[Solved]Random Freezes

[gryphoninc]

Hi all

I have the latest version of PCLINUXOS KDE 2012 installed, love it and is superfast.

for the past month I have been having random freezes, for days it works fine no problems then on other days it freezes once, twice or even three time, then continues perfect , the mouse freezes and I cannot do anything but hit the reset button and restart the PC.

Can anyone tell me what could be happening? I have nothing great installed just the original package that one downloads and installs from the PClinuxOS site.

Help please

[ternor]

The freezes I get are related to web pages, specifically to scripts failing to complete execution.  For that (with Firefox) I use CTRL + SHIFT + E which gives me a tab group page where I can close the troublesome page.  For other freezes, use the REISUB routine.  Even CTRL + ALT + BKSPACE is probably better than switching the computer off.

[Archie]

Never press the Power button when you are on a session. The random freezes you are having are possibly the results of this action. It is negligence amongst Linux user to do that. The correct way is to hold press Ctrl+Alt+PrtSc while typing REISUB. You can try and run a file system check (fsck) to verify the integrity of your hard disk. Please do a forum search on how this should be done.

[gryphoninc]

thanks
lets see if I understand, if it freezes again I should press the SysRq key only is that right?

Or should I press the CTRL + ALT+SysRq key and then type the  following :
 
reisub

which one is it?

Incidentally I accidentally discovered, thanks becasue libreoffice wasn't opening correctly that some of its files were not meshing properly so I went to the Libreoffice manager and it adised me that som of the "rpms" were damaged? so I reinstalled Libreoffice........to make a long story short, maybe this is what was causing the freezes? not sure but looking back some of the times that it froze was when I had Libreoffice running?

anyway not sure but upto now it is working ok.......any suggestions?

[cyrwyn]

Don't use the CTL key. It's ALT + SYSRQ, then press each of reisub pausing a moment for each instruction to complete. Your computer should reboot cleanly.

[cyrwyn]

Oh, you may be having a video driver, open GL problem if you have hardware acceleration set. .

[T6]

the problem descried is extremely general

please post system specs, how old is the machine, when was the last time you made a cleaning and maintenance to the machine

random locks are not only caused by a software error, can be hardware failing like the mainboard or the psu

[gryphoninc]

How do I get system specs so I can post them on the forum?

thanks

[T6]

the system specs is what machine you have, if it is a x brand machine with determined model, for example my netbook isa toshiba nb255

if you can be more specific saying the processor, video card, mainbard and similar details, better

also i asked other couple questions that are important in this case, how old is the machine and if old, last time you did maintenance and cleaning to the case

[gryphoninc]

Ok, the case is like new, I clean the inside once every two weeks, do not use it for games just music, office and movies and here is the rest of the information:

-Computer-
Processor      : 2x Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
Memory      : 1261MB (921MB used)
Operating System      : PCLinuxOS

Date/Time      : Sat 13 Oct 2012 10:30:50 PM CLT
-Display-
Resolution      : 1280x1024 pixels
OpenGL Renderer      : Mesa DRI UniChrome (PM8x0/CN400) x86/MMX/SSE2
X11 Vendor      : The X.Org Foundation
-Multimedia-
Audio Adapter      : VIA8237 - VIA 8237
-Input Devices-
 AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
 Power Button
 Sleep Button
 Power Button
 Genius Optical Mouse
-Printers (CUPS)-
Cups-PDF
-SCSI Disks-
ATA ST3160215A
ATA HDS728040PLAT20
HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NP20
DVDRW IDE1004
IC USB Storage-CFC
IC USB Storage-SMC
IC USB Storage-MMC
IC USB Storage-MSC

operating system:
-Version-
Kernel      : Linux 3.2.18-pclos2.bfs (i686)
Compiled      : #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu May 24 04:44:50 CEST 2012
C Library      : GNU C Library version 2.13 (stable)
Default C Compiler      : GNU C Compiler version 4.5.2 (GCC)
Distribution      : PCLinuxOS


and just incase I opened Konsole and typed  lspci -v

Code: [Select]

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 Host Bridge
        Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 Host Bridge
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 8
        Memory at c0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        Capabilities: [80] AGP version 3.5
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: agpgart-via

00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 Host Bridge
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 CPU Host Bridge
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 Host Bridge
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 Host Bridge
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 Host Bridge
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237/VX700 PCI Bridge (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
        Memory behind bridge: d4000000-d5ffffff
        Prefetchable memory behind bridge: d0000000-d3ffffff
        Capabilities: [70] Power Management version 2
        Kernel modules: shpchp

