After switching to Linux, I’ve had the annoying problem that my computer randomly freezes. At first I thought it only happened in Debian derived distributions, as it ran fine with 13.2, Mageia, and Mandriva. But now I’m getting freezes in Leap 42.1 as well.
The freezes are total, I can not move the cursor, or switch to a virtual console, or do REISUB. If there’s any sound, it gets stuck in a BRZZZZ loop. It mostly happens in games, but can happen when watching videos or just during internet browsing as well.
I feel like I have checked everything, RAM is fine, temperatures are fine, I do not see any explanations in the logs (not that I know what to look for either). Only suspect is my SSD, which has two bad sectors, but can that really be it? Gnome Disks says it’s OK.
Athlon II X3 460
Radeon HD 7770 (at first I ran with fglrx, after removing it again it seems to freeze less)
12 GB RAM
Referring after reading the other crosstopics and your questioning in #suse:
[21:33] <revealed> Langley: have you tryed another single ram stick of your mixture maybe esp this one you tryed is faulty?
[21:34] <revealed> memtest can fail to detect something also in some cases.
[21:34] <revealed> and 1 single pass is not enough. Or do you mean full set of tests (1 cycle)?
[21:35] <revealed> If you mainboard features stuff like dynamic overclocking and tuning of RAM timings, disable that.
[21:37] <revealed> reduce connected Hardware to a minimum. E.g. 1 RAM stick Mainboard GFX and 1 HDD
[21:37] <revealed> Then test if you get a stable environment.
[21:38] <revealed> If it becomes stable then. Slowly add component by component
[21:38] <revealed> until you find the brick
[21:38] <revealed> Or if it wont become stable with a minimal hardware configuration you should investigate in that.
Also check that every connector from powersupply is sane and fits. Also investigate having a look at every cable in the computer to not have any kink or corruption. Make sure the hardware is clean and free of dust. And that every addon card /device connection sits fits and is tight, too. Check temperature readings and voltages.
In worst case you track it down to the combination of:
CPU Mainboard GFX PSU.
– Different RAM models for testing should be no problem.
Also try different power outlet in the room. I had a very very old flat already where i lived. And one of the power outlets was bad (instable). And this caused such. Also suspect multi outlet powerstrip. And if you tend to do something like radio communication with a spacestation consider this to disturb your computer.
Recommend you investigate apps and Desktop widgets which display hardware sensors in real time.
Different plugins, widgets or Desktop overlay options would be specific to whatever Desktop you’re running.
Besides the usual stuff like RAM, CPU and disk, there are sensors for CPU and GPU temps, more.
You can also run top or htop in a console constantly, and if you’re not doing something full screen, you should be able to see what is actively happening by whatever top is displaying.
To properly understand how your system is utilizing memory, read my Wiki article on Free, note that info is also displayed by top. There is also a command at the bottom of the article which flushes your memory buffers which is recommended if you’re about to do something new that is very memory intensive and completely different than what you’ve been doing. It’s the next best thing to doing a reboot in the middle of your day.