laptop lockups SOLVED

[geraldw321]

hi there  not sure if this is the right forum but  .       my system locks up or freezes  2 sometimes 3 times a day?   im running PCLOS  FM with kernel 3.2.18-pclos.bfs  totally updated and running the latest testing nvidia drivers v310 ( but lockups occured before i started using that so i discounting that thats the cause).

computer is a acer v771-9875 laptop  w/   intel core I7 @2.4ghz,  nvidia 650m video card,  32gig  gskill pc133 ram,  samsung   830 256gig  SSD ,  hitachi 750 gig secondary drive, i use the clear internet service with my device plugged into the usb port.

lockups seem too occur while im online ill be downloading and  surfing  may be reading pdf books also  or doing other stuff and system locks up.  requiring a power switch shutdown ie  hold down power switch until it shuts off then reboot.

im at a loss where too look for this issue???

[agmg]

First of all, when your system freezes, you don't need to press the power switch to turn it off.

You should use REISUB (safe reboot).

1. Hold down the Alt and SysRq (Print Screen) keys.
2. While holding those down, type the following keys in order, several seconds apart: REISUB
3. Computer should reboot.

How to remember?
Raising Elephants Is So Utterly Boring
or
Reboot Even If System Utterly Broken
or
Spell the word BUSIER backwards

Second, have you checked your temperatures lately?

[pclinmike]

Hi.
Is it very old ?.
I have taken over my daughter old laptop Acer 5738Z and had problems with it freezing with the the battery saying it only had 18% when fully charged,
Just been reading this about battery life.

http://batterycare.net/en/guide.html

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/do_and_dont_battery_table

http://www.apple.com/pt/batteries/

I spent some time yesterday re-calibrating the battery/laptop and now may be I do not need a new battery yet, it is showing 45% and lasting 2 hrs   and no more locking up..

Edit... I also find adding a 'CPU' widget on your desktop helpful .

[geraldw321]

Hi.
Is it very old ?.
I have taken over my daughter old laptop Acer 5738Z and had problems with it freezing with the the battery saying it only had 18% when fully charged,
Just been reading this about battery life.

http://batterycare.net/en/guide.html

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/do_and_dont_battery_table

http://www.apple.com/pt/batteries/

I spent some time yesterday re-calibrating the battery/laptop and now may be I do not need a new battery yet, it is showing 45% and lasting 2 hrs  and no more locking up..

No  its a brand new model  less than 6 months old

[AnotherUser]

I had the same problem on my brand new Dell Inpsiron 15R. It would randomly lock-up about 1-2 times per day. These were complete lockups (not even keyboard worked) and the REISUB trick did not work either.

In my case, all I had to do was upgrade the kernel and the lock-ups magically went away. The only catch is that the latest available kernel is still in the Testing section. However, in my opinion, it is perfectly safe (if not safer) running the non-3.2.18 version of the kernel from testing.

[geraldw321]

First of all, when your system freezes, you don't need to press the power switch to turn it off.

You should use REISUB (safe reboot).

1. Hold down the Alt and SysRq (Print Screen) keys.
2. While holding those down, type the following keys in order, several seconds apart: REISUB
3. Computer should reboot.

How to remember?
Raising Elephants Is So Utterly Boring
or
Reboot Even If System Utterly Broken
or
Spell the word BUSIER backwards

Second, have you checked your temperatures lately?

Thank you   i did not know that.  ill use that since i really didnt like doing a hard shutdown.
i hadnt been monitoring temps but i am now.  its in the 135-140f range but im not doing much now  ill keep monitoring that , i am aware that it gets hot really hot as in i need to move away from the exhaust port its so hot .  id love too get my optimus working on this system i believe with the nvidia always on its creates heat problems and id love too idle it until needed.

thanks for the input ill update when i get more info

[geraldw321]

I had the same problem on my brand new Dell Inpsiron 15R. It would randomly lock-up about 1-2 times per day. These were complete lockups (not even keyboard worked) and the REISUB trick did not work either.

In my case, all I had to do was upgrade the kernel and the lock-ups magically went away. The only catch is that the latest available kernel is still in the Testing section. However, in my opinion, it is perfectly safe (if not safer) running the non-3.2.18 version of the kernel from testing.

i just tried going too the testing section too look at kernels . i cant get there  get errors about loading sections ?   i have updated my server list as per instructions on front page of  PCLOS site.  ill try later   thank you

[agmg]

Go to Synaptic -> Settings -> Repositories
The last line is called Section(s)
To have testing enabled it must be like this:

main updates nonfree kde games xfce4 testing

Click Reload to get updates.

Now you can check the "Component" column in Synaptic for packages in testing section.

Remember to remove "testing" when you install the package(s) you want.

Note: if you are using PASS there isn't a "testing" section. You need to use a public mirror.

[geraldw321]

Go to Synaptic -> Settings -> Repositories
The last line is called Section(s)
To have testing enabled it must be like this:

main updates nonfree kde games xfce4 testing

Click Reload to get updates.

Now you can check the "Component" column in Synaptic for packages in testing section.

Remember to remove "testing" when you install the package(s) you want.

Note: if you are using PASS there isn't a "testing" section. You need to use a public mirror.

yes thank you  but im well aware of how too access the testing areas of the package managers and you forgot too mention that i need to select my repositories before i can add testing to the sections listing.

and the error i get is  " Could not download all repository indexes" so i cant do any kernel updates until i get this working.

[agmg]

Did you try a different mirror?

[agmg]

You should also consider checking your /var/log/messages right after you reboot from a system freeze and see if there are any errors. (check the timestamps)

[geraldw321]

Did you try a different mirror?

not yet i had too pack up and head to work  i will when i get a chance

[geraldw321]

You should also consider checking your /var/log/messages right after you reboot from a system freeze and see if there are any errors. (check the timestamps)

thank you  i will check the logs for any clues and post any findings

[trustytrev]

Hello,
       I have a Dell Latitudw D610 and that has started freezing up when booting up at the log in or just after the user login.It has only just started after fully updating yesterday so I think there may be a problem with the latest updates.I can only get it going again if I switch it of with the power button as the mouse or keyboard are unusable
trustytrev.

[geraldw321]

Hello,
       I have a Dell Latitudw D610 and that has started freezing up when booting up at the log in or just after the user login.It has only just started after fully updating yesterday so I think there may be a problem with the latest updates.I can only get it going again if I switch it of with the power button as the mouse or keyboard are unusable
trustytrev.

Mine has been doing this for awhile , its finally star ing too bother me as its happening while i am in the midst of several things and ill need to start all over . kind of a pain.  im home now so ill try the kernel update seee if that helps.