Freezing Using OpenMandriva

Support
1

Hello,

Requirements:

[x] I have Searched the forum for my issue and found nothing related or helpful
[x] I have checked the Resources category (Resources Index)
[x] I have reviewed the Wiki for relevant information
[x] I have read the the Release Notes and Errata

OpenMandriva Lx version:

cat /etc/release
OpenMandriva Lx release 6.0 (Vanadium) Rock for znver1

cat /etc/os-release
NAME=“OpenMandriva Lx”
VERSION=“6.0 (Vanadium) Rock”
ID=“openmandriva”
VERSION_ID=“6.0”
PRETTY_NAME=“OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 (Vanadium) Rock”
BUILD_ID=“20250420.02”
VERSION_CODENAME=“vanadium”
ANSI_COLOR=“1;43”
LOGO=“openmandriva”
CPE_NAME=“cpe:/o:openmandriva:openmandriva_lx:6.0”
HOME_URL=“http://openmandriva.org/”
BUG_REPORT_URL=“GitHub · Where software is built”
SUPPORT_URL=“https://forum.openmandriva.org”
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL=“Terms of service - OpenMandriva”

Desktop environment (KDE, LXQT…):
KDE Plasma 6; X11

System running on real hardware using OpenMandrivaLx.6.0-snapshot.20250420.3895-plasma6x11.znver1.iso ( Show - Product 6.0 plasma6.x11 ryzen - Platform 6.0 - Openmandriva ABF ), image was transferred to USB using Rufus dd mode

Description of the issue (screenshots if relevant):

Like a couple other people, I have had some freezing issues since switching to OpenMandriva. When one happens, I can still control the mouse, but the visuals stop completely. I am unable to interact with anything and am forced to turn off the computer with the power button. Audio input and output work as normal during a freeze. I do not think keyboard inputs register, but due to the visuals freezing, I am not certain. The freezing mainly happens after performing certain actions, such as unplugging a monitor without deactivating it in settings or launching a game while on a discord call, though neither with 100% consistency (these could be coincidence, but they’ve happened enough times that I think they’re probably related). Freezes do also, on occasion, happen with no immediately apparent cause, and I’ve even had them happen when I was away from the computer and had no intensive software running, though these are less common.

Relevant information (hardware involved, software version, logs or output…):

I can be rather heavy on my RAM usage, and have had freezes that, at first glance, have seemed to have happened because of heavy load when using video editing software and/or VirtManager, but I am unsure as to whether RAM is the cause because the issue persisted even after activating ZRAM and because I ran a mem-test that passed. I also have Brave, Steam, Discord, XP-Pen tablet drivers, and ProtonVPN running 99% of the time. I have also already attempted to resolve this issue via a reinstall of OpenMandriva, and while it did stop for a time, it eventually came back, so results are inconclusive. Additionally, I’ve never had a freeze happen when booted into Windows, even when trying to deliberately cause one through repeatedly unplugging and re-plugging a monitor (though I am in Windows infrequently nowadays). Finally, I imagine I am also, compared to most here, newer to Linux and PC building, so there is a possibility of me overlooking something.

dmesg.txt (141.9 KB)

journal.txt (4.3 MB)

inxi.txt (3.5 KB)

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Welcome @Novan to OpenMandriva community and our forum.

3

Welcome.

Please use the code tag for command output:

cat /etc/release
OpenMandriva Lx release 6.0 (Vanadium) Rock for znver1

What things have you tried from your search? Are you using a nvidia card (possibly with HDMI or a hybrid graphics such as a notebook PC)? If you are, and it’s a 1650 or newer, you need to use the open driver. There is a pinned topic on the testing for that which explains how to install it, and you will need to use that going forward. Otherwise, you may want to get an AMD gpu in the very near future.

That isn’t really relevant.

I’m not sure what other distros you have tried, but we tend to use newer versions of things. If your system has firmware updates, you should probably make sure they are done. I would recommend the manufacturer’s utility for that.

Lastly, you are using packages that we do not build but provide as a convenience (i.e. Discord, Steam, and Brave). If resolving the video driver issues doesn’t work, you may need to contact them.

4

Welcome

I just went through your hardware list. It looks like you’re using an iGPU?

As for zram, it looks like you’ve set it for up to half your ram - typically zram would limit things to 8GB:

From my Rock install:

Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 8 GiB used: 62.2 MiB (0.8%) dev: /dev/zram0

So you could be tripping into that depending on what you’re doing.

I notice you’re also using zram for /tmp and /var/tmp

  ID-3: /tmp size: 1.96 GiB used: 223.4 MiB (11.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/zram1
  ID-4: /var/tmp size: 1.96 GiB used: 21.9 MiB (1.1%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/zram2

Anything in /var is expected to last between reboots, so moving it to ram can cause trouble; whereas /tmp in ram can be useful. A better approach though is to use tmpfs in your fstab. From my fstab:

# Move /tmp to ram
#========================================================================
tmpfs      /tmp          tmpfs   noatime,nodiratime,mode=1777             0 0
#========================================================================

If you want to squeak out a little more performance move the user cache to ram also - again using tmpfs in fstab

# Move user cache to ram
#========================================================================
tmpfs      /home/dude/.cache     tmpfs   noatime,nodiratime,mode=1777             0 0
#========================================================================

An option that you could take if ram issues are actually at the root of it, would be to switch to a swap file (rather than using zram) and use zcache instead - that just sets up a cache for your swap, which may work better in your case if you keep swapping to ram.

