Ubuntu 12.04 freezing when idle for a while

[Kojy]

Hello folks! after the upgraded the OS from Ubuntu 11.10 to Ubuntu 12.04, I'm having a problem. When the pc still idle for a while, the OS freeze, and I need to shutdown forced through the button. Someone can help me about this?

[LakeWind]

Is this on a laptop or desktop? How long is the pc idle before it freezes? Sounds like it could be a driver issue.

Have you tried changing your lock settings? "System Settings" > "Brightness and Lock"... turn off "Lock". Also if this is a laptop, try unchecking "Dim screen to save power".

If this problem persists, I would recommend you back up all your important data and try doing a clean install of 12.04.

[LakeWind]

Forgot to mention when editing your "Brightness and Lock" settings, there's also a setting to "Turn screen off when inactive for:" I believe it defaults to 10 minutes. Select "Never" and see if that helps with the freezing issue.

[Kojy]

LakeWind, it's a Desktop. Pc stay idle more or less 10 min. I alredy tried to change my lock screen settings.
Also, its a clean install version. In Brightness and Lock menu, I selected "Never" to "Turn Screen Off When Inactive For" option, also is selected "off" to lock. There is not "Dim screen to save power" option, it's not a laptop =/. Format is not an option, cuz I work on it, and all the configuration is set up for me, I'll take a long time to set again.

[geoaraujo]

I don't know if it is the same issue, but it's happening on my Kubuntu 12.04 too.

[ilMede]

Hi,
I have a similar problem. After a clean install of 12.04 it happens very often that the system is completely stuck after a random amount of time. It might happen after a minute or after an hour, but it always happens. The only solution is the power button.

Basically the video is still on, but is impossible to move mouse or to use keyboard (not sure maybe is a monitor freeze).
I checked the system/kernel logs, but they don't contain any error.
Please help..

My laptop is Toshiba Equium A200-1V0
Processor type : Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T2310
clock speed : 1.46 GHz
Front Side Bus : 533 MHz
2nd level cache : 1 MB
Operating System / Platform
Genuine Windows® Vista® Home Premium Edition

System memory standard : 2,048 (1,024 + 1,024) MB
maximum expandability : 2,048 MB
technology : DDR2 RAM (667 MHz)
Hard disk capacity : 120 GB
certification : S.M.A.R.T.
drive rotation : 5,400 rpm
DVD Super Multi drive (Double Layer) compatibility : CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-R(DL), DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+R(DL), DVD+RW, DVD-RAM
maximum speed : Read: 24x CD-ROM, 8x DVD-ROM/ Write: 24x CD-R, 4x CD-RW, 10x HS CD-RW, 16x US CD-RW, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-R (Double Layer), 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD+R (Double Layer), 8x DVD+RW, 5x DVD-RAM
type : DVD Super Multi (Double Layer) drive
Display size : 15.4 "
type : Toshiba TruBrite® WXGA TFT display
internal resolution : 1,280 x 800
Graphics adaptor type : Intel® GMA X3100
memory : up to 358 MB total available graphics memory with 2 GB system memory
memory type : shared
Internal video modes The following internal video modes are supported:
resolution : 1,280 x 800
maximum number of colours : 16.7 Million
Max External Video Modes Max Resolution : 2,048 x 1,536
Max Colours : 4.3 billion
Max Refresh Rate : 85 Hz
Non-interlaced resolution with max refresh rate : 1,600 x 1,200
Interfaces 1 × DC-in
1 × external monitor
1 × RJ-45
1 × external microphone
1 × headphone (stereo)
2 × USB 2.0
Expansion 2 × memory slots
1 × ExpressCard slot
Wireless communication Compliancy : Wi-Fi®
Network Support : 802.11b/g
Manufacturer : Realtek
Wireless Technology : Wireless LAN
Wired communication topology : international V.92 modem
speed : 56 Kbps data and 14.4 Kbps fax
topology : Ethernet LAN
speed : 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX

[mckenzis]

I too am having this problem.

I have an AMD64 based system and upgraded from 11.10 (which had been upgraded from (11.04)). I never experienced this with either previous version.

I have an NVIDIA video card.

I checked through the logs but don't see anything that stands out.

As per other users, I have to hit the reset button to recover!

[brianpb]

I have this same problem. Occurs after an upgrade from 11.10 to 12.04. I have a Dell E6420 laptop. Freezes ~twice per day while I am away.

[vectorboson]

I believe I have this same issue. The entire system will freeze when I'm not looking at or interacting with it; sometimes when it's doing something (e.g. compiling), sometimes when it's just sitting around - in any case it happens even with suspend and brightness reduction turned off. This has happened with a wide variety of applications open, and it does not seem to have anything to do with any individual programs. The system does not respond to sysrq commands when it has locked up in this way. The machine is an essentially brand new HP Pavilion dm1-4010us, and it has done this in both a 64-bit installation upgraded from 11.10 and a 32-bit fresh installation of 12.04. I have not encountered any issues on Windows 7.

System specs are:
AMD E-450 Processor
4GB RAM, memtested and it's fine
Radeon HD 6320 Graphics (freezes have happened both with open-source and with proprietary drivers)
Broadcom BCM4313 Wireless controller, which has given me trouble before on 11.10

Though I am by no means an expert, I suspect the wireless controller may be related somehow: on 11.10, before I used the driver workaround in the networking support forum, I was getting much more frequent lockups along with unacceptably terrible wi-fi performance. The sysrq keys DID work for these lockups. Once I did the driver override, wi-fi performance dramatically improved and the lockups became more like the ones described here, and sysrq no longer worked during them. I notice that the wi-fi fix appears to be applied by default in 12.04, as I did not have to do anything to get acceptable performance out of it when I reinstalled.

Anyone who has any theories or ideas for additional tests to perform, let me know and I'll try them as I'm able. I use Ubuntu for work and this is really making it hard to get anything done.

[atom715]

I too have the same problem, on a compaq laptop. I did a clean install on my pc to ubuntu 12.04. The only thing that ever works is the external mouse that i use. i cannot click on anything and this usually happens when my computer is idle after several hours. i leave my pc running for hours and sometimes days before this may occur. i have my brightness and lock settings set to never and not to change anything when the lid is closed. any help would be greatly appreciated.