MX Linux keeps crashing [Solved]

[lenalemon]

Hello,
I'm new to Linux, I managed to install MX 23.5 x64 well, but unfortunately I have the problem that MX Linux crashes a while after starting (between 5 and 20 minutes) and not even resetting the computer helps, only turning it off and on again, then rebooting. I can't see a reason for the crash, because everything worked fine before. It also seems to be independent of the apps that are open. First the system stops responding, then the taskbar disappears and the window is dark except for 2 icons and doesn't respond to mouse or keyboard input. I'm sending the system report here and hope that the underlying hardware is clear from it and I'm asking for help.

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-31-amd64 [6.1.128-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-31-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.38 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.20.0 vt: 7
    dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.5_x64 Libretto Jan 12  2025 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: ASUS product: All Series v: N/A serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: H87-PRO v: Rev X.0x serial: <superuser required> BIOS: American Megatrends
    v: 2104 date: 10/28/2014
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-4770 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Haswell gen: core 4 level: v3
    note: check built: 2013-15 process: Intel 22nm family: 6 model-id: 0x3C (60) stepping: 3
    microcode: 0x28
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache: L1: 256 KiB
    desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 8 MiB desc: 1x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2488 high: 3900 min/max: 800/3900 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq
    governor: ondemand cores: 1: 3401 2: 3399 3: 800 4: 800 5: 3404 6: 800 7: 3900 8: 3400
    bogomips: 54404
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW; STIBP: conditional; RSB
    filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Ellesmere [Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: GCN-4 code: Arctic Islands process: GF 14nm built: 2016-20 pcie:
    gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s ports: active: DVI-D-1,HDMI-A-2
    empty: DP-1,DP-2,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:67df class-ID: 0300 temp: 42.0 C
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.20.0 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2960x1050 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 784x278mm (30.87x10.94") s-diag: 832mm (32.75")
  Monitor-1: DVI-D-1 mapped: DVI-D-0 pos: right model: EIZO NANAO S1910 serial: <filter>
    built: 2005 res: 1280x1024 hz: 60 dpi: 86 gamma: 1.2 size: 376x301mm (14.8x11.85")
    diag: 482mm (19") ratio: 5:4 modes: max: 1280x1024 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-2 mapped: HDMI-A-1 pos: primary,left model: BenQ G2200W serial: <filter>
    built: 2008 res: 1680x1050 hz: 60 dpi: 90 gamma: 1.2 size: 473x297mm (18.62x11.69")
    diag: 559mm (22") ratio: 16:10 modes: max: 1680x1050 min: 720x400
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: AMD Radeon RX 480 Graphics (polaris10 LLVM 15.0.6 DRM
    3.49 6.1.0-31-amd64) direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK 8
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:8c20 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 3
    speed: 8 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aaf0 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-31-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: ASUSTeK H81M-C
    driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 111.79 GiB used: 12 GiB (10.7%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: SanDisk model: EMTEC X150 120GB size: 111.79 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 61.3
    scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 20 GiB size: 19.52 GiB (97.59%) used: 11.81 GiB (60.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6
    maj-min: 8:6
  ID-2: /home raw-size: 25.4 GiB size: 24.83 GiB (97.77%) used: 195.7 MiB (0.8%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda7 maj-min: 8:7
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 16 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda8
    maj-min: 8:8
  ID-2: swap-2 type: file size: 4 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -3 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 34.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 42.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 1229
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2289 libs: 1202 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/mxlinux/packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:
  Processes: 270 Uptime: 0m wakeups: 3 Memory: 15.56 GiB used: 1.15 GiB (7.4%) Init: SysVinit
  v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

[j2mcgreg]

Suggest that you disable hardware acceleration in both Chrome and Firefox. See here:
https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/enab ... in-browser

[lenalemon]

Firefox is installed and I had already deactivated hardware acceleration. The problem also exists when no browser is open.

[Adrian]

Can you run the Live for an hour or so to rule out software issue, if it still crashes it means it's a hardware issue, keep an eye on the temperature of the system.

[j2mcgreg]

Firefox is installed and I had already deactivated hardware acceleration. The problem also exists when no browser is open.

