computer freezes frequently

[Rick Spencer]

Running Xenial. Freezes seem to happen every 5 to 45 minutes. I have not been able to create any repro steps, it feels quite random.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: linux-image-4.4.0-4-generic 4.4.0-4.19
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-4.19-generic 4.4.1
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-4-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.19.4-0ubuntu2
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: rick 1780 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Tue Feb 16 08:26:12 2016
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=36268acb-4215-452f-9778-754c015d00d8
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-02-02 (13 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Alpha amd64 (20160131)
MachineType: TOSHIBA Satellite L15W-B
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-4-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=ed019e52-c90e-48b7-bbe4-ae5d39fea067 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.4.0-4-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.4.0-4-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.155
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 07/16/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 5.00
dmi.board.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.board.name: 0670
dmi.board.vendor: FF40
dmi.board.version: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: TOSHIBA
dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr5.00:bd07/16/2015:svnTOSHIBA:pnSatelliteL15W-B:pvrPSKVUU-00S01U:rvnFF40:rn0670:rvrTobefilledbyO.E.M.:cvnTOSHIBA:ct10:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.name: Satellite L15W-B
dmi.product.version: PSKVUU-00S01U
dmi.sys.vendor: TOSHIBA

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Will Cooke (willcooke)]

Rick's kernel log available here:

http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/15077887/

Line 10556 shows nulls being written to the log and then presumably the machine being rebooted because it has hung.

[Rick Spencer (rick-rickspencer3)]

I can easily grab more kernel.log files if it helps. Just let me know.

[Colin Ian King (colin-king)]

My first suggestion is to ensure thermald is installed, that may help with the thermal controls.

[Colin Ian King (colin-king)]

The copious amounts of messages "toshiba_acpi: Unknown event received 93" are events from the firmware's WMI object; however the proprietary event 0x93 is unknown so I'm not sure what that is without digging into the firmware and perhaps the embedded controller.

[Colin Ian King (colin-king)]

Hi Rick, any MCE log errors available so I can figure out what's causing these?

[Colin Ian King (colin-king)]

Rick, please ignore the above, I am focused on getting MCE logs rather than faffing around with a different kernel at the moment

[Colin Ian King (colin-king)]

And Christopher, the LATEST BIOS tag is not useful in this scenario; I do not want to change the configuration of a brand new machine before we determine the root hardware cause of these errors. Thank you.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Rick Spencer, after a sidebar with Colin Ian King, he has advised since he is taking the lead on this, he wants variables static (e.g. not testing an upstream kernel, not attempting a re-flash of BIOS version of the same or different version) while this is root caused.

Thanks for taking the lead on this Collin!

[Colin Ian King (colin-king)]

Any MCE log data? If not, this bug will automatically close in 6 weeks.

[April Eleanor (ellie187)]

I went ahead and ran apt install mcelog, i'll provide logs the next system freeze that occurs. I have the original posters identical 2-1 toshiba laptop, identical model number and part number and experiencing these identical exact issues and symptoms.

Sensors doesn't seem to be able to detect the fan, but does report CPU temps, but i don't see it going over 60 deg C, .... Web browsers with multiple tabs open seem to force the freeze much faster.. but just idling at the desktop, with a terminal window open causes the freezes as well.

small work around that seems to make the freeze happen far less frequent is to set temp trigger points that when the CPU temp reaches 55 degrees C, I use tlp to lower the CPU speed down to its minimum of 500mhz from its peak of 2.6ghz (in turbo), and 2.16ghz in normal clock speed.

I believe its temp related, as it doesn't freeze nearly as often when the AC is unplugged, and with the battery charging/ac plugged in the temps start to rise quickly.

None of these freezes/heat issues/fan detection issues occur in Windows, but I'd really like to remove that OS asap, and use Ubuntu exclusively.

toshset is a package that is supposed to allow control over various non-legacy bios Toshiba laptops by using ACPI entirely, including fan, bluetooth but the app kicks out the error "required kernel toshiba support not enabled"

and that's with toshiba-wmi and toshiba_acpi modules loaded. (i can try to recompile the kernel with these hardcoded, but i'd rather not recompile the kernel every time i update)

I have been troubleshooting the issue since purchasing the device in Feb '16... I have installed various versions of Ubuntu (14.04lts, 14.10, 15.04lts, 15.10, and now 16.04lts), and have installed various kernels, including new branches 4.6.3 and 4.7 trying to find an end to the lockups. (sysreq REISUB does not work, these are an entire system hard freeze)

i have done the dsdt walkthroughs i found elsewhere on the web to pull as much info from the bios of the system, which created several files: dsdt.dat/dsdt.dsl and all the subsequent ssdt*.dat/ssdt*.dsl files, if those would help at all.

Let me know what you need, I'm highly motivated to get this issue resolved, as its been frustrating me for months.

[April Eleanor (ellie187)]

I'll provide any information needed for the devs, since RIck stopped answering.

[Jim (candlejackson)]

I'm receiving constant toshiba_acpi: Unknown event received 93 ,but I'm not really experiencing any issues. Anything I can do to assist, I'd like to clear this as well.

[April Eleanor (ellie187)]

For those with this same toshiba satellite L15W-Bxxx and have constant freezing,

I have a work around for you.

sudo nano -w /etc/default/grub

pass these kernel arguments:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="acpi_osi=Linux acpi_call intel_idle.max_cstate=1 intel_pstate=enable video=i915"

well, the most important two is intel_idle.max_cstate=1 intel_pstate=enable

intel_idle.max_cstate=1 will allow your baytrail processor to idle, some reason the kernel doesn't know how to idle the CPU properly so it runs on full speed at all times, and bursting to its turbo speed under load hastens the overheating, with no way to keep the core cool, even when there is nothing really running, just ends with a frustrating hard lock, and resetting the power is the only way to recover, but there is nothing in the dmesg, kern.log, fail.log, etc. using MCE logs, it only says a thermal hardware event occurred.

intel_pstate=enable this will allow you to set scaling frequency using thermald, sensor and tlp, (several guides on how to set these up, I can't sensors and pwm to detect any fans so if anyone has figured that out, let us know), but with these packages, my processor, when nothing intensive is going on it can scale between 500mhz to 2.16ghz on battery, and 1.5ghz-2.6ghz with ac in, and is able to shut down cores as need be as well. I set powersave mode for when its running on battery and performance mode when ac is plugged in.... I have not had a single issue with lock up and freezing anymore. So that ended my 6 months of frustration.

But I still get "toshiba_acpi: Unknown event received 93" nonstop, but now my system isn't freezing within 15-180 minutes after bootup anymore, in that regard i'm pretty stoked.

I'll upload my dsdt.dsl and ssdt*.dsl files, it shows some undefined values/errors the kernel receives from the motherboard EFI/bios, i'm not sure if this is what is causing issues, or if it even matters, but following a guide online that shows how to decompile the dsdt, there is a way to recompile it with the corrections, and supposed to solve any issues with the kernel communicating with the hardware on the motherboard, but my knowledge with this particular is rather thin as you can tell... so i'll add the attachments.

hopefully someone can make heads or tails out of it

[April Eleanor (ellie187)]

my work around allowed me to go back to mainline kernel and still no freezing, its now working as I was expecting to out of the box. I think its still a bug of some type.

[ken (trasnochao)]

hi! any news for this bug? my satellite no frezzing but my log it full with "toshiba_acpi: Unknown event received 93" any info for stop that error?