00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6105/VT6106S [Rhine-III] (rev 8b)
        Subsystem: D-Link System Inc Device 1405
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 18
        I/O ports at 9000 [size=256]
        Memory at d6000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: via-rhine
        Kernel modules: via-rhine

00:0f.0 RAID bus controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA VT6420 SATA RAID Controller (rev 80)
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 20
        I/O ports at 9400 [size=8]
        I/O ports at 9800 [size=4]
        I/O ports at 9c00 [size=8]
        I/O ports at a000 [size=4]
        I/O ports at a400 [size=16]
        I/O ports at a800 [size=256]
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: sata_via
        Kernel modules: sata_via

00:0f.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 20
        [virtual] Memory at 000001f0 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
        [virtual] Memory at 000003f0 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
        [virtual] Memory at 00000170 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
        [virtual] Memory at 00000370 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
        I/O ports at ac00 [size=16]
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: pata_via
        Kernel modules: via82cxxx, pata_via

00:10.0 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 21
        I/O ports at b000 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
        Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:10.1 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 21
        I/O ports at b400 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
        Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:10.2 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 21
        I/O ports at b800 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
        Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:10.3 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 21
        I/O ports at bc00 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
        Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:10.4 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 86) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 21
        Memory at d6001000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
        Kernel modules: ehci-hcd

00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 ISA bridge [KT600/K8T800/K8T890 South]
        Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. DFI KT600-AL / Soltek SL-B9D-FGR Motherboard
        Flags: bus master, stepping, medium devsel, latency 0
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
        Kernel modules: i2c-viapro

00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 60)
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 8714
        Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 22
        I/O ports at c000 [size=256]
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: snd_via82xx
        Kernel modules: snd-via82xx

00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 78)
        Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine II] Embeded Ethernet Controller on VT8235
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 23
        I/O ports at c800 [size=256]
        Memory at d6002000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: via-rhine
        Kernel modules: via-rhine

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN400/PM800/PM880/PN800/PN880 [S3 UniChrome Pro] (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 1202
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 16
        Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M]
        Memory at d4000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
        [virtual] Expansion ROM at d5000000 [disabled] [size=64K]
        Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 2
        Capabilities: [70] AGP version 2.0
        Kernel driver in use: viafb
        Kernel modules: viafb


[T6]

why do you clean it each 2 weeks?

this mainboard is very old, around 2006 or older since it doesn't report usb 2.0 ports, a ecs mainboard with via chipset, seems to be a pm800 but could be a msi with similar specs

have you verified the mainboard itself? check for bad capacitors, inflated, leaking liquid or covered with oxide?

it is possible that your psu is not working well, how old is the psu, as old as the rest of the hardware?

[CaptainSarcastic]

I'll second the advice of running fsck due to the unclean shutdowns - it is a very good idea.

I notice you are running S3 video - that's caused me issues in the past.  After running fsck, I would suggest using Synaptic to remove all the ATI and Nvidia drivers from your system.  I had a machine with S3 video that would never run with 3D acceleration until I did this.

I'd also suggest running memtest and check the health of the hard drive itself before proceeding - you can troubleshoot software forever, but if the problem is hardware then it is never going to help.

Edit:  And I'd like to second T6's post, too - definitely check all the hardware, including the motherboard.

[Bald Brick]

Don't use the CTL key. It's ALT + SYSRQ, then press each of reisub pausing a moment for each instruction to complete. Your computer should reboot cleanly.

Holding down Alt and SysRq while typing reisub will work but is difficult to do without a third hand. Holding down both Alt and Ctrl while typing <SysRq>reisub will work equally well and doesn't require a third hand: you won't have to hold down two keys at different ends of the keyboard while typing. Try it.

[gryphoninc]

Thanks for all the help.

Yes I know my PC is an old girl but at this moment it is all that I can afford, My question is that could PClinuxOS 2012 be too much OS for my old PC? Should I use the XFCE OS system instead?

Also how do I run fsck to check my system?

Also to answer some questions:

have you verified the mainboard itself? check for bad capacitors, inflated, leaking liquid or covered with oxide?

it is possible that your psu is not working well, how old is the psu, as old as the rest of the hardware?

I just cleaned the motherboard with a blower, checked the capacitors all look brand new, everything on the motherboard looks excellent.

