Downgrading the kernel

PythonLinux · 2021-07-28 00:04:30

So now that Arch is working I decided to install KDE. Because I had my computer on for long enough (cause I had to run reflector to remove a bunch of non-working servers) and ate dinner before returning to install KDE during the KDE install process the freeze after 30-45 minutes bug (like completely freeze, the LED lights on the keyboard don't even light up) happened again. I'm now looking into downgrading the kernel. (The only other Linux distro I've ever really used is Ubuntu so I have no experience doing this). Apparently the latest version of Ubuntu uses the 5.11-0-16-generic kernel (which IK works cause I used it for over a week without any issues on this laptop once I installed KDE instead of the constantly crashing GNOME, I had to restart Gnome after it crashed just trying to get into a terminal on my Ubuntu live usb to find the exact kernel version it used it was that buggy). I can't figure out the exact syntax to get the kernel though (I mean by that how the kernel numbers are formatted to get the version Ubuntu uses) and it's saying I didn't do it correctly. How should I format the pacman command to get this specific kernel?

Edit:

Big thank you Loqs and Seth for helping me fix this

Edit 2: This is actually not solved. I've since changed the solved status and am reopening this.

Last edited by PythonLinux (2021-07-29 21:59:49)

Flemur · 2021-07-28 00:19:10

Not answering your question about downgrading and also not knowing which kernel isn't working properly, you might try installing linux-lts, which is now kernel v5.10.53-1.

PythonLinux · 2021-07-28 00:36:29

I've tried to install the lts kernel and have had issues. Please see https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=268307. The kernel with the freezing bug is the vanilla Linux kernel.

Last edited by PythonLinux (2021-07-28 00:36:57)

loqs · 2021-07-28 00:49:01

Is there anything in the journal from the boot that ended in a freeze? Ubuntu's kernel will use a different config and have patches applied Arch does not carry so downgrading linux to linux-5.11.arch2-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst does not guarantee it will work.

Last edited by loqs (2021-07-28 00:49:20)

PythonLinux · 2021-07-28 01:02:42

I'll see if I can find anything in the journal once I finish this game I'm playing (on my desktop PC, should be within a half hour). I'll also try downgrading to that package you provided. (Though I realize it isn't guaranteed to work.) Thanks.

PythonLinux · 2021-07-28 01:48:58

I didn't remember the exact time but I was able to phish out the right log by looking for the most recent one without a record of shutdown. I found it. The log from that boot can, in full be found at https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/HVdnBzt92d/. I'm going to try downgrading now and will report back.

Edit: Apparently I need to downgrade the headers or some kernel modules cause the kernel modules are failing to load with this new kernel. I don't see headers for the 5.11 kernel. What should I do? https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/ … i-headers/

Last edited by PythonLinux (2021-07-28 04:10:02)

seth · 2021-07-28 06:01:30

Apparently I need to downgrade the headers or some kernel modules cause the kernel modules are failing to load with this new kernel.

Please don't paraphrase errors or speculate about their nature.

I assume you might need https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/l/linux-headers/ in order to build out-of-tree headers?

Edit: there's no indication of a failure or even reboot in the provided journal.
Also please don't use ubuntus pastebin service (it requires an account to get the raw text)

Is https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=268257the "original" freeze bug?

Last edited by seth (2021-07-28 06:04:07)

PythonLinux · 2021-07-28 14:41:07

Seth wrote:

Also please don't use ubuntus pastebin service (it requires an account to get the raw text)

Ah. I didn't realize Ubuntu's pastebin required an account. (Mainly because I haven't had any issues uploading the pastebins or viewing them from my desktop browser so I never really paid attention to the fact that to download you have to register which I just saw because I checked now.) I'll use another in the future.

Seth wrote:

I assume you might need https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/l/linux-headers/ in order to build out-of-tree headers?

Thanks.

Seth wrote:

Please don't paraphrase errors or speculate about their nature.

Understood. This was just my best guess given that it's not a hardware issue because 1. It hasn't even been a month since I bought this new, unused laptop 2.Ubuntu worked on it just fine once I left their buggy gnome desktop for KDE for the week of my trip even when I used it for hours straight which on Arch is more than long enough to trigger the freezing issue.

Seth wrote:

there's no indication of a failure or even reboot in the provided journal.

And that's exactly the problem. It's a full system freeze and not even the journal get updated (I am certain I did not make the mistake of selecting the journal for the current boot. That was log -3 as listed by journalctl when I sent it.). I have to do a hard reboot in order to get a functioning laptop again.

Seth wrote:

Is https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=268257the "original" freeze bug?

That was the first report of it and I'm trying to do this kernel downgrade because of it. I've since ruled out KDE causing it because it happened in the command line interface this last time.(Before I had installed a desktop environment).

Last edited by PythonLinux (2021-07-28 14:42:59)

seth · 2021-07-28 15:43:11

It hasn't even been a month since I bought this new

Irrelevant. If eg. the RAM is overclocked it's overclocked - regardless of its age.
On the other hand, "new" hardware is prone to have firmware or BIOS/UEFI bugs.

Ubuntu sports a lot of backports, if the lts kernel doesn't help you, please post the output of "lspci" and "lscpu" for the device.

PythonLinux · 2021-07-28 16:13:37

On the other hand, "new" hardware is prone to have firmware or BIOS/UEFI bugs.

