HELP!!!! - laptop is constantly freezing

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ncsudc · Post by **ncsudc** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 6:14 am

i'm not exactly sure what to do... it just freezes at random times. i have tried to localize it to a specific action/software, but i can boot up and hours later it'll just freeze. is there a log that i can view to try and see what's going on.

also, since i had to power off and on, it has to check the filesystem and i get several errors with deleted inodes and supposedly fixed, but it gets a unable to fix file system message.

i don't think it's an hardware issue b/c it ran for weeks without problems with winxp.

basic info:
toshiba laptop(1805-s204), gentoo 1.4, kde

thanks

drakonite · Post by **drakonite** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 11:08 am

If it crashes/locksup for no apparent reason at random times there is a very good chance it is either too much heat buildup (not very unusual on a laptop) or bad ram.
Use memtest to check the ram. As for heat... Hopefully someone else can post the name of a program to watch temporature in linux because I can't think of how to do it, but if it's random crashes and it's not ram then 99.999% chance it's heat.

fusibou · Post by **fusibou** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 5:31 pm

ncsudc wrote:i'm not exactly sure what to do... it just freezes at random times. i have tried to localize it to a specific action/software, but i can boot up and hours later it'll just freeze. is there a log that i can view to try and see what's going on.

also, since i had to power off and on, it has to check the filesystem and i get several errors with deleted inodes and supposedly fixed, but it gets a unable to fix file system message.

i don't think it's an hardware issue b/c it ran for weeks without problems with winxp.

basic info:
toshiba laptop(1805-s204), gentoo 1.4, kde

thanks

Some other things to try:

1. add acpi=off to the end of the kernel line in your grub.conf to see if ACPI is causing problems
2. try running in console exclusively to see if the hang is related to running in X Window system (ie. could be a video driver setting... you may wish to google on whatever video chipset you are using)

blueworm · Post by **blueworm** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 9:35 pm

drakonite wrote:If it crashes/locksup for no apparent reason at random times there is a very good chance it is either too much heat buildup (not very unusual on a laptop) or bad ram.
Use memtest to check the ram. As for heat... Hopefully someone else can post the name of a program to watch temporature in linux because I can't think of how to do it, but if it's random crashes and it's not ram then 99.999% chance it's heat.

The program is lm_sensors
http://secure.netroedge.com/~lm78/index.html
p3 and p4 laptops are well known t do this under heavy cpu usage compiling, playing 3d games etc...
Doing what does it lockup?
Have you tried putting some spacers [2 bricks, 2 books)under the laptop so the air flows better.

ncsudc · Post by **ncsudc** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 11:43 pm

i don't think it's caused by the heat... i have an active laptop cooler that is constantly flowing air underneath the laptop (it's not warm at all to the touch)

i don't have acpi, nor apm on... i've spent days trying to get it installed but that's another issue

i'll try to memtest later on tonight

thanks for the suggestions, hopefully i can figure it out soon.

Miaowara · Post by **Miaowara** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 11:48 pm

Hi, I've got a toshiba Satellite 5105 that I was having similar problems with.

What kernel are you using and do you have Nvidia?

ncsudc · Post by **ncsudc** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 3:50 am

2.4.23 and it's a generic trident, atleast i think. however, something to note, i unplugged my mouse and it went about 10 hours without crashing... had to reboot to run the memtest which has been running for the past 5 hours.

Miaowara · Post by **Miaowara** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 12:39 pm

Hmmm... Can't help you too much it seems then. Sorry. I had a problem with 2.4.22. Namely whenever I tried to log into X as anyone but root my machine would freeze hardcore. Not even Magic Sys helped. It sucked. The remedy: switch back to 2.4.21

Do you ever get core dumps? Perhaps those would be of some help? Or perhaps checking the system logs?

BobDylan · Post by **BobDylan** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 3:53 pm

Let's talk about it..
The laptop crashes randomly...
What processes are running when it crashes ?
What is the log output in /var/log/* ?
Have you tried it with acpi support ? --> this is the most important thing to do.
On plain-acpi laptops, if you don't configure them for acpi, it can result in an overheating and this can BREAK YOUR BOX, definitely.
If your cooler is ALWAYS running it's perhaps because your cpu gets too hot!
So, get a >= 2.4.22 kernel, configure it for acpi, and see what happens.
However, this is just my 2 cents...

dak1001 · Post by **dak1001** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 4:31 pm

on two different compaq model laptops, i have experienced what you are reporting - lockups, and worse case, just plain shutdown.

it has happened to me using gentoo, suse 8.2 & 9.0, redhat 9.0, and mandrake 9.0.

the common denominator, as someone had mentioned earlier, was the acpi support. namely, i had to grab a DSDT configuration specific to my system and patch the kernel with the latest stable acpi patch (i say stable, because one time, going to the next newest patch actually broke things - so i back rev'd. then when another patch was released i used that, and it worked great). since about september onwards, each acpi patch has improved the support on my laptops.)

also, one other thing to check is apic/no apic. not to be confused with acpi.

here are some links that might help regarding your laptop (the reason your fan is running continuously is because of something in the acpi. the acpi monitors thermal levels and such and is responsible for adjusting fan speed. if acpi support is not there, then there is no mechanism to control the fan. also, if your laptop is relatively new, post 2001, it will have no apm support whatsoever.)

acpi dsdt:
http://www.cpqlinux.com/acpi-howto.html
http://acpi.sourceforge.net/wiki/index. ... rrideTable
http://www.intel.com/technology/IAPC/acpi/faq.htm#linux
http://www.intel.com/technology/iapc/ac ... erride.htm
http://acpi.sourceforge.net/dsdt/index.php

acpi patch:
http://acpi.sourceforge.net/download.html

Starfox · Post by **Starfox** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 7:52 pm

hi folks,

i have got the same problem here on my toshiba satellite 2650 XDVD. When evver i log into X i "can reproduce" a random crash by just working within X enviroment. But whenever i only use the console the system can even handel the ultimate load without any problems!!
Kernel 2.4.25, no acpi, qt-3.3.0, kde-3.1.5, gcc-3.3.2

ciao fox

Shrekkie · Post by **Shrekkie** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 10:24 am

hey there all,

This is a very disappointing issue on lappies, certainly on the Compaq Evo n600c. Anyway, I had a problem turning on the fan.
I followed the advice with the "acpi=off" in the kernel line of my grub.
My fan now works, I'm using kernel 2.6.3-gentoo-r1 now, but i still have to wait if that lil fan will cool sufficiently.

Greetz, and thnx.

HELP!!!! - laptop is constantly freezing

HELP!!!! - laptop is constantly freezing

Re: HELP!!!! - laptop is constantly freezing

Let's talk about it...

laptop lockup/shutdown problems...