Solved Constant Freezing Forcing me back to Windows

[ghosty999]

I'm at a total loss... I purchased a Dell Latitude 7390 to dual boot Windows and Mint as I usually do.
I go do the usual BIOS things like turn off fast boot, safe boot, C-state, RAID etc
I then grab an ISO, do checksum verification, burn ISO via Rufus to a 32gb stick.
Once installed, I boot into GRUB bootloader and it loads the Linux OS
Either instantly, or within 30 mins, the entire system Freezes. SysRq commands don't work, forcing a hard restart. This does NOT occur in Windows.
This issue occurs on Mint, Ubunut, Kubuntu, and Zorin OS
Things I've tried:

• Different USBs
• Different OSs
• Complete factory wipe x 3
• Update BIOS
• Force update Kernal
• Editing GRUB to contain intel_idle.max_cstate=1
• RAM test / Disk test / System Diagnostics test
• Nothing obvious in the logs

I've been working on this for 3 days now and currently typing from my Windows partition
Thanks fellow wizards and sorceresses

 

[Condobloke]

G'day ghosty999, Welcome to Linux org

Did you have any concerns/dramas with the video card/....Intel uhd graphics 620...?

 

[ghosty999]

G'day ghosty999, Welcome to Linux org

Did you have any concerns/dramas with the video card/....Intel uhd graphics 620...?

Thanks for the warm welcome. Great to be here, and hopefully stay here!

No issues with the Intel UHD 620 in Windows. I wasn't too sure if it was GPU related but the fact the mouse can't move on freeze aids the GPU theory.

I'm going to install another distro and gather logs today. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Brickwizard]

Welcome to the forums,
did it run ok "live" from the pendrive
if you can get Mint or Ubuntu running long enough, can to run from the terminal inxi -Fnxxz and post the complete report back. [you may need to install inxi from the software manager]

 

[Condobloke]

@Brickwizard may have some advice to add here.

I don't know which OS you currently have installed.....in Linux Mint you would type 'drivers' into the menu and then follow the prompts to check if anything special is required for that onboard graphics.

I note that Brickwizard has appeared here just now !...it is my snooze time (in Australia) so I will take my leave.

 

[ghosty999]

Welcome to the forums,
did it run ok "live" from the pendrive
if you can get Mint or Ubuntu running long enough, can to run from the terminal inxi -Fnxxz and post the complete report back. [you may need to install inxi from the software manager]

Ah the legendary Brickwizard... I have heard of your legendary status here! Great to meet you.

The live environment also Freezes, and sometimes during installation the installtion GUI wizard.

I will re-try installing Linux Mint now and follow your advice. Report back shortly...

 

[osprey]

Hello ghosty999. It sounds like you can install a few distributions successfully. You might consider logging into one of them to a text prompt so that you don't bring up the GUI. If you work then in the text environment with text based applications for a while, and the freeze does not occur, then it's likely a graphics card issue, which ultimately will likely be a graphics card firmware and/or driver issue. If you wish to try this and log into text mode, you can hit e when the grub menu appears, navigate down to the linux line, add a 3 to the end of it after a space and click cntl+x to boot. Perhaps find yourself a few text applications to make the computer do some work such as a text browser like lynx, elinks, w3m ... write a few files with nano or vim or whatever takes your fancy and give it time to freeze, or hopefully not.

 

[ghosty999]

Welcome to the forums,
did it run ok "live" from the pendrive
if you can get Mint or Ubuntu running long enough, can to run from the terminal inxi -Fnxxz and post the complete report back. [you may need to install inxi from the software manager]

Here you are my good sir:


