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About 15-30 minutes after I boot up, my computer flat out stops. The only way to make it work again is force shutdown using the power button or Alt+Print Screen+REISUB.

Why is this happening, and how do I fix it?

Details:

Specs?

Output from uname -a:

Linux lenny-bird 4.7.3-040703-generic #201609070334 SMP Wed Sep 7 07:36:45 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Output from lspci -nnk | grep -iA2 vga:

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0412] (rev 06)
    DeviceName:  Onboard IGD
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller [1043:8534]

If you need any more information, please comment.

Aly
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  • What is your computer make & model? – WinEunuuchs2Unix Sep 11 '16 at 23:25
  • @WinEunuuchs2Unix I think I updated it with what you need EDIT speak of the devil it just froze :( – Aly Sep 11 '16 at 23:28
  • Oh you are running Linux Kernel 4.8 release candidate 5. Care to try stable Kernel 4.7.3 and see if that works better? – WinEunuuchs2Unix Sep 11 '16 at 23:32
  • Any reason why you are using version 4.8 of the mainline kernel? – edwinksl Sep 11 '16 at 23:33
  • @edwinksl it was the latest version in the Mainline ppa, and I saw other guides saying to update the kernel – Aly Sep 11 '16 at 23:34
  • What problem were you having when you thought you needed the Mainline ppa? – WinEunuuchs2Unix Sep 11 '16 at 23:36
  • @moo_we_all_do You only update your kernel to 4.8 if you are absolutely convinced it will solve existing problems such as poor battery life. Otherwise, you should just stick to the kernel provided in the official repos. See http://askubuntu.com/questions/162616/should-i-upgrade-to-the-mainline-kernels for details. – edwinksl Sep 11 '16 at 23:37
  • @wineunuuchs2unix freezing :P – Aly Sep 11 '16 at 23:37
  • @moo_we_all_do Oh :). Well at least we now know 4.8 rc5 doesn't fix the freezing. Have you tried earlier kernel versions on "Advanced" sub menu within Grub to see if they don't freeze? – WinEunuuchs2Unix Sep 11 '16 at 23:40
  • @WinEunuuchs2Unix I don't know much about grub, much less how to access it – Aly Sep 11 '16 at 23:41
  • @WinEunuuchs2Unix when installing the 4.7.3 kernel I get the warnings for /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_dmc_ver1.bin and .../skl_guc_ver6.bin for module i915 – Aly Sep 11 '16 at 23:49
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    Yes I got those warnings too but everything worked fine for me. It was on my to-do list to go back and clean up those warnings. But you know how to-do lists work with bachelors when the word cleaning exists. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Sep 11 '16 at 23:52
  • @moo_we_all_do I've been googling freezing bugs with Ubuntu 16.04 and there are too many to really pin point anything so far. What is your computer make & model. I already know it's Haswell i5-4460. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Sep 11 '16 at 23:55
  • @WinEunuuchs2Unix I have no idea, I don't know who made the computer or if it was custom. But it seems to not freeze anymore (knock on wood) you can post an answer to use the 4.7.3 kernel, and I'll check it if it continues to work. – Aly Sep 11 '16 at 23:56
  • @moo_we_all_do answer is posted. Advise if problem recurs and I need to delete it. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Sep 12 '16 at 00:16

2 Answers2

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You are using Kernel version 4.8 release candidate 5. Although the very latest and greatest kernel version can fix newly discovered glitches they can sometimes have regression and older glitches can occur.

I'd recommend rolling back to the latest stable Kernel version 4.7.3 which has solved a number of Intel CPU issues for me that first started with Kernel 4.4 and continued to 4.6.3. The primary concern was Intel Turbo Boost constantly running (processor at 3.4 Ghz, instead of 1.2 to 2.4 Ghz) and running hot (10c to 20c above normal).

To rollback to Kernel 4.7.3 (or to upgrade for others reading this post bearing in mind the current date is Sept 11/2016) copy and paste the lines below one by one into the Terminal and press Enter:

$ cd /tmp
$ wget kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.7.3/linux-headers-4.7.3-040703_4.7.3-040703.201609070334_all.deb
$ wget kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.7.3/linux-headers-4.7.3-040703-generic_4.7.3-040703.201609070334_amd64.deb
$ wget kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.7.3/linux-image-4.7.3-040703-generic_4.7.3-040703.201609070334_amd64.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i 'linux-headers-4.7*.deb' 'linux-image-4.7*.deb'
$ sudo reboot

If the recently installed kernel version is unsatisfactory you can choose a different version at boot time in grub by picking Advanced options sub-menu.

It is generally recommended that you do not update the Kernel beyond the version provided automatically by Ubuntu unless you have a specific reason for doing so.

WinEunuuchs2Unix
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  • No, still freezing :( One time I got it to unfreeze though and the error had something along the lines of systemd in it? – Aly Sep 12 '16 at 00:36
  • Are you saying it's not freezing as badly? systemd is the artery of Ubuntu connecting to the heart (Kernel) and appendages (monitor, keyboard, drives, sound system, usb, wifi, etc.). Can you update your question with the output of lspci -nnk | grep -iA2 vga. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Sep 12 '16 at 00:42
  • OK, and it turns out my system was still using 4.8, so changing that and rebooting – Aly Sep 12 '16 at 01:57
  • Still freezing, added info – Aly Sep 12 '16 at 13:13
  • Try googling subsystem string for freezing errors. I found some under that computer make and model, CPU last night. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Sep 12 '16 at 14:52
  • It turns out that me freezing is caused by programs eating up my memory, by doing killall nautilus I freed up 60% of my memory. Now I need to know how to do that automatically. – Aly Sep 15 '16 at 03:36
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    @moo_we_all_do that was talked about a few days ago where Nautilus burns up CPU cycles looking for thumbnails that aren't there or something like that. Glad you found out the culprit! – WinEunuuchs2Unix Sep 15 '16 at 03:40
  • Aha! Nautilus was leaking because of the icons on my desktop :P I'll fix that. – Aly Sep 22 '16 at 23:08
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Animated wallpapers continuously take up memory.

In my case, I was loading more than 7 GB worth of images in my side scroller. Turing this into a normal wallpaper fixed the issue.

Aly
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