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Old 10-14-2012, 08:30 PM   #1
Knightron
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How to diagnose a system freeze


Hello, i am running Opensuse 12.2
I have had a couple system freezes where i can't ctrl alt f2, or ctrl alt delete or do anything. Sometimes i've had clementine playing music and it plays one second of part of the song over and over.
I have to hold the power off button and reboot.
Although it does this rarely, it really bugs me when computers do this and i'd like to find out what is causing it so i can help remove this issue.

What should i do to find out what's causing this?

Thankyou
 
Old 10-14-2012, 09:38 PM   #2
ceyx
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What do the logs say ? /var/log/syslog & kern.log should be time and date stamped.
 
Old 10-14-2012, 09:51 PM   #3
trist007
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If nothing, boot up memtest86 to check the RAM sticks.

-Tristan
 
Old 10-14-2012, 10:35 PM   #4
EDDY1
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What are the sytem specs?
Machine model #,ram, processor, etc.If running older hardware you may need to go with a light-weight distro.
 
Old 10-15-2012, 12:03 AM   #5
Wim Sturkenboom
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Just some alternatives to the power button.

<alt><sysreq>reisub can do a more gentle reboot

<alt><sysreq>k will only restart the graphical environment; this used to be <ctrl><alt><backspace> and that might still work on your system.

Note that <sysreq> often shares its key with another functionality like <printscreen>; you need to use <ctrl> in that case; so the combination becomes <alt><ctrl><sysreq>reisub
And on laptops, it might involve the <Fn> key.

references:
http://kember.net/articles/reisub-th...linux-restart/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key
 
1 members found this post helpful.
Old 10-15-2012, 05:50 AM   #6
Knightron
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ceyx View Post
What do the logs say ? /var/log/syslog & kern.log should be time and date stamped.
Thanks, but I have just checked this, i do not have them files. Here are the files in /var/log
Code:
acpid             kdm.log               messages-20121007.xz  vbox-install.log
alternatives.log  krb5                  messages-20121014.xz  warn
boot.log          lastlog               NetworkManager        wpa_supplicant.log
btmp              localmessages         news                  wtmp
ConsoleKit        mail                  ntp                   Xorg.0.log
cups              mail.err              pk_backend_zypp       Xorg.0.log.old
faillog           mail.info             pm-powersave.log      YaST2
firewall          mail.warn             pm-suspend.log        zypp
hp                messages              samba                 zypper.log
journal           messages-20120926.xz  snapper.log           zypper.log-20121014.xz
Quote:
Originally Posted by trist007 View Post
If nothing, boot up memtest86 to check the RAM sticks.

-Tristan
Thanks, I checked this not to long ago, there were no errors.

Quote:
Originally Posted by EDDY1 View Post
What are the sytem specs?
Machine model #,ram, processor, etc.If running older hardware you may need to go with a light-weight distro.
It is not an old computer. It is a:
Lenovo Thinkpad X220
6GB ram, 2 dim. (2gb) and (4gb)
Intel® Core™ i7-2620M (2.7GHz, 4MB L3 cache)
Intel HD Graphics 3000
Modified 9.5mm, intel 320 series 600gb SSD (modified to fit 7mm hard drive bay)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wim Sturkenboom View Post
Just some alternatives to the power button.

<alt><sysreq>reisub can do a more gentle reboot

<alt><sysreq>k will only restart the graphical environment; this used to be <ctrl><alt><backspace> and that might still work on your system.

Note that <sysreq> often shares its key with another functionality like <printscreen>; you need to use <ctrl> in that case; so the combination becomes <alt><ctrl><sysreq>reisub
And on laptops, it might involve the <Fn> key.
Thanks for that, i wasn't aware of that key combo.
 
