A almost hard lock in Ubuntu 12.04.

[irv]

First, I install Ubuntu 12.04 Alpha/Beta release back in December of last year. Tested it for bug and never once had to re-install it for any reason. It was one of the most solid releases I found yet.

I keep up with all the updates and upgrades from day one right up and to including the final release. Now it has been running flawlessly up to about 4 weeks ago. When one day it just would not respond to anything. The reason I called it a almost hard lock is because I could still move my mouse pointer and click on things but nothing would happen. I had no choice but to hit the power button and restart the computer.

Now this problem continues to happen. I am one who very seldom turns off his laptop. I will put it in suspend mode when moving from place to place or going out of town. This way when I open the lid I am right back to where I left off. This problem will happen every two to three days. Like I said this was not the case up until about 4 weeks ago.

I know I could just dump everything and re-install, but I have everything just like I want and don't want to go through the hassle of starting all over again.

My question is, is there a log file that I can look at that might tell me what is happening? If it is a app that is doing this I could remove it or re-install it.

Thanks ahead of time for the help.

[ajgreeny]

It could be worth checking the size of the system folders /tmp and /var every so often to see if they are becoming so large with log or temporary files that stop the system from operating properly. This is possible when you have long uptimes as you will get in a system that goes into suspend or hibernate and does not shutdown very often.

An occasional

df -hT

command will tell you the overall disk use in %age terms of all mounted partitions and if any are showing higher than expected figures you can check things in more detail.

[irv]

It could be worth checking the size of the system folders /tmp and /var every so often to see if they are becoming so large with log or temporary files that stop the system from operating properly. This is possible when you have long uptimes as you will get in a system that goes into suspend or hibernate and does not shutdown very often.

An occasional

df -hT

command will tell you the overall disk use in %age terms of all mounted partitions and if any are showing higher than expected figures you can check things in more detail.

This is what I am seeing. But remember I just rebooted a short time ago.

irv@irv-Inspiron-1521:~$ df -hT
Filesystem     Type      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda7      ext4      211G   63G  138G  32% /
udev           devtmpfs  1.9G  4.0K  1.9G   1% /dev
tmpfs          tmpfs     766M  888K  765M   1% /run
none           tmpfs     5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
none           tmpfs     1.9G  2.0M  1.9G   1% /run/shm
/dev/mmcblk0p1 vfat       30G  7.4G   23G  25% /media/3166-3166
/dev/sda2      fuseblk   123G   82G   41G  67% /media/123A57B13A579099
irv@irv-Inspiron-1521:~$

And this is my tmp properties
tmp Properites.png

[ajgreeny]

This is what I am seeing. But remember I just rebooted a short time ago.

irv@irv-Inspiron-1521:~$ df -hT
Filesystem     Type      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda7      ext4      211G   63G  138G  32% /
udev           devtmpfs  1.9G  4.0K  1.9G   1% /dev
tmpfs          tmpfs     766M  888K  765M   1% /run
none           tmpfs     5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
none           tmpfs     1.9G  2.0M  1.9G   1% /run/shm
/dev/mmcblk0p1 vfat       30G  7.4G   23G  25% /media/3166-3166
/dev/sda2      fuseblk   123G   82G   41G  67% /media/123A57B13A579099
irv@irv-Inspiron-1521:~$

And this is my tmp properties
tmp Properites.png

So the disk filling up is not a problem at the moment.

Check again after a few days with no reboot, and compare the figures, then keep repeating the checks.

I may be completely wrong, of course, but it is so easy to do it is worth looking into, I think.

[irv]

Thanks for the advice. I will do this and see what happens. I will also try to see how long before it locks up again.
It also may be when I am running some app. I will start to take notes. Maybe I can pin point it.

[irv]

After putting up with this for awhile now, and if anything, it has gotten worst. It stops responding to mouse and keyboard activities two or three times a day now. It doesn't make any difference what I am doing. I could be running a video, I could be browsing (Chrome or Firefox), it just randomly locks up. I call it a lock up, but I can still move the mouse pointer around the screen but it will not respond to any mouse clicks or keyboard input. The only choice I have is to hold down the power button until it shuts down and then do a restart. If I can't find what is causing this I will have to do a re-install.
If any one has any ideas on what to try please let me know?
Thanks

[nomorn]

I have had random hard freeze problem for quite some months too, mouse cursor was frozen every time.
Turn off the powermizer monitor in the nvidia settings and do not use the nvida temperature in conky seem to fix the random freeze problem for my system.

[irv]

I have had random hard freeze problem for quite some months too, mouse cursor was frozen every time.
Turn off the powermizer monitor in the nvidia settings and do not use the nvida temperature in conky seem to fix the random freeze problem for my system.

I don't have nvida so this can't be my problem. I am thinking about just using 2D to see if it is in the compiz. 2D using metacity.

[irv]

OK, another turn of events. I tried to upgrade to 12.10 Alpha 3 last night, and it end in a disaster, so I ended up back in 12.04 with a clean fresh install again. This time I only installed a few apps that I use regularly so to not add more variables to the equation. I am going to try to run as long as I can without shutting down to see if it locks up.

Will keep you posted with results.

[irv]

Like I said above I will keep you posted on what is happening.
Well I had to restart a few time because of updates and even at that everything seemed to be running OK until today. (one day later).
I was watching some youtube videos and while switching videos it locked up again. I did the Ctrl/Alt F1 to get to a prompt and had to re-login and then ran sudo shutdown now. The computer did shutdown and when I went to power it back on it didn't want to come back on. I had to wait a few seconds and tried again still nothing. I was thinking I might have to pull the battery, but I tried holding down the power button for about 10 seconds when I let up on it, it started up again.
Now this is another fresh install and the problem is still not fixed or solved. Now I wish I didn't mark this thread solved because it isn't. I am back running again but for how long before it locks up, I don't know.