Hey everyone,

I’m running into a frustrating issue and could use some guidance on how to pinpoint the faulty component.

My system completely locks up every few hours. It’s not just a DE crash; the entire machine becomes unresponsive. The mouse and keyboard are completely dead (no cursor movement, Caps Lock key doesn’t toggle). I’ve tried waiting 10-15 minutes to see if it recovers, but it never does.

REISUB does not work. Holding Alt + SysRq and pressing the keys in order does nothing. The only way out is a hard reset using the case button.

The last time this happened, I ended up buying components for a new computer and replaced them one by one until I found the faulty one. I’d rather try a more targeted approach this time. Though if it takes too much effort, I do have another computer I can fall back on.

Any advice on how to diagnose this efficiently? Logs to check, stress tests to run, or hardware to suspect first?

Thanks in advance!

  • shoveler@piefed.socialEnglish
    1·
    2 hours ago

    This does sound like a hardware problem:

    1. Find the motherboard brand/model # and memory brand/model.
    2. Check the motherboard’s manufacturer’s support page for compatible memory with that specific motherboard. Also check their forum for similar problems and solutions.
    3. Unplug all non-critical peripherals ( might be a driver issue).
    4. Swap the two (or more) memory sticks, see if that changes the freezing somehow.
    5. Check mother board manufacturer for updated BIOS, especially if the new BIOS addresses memory concerns.
    6. If the BIOS doesn’t have a memory test, Try MemTest86+.
    7. If it’s not the hardware, the BIOS, or the BIOS settings: Boot a live USB stick, see if the problem still exists ( might be a corrupt install somewhere; backup data and install a different distro; on a different drive if available; or stick (a backup of?) the boot drive in a different machine).
    8. Dig into the logs, as mentioned elsewhere.