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  • Any Linux gurus in here??

    I'm having a problem with my home Ubuntu 13.04 installation.

    It completely locks up at random times. And when I say completely, I mean completely. No keyboard, no mouse, nothing. And sometimes the screen gets these diagonal lines on it.

    The only way I've been able to fix it thus far is to do a hard reboot. I installed Gnome (3.8, I think) but that hasn't really helped any.

    But since it's random (usually happens, though, if I try to open too many tabs at once in FireFox, or if I try to access an app through Dash in unity) I can't really predict when it's going to happen.

    I have a lot of data and apps on that machine, so I really don't want to have to do a clean reinstall.

    Anybody got any suggestions? I've Googled around for a fix, but not even the Ubuntu forums seem to help.

    It's a custom built machine, running 2 GB of RAM, an AMD 2.8 GHz processor, FoxConn Motherboard, and a re-purposed video card (took it out of an older HP).
    Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

  • #2
    Do you have another system so that you can use to ssh in? That would give you better idea of if it is the interface locking up or the entire system.
    Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
    Save the Ales!
    Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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    • #3
      Quoth csquared View Post
      Do you have another system so that you can use to ssh in? That would give you better idea of if it is the interface locking up or the entire system.
      +1

      Also: check to make sure your system isn't overheating.... fan is working, intake isn't full of dust bunnies.
      There's no such thing as a stupid question... just stupid people.

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      • #4
        My husband is a Linux junkie and here are his thoughts......good luck
        Well Linux is pretty much a configure it yourself sort of thing so it could be lots of things. My first 2 thoughts would be memory or the video card.

        Run top to see how the memory is being used
        Run the memory check on the boot menu if there is one.
        Are they running a swap partition, if not it may help?
        Try a different video card if they have one.

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        • #5
          Quoth csquared View Post
          Do you have another system so that you can use to ssh in? That would give you better idea of if it is the interface locking up or the entire system.
          Good question. Should have mentioned this earlier.

          I have an XP machine with NX Client on it. Last time that the Linux machine locked up the NX client wouldn't let me in. I tried pinging the Linux box, and got no response.

          What I did was ping it with the -t switch, like so:

          ping my-linux-box -t

          and watch it just do "Request Timed Out" until I did a hard reboot, and the machine got to the point where the ping was getting packets.

          That leads me to believe it's something with the system itself. Maybe I need more RAM (which would mean an entirely new motherboard).

          Any kind of command I can run to see if everything is ok kernel-wise and system-wise? Any kind of logs (and their locations??) I could maybe check out?
          Last edited by mjr; 07-30-2013, 09:49 PM.
          Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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          • #6
            Quoth It's me View Post
            +1

            Also: check to make sure your system isn't overheating.... fan is working, intake isn't full of dust bunnies.
            Yeah, both of the fans are running on it. The processor fan and the case fan. The fan for the power supply is running, too, so I don't think it's an overheating issue.
            Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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            • #7
              If you are not answering a ping, then you are most likely completely brain dead. In all likelihood, it is probably your CPU. If the CPU was functioning and you had a problem with memory, IO bus, anything else, the system will most likely panic. As you don't appear to be getting that, then my best guess would be the CPU.

              Something else to try in oder to eliminate OS issues, boot the system to a Fedora (or any other non Ubuntu) Live DVD/memory stick. Although, you did not say how long it would run until it locked up. Might be hard to say if you are in the clear.
              Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
              Save the Ales!
              Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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              • #8
                Quoth csquared View Post
                If you are not answering a ping, then you are most likely completely brain dead. In all likelihood, it is probably your CPU. If the CPU was functioning and you had a problem with memory, IO bus, anything else, the system will most likely panic. As you don't appear to be getting that, then my best guess would be the CPU.

                Something else to try in oder to eliminate OS issues, boot the system to a Fedora (or any other non Ubuntu) Live DVD/memory stick. Although, you did not say how long it would run until it locked up. Might be hard to say if you are in the clear.
                Is there any sort of diagnostic tool I can run for the processor?

                It's a fairly new AMD processor. I bought it brand new. Unless I didn't install it properly. But honestly, I didn't really have this issue until I went from 12.04 to 12.10. I thought upgrading to 13.04 would fix it, but apparently not.
                Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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                • #9
                  The best diagnostic tool would be something specific to your mother board. The Post is probably the best you have, and that does not seem to be catching it.

                  If you want to put a stress on the system, load SETI. I have done that before.

                  How long will it tend to run before this happens?
                  Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
                  Save the Ales!
                  Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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                  • #10
                    Quoth csquared View Post
                    The best diagnostic tool would be something specific to your mother board. The Post is probably the best you have, and that does not seem to be catching it.

                    If you want to put a stress on the system, load SETI. I have done that before.

                    How long will it tend to run before this happens?
                    It really varies. I keep the machine running all the time, so sometimes if I'm on, I'll go to, say, Unity and type in an app and things will work just fine. Or, I'll open FireFox, check email, read a couple of articles, and then shut down FireFox.

                    Then, I could come back a half hour later and do the same thing with the same apps, and it could work just fine. But then I come back an hour later, and try the Unity thing and it just locks up on me.

                    Then again, there might be a time when I can use it for a week straight before it does the lock up. I'd hate to replace the video card and that not be the problem.
                    Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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                    • #11
                      Can't think of anything else to try. I am still leaning towards hardware, not OS.

                      All I can suggest is to keep running it until the failures occur more regularly. Hopefully to the point that you get a clear Post Diag failure.

                      and while you are waiting... BACKUP!
                      Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
                      Save the Ales!
                      Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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                      • #12
                        The very first things to run here are, in order:

                        1) Memtest86+. This is found on just about every Linux install CD now. For a relatively small one, try a Gentoo Minimal Install CD - this will also be useful for the remaining steps. Boot Memtest86+ and let it run overnight - you'll know if it finds anything wrong.

                        2) Check the hard disk for bad sectors using "badblocks -sv /dev/sda". This is available when you boot the Gentoo CD normally, which will drop you at a shell prompt. This will probably take ages. If you have more than one hard disk, you can check them in parallel by selecting additional virtual consoles (Alt-F1, Alt-F2, etc.).

                        3) If the disk hardware is fine, run "fsck -C -f -y <partition>" on each partition with a filesystem on it. This should clear up subtle filesystem problems, although these are rare with modern journalled filesystems.

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                        • #13
                          Quoth Chromatix View Post
                          The very first things to run here are, in order:

                          1) Memtest86+. This is found on just about every Linux install CD now. For a relatively small one, try a Gentoo Minimal Install CD - this will also be useful for the remaining steps. Boot Memtest86+ and let it run overnight - you'll know if it finds anything wrong.

                          2) Check the hard disk for bad sectors using "badblocks -sv /dev/sda". This is available when you boot the Gentoo CD normally, which will drop you at a shell prompt. This will probably take ages. If you have more than one hard disk, you can check them in parallel by selecting additional virtual consoles (Alt-F1, Alt-F2, etc.).

                          3) If the disk hardware is fine, run "fsck -C -f -y <partition>" on each partition with a filesystem on it. This should clear up subtle filesystem problems, although these are rare with modern journalled filesystems.
                          I did Memtest, and it came back clean. No errors. I haven't done the hard disk thing (I don't have a Gentoo CD to boot from). I'll have to check on #3.

                          After I do these, I'll report back.
                          Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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                          • #14
                            Did you check /var/log/messages for any errors?
                            Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
                            Save the Ales!
                            Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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                            • #15
                              Quoth csquared View Post
                              Did you check /var/log/messages for any errors?
                              Great idea. I will check that and let you know. Thanks!
                              Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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