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linux·Linuxbydrillepind42

Laptop randomly freezes. How to debug it?

Hi all, sorry if I post this the wrong place.

I have a laptop running mint with qtile which sometimes freezes. To the point where nothing responds and I need to kill it. I've tried: sudo journalctl But I don't get any information which helps me.

Can anyone help to debug it?

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37
Comments31
user28282912
piefed.social

I would look at these things first.

  1. Try another DE, something like XFCE. See if the problem persists. Sometimes swapping compositors or display managers can help too.
  2. Run memtest. Failing memory can definitely cause lock-ups.
  3. Lastly I'd look at graphics drivers. If you're running Nvidia, switch from nouveau to the proprietary driver or vice-versa and see if that helps.
13
drillepind42reply
feddit.dk

Great idea. I will try some time with XFCE. One of the challenges is that I don't know how to trigger the crash, and sometimes it can be days, other times multiple times within an hour.

3
SayCyberOnceMorereply
feddit.uk

Boot memtest

Leave it to do it's thing overnight. That will at least check for badly failing RAM.

I've run this on machines that I thought were ok, only to find... they weren't.

7
mesa
piefed.social

Can you check

/var/log/syslog ?

Something like:

tail -f /var/log/syslog may help out.

That file usually has the answers. Its just hard to find the exact lines.

6
drillepind42reply
feddit.dk

There are an absurd amount of this:

2026-02-06T01:41:23.698044+01:00 tuxedo rtkit-daemon[46122]: Warning: Reached burst limit for user '1000', denying request.
2026-02-06T01:41:23.909775+01:00 tuxedo rtkit-daemon[46122]: Supervising 1 threads of 1 processes of 1 users.
2026-02-06T01:41:23.910579+01:00 tuxedo rtkit-daemon[46122]: Supervising 1 threads of 1 processes of 1 users.
2026-02-06T01:41:23.913096+01:00 tuxedo rtkit-daemon[46122]: Warning: Reached burst limit for user '1000', denying request.
2026-02-06T01:41:24.124958+01:00 tuxedo rtkit-daemon[46122]: Supervising 1 threads of 1 processes of 1 users.
2026-02-06T01:41:24.125834+01:00 tuxedo rtkit-daemon[46122]: Supervising 1 threads of 1 processes of 1 users.
2026-02-06T01:41:24.128451+01:00 tuxedo rtkit-daemon[46122]: Successfully made thread 58065 of process 58064 owned by '1000' RT at priority 20.
2026-02-06T01:41:24.128489+01:00 tuxedo rtkit-daemon[46122]: Supervising 2 threads of 2 processes of 1 users.

That seems to be there all the time, and also before crashing/freezing

3
pinball_wizardreply
lemmy.zip

+1 to this line on inquiry.

When I've managed to get a modern Linux desktop to freeze, I've had a bad power supply, or heat issues, each time ( specifically when I have had a full freeze, where even the alternate terminals didn't respond ).

5
drillepind42reply
feddit.dk

Interesting that the power supply might be the problem. Never thought about that. Sounds like a nightmare to come to that conclusion.

2
blacksnow
lemmy.world

I am assuming the problem is your ram runs out of memory. And Linux kernel's OOM killer is too slow and doesn't kill processes earlier. You have two options to try:

  • install earlyoom to kill processes earlier so the laptop doesn't freeze
  • add zram to virtually double your ram

or you can use both options to get the best of you laptop

4
vortexalreply
lemmy.ml

This is my first time hearing about zram. I tried looking into it myself but there's still some things I could find answers to. Are there any downsides to using zram, or is it something that I can set and forget about? If I were to be using compression tools, like 7zip, would I be able to use a higher dictionary size than I normally can, or would zram cause problems outside of potentially slower compression speeds?

Edit: I think I'm just going to test this myself. I've been reading more about zram and alternatives and it seems like there's conflicting information.

1
notthebees
reddthat.com

It might not be a bad idea having btop with like 100ms refresh. Watch it while using it and see what the thermals are as everyone is suggesting. Or if any other cpu thing is being weird. I've had weird freezes before due to lack of power. Or being on a screwed up power plan.

What laptop is it?

3
drillepind42reply
feddit.dk

I'll try to monitor the temperature more closely, but nothing suggest that anything is wrong (doesn't feel hot, and the freeze can happen without doing anything intensive).

It's a tuxedo laptop.

1
lemming741
lemmy.world

Can you ctl+alt+4 to another terminal? Could you ssh from another machine?

3
drillepind42reply
feddit.dk

No, I can't access another tty during a freeze, unfortunately.

2
pinball_wizardreply
lemmy.zip

No, I can't access another tty during a freeze, unfortunately.

That's may be a hint!