On that basis, I think that your PSU needs to be replaced. It's the crashing five minutes after a cold start that makes this a real possibility.

[CharlesV]

I would suggest
1) removing xfce4-screensaver.
2) Install xscreensaver
3) set the time out for something like 2 hrs, then set it back to never

and test.

Edit: this appears to be the same things as we have seen in the aftermath of the debian update a while back. Several posts refer and have been fixed by the above.

[lenalemon]

#4 Unread post by Adrian » Thu Feb 27, 2025 7:22 pm
Can you run the Live for an hour or so to rule out software issue, if it still crashes it means it's a hardware issue, keep an eye on the temperature of the system.

Live system 90 minutes without problems, so the cause is probably not a hardware defect, which I don't suspect either, since this system runs extremely stable in everyday life with a different configuration.

#6 by CharlesV » Thu Feb 27, 2025 8:35 pm
I would suggest
1) removing xfce4-screensaver.
2) Install xscreensaver
3) set the time out for something like 2 hrs, then set it back to never
and test.

I will try this

Thanks for all the answers so far!

[lenalemon]

Uninstalling and installing the xscreensaver worked, but I wasn't sure about the settings. "time out" didn't mean anything to me and I couldn't find any screensaver settings to turn it off completely. The problem still persists.
I could imagine that it would be helpful to completely turn off the screensaver and, above all, the energy saving settings to narrow down the problem, but I don't know how to deactivate everything and I need help.
Or are there any other ideas?

[CharlesV]

Start xscreensaver and go to the Advanced tab. Check and then uncheck Power Management Enabled. (ie when you close that tab, it should be unchecked!)

Then go to power manager
On the system tab:
- Set Power Saving to suspend, then change the Inactive to say 15 min ( on both battery and plugged in tab if both show )

On the display tab
- Set Put to sleep after say 15 min
- Switch after to 59 min
make sure the Display button is on
exit the app

Now, go back in and change the settings to Never if you dont want it to sleep, etc etc..

We have seen the settings get messed up, so doing the above dance seems to get them setup properly again.

testing - you might want to set the "15 min" as mentioned above to say 5 min and see if your machine does it properly AND that you can come out of it properly... Then set it all to never and see how that works.

[m_pav]

Having a few thoughts up my sleeve, I'm initially leaning a bit towards what j2mcgreg said, but in a slightly different direction. I'm going to postulate a few things to consider.

With an 11yo Desktop PC, the capacitors will be ageing and drying out in both the PSU and on the Motherboard, these will cause instability under certain situations and with Linux, it typically exhibits as graphics anomalies and a variety of awkward things leading towards crashes. When the E-Caps degrade, they do not perform the power smoothing needed to give a constant and quiet power delivery and depending on the design, this can either be seen as over-voltage leading to hot circuits or under supply leading to browning, both can look the same and both will cause irreversible damage. Please do not discount this as a potential reason for your issues, a quality PSU in good condition is a very significant factor in achieving system reliability.

You spoke of how the display degraded to a point of becoming non-functional, so it's feasible to be looking towards your Graphics card and driver. The problem with our QSI is it doesn't list the actual graphics card so we can't do a fuller search on it, but I'm taking this is roughly the same age as the rest? If the above exists, your graphics card will be suffering.

Now, lets move onto drivers. Our MX-AHS builds may be a better fit because they include more modern drivers and use a Liquorix kernel, which a few folk here, including myself find that they can improve quite a number of things. My 9 yo daily driver benefits greatly when using ahs with the Liquorix kernel. Keep in mind the Liquorix kernel increases the system clock frequency from 250hz to 1000hz, so it's ready to accept an interrupt 1000 times a second vs 250 times per second with the stock Debian Kernel. This has an effect on your power consumption, and your entire system's IO will drop marginally as a result, though it will feel snappier overall.

Whatever you find to work for you, do not neglect to have your PSU tested, or take it out and get an eyeball on the capacitors. Even the slightest hint od bulging in the caps will indicate they are at less than 30% of their rated impedance, which is not a good sign. If only one is bulging, then all the e-caps will need to be replaced, cheaper to get another PSU.