Dapper complete system freeze---could be 'ati' driver or epiphany browser

[Tod Merley]

On 8/10/06, Sean Hammond <sean.hammond at gmail.com> wrote:
> P.S. I tried switching my driver from ati to vesa in xorg.conf, but
> then on starting x, the monitor would report 'signal out of range',
> and I had to change it back. Maybe there is something I can do to fix
> the signal out of range and use vesa, see if ati is the problem?
>
> On 8/10/06, Sean Hammond <sean.hammond at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I have a terrible bug with ubuntu dapper that I'm getting desperate to solve.
> >
> > The machine in my office completely freezes every now and then (maybe
> > every day or two). The screen freezes, mousepointer freezes,
> > ctrl-alt-backspace doesn't work, I can't go to another virtual
> > terminal, nothing. I have to kill the machine with the power switch.
> >
> > My bug report:
> >
> > https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+bug/50687
> >
> > is getting no attention, and I can no longer put up with the situation
> > as I keep losing work. I feel this must be a bug that others are
> > experiencing, it must be reported elsewhere, or there must be
> > SOMETHING I can do to debug this problem a litte and make a more
> > effective bug report or find help. But I don't know what to do, so I
> > need help.
> >
> > I suspect it might be due to the ati graphics driver. I'm using the
> > opensource driver called 'ati'. It might also be to do with the
> > epiphany web browser, as I feel that epiphany is always open when the
> > freeze occurs. I haven't noticed any other pattern to it.
> >
> > Here is lshw for my machine:
> >
> > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SeanHammond?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=marley-lshw.html
> >
> > and xorg.conf is at the bottom of this email.
> >
> > Can anyone point me to a bug report that might be relevant, or suggest
> > something I can do that might tell me something about the problem?
> >
> > This sort of thing isn't supposed to happen on Linux!
> >
> > # /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
> > #
> > # This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
> > # values from the debconf database.
> > #
> > # Edit this file with caution, and see the /etc/X11/xorg.conf manual page.
> > # (Type "man /etc/X11/xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
> > #
> > # This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
> > # if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
> > # package.
> > #
> > # If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
> > # again, run the following command:
> > # sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg
> >
> > Section "Files"
> >  FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc"
> >  FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
> >  FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
> >  FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
> >  FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1"
> >  FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/CID"
> >  FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi"
> >  FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi"
> >         # paths to defoma fonts
> >  FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
> >  FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/CID"
> > EndSection
> >
> > Section "Module"
> >  Load "GLcore"
> >  Load "bitmap"
> >  Load "ddc"
> >  Load "dri"
> >  Load "extmod"
> >  Load "freetype"
> >  Load "glx"
> >  Load "int10"
> >  Load "type1"
> >  Load "vbe"
> > EndSection
> >
> > Section "InputDevice"
> >  Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
> >  Driver "kbd"
> >  Option "CoreKeyboard"
> >  Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
> >  Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
> >  Option "XkbLayout" "gb"
> > EndSection
> >
> > Section "InputDevice"
> >  Identifier "Configured Mouse"
> >  Driver "mouse"
> >  Option "CorePointer"
> >  Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
> >  Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
> >  Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
> >  Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
> > EndSection
> >
> > Section "Device"
> >  Identifier "ATI Technologies, Inc. Radeon 7500 (RV200 QW)"
> >  Driver "ati"
> >  BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
> > EndSection
> >
> > Section "Monitor"
> >  Identifier "HP L1740"
> >  Option "DPMS"
> > EndSection
> >
> > Section "Screen"
> >  Identifier "Default Screen"
> >  Device "ATI Technologies, Inc. Radeon 7500 (RV200 QW)"
> >  Monitor "HP L1740"
> >  DefaultDepth 24
> >  SubSection "Display"
> >   Depth 1
> >   Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
> >  EndSubSection
> >  SubSection "Display"
> >   Depth 4
> >   Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
> >  EndSubSection
> >  SubSection "Display"
> >   Depth 8
> >   Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
> >  EndSubSection
> >  SubSection "Display"
> >   Depth 15
> >   Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
> >  EndSubSection
> >  SubSection "Display"
> >   Depth 16
> >   Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
> >  EndSubSection
> >  SubSection "Display"
> >   Depth 24
> >   Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
> >  EndSubSection
> > EndSection
> >
> > Section "ServerLayout"
> >  Identifier "Default Layout"
> >  Screen "Default Screen"
> >  InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
> >  InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
> > EndSection
> >
> > Section "DRI"
> >  Mode 0666
> > EndSection
> >
> > --
> > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SeanHammond
> >
>
>
> --
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SeanHammond
>
> --
> ubuntu-users mailing list
> ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
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>

Hi Sean!

Ok, if I were dealing with this problem I would:

1. Loose the USB mouse as a test (use a PS/2 mouse and see if the
problem goes away).

2. Upon a freeze I would boot into Puppy Linux (or Knoppix, or Ubuntu
Live, or any rescue disk), mount the Linux partition I see on your HW
listings and look in /var/log.  Probably while there you might do a
"tail" command on:

debug and/or debug.0
dmesg
kern.log and/or kern.log.0
lastlog
messages and/or messages.0
syslog and/or syslog.0
udev
user.log and/or user.log.0
Xorg.0.log and possibley Xorg.0.log.old

My tendency here is to do a "cp /var/log/dmesg
/home/mydirectory/Desktop/dmesg.frz" to take a "snapshot" of the file.
 I would also do this for kern.log, messages, udev and Xorg.0.log.
Then you can do a "tail dmesg.frz" when you reboot and see what is
there (also "less dmesg.frz").  These logs may contain a hint as to
what happened.  It is probably not a bad idea to migrate to /var/log
first thing after the re-boot and check the files above using the
"tail" command.

2a. While booted into the Puppy, Knoppix, or other differant
distrobution option capture it's /etc/X11/xorg.conf file (and perhaps
it's /var/log Xorg.0.log file).

3. Using the "memtest" boot option in Ubuntu (hit any key during the
countdown or select it from your boot options) run a memtest for a
couple of hours.  Sometimes.

4.  Look for evindence of tampering (virus etc..). Do a virus scan and all.

Just some thoughts, good hunting,

Tod