I am running an ubuntu machine and it crashes randomly. By "crashing" I mean it completely freezes, i.e. no HDD activity, no response to peripherals, and the display output is frozen.
At the moment of the crash, there is no log in the system describing any error or anything at all that takes place every time of the crash.
I have looked at the following logs:
All log files are located in /var/log directory. In that directory, there are specific files for each type of logs. For example, system logs, such as kernel activities are logged in syslog file.
Some of the most common log files in that directory is :
In directory apt there is a file history.log which saves all the package installation and removal information even the initial system build as Live CD. You can open this file to see this very interesting file.
In directory dist-upgrade there is a file apt.log which logs the information during distribution upgrades
In directory installer the log files which are created during installation can be found.
There is an apport.log file which saves information about crashes in your system and reporting them.
The file auth.log includes information about the authentication activities such as when you authenticate as root user via sudo.
The file dpkg.log saves the low level details of package installation and removal related with dpkg. You might be aware that the apt system depends on dpkg for package installation and removal.
boot.log includes information of each booting.
kern.log saves kernel information such as warnings, errors etc.
alternatives.log includes the history of all the alternatives set by various packages and their removal via update-alternatives command.
Another important log file is Xorg.log which include information about the graphics driver, its failures, warnings etc.
Some other types of Log files may be there depending on your installed packages. For example, My system also includes a log files epoptes.log which will only be there if you install epoptes package.
Changes after systemd
With the advent of systemd, logging is mostly handled by journalctl utility and store the logs in binary format in /var/lib/systemd/catalog/database file. This file enumerates all logs including kernel, boot and application logs and provides required logs via journalctl utility.
Here is a good article on journalctl on how you can use it to fetch required log info.
Things I tried and did not work:
- Different HDDs
- Check memory health with uefi
- Check CPU Health with uefi
- Enable/disable disk encryption
- Different versions of ubuntu
- Enabling/disabling C states
- Different values of memory refresh rates
- A bunch of different permutations of all the settings in the uefi
Question: Is there anyway I can get a log message to debug this problem?
System details:
uname -a
Linux %%% 5.3.0-46-generic #38-Ubuntu SMP Fri Mar 27 17:37:05 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Hardware details
description: Desktop Computer
product: To Be Filled By O.E.M. (To Be Filled By O.E.M.)
vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
serial: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
width: 64 bits
capabilities: smbios-2.8 dmi-2.8 smp vsyscall32
configuration: boot=normal chassis=desktop family=To Be Filled By O.E.M. sku=To Be Filled By O.E.M. uuid=78F29E90-B692-0000-0000-000000000000
*-core
description: Motherboard
product: H110M-STX
vendor: ASRock
physical id: 0
*-firmware
description: BIOS
vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
physical id: 0
version: P8.10
date: 04/01/2019
size: 64KiB
capacity: 6MiB
capabilities: pci upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer acpi usb biosbootspecification uefi
*-cache:0
description: L1 cache
physical id: 8
slot: L1 Cache
size: 128KiB
capacity: 128KiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back data
configuration: level=1
*-cache:1
description: L1 cache
physical id: 9
slot: L1 Cache
size: 128KiB
capacity: 128KiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back instruction
configuration: level=1
*-cache:2
description: L2 cache
physical id: a
slot: L2 Cache
size: 1MiB
capacity: 1MiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back unified
configuration: level=2
*-cache:3
description: L3 cache
physical id: b
slot: L3 Cache
size: 8MiB
capacity: 8MiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back unified
configuration: level=3
*-cpu
description: CPU
product: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: c
bus info: cpu@0
version: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz
serial: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
slot: CPUSocket
size: 3557MHz
capacity: 3600MHz
width: 64 bits
clock: 100MHz
capabilities: lm fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp x86-64 constant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch cpuid_fault epb invpcid_single pti ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 hle avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid rtm mpx rdseed adx smap clflushopt intel_pt xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves dtherm arat pln pts hwp hwp_notify hwp_act_window hwp_epp md_clear flush_l1d cpufreq
configuration: cores=4 enabledcores=4 threads=8
*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: d
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 32GiB
*-bank:0
description: SODIMM DDR4 Synchronous 2400 MHz (0.4 ns)
product: KHX2400C14S4/16G
vendor: Kingston
physical id: 0
serial: 18044524
slot: ChannelA-DIMM0
size: 16GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 2400MHz (0.4ns)
*-bank:1
description: SODIMM DDR4 Synchronous 2400 MHz (0.4 ns)
product: KHX2400C14S4/16G
vendor: Kingston
physical id: 1
serial: 19044024
slot: ChannelB-DIMM0
size: 16GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 2400MHz (0.4ns)
*-pci
description: Host bridge
product: Xeon E3-1200 v6/7th Gen Core Processor Host Bridge/DRAM Registers
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 100
bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
version: 05
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
configuration: driver=skl_uncore
resources: irq:0
*-display
description: VGA compatible controller
product: HD Graphics 630
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
version: 04
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
resources: irq:126 memory:de000000-deffffff memory:c0000000-cfffffff ioport:f000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff
*-usb
description: USB controller
product: 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family USB 3.0 xHCI Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 14
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.0
version: 31
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi xhci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=xhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:124 memory:df110000-df11ffff
*-usbhost:0
product: xHCI Host Controller
vendor: Linux 5.3.0-46-generic xhci-hcd