Old 10-21-2012, 08:21 PM   #7
Knightron
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Hey guys i'm still having this issue. Recently i installed Slackware 14, and i'm encountering the exact same freeze problems in Slackware, too, so i'm starting to suspect it's a hardware problem.
It's just occured while i was running Slack, even that reisub key combo is paralyzed, and i know i'm doing it right because i practiced using it so i knew exactly what to do.
Luckyly, Slackware does have a '/etc/syslog', but it doesn't have a kern.log file.
Here are all my /var/log files from Slackware.
Code:
btmp        dmesg    kdm.log   packages          sa       setup    Xorg.0.log
ConsoleKit  faillog  lastlog   pm-powersave.log  samba    spooler  Xorg.0.log.old
cron        hp       maillog   pm-suspend.log    sbopkg   syslog
cups        httpd    messages  removed_packages  scripts  uucp
debug       iptraf   nfsd      removed_scripts   secure   wtmp
I've booted my Opensuse partition so no new info will be written and now i've mounted my Slack partition. Here is the output of:
Code:
tail /mnt/var/log/syslog
Code:
Oct 22 11:37:00 darkstar NetworkManager[1826]: nm_ip4_config_add_wins: assertion `wins > 0' failed
Oct 22 11:37:00 darkstar NetworkManager[1826]: nm_ip4_config_add_wins: assertion `wins > 0' failed
Oct 22 11:53:01 darkstar kernel: [ 3250.098422] CPU2: Package power limit notification (total events = 69)
Oct 22 11:53:01 darkstar kernel: [ 3250.098426] CPU1: Package power limit notification (total events = 69)
Oct 22 11:53:01 darkstar kernel: [ 3250.098429] CPU3: Package power limit notification (total events = 69)
Oct 22 11:53:01 darkstar kernel: [ 3250.098431] CPU0: Package power limit notification (total events = 69)
Oct 22 11:58:28 darkstar kernel: [ 3577.221223] CPU1: Package power limit notification (total events = 102)
Oct 22 11:58:28 darkstar kernel: [ 3577.221226] CPU0: Package power limit notification (total events = 102)
Oct 22 11:58:28 darkstar kernel: [ 3577.221230] CPU3: Package power limit notification (total events = 102)
Oct 22 11:58:28 darkstar kernel: [ 3577.221232] CPU2: Package power limit notification (total events = 102)
 
Old 10-21-2012, 10:13 PM   #8
EDDY1
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Quote:
It is not an old computer. It is a:
Lenovo Thinkpad X220
6GB ram, 2 dim. (2gb) and (4gb)
Intel® Core™ i7-2620M (2.7GHz, 4MB L3 cache)
Intel HD Graphics 3000
Modified 9.5mm, intel 320 series 600gb SSD (modified to fit 7mm hard drive bay)
Have checked to see if you're overheating? I ask because my machine was freezing up, before by dc adapter went out. So when I replaced it I found that the vent for the fan was clogged. Cleaned it & haven't had a problem since.

If you haven't already install lm-sensors.
run command
Quote:
sensors
 
Old 11-14-2012, 05:51 PM   #9
Knightron
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Thanks for the suggestion EDDY1, i've just installed that package on my Debian partition. My cores are running at 52 degrees C at the moment apparently. 86 is regarded as high.
I just thought of something the other day that i thought may be causing this. I have experienced these freezes on Opensuse 12.2, Debian 7, and Slackware 14. I never got these freezes on previous versions. I was thinking it may be due changes in the kerenl.
Opensuse = linux-3.4.6
Debian = linux-3.2
Slackware = linux-3.2.29
My computer is a Thinkpad x220 with Intel HD Graphics 3000.
To enhance battery life unde Gnu/Linux i'd always been running the following kernel parameters.
Code:
pcie_aspm=force i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 i915.lvds_downclock=1 i915.i915_enable_fbc=1
To be honest, i don't know what they actually do, but i know they give me around two and half more hours of battery life on my hardware. Because of changes in the kernel, i was thinking that these parameters may be affecting my system in a way that they never used to. I have temporarily removed these parameters to see if the freezes continue. So far i've been running Debian for four days with no freezes, but i wouldn't say the freezes happen that often either, so i'm still testing. I just wanted to share this theory to you guys who know what your doing, to get an idea if these parameters may be the reason my systems freeze?

thank you
 
  


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