Perhaps.

Here's the thread with the LTS kernel issues: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=268307

And here's the output of lspci and lscpu: https://pastebin.com/vtFNEqyQ

seth · 2021-07-28 16:46:09

I'm gonna say that linux 5.11/12 won't support that system at all (Ubuntu ships a kernel that is labeled "5.11" but at least itr. closer to linus' mainline kernel…, https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/linux-mainline/ )

PythonLinux · 2021-07-28 17:11:17

Can I have some more details on why it won't support my laptop.

Should I try installing the mainline kernel?

seth · 2021-07-28 17:14:27

Because the tigerlake patches were available only 4 days before 5.11 and stayed during 5.11 and 5.12 and only hit 5.13
The idea is that the mainline kernel might have seen improvements for your hardware, yes. You probably want to install it next to the 5.13 kernel, not instead of it.

loqs · 2021-07-28 17:24:49

linux-mainline is also available in Unofficial_user_repositories#miffe.

PythonLinux · 2021-07-28 17:37:58

I'll try. Thanks. (This'll also be my first time installing software from the AUR.)

Edit: Twice when I tried to run makepkg from the system the freeze bug happened. I'm currently running it from the live usb after chrooting in.

Last edited by PythonLinux (2021-07-28 18:46:46)

seth · 2021-07-28 21:26:49

You could try the pre-compiled version from the repo in loqs' post.

Also try passing "intel_idle.max_cstate=1" to the kernel since these freezes tend to be related the power state changes.

PythonLinux · 2021-07-28 22:37:23

You could try the pre-compiled version from the repo in loqs' post.
Also try passing "intel_idle.max_cstate=1" to the kernel since these freezes tend to be related the power state changes.

Saw this after I compiled it. Given that this was the first time I compiled anything serious (outside of when I dabbled in C++ awhile ago) this was quite a learning experience. Anyway I've compiled it and installed it and added an entry in Systemd. I'll test the stability later today hopefully.

PythonLinux · 2021-07-29 00:19:05

After 45 minutes or so it appears there was a kernel panic (the caps lock did respond and it auto-rebooted). That's an improvement over total non-response. It means there's probably logs to check out. I'll post the logs then try passing that to the kernel.

Edit: I was trying to install KDE via pacman so that's prob why wpa_supplicant is at the end of the log anyway log can be found here https://pastebin.com/tci8tbvx

Edit 2: This article was a life saver vis a vis learning how to pass kernel parameters https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Kernel … stemd-boot. Doing the test with those parameters now. Will report back in an hour and 20 minutes or so.

Edit 3: This machine has been going for close to an hour and a half so it seems this was the solution. I'm marking this as solved.

Last edited by PythonLinux (2021-07-29 02:05:53)

PythonLinux · 2021-07-29 22:23:56

Reopening because this bug just happened to me again while trying to debug the Pacman issue. (Interestingly within the last hour my Windows Desktop also blue-screened during a meeting. According to the BSOD screen it was because of the webcam driver. Maybe I'm just having a bad day where I'm jinxing all computers I touch.) I'm thinking of abandoning Arch and giving it some time to age so everything's fully stable on my hardware (eg. so all needed CPU patches are fully integrated into the kernel and what not) and then I'll return to it 'cause while this is fun to learn with I do need a stable system. (KDE Neon looks nice I'm thinking of trying it out on a live USB I'd just prefer having the AUR instead of a bunch of PPAS, for the one year or so I used Ubuntu as my main OS previously I used KDE and I really like KDE.) But I'm crazy tired right now so I'm not gonna do anything rash like installing KDE Neon.

Edit: Just booted KDE Neon. Looks like the same thing that initially scared me off Fedora. I'd need to compile a wifi driver myself without wifi to get Git (which means I'm probably gonna have to make an ubuntu/some other linux live usb and compile it). Good news is the Github driver for the wireless officially supports Ubuntu so I'd imagine it would work on KDE neon. Given how much time I spent on Arch I'm gonna try sticking with Arch for now.

Edit 2: Ignore this, this was grumpy me talking. Now that I'm a little less grumpy I'm going to try my best to make Arch work. TBH, I'm kinda impressed I've managed to do everything I've done so far with Arch.(A few weeks ago I'd have thought it was way beyond my skill set)

Last edited by PythonLinux (2021-07-30 03:10:55)

Arch Linux

#1 2021-07-28 00:04:30

Downgrading the kernel

#2 2021-07-28 00:19:10

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#3 2021-07-28 00:36:29

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#4 2021-07-28 00:49:01

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#5 2021-07-28 01:02:42

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#6 2021-07-28 01:48:58

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#7 2021-07-28 06:01:30

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#8 2021-07-28 14:41:07

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#9 2021-07-28 15:43:11

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#10 2021-07-28 16:13:37

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#11 2021-07-28 16:46:09

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#12 2021-07-28 17:11:17

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#13 2021-07-28 17:14:27

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#14 2021-07-28 17:24:49

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#15 2021-07-28 17:37:58

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#16 2021-07-28 21:26:49

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#17 2021-07-28 22:37:23

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#18 2021-07-29 00:19:05

Re: Downgrading the kernel

#19 2021-07-29 22:23:56

Re: Downgrading the kernel

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