: random freezes, no journal, no alt print k working

reisub didnt work either

will try ssh, but since alt print k doesnt work, this probably wont either (before freezing alt print k works fine)

no optimus

lspci | egrep 'VGA|3D'
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF116 [GeForce GTX 550 Ti] (rev a1)

there doesnt seem to be a gpu stress test, i will give cpu/ram a try, but if those were the reason, the problem would not 'almost deterministic' occur while playing.

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 78,171

Re: random freezes, no journal, no alt print k working

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/glmark2-git/

Ensure the GPU sits in the proper PCIe slot (consult the board manual) and the dedicated power supply (some 6/8-pin plug, depending on the model) is available along a sufficient PSU.
If you've access to some less demanding GPU, that's probably worth a shot.

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How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

weltio

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2009-04-05

Posts: 90

Re: random freezes, no journal, no alt print k working

Well, thats interesting:
The first time I executed glmark2 it couldnt even finish before the computer freezed
But since then I have been able to execute it three times without any freeze.

I checked the gpu and power things - everything as it should be.

It's weird, that its not reproducible
Even if I had a second gpu I could not deterministically check the absence of a software bug (e.g. driver)

weltio

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2009-04-05

Posts: 90

Re: random freezes, no journal, no alt print k working

It seems to be driver related. Since I reinstalled Nvidia, the freezes havent occured again.