System:
Kernel: 5.15.0-41-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 5.4.8 tk: GTK 3.24.33 wm: Mutter dm: LightDM
Distro: Linux Mint 21 Vanessa base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Latitude 7390 v: N/A
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: Dell model: 09386V v: A00 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Dell
v: 1.28.0 date: 08/11/2022
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 33.8 Wh (64.5%) condition: 52.4/60.0 Wh (87.4%)
volts: 7.5 min: 7.6 model: SMP DELL DW3WC64 serial: <filter>
status: Discharging
CPU:
Info: quad core model: Intel Core i5-8250U bits: 64 type: MT MCP
arch: Coffee Lake rev: A cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB L3: 6 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 900 min/max: 400/3400 cores: 1: 900 2: 900 3: 900
4: 900 5: 900 6: 900 7: 900 8: 900 bogomips: 28800
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel ports:
active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 00:02.0
chip-ID: 8086:5917
Device-2: Microdia Integrated_Webcam_HD type: USB driver: uvcvideo
bus-ID: 1-5:2 chip-ID: 0c45:6717
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96
Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: AU Optronics res: 1920x1080 dpi: 166
diag: 336mm (13.2")
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2)
v: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.1 direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: Dell
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:9d71
Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-41-generic running: yes
Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-LM vendor: Dell driver: e1000e v: kernel
port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:15d7
IF: enp0s31f6 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Intel Wireless 8265 / 8275 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie:
speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:24fd
IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 1-7:3 chip-ID: 8087:0a2b
Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: up address: <filter>
bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.2 sub-v: 100
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 534.24 GiB used: 512 KiB (0.0%)
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital
model: PC SN730 SDBQNTY-512G-1001 size: 476.94 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s
lanes: 4 serial: <filter> temp: 29.9 C
ID-2: /dev/sda type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: USB 3.2Gen1
size: 57.3 GiB serial: <filter>
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 7.74 GiB used: 24.8 MiB (0.3%) fs: overlay source: ERR-102
ID-2: /var/log size: 53.86 GiB used: 512 KiB (0.0%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/sda3
Swap:
Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 25.0 C pch: 37.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0
Info:
Processes: 248 Uptime: 3m Memory: 15.49 GiB used: 1.08 GiB (7.0%)
Init: systemd v: 249 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 11.2.0 alt: 11 Packages:
apt: 2078 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.3.13

Hello ghosty999. It sounds like you can install a few distributions successfully. You might consider logging into one of them to a text prompt so that you don't bring up the GUI. If you work then in the text environment with text based applications for a while, and the freeze does not occur, then it's likely a graphics card issue, which ultimately will likely be a graphics card firmware and/or driver issue. If you wish to try this and log into text mode, you can hit e when the grub menu appears, navigate down to the linux line, add a 3 to the end of it after a space and click cntl+x to boot. Perhaps find yourself a few text applications to make the computer do some work such as a text browser like lynx, elinks, w3m ... write a few files with nano or vim or whatever takes your fancy and give it time to freeze, or hopefully not.

Sadly I really need the Desktop Environment for my work. Thanks for the advice though, this will be helpful other situations I have.

 

[osprey]

ghostly999 wrote:

Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel ports:
....
unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1

It appears that your intel graphics driver is i915. There is firmware for that driver in the package:
firmware-misc-nonfree. If you don't have that firmware package installed, you might consider installing that. If you wish to check what's in the package, run:

apt-file list firmware-misc-nonfree

What's not relevant to your system in that package will be ignored by the graphics card, but what's essential will be necessary for smooth operation.

 

[Brickwizard]

Ok thanks for that, I see no good reason that your having problems, so BTB [back to basics]
you have a fairly recent Dell, [my favourites to install Linux]
1] disable windows quick start & secure boot [both usually found in the bios] and then re start
when you download your chosen distribution, use Balentene Etcher to burn the ISO to the pen-dirve
then check the SHA sum matches
some components may run in "live" mode but not when installed, so make sure you tick the box for non-free drivers,
follow my how to install guide to make sure you don't miss a step,
use a good quality clean usb pen-drive formatted Fats or Ex-fats [you may be surprised how many failed installations are down to a worn or cheap pen-drive]
If you're not fussy which distribution, then to start I recommend you try MX-Linux with AHS It's probably one of the best on new kit

 

[ghosty999]

ghostly999 wrote:

Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel ports:
....
unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1

It appears that your intel graphics driver is i915. There is firmware for that driver in the package:
firmware-misc-nonfree. If you don't have that firmware package installed, you might consider installing that. If you wish to check what's in the package, run:

apt-file list firmware-misc-nonfree

What's not relevant to your system in that package will be ignored by the graphics card, but what's essential will be necessary for smooth operation.