That’s what just jumped out at me from your post. Other than Brave, I actually don’t use the rest of the software.

And while I do use Rock, I have not been able to duplicate what you’re dealing with.
Also, I have not had the chance to go through your dmesg or journal

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Also, if you are using an iGPU, they use shared ram - so you would have to adjust any settings there in the bios

Generally for what you say you do, I would imagine you’d want to maximize the portion of your ram for video (typ 1 or 2 gb) depending on bios

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Thank you both for your help, first of all, it’s much appreciated!

For added context, this is my first Linux distro on PC, second overall if counting my Steam Deck, which I’ve had for a couple of years and have done some modding on, so while I’m not a 100% Linux beginner, I’m still decidedly a novice. In hindsight, I probably could have been clearer about this.

I apologize for that, I though I had.

The primary thing I’ve tried is installing and activating zram-init, as well as unsuccessfully fiddling with the settings (more on that below). After that didn’t work out, I felt as though I had exhausted my meager Linux knowledge, so I shifted my focus to gathering as much information as possible to get better help here.

I am currently using a Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT and an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, so I do have an AMD GPU and I do not have an iGPU to use. Additionally, all the computer parts I own are already being used in this machine.

The large RAM size has also stuck out to me as a possible cause, and I tried to solve it before, and thought I did by editing /etc/systemd/zram-generator.conf.txt, but it appears that I was wrong. I attempted to fix it again today by uninstalling and reinstalling zram-init, (while also making sure to not reinstall /var/tmp), but it seems to be defaulting to the large size. I’ve tried to fix this by editing /lib/systemd/zram-generator.conf and trying on zram-generator.conf.txt again, but neither worked. I’ve also noticed that the post on this forum that I used to set up zRAM (which I’ve linked below) says that the file /etc/modprobe.d/zram.conf should be created automatically when installing zRAM, but this is not happening on my computer, which is likely relevant if I were to hazard a guess.

https://forum.openmandriva.org/t/post-installation-how-to-improve-performance-and-stability-with-zram/4249

I have done this now, I think that I’ve done it right, but I’m not sure, I’ll attach my fstab below. If this doesn’t work, I’ll figure out how to do the swap-zcache method you suggested and try it.

fstab_of_freezing_machine.txt (623 Bytes)

Could you point me to where I can find out how to do this?

Once again, thank you!

7

OK, so there’s a few things going on here (which may or may not be related to the issue at hand…)

First off, with a discrete GPU my note about adjusting shared ram doesn’t apply. The GPU has what it has (which is a heckuva lot more ram than a shared one - and it’s faster too). So you can ignore that note.

Second: go to Foxclone.com download it, make a livekey and back up your system. Typically, you should only need to back up your root partition.

If you want to spend money go to TerabyteUnlimited and get their full suite. An awesome set of tools, but you’d have to learn to use them.

I use both Terabyte and Foxclone. Anyway…

From your hardware list it looks to me like you have 7 drives (a man after my own heart :+1: :grin: :+1: ) and you are booting from the Kioxia 500GB.

Pick one of your other drives that has plenty of room, create a folder (I’d name it “DriveImages”) and that’s where we’ll store the backups.

If you can do a reinstall of Rock do it. Clean sweep, this will reset everything. Make a backup using foxclone. Now do a system update. Make a backup using foxclone.

At this point your fstab should (sorta) look like this:

# <file system>             <mount point>  <type>  <options>  <dump>  <pass>
UUID=44C6-066B                            /boot/efi      vfat    defaults,noatime,umask=0077 0 2
UUID=19e7c4a5-174d-42cb-96d9-5fc82901390e /              ext4    defaults,noatime 0 1

Nothing else.

Those 2 entries are both on your Kioxia. There are 2 terminal commands you will find useful:

lsblk

df -h

While you can (and I encourage you to) read the man pages for both, lsblk lists the block devices and df shows how much space is available.

Under lsblk you should see a line like this:

zram0          253:0    0    8G  0 disk  [SWAP]

That is the ROCK default zram swap. Leave it alone.

Since you’re new to linux AND we are in debug mode don’t mess with loading things into ram (like /tmp or user cache). That can be done later.

Also, that forum post you used is 5 years old (we likely need to flag it) as parts of it no longer apply with the newer kernels and zram versions.

To add your other drives so they start automatically use the GUI program (KDE Partition Manager).

Now add the other repositories for ROCK. Stay on Rock.

While I should have said so earlier, use the program “System Update” from the main menu rather than the terminal. Then reboot. Then make another backup.

Does this seem like a pain in the arse? It is, until you actually screw something up and realize it’s faster to restore a backup than reinstall. As in seriously faster. (ask me how I learned this…)

Now we install software. Install the software that seems to be causing problems.

Set it up

Make a backup.