The only times I've had the desktop freeze on Linux and the alternate terminals fail to respond, I had a hardware issue.

In one case, I was on a Raspberry Pi, and my power supply was not delivering clean enough power for the board.

In another case, my fan wasn't connected properly and the motherboard was overheating.

Edit: Oh! I think I had this behavior once with a RAM stick that was terribly subtly not quite all the way in the slot.

5
A_norny_mousse
piefed.zip

Since you specifically mention qtile you should undo your customizations and see if that fixes your problem?

If not, you should look at the journal after reboot:

journalctl -b

But you'll need to filter it.

Try journalctl -b | grep -v rtkit-daemon, which will remove the masses of entries you bemoaned in another comment (AFAICS all syslog entries should also be in the journal anyhow).

Very important:
Please make note of when the problem happened, and if your journal entries even go that far in time.

2
MagnificentSteinerreply
lemmy.zip

Also, add -r to show the log in reverse. If you want to look at previous boots other than the last you can specify like so journalctl -b -2 -r

3
drillepind42reply
feddit.dk

journalctl -b | grep -v rtkit-daemon

I just got the following freeze that it recovered from by itself (rarely happens). After filtering the log a bit I get the following from around the time it happened.

Feb 07 00:00:58 tuxedo systemd[1]: Starting systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service - Cleanup of Temporary Directories...
Feb 07 00:00:58 tuxedo systemd[1]: systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service: Deactivated successfully.
Feb 07 00:00:58 tuxedo systemd[1]: Finished systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service - Cleanup of Temporary Directories.
Feb 07 00:00:58 tuxedo systemd[1]: run-credentials-systemd\x2dtmpfiles\x2dclean.service.mount: Deactivated successfully.
Feb 07 00:58:35 tuxedo kernel: [drm:amdgpu_job_timedout [amdgpu]] *ERROR* ring gfx_0.0.0 timeout, signaled seq=780519, emitted seq=780521
Feb 07 00:58:35 tuxedo kernel: [drm:amdgpu_job_timedout [amdgpu]] *ERROR* Process information: process floorp pid 1548 thread floorp:cs0 pid 1606
Feb 07 00:58:35 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: GPU reset begin!
Feb 07 00:58:35 tuxedo kernel: [drm:mes_v11_0_submit_pkt_and_poll_completion.constprop.0 [amdgpu]] *ERROR* MES failed to response msg=3
Feb 07 00:58:35 tuxedo kernel: [drm:amdgpu_mes_unmap_legacy_queue [amdgpu]] *ERROR* failed to unmap legacy queue
Feb 07 00:58:35 tuxedo kernel: [drm:mes_v11_0_submit_pkt_and_poll_completion.constprop.0 [amdgpu]] *ERROR* MES failed to response msg=3
Feb 07 00:58:35 tuxedo kernel: [drm:amdgpu_mes_unmap_legacy_queue [amdgpu]] *ERROR* failed to unmap legacy queue
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:mes_v11_0_submit_pkt_and_poll_completion.constprop.0 [amdgpu]] *ERROR* MES failed to response msg=3
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:amdgpu_mes_unmap_legacy_queue [amdgpu]] *ERROR* failed to unmap legacy queue
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:mes_v11_0_submit_pkt_and_poll_completion.constprop.0 [amdgpu]] *ERROR* MES failed to response msg=3
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:amdgpu_mes_unmap_legacy_queue [amdgpu]] *ERROR* failed to unmap legacy queue
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:mes_v11_0_submit_pkt_and_poll_completion.constprop.0 [amdgpu]] *ERROR* MES failed to response msg=3
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:amdgpu_mes_unmap_legacy_queue [amdgpu]] *ERROR* failed to unmap legacy queue
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:mes_v11_0_submit_pkt_and_poll_completion.constprop.0 [amdgpu]] *ERROR* MES failed to response msg=3
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:amdgpu_mes_unmap_legacy_queue [amdgpu]] *ERROR* failed to unmap legacy queue
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:mes_v11_0_submit_pkt_and_poll_completion.constprop.0 [amdgpu]] *ERROR* MES failed to response msg=3
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:amdgpu_mes_unmap_legacy_queue [amdgpu]] *ERROR* failed to unmap legacy queue
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:mes_v11_0_submit_pkt_and_poll_completion.constprop.0 [amdgpu]] *ERROR* MES failed to response msg=3
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:amdgpu_mes_unmap_legacy_queue [amdgpu]] *ERROR* failed to unmap legacy queue
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:mes_v11_0_submit_pkt_and_poll_completion.constprop.0 [amdgpu]] *ERROR* MES failed to response msg=3
Feb 07 00:58:36 tuxedo kernel: [drm:amdgpu_mes_unmap_legacy_queue [amdgpu]] *ERROR* failed to unmap legacy queue
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm:gfx_v11_0_hw_fini [amdgpu]] *ERROR* failed to halt cp gfx
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: MODE2 reset
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: GPU reset succeeded, trying to resume
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] PCIE GART of 512M enabled (table at 0x000000801FD00000).
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: SMU is resuming...
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: SMU is resumed successfully!
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] DMUB hardware initialized: version=0x08000500
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] DPIA AUX failed on 0x600(1), error 7
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] DPIA AUX failed on 0x600(1), error 7
...
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] DPIA AUX failed on 0x600(1), error 7
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] DPIA AUX failed on 0x600(1), error 7
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] kiq ring mec 3 pipe 1 q 0
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] VCN decode and encode initialized successfully(under DPG Mode).
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: [drm:jpeg_v4_0_hw_init [amdgpu]] JPEG decode initialized successfully.
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring gfx_0.0.0 uses VM inv eng 0 on hub 0
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring comp_1.0.0 uses VM inv eng 1 on hub 0
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring comp_1.1.0 uses VM inv eng 4 on hub 0
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring comp_1.2.0 uses VM inv eng 6 on hub 0
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring comp_1.3.0 uses VM inv eng 7 on hub 0
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring comp_1.0.1 uses VM inv eng 8 on hub 0
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring comp_1.1.1 uses VM inv eng 9 on hub 0
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring comp_1.2.1 uses VM inv eng 10 on hub 0
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring comp_1.3.1 uses VM inv eng 11 on hub 0
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring sdma0 uses VM inv eng 12 on hub 0
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring vcn_unified_0 uses VM inv eng 0 on hub 1
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring jpeg_dec uses VM inv eng 1 on hub 1
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: ring mes_kiq_3.1.0 uses VM inv eng 13 on hub 0
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: recover vram bo from shadow start
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: recover vram bo from shadow done
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] ring gfx_32775.1.1 was added
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] ring compute_32775.2.2 was added
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] ring sdma_32775.3.3 was added
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] ring gfx_32775.1.1 test pass
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] ring gfx_32775.1.1 ib test pass
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] ring compute_32775.2.2 test pass
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] ring compute_32775.2.2 ib test pass
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] ring sdma_32775.3.3 test pass
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: [drm] ring sdma_32775.3.3 ib test pass
Feb 07 00:58:37 tuxedo kernel: amdgpu 0000:65:00.0: amdgpu: GPU reset(2) succeeded!
``'
1
A_norny_moussereply
piefed.zip

