Arch Linux

Spider.007

Member

Registered: 2004-06-20

Posts: 1,175

MacBook Air 4,2/Linux 5.8 - hangs completely when browser starts

I have been running Archlinux for a couple of years on my Macbook, but ever since Linux 5.8 was released my macbook hangs completely when I start the browser after booting. I suspect the wifi might be the cause but I cannot be sure as it hangs quite hard (even the caps-lock light no longer toggles). I was hoping 5.9 would fix it, but it has the same issue. Anyone else experiencing this issue?

natervance

Member

Registered: 2017-04-20

Posts: 53

Re: MacBook Air 4,2/Linux 5.8 - hangs completely when browser starts

If it is wifi, could you try to ping or wget something immediately after boot? If that works, I'd rule out it being some bizarre wifi issue.

I recently went through some grief with hard hangs following a kernel upgrade (same symptoms of no caps/numlock keys working), and after quite a bit of troubleshooting I discovered that bad ram was to blame. If things are the same with you, then it's less that the browser uses your network and more that it's taxing system resources (ram in particular). In my case I think the timing of the onset of the issue with a kernel upgrade was just coincidence. You could try a memtest, though if it doesn't turn anything up that doesn't mean you're in the clear. Is your macbook old enough that you can still swap out ram, or is it all soldered to the motherboard?

Spider.007

Member

Registered: 2004-06-20

Posts: 1,175

Re: MacBook Air 4,2/Linux 5.8 - hangs completely when browser starts

thanks for your reply but I have up and downgraded at least 10 different kernels and it is definitely to blame. I don't have a clear diagnose but this machine just needs to work so I have little incentive to investigate this hard hang. I've tried 5.9.12 but while the browser seems to work it hangs again once I load youtube.