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Fresh install: System freeze

Hey all!
I recently got a new laptop. It's the TUXEDO InfinityBook S 14.
I did a fresh install of artix base with runit, the same install procedure that I did on two other systems without issues. Unfortunately, it looks like I have some issues with artix on s14: The system freezes after a  more or less random time after boot. This does not happen, however, with the install usb ISO, only after booting on the system itself I observe a freeze after some time. Sometimes it happens after 2 seconds right after logging into tty, sometimes it happens even before logging into tty, sometimes it takes 10 minutes, but the system will eventually just hang.
I can't do anything when the system is hanging, not even the magic sysrq reacts. Logs are completely empty, there is no message to related with hanging. Here is my /var/log/everything.log: termbin.com/n2fw
I'm unsure how to debug this at all if the kernel doesn't tell me what's happening.
TLP is disabled.
These are my kernel parameters:
Code: [Select]
root=/dev/nvme0n1p2 resume=/dev/nvme0n1p4 rw initrd=\intel-ucode.img initrd=\initramfs-linux.img sysrq_always_enabled=1
Hopefully, I "just" need to add some parameter and never be bothered by freezes again....
I've tried it with
Code: [Select]
intel_iommu=on
, no luck, then after i tried with
Code: [Select]
iommu=soft
, no luck.
What else can I try? Maybe you've got an idea on how to debug this mess, too?
I really appreciate any help! :)
Best,
dasnacl

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #1 –
>This does not happen, however, with the install usb ISO

This is purely a guess, but my theory is that there is something wrong with your internal disk.

Have you ever installed windows or anything other than Artix?

Install smartmontools package and run a smartctl -H /dev/xxx on your internal storage to see it's overall health

To do more elaborate tests and more info, see https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/S.M.A.R.T.

Also in:
Code: [Select]
initrd=\intel-ucode.img initrd=\initramfs-linux.img
remove those '\=' and just make them '='

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #2 –
Hey, thanks for your reply!

The `\` after the equal are because of efibootmgr, i.e. i'm not using grub.
The system boots fine.

Hardware is fine, too. It's a new laptop. Anyhow, I ran smartctl and the result is:
Code: [Select]
-bash-5.1# smartctl -H /dev/nvme0n1
smartctl 7.3 2022-02-28 r5338 [x86_64-linux-5.18.16-artix1-1] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-22, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF SMARTDATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

Best,
dasnacl

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #3 –
i would suggest to perform RAM test using memtest https://www.memtest.org/
Edit: Does this happen with only Artix. If you have not tried any other distro , try fedora
Create problems which don't have solution

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #4 –
Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate any input at all!
memtest sent a pass and given it's new hardware, I'd have to be exceptionally unlucky. But, thanks again for the suggestions, it somehow did not came to my mind to test the RAM.

When the system hangs, the fans go crazy. Maybe someone has another idea.
I certainly don't have any and I have trouble to explain what happens in any way. A kernel panic would at least print something. An OOM would also at least print something or let me interact with the kernel, at least that's my understanding.

Best,
dasnacl

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #5 –
I would try to install completely different distro with another kernel to see if it is hardware problem or software.

I once had pc that refused to work with opensuse for years regardless of new release but never had any probkem with other distro.

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #6 –
if you are using a desktop and not just tty, it doesn't have to mean that the system froze but X just hung up in a bad way.
So that the GPU is fully loaded, therefore the fans run amok and no key is responded to.

I would try if this occurs too if you dont use X and start to tty directly.

After a little research, i found many problems with the Intel Xe Graphics until today.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Intel_graphics

I would try that. And if that dont work, i would try to use vesa ONLY. If that stills crash/freeze. I would try other kernel like already suggested here.

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #7 –
>When the system hangs, the fans go crazy. Maybe someone has another idea.

And then you have to force shutdown the laptop or does it restart/shutdown on its own?

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #8 –
Thanks for all your answers!

