My computer will sometimes freeze completely on me. I can move the mouse, but the whole system becomes unresponsive. My only option is to shut down the computer by holding in the start button pressed.

I suspect it has something to do with Flash content in the Chrome based browsers (I use Chromium and Vivaldi), but I am not sure.

Any help troubleshooting this will be greatly appreciated.

inxi -Fxzd output:

System: Host: ______ Kernel: 4.15.0-43-generic x86_64 bits: 64 gcc: 7.3.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.9 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu1)
Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine: Device: desktop Mobo: ASRock model: Z370 Pro4 serial: N/A
UEFI [Legacy]: American Megatrends v: P2.00 date: 03/21/2018
Battery hidpp__0: charge: 100% condition: NA/NA Wh
model: Logitech M705 status: Discharging
CPU: 6 core Intel Core i5-8400 (-MCP-)
arch: Skylake rev.10 cache: 9216 KB
flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 33696
clock speeds: max: 4000 MHz 1: 2856 MHz 2: 3164 MHz 3: 3646 MHz
4: 3417 MHz 5: 3418 MHz 6: 3433 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel Device 3e92 bus-ID: 00:02.0
Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz, 1920x1080@60.00hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics (Coffeelake 3x8 GT2)
version: 4.5 Mesa 18.0.5 Direct Render: Yes
Audio: Card-1 Intel 200 Series PCH HD Audio
driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
Card-2 Logitech Headset H390 driver: USB Audio usb-ID: 001-004
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-43-generic
Network: Card: Intel Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V
driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k bus-ID: 00:1f.6
IF: enp0s31f6 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 1250.3GB (29.8% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD10EZEX size: 1000.2GB
ID-2: /dev/sdb model: Samsung_SSD_860 size: 250.1GB
Optical: No optical drives detected.
Partition: ID-1: / size: 229G used: 61G (29%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb1
RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 27.0C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 309 Uptime: 3:29 Memory: 5369.2/7652.2MB
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.3.0
Client: Shell (bash 4.4.191) inxi: 2.3.56

thanks!

Try this:
When you boot, press ctrl_Alt_f2 and log in. If you can get to it, run top. Some process has crashed, most likely. It show as the top entry. A memtest and disk check are expected, so do them.

If the console switch doesn't work use an xterm. and hang about! Some folks won't wait for a 30 seconds timeout (perhaps twice)=60 seconds, before the system reports the error. It might tell you.

When I press Ctrl Alt F2 I get the "enter a command".
Mind you I did that when the system was up and running as on boot the command did nothing.

Hi,
I'm having similar problems with a Intel Core i7-8550U CPU with a UHD620 GPU.

I was initially getting lockups attempting to use the default resolution of 1920x1080 (Mint 19.1).

The use of the kernel parameter stopped the lockups.
Upgrading to the latest stable kernel stopped the lockups completely but left a 1920x1080 screen unusable.
Dropping the resolution to 1600x900 gave a stable, useable display.

This problem did not appear at all with Devuan ASCII (even with the latest stable kernel).
It also doesn't now appear in Slackware -current (even with the latest stable kernel).

Bodge99
It might be worth booting a Devuan live flashdrive to see if the problem is still there..

Bah! When it's booted, normally the user on ctrl_alt_f1 (accessed from X) is the system, alt_f7(accessed from the console) is X, and the rest should be consoles you can log into. You can leave an xterm running top while you crash your system if you like. Don't waste time on it.

Try this:
Make sure your system is fully updated.
Go to Filesystem in file browser and click on etc folder, right click on default folder and select "Open as root", double click on grub file and edit the line shown below to look like the second line below.
Save the file and close it, then in the terminal run command: sudo update-grub, then reboot, your graphics issues should be better.

Apparently you also need to install xserver-xorg-hwe and xserver-xorg-input-all-hwe for my previous post fix to work.

Thanks guys!
I have done the changes to the grub file and will see how it goes.

Bodge99, did you have to change distribution to make it work?
I am not much of a geek, so I need most of the instructions in bite size chunks and I do not feel like changing linux distribution right now

Exil:

I have multiple Linux distributions installed on my main laptop. I mainly use these for testing purposes.

I'd recommend that you stick with Mint until/unless you have a good reason to change.

Just take things slowly.. one step at a time. Make backups and notes of any changes made.. this helps if you have to back out these changes.

If you have any problems, then just ask here. Don't forget, we all started as newbies at one time and there is no such thing as a silly question.


Bodge99

Thanks! So yesterday I tested running several browsers heavy with live content and the computer did not freeze, so things are working much better.

However the system will still hang when I visit web pages that are really heavy with adds, like certain newspapers will be. The computer did not freeze completely though, so I could shut the window down and everything went back to normal.

Another thing that happened after the changes made is that images would pixelate in Firefox. This happened a couple of times and I would say it looked as though it had problems refreshing.

Hi,

Another thing to check is CPU temperatures. Run "xsensors" from a terminal and see how things change as ad-infested pages load and run...
I don't think that this package is installed by default. If not, install it by;
If you could try this and report back the readings here then it might help further diagnosis.

Bodge99

EDIT
Another package worth looking at is "psensor", this one should show your hdd temps..

Temperatures are ok. They show mostly below 30ºC

The issue I said was with Firefox could actually with anything I put on that screen. It picks up after a while and works better, but there are some initial lagging. Also in the system reports I always seem to have a couple of crash reports on Chromium and Vivaldi.

Could it be related to java, flash or perhaps graphics driver?

I would second that refresh business. Flash should be just about gone, and firefox modern firefox versions should be asking you "there's a flash thing here, do you really want this to be run?" Make sure your drivers are running well. Another cause for delays is software rendering, and with tuni9ng of options, you can often cut down on the ads you get. Any time I'm asked for my age, I'm 100+ . That way - basically no ads

Edit: I don't believe your temperatures, FWIW. No cpu runs at 30 degrees for long. Maybe 1 core on a few hundred hertz. 2-3 Ghz? Not in the real world.

I'm suspicious of the reported temperatures as well..

Try this, drop your screen resolution to 1600x900 and re-run your tests. I would be very interested to hear if there is any improvement...

Bodge99.

I cannot find a log of previous temperatures registrered by psensor, but then perhaps the min. max that is shows is just that. I attach a screenshot.

About the resolution, this version of linux does not seem to have the option of 1600x900. One monitor (HDMI) offers: 1920x1080, 1280x1024, 1280x720, 1152x864, 1024x768, 800x600, 720x576. The other (VGA) offers: 1920x1080, 1280x1024, 1152x864, 1024x768, 800x600.

How can I check that my drivers are running well? I have read something on forums about installing nvidia drivers and such, but I don't have a dedicated graphics card, so I am not sure if that would help.

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