[SOLVED] Having To Restart Ubuntu Several Times A Day! = FAIL!

Sumguy · 08-22-2010, 11:06 AM

Hey Guys,

I hope someone can help me. Been using Ubuntu for over a month now (My first foray into Linux) and I love it...BUT....

I'm having an intermittent problem that seems to be getting worse:

Ubuntu will be working fine....then I'll go to open a program (like Chromium or Thunderbird) and it won't open. If I already have Chromium open, it might become unresponsive. If I'm downloading something, it will start acting weird (Like last night- I was downloading c.600MB file and Ubuntu went into dysfunctional mode- and said it was downloading a 2006453 GB file!)

Also, when it goes into dysfunctional mode, any dialogue boxes that come up (like the shut-down confirmation box) will be blank- just pure white- with no text or buttons visible.

I can't even run any terminal commands when this happens, to try and diagnose the problem, because either terminal won't open, or if it does, it will be blank like the dialogue boxes- i.e. the purple background will just be replaced by pure white, with no cursor or text).

I'll then restart the computer when these things happen, and then I'll get the "The disk for /tmp is not ready yet or not present" and have to press "f: to fix it- then it will boot up and work fine- sometimes for the rest of the day...sometimes for 5 minutes.

Since I don't see anyone else complaining about such behavior, I assume the problem is with my 'puter or my installation? If anyone has any ideas, please help. I really don't want to have to switch to a different distro- as I love Ubuntu///and I don't want to have to reinstall - as I have it configured the way I want it and plus it's on a partition (Still need to keep Win-D'ohs around just for when I want to use Magicjack)

This is starting to happen several times a day...HELP...can't. Go. On like this!

[My 'puter's specs: Compaq Presario SR2170NX P4 3.0Ghz 1G Ram 150GB HD -all I usually do these days is email and the web]

Kenny_Strawn · 08-22-2010, 12:07 PM

I am having similar problems on my Acer netbook with 10.10 Alpha 3 (and I blame it on BTRFS, as it has slow performance) but let me ask this: What Ubuntu version do you have?

t1nm@n · 08-22-2010, 12:42 PM

Quote:

It was not fixed for me as of 6/18/10 with the latest updates.
The following script seems to fix the tmp issue for me. It is a workaround though and not a fix. I've rebooted 10 times in a row and it is still mounting /dev/mapper/crypttmp on /tmp without hanging up the system.
I changed the stock /etc/init/mountall.conf script by commenting out the emits filesystem line. This is on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.
My custom script called cryptdisks-tmp.conf, placed under /etc/init, has the following lines:
# cryptdisks-tmp - setup encrypted /tmp/device
#
# This is designed simply to setup and encrypted tmp device under
# /dev/mapper called crypttmp and then mount it on tmp.
# This requires a noauto entry in the fstab for the /tmp mount

# Also no crypttab entry is required to setup /dev/mapper/crypttmp
# as all that is taken care of in this script.
# Basically I commented out the "emit filesystem" section in
# /etc/init/mountall.conf, then created this script.
# This script will start once mountall is started and it will emit
# the filesystem emitter
# This will cause most other upstart jobs, which look for the filesystem
# emmitter not to start until this script is done.
# So I think it may fix the /tmp issue
# Also since the code is in a script, I think that the script must finish
# before the filesystem event is emitted. Someone please correct me if I
# am wrong about this.
#
description "script to setup encrypted /tmp to try to bypass race condition"

start on started mountall
emits filesystem
console output
task

script
if [ -e /dev/mapper/crypttmp ]; then
echo "For some reason /dev/mapper/crypttmp exists. Bailing out."
exit 1
fi
if mount | grep /tmp > /dev/null 2>&1; then
echo "/tmp directory is already mounted. Bailing out."
exit 1
fi
## Now we can proceed to create the /dev/mapper/crypttmp device and mount it.
if ! cryptsetup create crypttmp /dev/sda3 --key-file=/dev/urandom > /dev/null 2>&1; then
echo "Failed to create /dev/mapper/crypttmp on /dev/sda3. Bailing out."
exit 1
fi
# Now we need to make the ext2 filesystem on /dev/mapper/crypttmp
if ! mkfs.ext2 /dev/mapper/crypttmp > /dev/null 2>&1; then
echo "Create ext2 filesystem on /dev/mapper/crypttmp failed. Bailing out."
exit 1
fi
# We have an fstab entry with noauto in it, so mount /dev/mapper/crypttmp
if ! mount /dev/mapper/crypttmp > /dev/null 2>&1; then
echo "Failed to mount /dev/mapper/crypttmp on /tmp. Bailing out."
exit 1
else
echo "/dev/mapper/crypttmp is mounted"
fi
end script

this was from the launchpad... https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ll/+bug/571682 thats ur tmp issue

do u have a swap partition of atleast a gigabyte....

