Fed up. Random lockups are back with a vengeance.

[jlittle]

... The parts about needing a live disk (why?! why can't this be done on its own?)...

Unfree software. The original memtest86 was free but was a 32 bit BIOS programme, and with the UEFI version it became encumbered with restrictions. Having booted a computer in UEFI mode, BIOS programmes can't run, hence the live disk and boot settings.

Sent from my VFD 822 using Tapatalk

[DoYouKubuntu]

I hope your son's Gazelle doesn't too, GG. This is my second System76 laptop, and I had no hesitation whatsoever about buying it. In fact, I really was so focused on S76 that I didn't seriously consider anything else. But, damn!, what a difference from the old one to the new one.

My old one was six years old, and had run essentially problem-free all that time. It did need a new keyboard 2-3 years ago, which I did myself (my first time inside a laptop for anything other than a hard drive--it was fun!). I want to believe that S76 is not at fault, i.e., that the computer isn't actually a lemon, but at this point, I just don't know.

But, yes, their method of memory testing leaves MUCH to be desired. I had no idea how convoluted it was, nor did I know the details which you've explained so well. I don't want to say this will stop me from buying another S76, but it will give me pause.

I've been intending to buy a Meerkat, which is technically a desktop, but I'd use as a server. I'm kind of glad now that I've been farting around so long I haven't ordered it yet!

[GreyGeek]

I can understand why! It has scared me off from ever buying a System76 PC.

Booting with QEMU means it is acting as a hardware interface layer between the actual hardware and the Linux kernel. It takes the place of libc6+ which interfaces between the hardware layer and the Linux kernel in a normal x86_64 setup. It also means that no amount of upgrading from the Kubuntu repository will ever fix a System76 QEMU problem. The qemu-system-x86 package in the repository isn't to upgrade the QEMU that the System76 uses. Normally, in Kubuntu, QEMU emulates a full system, including a processor and various peripherals and backends the KVM.

It appears that to run a qemu-kvm VM there is a special procedure, which appears to change from LTS to LTS.

My son owns a System76 Gazelle (I think it is about 6-8 years old) and I installed Kubuntu 20.04 on it. It runs beautifully, and its on top of BTRFS. Now, I'm hoping that it doesn't develop the kind of trouble that you are having.

[DoYouKubuntu]

GG, I got scared off by the System76 info! The parts about needing a live disk (why?! why can't this be done on its own?), but mostly the part about mucking with the BIOS mode. You're aware of how...wrong things have gone for me with this laptop...I just don't want to take ANY chances on further screwing it up!

[GreyGeek]

GG, please see this reply in this thread as to why GRUB isn't an option.

I was hoping that memtester would be able to provide relevant information to narrow down this annoying locking-up problem. (I'm afraid to say this out loud, but it hasn't happened lately! From the point I dumped QtCurve, it's only happened once. I stared at the screen when it happened, and made note that KCalc was running [in addition to my normal stuff] at the time.)

Interesting. Your System76 reference requires that you boot from a LiveCD and use its memtest86+ option in its Grub menu to test the RAM:

Memory

To run a memory test on your computer, we need to use a live disk with Ubuntu. We also need to change the BIOS settings from UEFI mode to BIOS mode. If you press the key indicated on boot to get into BIOS (F2 for laptops, and DEL for most desktops), there will be a toggle between the two modes.

Once you switch to BIOS mode, restart, and use the key to boot from other drives (F7 for laptops, and F12 for most desktops) to select the USB. Right after you select the USB for boot, start tapping the ESC key to get into the GRUB boot menu. If you accidentally get to a GRUB command prompt, type in the word normal, press Enter, then immediately press ESC. Grub is available for only a second, so if you miss the opportunity, turn your computer off and try again.

In the grub boot menu, choose Memory test (memtest86+). Right as memtest loads (blue screen), press F2 to enable multi-core mode. Wait at least 20 minutes for the tests to run, or until any errors are shown in red. If any errors are found, please run it again in single core mode, and let it run overnight to check for any memory errors. 6 to 8 passes are minimally recommended. If memory errors show up, the memory stick should be replaced.

When I've used memtest86+ I always let it run over night on the entire memory stack.

I didn't see that post your linked to about System76 and when I looked at it this time and checked out your links and what they imply I was stunned.

The Boot Default screen:

What stunned me was the phrase "QEMU Standard PC ..."
In trying to determine what that meant I found this in WIkipedia

System emulation
In this mode QEMU emulates a full computer system, including peripherals. It can be used to provide virtual hosting of several virtual computers on a single computer. QEMU can boot many guest operating systems, including Linux, Solaris, Microsoft Windows, DOS, and BSD;^[6] it supports emulating several instruction sets, including x86, MIPS, 32-bit ARMv7, ARMv8, PowerPC, SPARC, ETRAX CRIS and MicroBlaze.

I learned something new today: this is just one of the many powers that QEMU has, besides acting as hardware for the KVM.

Now I am wondering if it is possible to install another ISO onto a System76 laptop and overwrite or bypass Quick EMUlation? I doubt it.

The System76 BIOS doesn't give many options and what I've learned in researching this makes me question choosing a laptop from System76.

[DoYouKubuntu]

GG, please see this reply in this thread as to why GRUB isn't an option.

I was hoping that memtester would be able to provide relevant information to narrow down this annoying locking-up problem. (I'm afraid to say this out loud, but it hasn't happened lately! From the point I dumped QtCurve, it's only happened once. I stared at the screen when it happened, and made note that KCalc was running [in addition to my normal stuff] at the time.)