Nice, that looks pretty obvious.

In addition to the other reply, you should search around your distro* having problems with (certain) AMD gpus; maybe all you need is a backported kernel.

* I don't think you ever mentioned. If it's Ubuntu-based, search for Ubuntu.

3
methodicalaspectreply
midwest.social

Could it be a CPU/iGPU too new for the kernel LMDE is running? I haven’t used LMDE in a while, so I imagine that if it’s still based on bookworm the in-kernel drivers could be too old. If it’s trixie-based that probably isn’t the problem though.

1
FishFacereply
piefed.social

Looks like the chipset/graphics driver is crashing. That can be because of the driver or the hardware.

It will be hard to diagnose, but you can search for the most detailed of those log lines together with your laptop model and see if that yields anything. There problem is that it's never possible to know whether you have a software issue or a hardware issue that is exposed by particular software.

You can try installing a completely different os (i.e windows) to see if the same problem occurs - if it does you can be fairly sure it's hardware.

2
methodicalaspect
midwest.social

What are the machine’s specs? I had a similar issue on a Ryzen 5 3500U laptop before, but more recent kernels (6.8+) don’t exhibit that behavior.

2
hexagonwin
lemmy.sdf.org

maybe the ram gets full?

i'd have htop and dmesg -w running visibly and see if there's any issue showing on the screen as it freezes

2
admin
scrapetacular.ydns.eu

@[email protected] Is this on an old thinkpad or older intel processor? I once had an issue like this that turned out to be the processor not entering one of the cstates properly, the fix was disabling the cstate reponsible, I cant remember how to do this now, it involved editing a text file, but after this there were no problems

It was really difficult to debug because it would hard crash with nothing suspicious in the logs. I think it was a random hardware bug as it would occasionally happen in windows also. Try disabling idle states completely to see if that is the cause.

1
drillepind42reply
feddit.dk

I checked that at some point, and I don't think that was the case, although sometimes during a crash the fans starts going crazy.

2
doubtingtammy
lemmy.ml

To the point where nothing responds and I need to kill it.

What about ctrl-alt-F3?

1
drillepind42reply
feddit.dk

This is to enter a different TTY, right? That doesn't work either.

1

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