Thanks! n00b question but do I just do a "sudo apt install -y firmware-misc-nonfree"?

Ok thanks for that, I see no good reason that your having problems, so BTB [back to basics]
you have a fairly recent Dell, [my favourites to install Linux]
1] disable windows quick start & secure boot [both usually found in the bios] and then re start
when you download your chosen distribution, use Balentene Etcher to burn the ISO to the pen-dirve
then check the SHA sum matches
some components may run in "live" mode but not when installed, so make sure you tick the box for non-free drivers,
follow my how to install guide to make sure you don't miss a step,
use a good quality clean usb pen-drive formatted Fats or Ex-fats [you may be surprised how many failed installations are down to a worn or cheap pen-drive]
If you're not fussy which distribution, then to start I recommend you try MX-Linux with AHS It's probably one of the best on new kit

Okay I will try again from the top using Belena. I've just Checksum verified the ISO and about to install. I will also try @osprey 's idea if you also recomend that once I'm installed?

Finally if the system freezes whilst I'm using it, what is the best option to get the log files or any other information that might help?

 

[ghosty999]

Also would this have to do with anything?

"
Hi, I did some digging around and it seems that there is a problem with the chipset of your laptop. The solution seems to be to add the following to kernel boot params

i915.enable_psr=0"

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[Brickwizard]

Also would this have to do with anything?

Possibly, but this should have been fixed by now, but I usually recommend MX HAS for newer machines as it has the best selection of latest drivers that I know.

 

[ghosty999]

Okay dokay, I'm typing from within Linux Mint! Been 20 mins so far...

1. I've used a new USB stick I found
2. Did Checksum verification
3. Made USB with Belena rather than Rufus
4. added i915.enable_psr=0 to the grub boot parameter at /etc/default/grub and saved

Now I'm going to go for software updates via the manager and a reboot. Let me know if there is any other information I can provide.

 

[Deleted member 108694]

Also have a look here - https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2339302

 

[Brickwizard]

Sounds like you may have broken the back of it, keep us informed

 

[ghosty999]

Sounds like you may have broken the back of it, keep us informed

I'm still on Mint and no crashes. So it will be one of the following four that fixed it:

- Using Belena Etcher
- Verifying the Checksum
- Adding i915.enable_psr=0
- Using a larger and more modern USB stick

That's another person saved from the Malware that is Windows! Thanks to you guys and the rest of this awesome community. I'll be hanging out here for sure.

 

[KGIII]

Given that it was previously installed, it was probably not Etcher or the USB stick that made the difference.

Of the two remaining choices, again it installed previously - and you had consistent behavior from a few distros. So, it's unlikely to be the checksum.

That leaves the modifier, when you added a modifier to the boot menu - the i915.enable_psr=0 bit.

So, that's the most likely culprit. That's not *definite*, but it's the *most likely*.

You can test this of course. You could simply remove it and see if the freezing resumed. Or, you can just keep on computing happily with your newly installed Linux. I'd suggest making a note of what you did so that you can do so in the future, should you have to reinstall your operating system for one reason or another.

 

[Brickwizard]

@ghosty999 , give it a day or so and if all is still well, please come back and edit the title in your first post to include "Solved"

thanks

 

[KGIII]

please come back and edit the title in your first post to include "Solved"

I think they may have already done that. It wasn't me and the title is changed. So, I have to assume it was them.

I can see the history of edits (and deleted posts), but I can't see title history and I can't see who did the title editing. I dunno why I can't see those things. It's some system limitation, I suppose. (If a button exists to let me see that, I've never found it.)