Now I’m going through your journal and dmesg. I notice you’re running a number of things through flatpacks. They have their own issues and you need to check with them. Because flatpacks are isolated from the system.

Also, when flatpacks need to talk to each other that can cause problems. Are you attempting to use steam and discord through the vpn?

And you’re using kdeconnect to talk to your phone/tablet?

If you don’t mind my asking, what are you running virt-manager for? Running virtual machines is kinda jumping into the deep end without your water-wings as a linux noob. Doable. Admirable. But will cause ram issues if you’re not paying attention.

Now if you really want to tweak, these are mostly harmless (especially if you’re using foxclone like I said).

Just copy this as is into your fstab

# Move /tmp to ram
#========================================================================
tmpfs      /tmp          tmpfs   noatime,nodiratime,mode=1777             0 0
#========================================================================

For the user cache (which will make Brave a little smoother) you’re going to copy this WITH 1 CHANGE into your fstab:

# Move user cache to ram
#========================================================================
tmpfs      /home/dude/.cache     tmpfs   noatime,nodiratime,mode=1777             0 0
#========================================================================

Do you see where is says " /home/dude/.cache "?

Replace “dude” (my username) with your username - based on your journal “christian”. So it would read:

# Move user cache to ram
#========================================================================
tmpfs      /home/christian/.cache     tmpfs   noatime,nodiratime,mode=1777             0 0
#========================================================================
  • in your uploaded fstab you had my username which wouldn’t help you on your system.

At this point I will confess, I’m not sure where to go other than run it for a while and see. Flatpacks can cause issues, especially if they need to interact with each other.

And using one for a vpn + steam + discord can cause lockups if they get out of synch

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Thank you very much! I’ve followed your instructions exactly and am currently reinstalling my software to try and find anything that may be causing the issue. Unfortunately, like you said at the end of your post, due to how the freezing was happening, it will probably be some time before I can say whether this fixed the issue or not.

Yes, I was doing that. I prefer to always have my vpn on, but Proton’s linux installation page does not currently offer anything such as a tar.gz or AppImage, so pickings are currently slim for OM. I was using the flatpak, which is built from the official source code, but is itself unofficial. Going forward, I think I’ll be doing the WireGuard configuration option

Yes to this as well.

Absolutely! I had a few reasons for using it. Firstly, I want access to Adobe products. Secondly, I like having a VM around to isolate any software that I don’t find trustworthy, particularly in regards to privacy (Zoom, for example, which was actually the software the first made me decide to set up a VM), but not just for that. Finally, I simply like having the convenience of being able to access Windows without having to subject myself to the torture of living in it.

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`proton-vpn-gtk-app` is in our repository and up to date.

1 Like
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As Lee said, we have the proton vpn in the repo.

Just keep backing things up with foxclone. That app (and terabyte) has saved me countless hours of work. Right after making any major changes, or before an update run it.

It’s like taking a snapshot of a vm. Speaking of which…

  • Running windows in a vm (:+1:)
  • Take a snapshot of any VM before you update
  • Having a VM talk to a vpn (especially one running in a flatpack) can also lock things up when too many errors arise. So that’s another thing to pay attention to.

What you might want to look into is setting up your vpn on your router. So it will cover everything (tablet, phone, puter, whatever). Then it’s one less thing you need to deal with on the pc

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Is there a way to install it on ROCK? I tried installing ithe package via the command line, but it returns an error saying there’s no match. pkgs.org also says that its only available for rolling, and while moving to ROME is my long term goal, I’m definately not ready for that yet.

I like the sound of that quite a bit, but the head of my household works from home and needs a direct and stable connection to the router to work. They would (understandably) never sign off on me tinkering with it.

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Oh I missed where you mentioned Rock. Right now flatpak will be your best option until the next release of Rock or you decide to switch to Rome repos.

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Both wireguard and openvpn are in the repo for Rock (that’s what I’m running).

I just went through the docs over at protonvpn and it’s pretty much your choice which one you use. FWIW, they say that the proton vpn app for the cli uses wireguard.

Obviously the flatpack avoids the experimenting. But as someone who likes to tinker, I’d set up a virtual machine using the Rock - doesn’t have to be fancy (or make liberal use of foxclone) and see if you can get the vpn (wireguard or openvpn) working.

According to the proton website, they’ve gone hard for the gnome environment anyway.

Longer term you can also build your own router :smiling_face_with_horns: with OPNSense or PFSense and put it between your computer and the main household router. Now you’re on a separate network.

You can even build that router in a virtual machine (many people do).

I hope I helped somewhat, because atm I feel like I’m leaving you where you started

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It’s alright, thanks for your help! You’ve given me a lot of good tools and practices. I’ll bbe looking into making a router of my own. I also decided to give the proton flatpack another try with not much else on the computer besides steam and brave, and got another freeze, so while I’m not certain, its possible the problem was found after all. I think my computer is sending a message that wireguard is definately the way to go, at least until I move over to ROME.

2 Likes
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Awesome. If you would then, can you mark the thread as “solved”?

You may need to select the solution post. I’m not sure (I still think in terms of old style forums rather than discourse)

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