My other question is what is the PSU how do I check it?

thanks


I got my system specs again:

Code: [Select]

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 Host Bridge
        Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 Host Bridge
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 8
        Memory at c0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        Capabilities: [80] AGP version 3.5
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: agpgart-via

00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 Host Bridge
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 CPU Host Bridge
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 Host Bridge
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 Host Bridge
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN333/CN400/PM880 Host Bridge
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237/VX700 PCI Bridge (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
        Memory behind bridge: d4000000-d5ffffff
        Prefetchable memory behind bridge: d0000000-d3ffffff
        Capabilities: [70] Power Management version 2
        Kernel modules: shpchp

00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6105/VT6106S [Rhine-III] (rev 8b)
        Subsystem: D-Link System Inc Device 1405
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 18
        I/O ports at 9000 [size=256]
        Memory at d6000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: via-rhine
        Kernel modules: via-rhine

00:0f.0 RAID bus controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA VT6420 SATA RAID Controller (rev 80)
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 20
        I/O ports at 9400 [size=8]
        I/O ports at 9800 [size=4]
        I/O ports at 9c00 [size=8]
        I/O ports at a000 [size=4]
        I/O ports at a400 [size=16]
        I/O ports at a800 [size=256]
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: sata_via
        Kernel modules: sata_via

00:0f.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 20
        [virtual] Memory at 000001f0 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
        [virtual] Memory at 000003f0 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
        [virtual] Memory at 00000170 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
        [virtual] Memory at 00000370 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
        I/O ports at ac00 [size=16]
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: pata_via
        Kernel modules: via82cxxx, pata_via

00:10.0 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 21
        I/O ports at b000 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
        Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:10.1 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 21
        I/O ports at b400 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
        Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:10.2 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 21
        I/O ports at b800 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
        Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:10.3 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 21
        I/O ports at bc00 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
        Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:10.4 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 86) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 3206
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 21
        Memory at d6001000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
        Kernel modules: ehci-hcd

00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 ISA bridge [KT600/K8T800/K8T890 South]
        Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. DFI KT600-AL / Soltek SL-B9D-FGR Motherboard
        Flags: bus master, stepping, medium devsel, latency 0
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
        Kernel modules: i2c-viapro

00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 60)
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 8714
        Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 22
        I/O ports at c000 [size=256]
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: snd_via82xx
        Kernel modules: snd-via82xx

00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 78)
        Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine II] Embeded Ethernet Controller on VT8235
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 23
        I/O ports at c800 [size=256]
        Memory at d6002000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: via-rhine
        Kernel modules: via-rhine

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN400/PM800/PM880/PN800/PN880 [S3 UniChrome Pro] (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: Biostar Microtech Int'l Corp Device 1202
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 16
        Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M]
        Memory at d4000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
        [virtual] Expansion ROM at d5000000 [disabled] [size=64K]
        Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 2
        Capabilities: [70] AGP version 2.0
        Kernel driver in use: viafb
        Kernel modules: viafb


[T6]

"Yes I know my PC is an old girl but at this moment it is all that I can afford"

i know, my desktop pc is almost as old as yours but amd, we use what we have

my recomendations are oriented to detect possible hardware failures, not to tell you to change the pc for a new one

the capacitors you checked, none deformed?  have you removed the mainboard form the case any time to verify the integrity of the soldiering points?  in a old intel, temperatures can go a bit high and the mainboard suffers for this

the psu is the power suply unit, it is the part of the pc that converts the electricity from ac 11v to 12, 5, 3.3 and other voltages to feed the different parts of your pc

the psu also has capacitors and many other parts, on old psus is common to find bad capacitors causing the problem you describe, usually the best option is replace it for another with same or a bit higher watts, if yours is a 300w, buy a 350w psu

you can verify how it is working by opening the bios of the mainboard when you turn it on, some bios report voltages and temperatures, yours cold tell you this information, if you see 12v at 11v, the psu is not working well, same for the rest of the values

about cleaning, have you verified the temperature of the cpu and the fans?

about fsck, it is a command that must be used form konsole but i never used it, better do a search on the forum or wait for someone who used it and can explain details, it is basically checkdisk but under linux

abut if your pc can run linux or not, with those specs of course it can, i have alot less than you an i run pclinux since 2007, in your mainboard, it seems that you are using the onboard video card, a S3 is not the best video card under linux, most of the times, the driver refuses to load or the system works weird, slow videos on internet and sometimes problems with the resolution, are you using that video card or you put a agp video card?