First of all, I did a memtest (twice! one with both RAM sticks and one with the removable one removed (the other one is soldered in place)) and it is completely fine. So it is not faulty memory.

@pluto Thanks for your input. Unfortunately, as described in my initial posting, the issue occurs at tty level. In fact, I haven't bothered installing Xorg at all.  :)

@Lancia I need to force shutdown, it completely hangs. Turns out my proposition with the fans was also wrong! Sometimes they go crazy, sometimes it's all silent. I have literally no idea.
To reiterate, even the magic sysrq key combo won't work, so the kernel completely freezes.


The good thing in all this mess is that I messed up efibootmgr when trying different kernels. I retried linux-lts and it seems to work. That is, I've got no freezes since using linux-lts.
it hang again....
I'd like to get to the core of the problem though, because I'm curious what actually causes this.
My plan is to just "binary-search": trying out different kernel versions until I hit the one patch where it all breaks down.
I know artix is rolling release. Nevertheless, does maybe someone from the artix community have an archive of precompiled kernels or do I need to compile them on my own?
Found it: https://archive.artixlinux.org/packages/l/linux/
I'm just asking, I've got experience with compiling kernels: There is actually this funny story from uni.
Code: [Select]
I tried gentoo the first time
Then there was this project, compiler class
final project presentation, the guy handed me a USB stick with a C file on it where my compiler allegedly fails
jokes on me, I forgot to compile my kernel with USB support
The guy from the research lab remembers this fondly to this day

UPDATE: I'm trying it with the ubuntu version that the vendor recommends. unfortunately, it works as of now.
Maybe as another update: I tried all 5.15 kernel versions and none worked, even though it's literally the same as on the ubuntu side.

Another Update: Looks like I just needed to add i915 module to my initramfs.... ::) unfortunately not.

I've been able to track this problem down a bit better. It looks like when I use e.g. the Ubuntu distribution the vendor distributes with their kernel, things are fine. So I tried any other kernel from kernel.org, but still on that ubuntu distro, and experienced the freezes again.
I'm not sure what's different in these two kernels, as I used the same Version (just not ubuntu-flavored) and the config file of the existing Tuxedo Kernel.
So my mission now is to identify their differences somehow. I guess some kind of module

Best,
dasnacl

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #9 –
Ubuntu has sighned binaries and they pass secure boot if it is enabled in bios.

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #10 –
Thanks for your reply. But, honestly, I'm not sure what to make out of it.

Anyways, I managed to more or less solve the problem. The more or less sad part is that I need to compile my own kernel with the config preset provided by the vendor. I'm still unsure what precise config/module that is present/missing is causing such catastrophic freezes, but when I eventually identified the issue, I hope to remember to edit this message.
For now, I just grab a kernel from kernel.org and configure it with the preset. It does not seem like there are any freezes and I hope it stays this way.

Thanks all.

Best,
dasnacl

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #11 –
Just a curios question, do you have the watchdog module loaded?

you can find out with lsmod | grep -F wdt

Also about that config your vendor provides.

You can do a diff on it with the config the Artix kernel uses, see if you can find anything.
 

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #12 –
You have the preset from your vendor?

Than it would be a GREAT idea if you could it share with us here in the forum.

Because a Developer of Artix (especially the maintainer of the artix linux kernel) could look up what the difference and problem is.

This way you could support to prevent the same issue for other people using similar hardware.

Re: Fresh install: System freeze

Reply #13 –
Hey guys,

thanks for your replies! Their fork is here: https://github.com/tuxedocomputers/linux
I did diff it myself, but no meaningful difference was visible.
Anyhow, just to rule out I did not miss something, I compiled a kernel with their config, only to see that the system freezes yet again. And then, the freezes also did happen on the fresh ubuntu install with their precompiled kernel.
After contacting the vendor, it seems to be an issue with intel i5 + kingston NVMEs, but they themselves were not able to track the exact problem down yet.
I've ordered a SAMSUNG NVMe and hope it won't happen there.

Best,
dasnacl