How to find out why Ubuntu 20.04 freezes?

Question

I installed Ubuntu 20.04 on my Amd Ryzen 5 1600 / Nvidia Gtx 1070 two weeks ago but Ubuntu completely freezes from time to time.

Keyboard and screen stop working completely, mouse sometimes is able to keep moving. I've tried using the magic SysRq key but didn't work. Also tried alt+F1 but didn't get any response from the system either. Basically I'm left with pressing the power button in order to restart.

I'm suspecting Nvidia but I don't know how to verify.

nvidia-smi shows driver version 440.100.

Found these logs in /var/log/Xorg.1.log.old that showed the time around my computer crashed.

[  1223.234] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce: scheduled expiry is in the past (-22ms), your system is too slow  
[  1223.234] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce short: scheduled expiry is in the past (-35ms), your system is too slow  
[  1488.529] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce: scheduled expiry is in the past (-0ms), your system is too slow  
[  1488.529] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce short: scheduled expiry is in the past (-13ms), your system is too slow  
[  5125.223] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce: scheduled expiry is in the past (-14ms), your system is too slow  
[  5125.223] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce short: scheduled expiry is in the past (-27ms), your system is too slow  
[  6038.321] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce short: scheduled expiry is in the past (-9ms), your system is too slow  
[  6206.894] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce: scheduled expiry is in the past (-3ms), your system is too slow  
[  6206.894] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce short: scheduled expiry is in the past (-16ms), your system is too slow  
[  6409.650] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce: scheduled expiry is in the past (-9ms), your system is too slow  
[  6409.650] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce short: scheduled expiry is in the past (-22ms), your system is too slow  
[ 10930.426] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce: scheduled expiry is in the past (-7ms), your system is too slow  
[ 10930.426] (EE) client bug: timer event2 debounce short: scheduled expiry is in the past (-20ms), your system is too slow  

free -h result:

              total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:           15Gi       2.5Gi        11Gi       393Mi       1.9Gi        12Gi
Swap:         2.0Gi          0B       2.0Gi

sysctl vm.swappiness result:

vm.swappiness = 60

sudo lshw -C memory result:

  *-firmware                
       description: BIOS
       vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
       physical id: 0
       version: 1.L0
       date: 12/28/2018
       size: 64KiB
       capacity: 16MiB
       capabilities: pci upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer acpi usb biosbootspecification uefi
  *-memory
       description: System Memory
       physical id: f
       slot: System board or motherboard
       size: 16GiB
     *-bank:0
          description: 2933 MHz (0.3 ns) [empty]
          product: Unknown
          vendor: Unknown
          physical id: 0
          serial: Unknown
          slot: DIMM 0
          clock: 2933MHz (0.3ns)
     *-bank:1
          description: DIMM DDR4 Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered) 2933 MHz (0.3 ns)
          product: CMK16GX4M2B3200C16
          vendor: Unknown
          physical id: 1
          serial: 00000000
          slot: DIMM 1
          size: 8GiB
          width: 64 bits
          clock: 2933MHz (0.3ns)
     *-bank:2
          description: 2933 MHz (0.3 ns) [empty]
          product: Unknown
          vendor: Unknown
          physical id: 2
          serial: Unknown
          slot: DIMM 0
          clock: 2933MHz (0.3ns)
     *-bank:3
          description: DIMM DDR4 Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered) 2933 MHz (0.3 ns)
          product: CMK16GX4M2B3200C16
          vendor: Unknown
          physical id: 3
          serial: 00000000
          slot: DIMM 1
          size: 8GiB
          width: 64 bits
          clock: 2933MHz (0.3ns)
  *-cache:0
       description: L1 cache
       physical id: 11
       slot: L1 - Cache
       size: 576KiB
       capacity: 576KiB
       clock: 1GHz (1.0ns)
       capabilities: pipeline-burst internal write-back unified
       configuration: level=1
  *-cache:1
       description: L2 cache
       physical id: 12
       slot: L2 - Cache
       size: 3MiB
       capacity: 3MiB
       clock: 1GHz (1.0ns)
       capabilities: pipeline-burst internal write-back unified
       configuration: level=2
  *-cache:2
       description: L3 cache
       physical id: 13
       slot: L3 - Cache
       size: 16MiB
       capacity: 16MiB
       clock: 1GHz (1.0ns)
       capabilities: pipeline-burst internal write-back unified
       configuration: level=3

grep -i swap /etc/fstab result:

/swapfile                                 none            swap    sw              0       0

sudo dmidecode -s bios-version result:

1.L0

Adding Software & Updates screenshot

Aug 6 Update:

Answer 1

BIOS

MSI B350 Tomahawk

You have BIOS version 1.L0, dated 12/28/2018.

There's a newer BIOS available here. The numbering/naming convention is different than what you have now, and that's unusual. Contact MSI Support and ask about this.

Note: Confirm that I have the correct web page for your model motherboard.

Note: DON'T download/use/install the most current BETA version.

Note: Have good backups before updating the BIOS.

---

Swap

Let's increase your /swapfile from 2G to 4G.

Note: Incorrect use of the dd command can cause data loss. Suggest copy/paste.

sudo swapoff -a           # turn off swap
sudo rm -i /swapfile      # remove old /swapfile
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1M count=4096
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile  # set proper file protections
sudo mkswap /swapfile     # init /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile     # turn on swap
free -h                   # confirm 16G RAM and 4G swap
reboot                    # reboot and verify operation

Add this line to /etc/fstab...

/swapfile    none    swap    sw      0   0

---

Nvidia

You have Nvidia version 440.100.

Software & Updates shows that this is the current version. However, there's a newer version 450.57 which can be downloaded here.

Note: Have good backups before updating the Nvidia drivers.

Update #1:

Since you've had to forcefully power OFF your computer, let's check your file system...

• boot to a Ubuntu Live DVD/USB in “Try Ubuntu” mode
• open a terminal window by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T
• type sudo fdisk -l
• identify the /dev/sdXX device name for your "Linux Filesystem"
• type sudo fsck -f /dev/sdXX, replacing sdXX with the number you found earlier
• repeat the fsck command if there were errors
• type reboot

Update #2:

Install the BIOS update... but contact MSI Support first, to confirm which BIOS update file version you need... as their naming convention seems to have changed.

You have installed a number of GNOME Shell extensions, any of which can cause freezing, and they're installed in the "wrong" place, in so far as they're installed system wide, as apposed to user-specific. You can see them in the /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions directory listing, and they all end in gcampax.github.com.

The safest way to remove them is to go to https://extensions.gnome.org/local/ and delete all but these three extensions...

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jun 11 08:20 'desktop-icons@csoriano'/
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K May 12 15:17 'ubuntu-appindicators@ubuntu.com'/
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jun 18 09:12 'ubuntu-dock@ubuntu.com'/

If the system runs ok without freezing for some period of time, then manually reinstall any single favorites, one extension at a time, rather than installing extension packs/zip files.

Answer 2

What fixed this problem for me on a similar system (Ryzen 5 1600X, Asus B350 Plus) was to disable "Automatic C-State management" in BIOS. It may be named slightly differently in your BIOS.