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Dutch_Master

Member

Registered: 2018-05-31

Posts: 285  

[SOLVED] Random freeze on ASCII

Recently the desktop started freezing randomly after a CPU upgrade. Prior to that I was able to play 2 video streams concurrently (using different media players) but now playing even one video stream crashes the desktop, freezing it completely. Keyboard and mouse no longer respond, a hard reset is the only way to regain control. But after a few such events the OS borks itself and a fresh install is required (and time consuming, as well as getting old now

A short-ish mkv file played fine, a longer mp4 video crashed the system. There are no logs, due to the hard reset, so no trace options available.

Apart from the CPU, the rest of the system hasn't changed. The old CPU was an AMD A8-5600K, the new one is the A10-PRO-8750B, both APU's. I've tried the R7 GPU as well as the nVidia GT710 card, both are supported in the respective drivers. Made no difference, so currently the GT710 card is in use. Other key components are: 4x8GB DDR3-1333 RAM, Samsung EVO850 120GB SSD. mainboard: Gigabyte F2A88X-D3H.

For the moment, not playing video, the system seems stable, but I'd like to give this a thorough stress-test so if the new APU is faulty I can reclaim the expense from the seller. Is there a way to do that?

TIA!

dice

Member

Registered: 2020-11-22

Posts: 559  

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Random freeze on ASCII

Maybe try it out on a more recent kernel release, perhaps upgrade to beowulf?

Dutch_Master

Member

Registered: 2018-05-31

Posts: 285  

Re: [SOLVED] Random freeze on ASCII

Upgrade to Beowulf is a no-go, as it doesn't do how I like doing things, particularly regarding su. Current kernel is 4.9.0-15 so well after the release of this hardware. I've tried getting Funtoo running on it, but ran into an issue with some Grub dependencies which failed compiling. I may have another go (it has a 5 series kernel).

chris2be8

Member

Registered: 2018-08-11

Posts: 307  

Re: [SOLVED] Random freeze on ASCII

Try memtest86 (first single threaded, then multi). If that fails it's not the OS causing it.

Could you put the old CPU back in and see if that still works OK?

Try running watch sensors in another window and see if the system gets too hot under load. If you have another system log on to the faulty one (eg by ssh) and run it. That way you could still see the last screenful of output.

Try other stress tests. If it's stable under CPU load but not graphically intensive ones that might point to the error.

But it's odd the OS needs to be re-installed after a few crashes. What are the symptoms in that state?

Chris

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: London

Registered: 2019-03-24

Posts: 3,125  

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Random freeze on ASCII

Have you installed the amd64-microcode package?

I'd like to give this a thorough stress-test so if the new APU is faulty I can reclaim the expense from the seller. Is there a way to do that?

https://pkginfo.devuan.org/cgi-bin/poli … e&q=stress

---

Brianna Ghey — Rest In Power

Dutch_Master

Member

Registered: 2018-05-31

Posts: 285  

Re: [SOLVED] Random freeze on ASCII

I hadn't installed the amd64-microcode package. So that's done now.

Meanwhile, I had another crash, while avoiding playing video files. During several failed boots the kernel hung on a message complaining about ECC memory signatures not present (it's non-ECC DDR3). I've now taken out 3 RAM sticks so now running on 1x 8CB. Playing mkv video finished fine, am mp4 crashed after a while (ca 4 min in). I've also removed the nVidia GPU, so now on the R7 APU.

Stress looks interesting, I'll install it and see what it can do.

Dutch_Master

Member

Registered: 2018-05-31

Posts: 285  

Re: [SOLVED] Random freeze on ASCII

So, what a difference a few days make. It turns out the problem was of my own making, typical PEBKAC! I'd forgotten to update the BIOS and the old version didn't support he 'new' APU. (insert facepalm smiley)

ralph.ronnquist

Administrator

From: Battery Point, Tasmania, AUS

Registered: 2016-11-30

Posts: 1,251  

Re: [SOLVED] Random freeze on ASCII

🤦