Sumguy · 08-22-2010, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenny_Strawn

I am having similar problems on my Acer netbook with 10.10 Alpha 3 (and I blame it on BTRFS, as it has slow performance) but let me ask this: What Ubuntu version do you have?

I KNEW I forgot something! I have 10.04 LTS

Sadly, the problem went from being a once-every-few-days thing to a several-times-per-day thing- it's getting worse. I'm actually using Win-D'ohs right now, as Ubuntu gave me this problem 2 times within ten minutes of turning my 'puter on today!

Quote:

Originally Posted by t1nm@n

this was from the launchpad... https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ll/+bug/571682 thats ur tmp issue

do u have a swap partition of atleast a gigabyte....

I'm kind of lost on what you quoted. Think I have seen similar on the web- but in my case, it's not just the /tmp issue, it's the performance issues, too.

How do I see the size of my swap partition? (The Ubuntu installer configured that)-

Sorry if I seem stupid...but I'm still a noob.

Sumguy · 08-22-2010, 05:48 PM

O-K, a issued the "top" command and found that my swap file is: 2623480k with 0k being used at the moment. (This does not seem right to me - ???)

Also: Upon booting up Ubuntu, instead of pressing "f" , I tried "m" for manual recovery- and while I didn't have clue of what to do there...I did see that it said "File system check failed".

dixiedancer · 08-22-2010, 08:51 PM

I always tell newbies who choose Ubuntu (and anything based on Ubuntu) never to use the newest release. This is especially true of version 10.04 with all it's buggy experimental stuff. It takes several months to work out these big show-stopping bugs in every release of this distro, always rushed to market to meet a deadline and released ready or not.

The new bootloader in 10.04 is called Plymouth. But in Ubuntu 10.04 it's more than just a bootloader. It's evil tentacles reach into every corner of the system, so much so that attempting to remove it drags half the system with it! And all just to gain a fraction of a second faster boot time.

And they're too busy working on the next release to fix the bugs in the current one! It's just too bad they picked a long-term-support version for this kind of experimentation.

-Robin

Sumguy · 08-22-2010, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dixiedancer

I always tell newbies who choose Ubuntu (and anything based on Ubuntu) never to use the newest release. This is especially true of version 10.04 with all it's buggy experimental stuff. It takes several months to work out these big show-stopping bugs in every release of this distro, always rushed to market to meet a deadline and released ready or not.

The new bootloader in 10.04 is called Plymouth. But in Ubuntu 10.04 it's more than just a bootloader. It's evil tentacles reach into every corner of the system, so much so that attempting to remove it drags half the system with it! And all just to gain a fraction of a second faster boot time.

And they're too busy working on the next release to fix the bugs in the current one! It's just too bad they picked a long-term-support version for this kind of experimentation.

-Robin

Wow! Kinda sounds like they're emulating Microsoft! And here I thought I was doing good by going with a non-beta LTS.

And what kills me, is that the update manager wants to install a ton of garbage- updates for programs I don't even have....but there seems to be precious little to actually do with the actual OS- so I assume that even if they do fix some bugs, I'd have to reinstall a new version, rather than it being corrected via an update?

I'm going to play with the power-saving/display turn-off settings and the I've already turned off the screensaver- I'm thinking they might have something to do with the problem I'm experiencing (I had the foresight to never enable hibernation....)

If I can't get this straightened out...I guess I'll have to try Mint.....

Kenny_Strawn · 08-22-2010, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dixiedancer

The new bootloader in 10.04 is called Plymouth. But in Ubuntu 10.04 it's more than just a bootloader. It's evil tentacles reach into every corner of the system, so much so that attempting to remove it drags half the system with it! And all just to gain a fraction of a second faster boot time.

Just to let you know, Plymouth isn't a bootloader. It's a splash screen to get a GUI while booting. GRUB 2 is the bootloader.

pighunter · 08-22-2010, 11:01 PM

You might want to update your video drivers. Ubuntu, through Administration, can check for updated drivers.