physical id: 0
bus info: usb@1
logical name: usb1
version: 5.03
capabilities: usb-2.00
configuration: driver=hub slots=10 speed=480Mbit/s
*-usb:0
description: Keyboard
product: USB Receiver
vendor: Logitech
physical id: 3
bus info: usb@1:3
version: 29.01
capabilities: usb-2.00
configuration: driver=usbhid maxpower=98mA speed=12Mbit/s
*-usb:1
description: Bluetooth wireless interface
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: a
bus info: usb@1:a
version: 0.01
capabilities: bluetooth usb-2.00
configuration: driver=btusb maxpower=100mA speed=12Mbit/s
*-usbhost:1
product: xHCI Host Controller
vendor: Linux 5.3.0-46-generic xhci-hcd
physical id: 1
bus info: usb@2
logical name: usb2
version: 5.03
capabilities: usb-3.00
configuration: driver=hub slots=4 speed=5000Mbit/s
*-generic
description: Signal processing controller
product: 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family Thermal Subsystem
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 14.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.2
version: 31
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi cap_list
configuration: driver=intel_pch_thermal latency=0
resources: irq:18 memory:df12e000-df12efff
*-communication
description: Communication controller
product: 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 16
bus info: pci@0000:00:16.0
version: 31
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=mei_me latency=0
resources: irq:127 memory:df12d000-df12dfff
*-sata
description: SATA controller
product: Q170/Q150/B150/H170/H110/Z170/CM236 Chipset SATA Controller [AHCI Mode]
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 17
bus info: pci@0000:00:17.0
logical name: scsi1
version: 31
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: sata msi pm ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list emulated
configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
resources: irq:125 memory:df128000-df129fff memory:df12c000-df12c0ff ioport:f090(size=8) ioport:f080(size=4) ioport:f060(size=32) memory:df12b000-df12b7ff
*-disk
description: ATA Disk
product: TOSHIBA THNSNK12
vendor: Toshiba
physical id: 0.0.0
bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sda
version: 4101
serial: 778S10RHT1UT
size: 119GiB (128GB)
capabilities: gpt-1.00 partitioned partitioned:gpt
configuration: ansiversion=5 guid=c5ad6057-3899-438f-b2a0-d01e4ed9d913 logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=4096
*-volume:0
description: Windows FAT volume
vendor: mkfs.fat
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0,1
logical name: /dev/sda1
logical name: /boot/efi
version: FAT32
serial: 6bc8-b933
size: 510MiB
capacity: 511MiB
capabilities: boot fat initialized
configuration: FATs=2 filesystem=fat mount.fstype=vfat mount.options=rw,relatime,fmask=0077,dmask=0077,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro name=EFI System Partition state=mounted
*-volume:1
description: EXT4 volume
vendor: Linux
physical id: 2
bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0,2
logical name: /dev/sda2
logical name: /boot
version: 1.0
serial: 5f514558-2659-4fd3-83f0-5121d5c2b4fb
size: 732MiB
capabilities: journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover 64bit extents ext4 ext2 initialized
configuration: created=2020-04-06 09:41:00 filesystem=ext4 lastmountpoint=/boot modified=2020-04-24 09:24:12 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime mounted=2020-04-24 09:24:12 state=mounted
*-volume:2
description: EFI partition
physical id: 3
bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0,3
logical name: /dev/sda3
serial: d5edebae-120f-4190-9d11-2220c0c419b5
size: 118GiB
capacity: 118GiB
width: 422782464 bits
capabilities: encrypted luks initialized
configuration: bits=13307684352 filesystem=luks hash=sha256 version=2
*-pci:0
description: PCI bridge
product: 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #5
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1c
bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
version: f1
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport
resources: irq:122
*-pci:1
description: PCI bridge
product: 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #7
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1c.6
bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.6
version: f1
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport
resources: irq:123 memory:df000000-df0fffff
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168NGW [Stone Peak]
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
logical name: wlp2s0
version: 10
serial: 18:1d:ea:6a:51:b2
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=5.3.0-46-generic firmware=29.1654887522.0 ip=192.168.43.129 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
resources: irq:128 memory:df000000-df001fff
*-isa
description: ISA bridge
product: H110 Chipset LPC/eSPI Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
version: 31
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: isa bus_master
configuration: latency=0
*-memory UNCLAIMED
description: Memory controller
product: 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family Power Management Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
version: 31
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz (30.3ns)
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:df124000-df127fff
*-multimedia
description: Audio device
product: 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family HD Audio Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
version: 31
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=32
resources: irq:129 memory:df120000-df123fff memory:df100000-df10ffff
*-serial
description: SMBus
product: 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family SMBus
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.4
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.4
version: 31
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
configuration: driver=i801_smbus latency=0
resources: irq:16 memory:df12a000-df12a0ff ioport:f040(size=32)
*-pnp00:00
product: PnP device PNP0c02
physical id: 1
capabilities: pnp
configuration: driver=system
*-pnp00:01
product: PnP device PNP0c02
physical id: 2
capabilities: pnp
configuration: driver=system
*-pnp00:02
product: PnP device PNP0c02
physical id: 3
capabilities: pnp
configuration: driver=system
*-pnp00:03
product: PnP device PNP0b00
physical id: 4
capabilities: pnp
configuration: driver=rtc_cmos
*-pnp00:04
product: PnP device INT3f0d
vendor: Interphase Corporation
physical id: 5
capabilities: pnp
configuration: driver=system
*-pnp00:05
product: PnP device PNP0c02
physical id: 6
capabilities: pnp
configuration: driver=system
*-pnp00:06
product: PnP device PNP0c02
physical id: 7
capabilities: pnp
configuration: driver=system
*-pnp00:07
product: PnP device PNP0c02
physical id: e
capabilities: pnp
configuration: driver=system
*-pnp00:08
product: PnP device PNP0c02
physical id: f
capabilities: pnp
configuration: driver=system
