8.04 still locks up

[Nigel Henry]

On Sunday 07 September 2008 21:27, elmo wrote:
> Carl Friis-Hansen wrote:
> > elmo wrote:
> >> elmo wrote:
> >>> Nils Kassube wrote:
> >>>> elmo wrote:
> >>>>> I thought that I finally had a UBUNTU 8.04 that doesn't freeze and
> >>>>> lockup but no, after downloads from different sources, the same old
> >>>>> problem ...it works fine for a up to half hour or so then suddenly,
> >>>>> the cursor locks and there's nothing I do can free it other than turn
> >>>>> the computer off and back on and start over.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I've tried trial and error combinations of keypresses to loosen up
> >>>>> the cursor....no effect.
> >>>>
> >>>> First shortcut to try is Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart the X server.
> >>>> Then try Ctrl-Alt-F1 to get a terminal. That way you can find out if
> >>>> your machine is completely locked or if only your X session is broken.
> >>>> When you restart the machine, have a look at the logs. Maybe there is
> >>>> some clue. In /var/log/messages search for the date and time when the
> >>>> problem happened and in /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old the last lines are a
> >>>> good candidate for an indication of your problem.
> >>>>
> >>>> Are you using desktop effects? Check if the problem persists if you
> >>>> disable desktop effects. Sorry, can't tell you how because I don't use
> >>>> it myself.
> >>>>
> >>>> What graphics hardware do you have? Are you using a proprietary
> >>>> graphics driver (ATI / Nvidia)?
> >>>>
> >>>>> I restart 8.04 and try repeating what I was doing when the freeze
> >>>>> occurred but it doesn't freeze again but it freezes when I'm doing
> >>>>> something completely different.  There's no consistency to the
> >>>>> occurrence of the freeze.
> >>>>
> >>>> When the freeze happens, do you have a page with flash opened with
> >>>> your browser?
> >>>
> >>> No, it can happen without the browser, as when editing or just
> >>> selecting a file,
> >>>
> >>>>> Does anybody have 8.04 that doesn't freeze?  What's the secret?
> >>>>
> >>>> Sure. I know about 15 computers with various hardware combinations
> >>>> (except there is none with ATI graphics) running 8.04 but I don't know
> >>>> any machine that freezes. Considering the low number of reports of
> >>>> freezes on this list I would assume there are _many_ machines working
> >>>> with 8.04 without a problem like yours.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Nils
> >>>
> >>> It's possible that my lockup problem is due to some kind of hardware
> >>> defect but I have no clue as to what
> >>> and how to check.  It's just that all my current operating systems all
> >>> work so well
> >>
> >> When lockup occurs, there's no point in trying any of the suggested
> >> shortcuts because the keyboard is dead and I can't type anything. The
> >> monitor still shows the same display that was there when lockup
> >> occurred.
> >>
> >> The only thing that still works is pressing the power button to shut
> >> down the computer.
> >>
> >> Then, turning the computer back on, everything works normally until it
> >> locks up again.
> >
> > Hi Elmo,
> > I see this thread is still running. I must have missed it, but do you
> > have a PCI-WiFi card in your machine?  -  If so, did it help to remove
> > the card from the machine?
>
> I don't know if I have a PCI-WiFi card.  How can I check?
> elmo

The manual that came with your mobo should tell you. You can also run the 
following command which will show all the pci related stuff:
lspci -v

These freeze ups are a real problem. With my Asus M2N-X Plus mobo, I;m getting 
freeze ups with F8, F9, Kubuntu GG 7.10, Kubuntu HH 8.04, and Archlinux. 
Other Distros, Debian Etch, and Kubuntu Dapper, which are using earlier 
kernels, don't appear to be having the same problem. Of course this is not 
easy to track, as the freeze ups are not occuring every 30/60 mins for 
example. Sometimes I can download updates overnight, and there will be no 
freeze. Othertimes the update will run for 2, or 3 hours, then freeze for no 
apparent reason.

As an example, on friday I ran updates for my Archlinux install. they were 
started just after midnight, and the following morning the machine was frozen 
up. Looking at all the logs in /var/log, the only thing I could find was that 
sometime after 4am the machine locked up. Nothing as to why it locked up.

The machine for some reason or other just came to a halt, and gave no reason 
why.

With my mobo (as above) I've needed to disable acpi in the BIOS to get 
anything (install cd's, Live cd's) to boot. then post install for most of the 
distros, I've had to append the kernel line with acpi=off. The exceptions are 
Kubuntu Dapper, and Debian Etch, which are both using earlier kernels, and do 
not appear to have these freeze up problems.

Just some observations, and still have no idea why some of these distros are 
freezing up on this Asus M2N-X Plus mobo.

Nigel.