Jim

Sumguy · 08-22-2010, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pighunter

You might want to update your video drivers. Ubuntu, through Administration, can check for updated drivers.

Jim

I was just looking through my log files and found this:

" radeon 0000:01:05.0: DVI-D-1: EDID invalid"

Does that have to do with the video card?

crts · 08-23-2010, 05:43 AM

Hi,

when I first installed Ubuntu 10.04 LTS I experienced similiar problems. E. g. the system would freeze while a download was active. However, it got better after I installed the first 2 or 3 updates. So if I understood a previous post of yours correctly

Quote:

... the update manager wants to install a ton of garbage- updates for programs I don't even have....

You skipped updating?
Based on this assumption here is some general advice:

1) Did you do a fresh install or did you upgrade to 10.04 LTS? By fresh install I really mean fresh. Not upgrading from another version like 9.10 and not even upgrading from a beta-release to the stable version. If you upgraded then do a fresh install with the latest stable version.

2) After your system is installed do NOT skip the updates. Even if they seem to you like they would install stuff that you do not want/need.

There might still be the possibility that you do have some unsupported hardware. As I see, you have an ati card. Please post the exact model. The drivers from ati might be deprecated. If this is the case the OS won't give you the option to install them as proprietary drivers. Do not attempt to "fix" this by installing them manually or anything else.

Sumguy · 08-23-2010, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crts

Hi,

when I first installed Ubuntu 10.04 LTS I experienced similiar problems. E. g. the system would freeze while a download was active. However, it got better after I installed the first 2 or 3 updates. So if I understood a previous post of yours correctly

You skipped updating?
Based on this assumption here is some general advice:

1) Did you do a fresh install or did you upgrade to 10.04 LTS? By fresh install I really mean fresh. Not upgrading from another version like 9.10 and not even upgrading from a beta-release to the stable version. If you upgraded then do a fresh install with the latest stable version.

2) After your system is installed do NOT skip the updates. Even if they seem to you like they would install stuff that you do not want/need.

There might still be the possibility that you do have some unsupported hardware. As I see, you have an ati card. Please post the exact model. The drivers from ati might be deprecated. If this is the case the OS won't give you the option to install them as proprietary drivers. Do not attempt to "fix" this by installing them manually or anything else.

Hello!

Yes, I did do a fresh install of 10.04- dual booted with Win-D'ohs (Ubuntu is the only other OS I've ever had on this computer).

As for updating....I did update, but selectively- i.e. I unchecked 90% of the stuff that I'd have no use for- such as: update for Evolution Mail (I deleted Evolution mail long ago); update for the IM client (I don't use IM) etc.

I tried searching around as to how to check for updates for the video card- but had no luck yet as to how to do it- so any advice would be appreciated with that. I'll try and ascertain exactly what card I have.

Tinkering around last night, I did see that no proprietary drivers are installed- if that helps.

What kills me, is that the problem seems to be intermittent. Yesterday, the trouble occurred twice within a few minutes of booting the computer- Now so far today,l I booted up and it's been fine- and may or may not give me trouble- even if I do nothing differently than yesterday. Weird....

Thanks

EDIT: O-K, I'm installing most of the updates right now- at this point, I guess it can't hurt any...... (I guess I'm still stuck in Windows mentality- where I'd virtually never update- and I had the best-running system of anyone I know)

adamk75 · 08-23-2010, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sumguy

I was just looking through my log files and found this:

" radeon 0000:01:05.0: DVI-D-1: EDID invalid"

Does that have to do with the video card?

Yes, but it almost certainly has nothing to do with the problems you are experiencing. All that should really do is limit what resolutions you are able to use.

Adam

Sumguy · 08-23-2010, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamk75

Yes, but it almost certainly has nothing to do with the problems you are experiencing. All that should really do is limit what resolutions you are able to use.

Adam

Ah! O-K, thanks. I have no problem with video or display.

adamk75 · 08-23-2010, 10:54 AM

Hmmm... This actually caught my attention the second time I read your original post:

Quote:

Also, when it goes into dysfunctional mode, any dialogue boxes that come up (like the shut-down confirmation box) will be blank- just pure white- with no text or buttons visible.

Do you have desktop effects enabled? Though I really doubt the other problems you describe have to do with your video card, it might be worth disabling desktop effects to see if it makes any difference.