[GreyGeek]

Memory testings is an option in the grub menu:

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry '[B]Memory test (memtest86+)[/B]' {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod btrfs
    set root='hd0,msdos1'
    if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
      search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1  ce2b5741-c01e-4b3d-b6ba-401ad7f7fcdf
    else
      search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root ce2b5741-c01e-4b3d-b6ba-401ad7f7fcdf
    fi
    knetbsd    /@/boot/memtest86+.elf
}
menuentry '[B]Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200[/B])' {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod btrfs
    set root='hd0,msdos1'
    if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
      search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1  ce2b5741-c01e-4b3d-b6ba-401ad7f7fcdf
    else
      search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root ce2b5741-c01e-4b3d-b6ba-401ad7f7fcdf
    fi
    linux16    /@/boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}

And, the ELF binary executables are under /boot :

~$ vdir /boot/mem*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 182704 Aug 18  2020 /boot/memtest86+.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 184380 Aug 18  2020 /boot/memtest86+.elf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 184884 Aug 18  2020 /boot/memtest86+_multiboot.bin

Is there some reason why you can't use it?

I haven't used the grub memory test in years, but when I did run it all I had to do was start and and let it run for as long as I wanted. I let it run over night. You might want to let it run longer.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Last night I installed memtester, thinking maybe it would help...somehow. I gave it a spin, but I'm wondering if anyone here is really familiar with it, and can guide me on how best to use it for the problem described in this thread. So, for example, running it overnight, then collecting its info and using that to figure out...something. Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

[DoYouKubuntu]

What's the longest RAM test you've run since the problem started?
Most people run the RAM test for one cycle and if they don't get any problems they call it good. A better run would be over night.

I haven't run a memory test, GG. As noted ^ up there somewhere, the System76 instructions for doing this call for a live disk, and mucking about with the BIOS mode. Considering how things have gone for me with this laptop, I am not keen on going there.

You can get separate wallpapers for different virtual desktops with a wallpaper plugin like "Vallpaper" (https://store.kde.org/p/1197828/). Last I checked, it doesn't really work with the cube (the wallpaper changes only after you switch to a new desktop), but the cube is sort of "meh" to me, anyway. The configuration options for Vallpaper are extensive, and it can take a bit of effort to get it right (but on the positive side you do get a lot of options).

Yes, I tried Vallpaper (probably at your suggestion! I don't recall right now who it was), but it was clunky and not what I wanted. The ONLY reason I [recently] used multiple desktops was for the fun of having a beautiful, nine-sided cube, each with its own wallpaper (and widgets, when I knew I was going to show off to someone coming over). Like this from 2012:



Before I got sick, I used to use multiple desktops to organize tasks. For example, Internet-related stuff on one desktop, graphics on another, office utilities on another, and so on. Now, I just want my beautiful cube back!

[jlittle]

+1 for Vallpaper. The cube (ctrl-f11) is a bit of a gimmick, looks cool but the scroll-wheel on the desktop or the pager widget are faster, and animate with the correct images with Vallpaper.

[kubicle]

But aside from that, other things--like no longer having separate wallpaper per desktop--seem like a *BIG* step backward. I used to turn heads (window$ users) spinning my desktop cube, displaying each desktop with its own wallpaper and widgets, and popping in and out...they didn't even know what 'multiple desktops' WERE, let alone that they could act independently of each other, AND be displayed on a cube you could rotate.

You can get separate wallpapers for different virtual desktops with a wallpaper plugin like "Vallpaper" (https://store.kde.org/p/1197828/). Last I checked, it doesn't really work with the cube (the wallpaper changes only after you switch to a new desktop), but the cube is sort of "meh" to me, anyway. The configuration options for Vallpaper are extensive, and it can take a bit of effort to get it right (but on the positive side you do get a lot of options).

[GreyGeek]

What's the longest RAM test you've run since the problem started?
Most people run the RAM test for one cycle and if they don't get any problems they call it good. A better run would be over night.

[DoYouKubuntu]

@jlittle, I hear you! It's really gotten kind of ridiculous how many things control how many things... I used to know exactly what to choose to get the look I wanted, but now, as you noted, it takes a combination of different things. And, sometimes, settling for less-than-perfect results.

I have screenshots from previous versions that show how beautiful my desktops looked; comparing them to what I have now, it's actually quite disappointing. QtCurve, as its own entity, is still good, but some of its components no longer work, and I want them back.

But aside from that, other things--like no longer having separate wallpaper per desktop--seem like a *BIG* step backward. I used to turn heads (window$ users) spinning my desktop cube, displaying each desktop with its own wallpaper and widgets, and popping in and out...they didn't even know what 'multiple desktops' WERE, let alone that they could act independently of each other, AND be displayed on a cube you could rotate.

Now? For the first time in my Linux life, I've set my number of desktops to 1. Without separate wallpapers, I no longer have any pressing desire to use more than one desktop. And I've been multi-desktop for nearly 40 years!

As for my lockups, I had one today, so there goes the 5-day streak. But that's still better than multiple lockups per day. I really think there's a conflict...clash...somewhere, something that isn't obvious to me, but that happens at certain times/events and freezes everything up. I thought I was finally on to something, since the lockups stopped immediately after losing QtC, but now I don't know what to think.

[jlittle]

I posted the result of system settings, application style, click "configure settings" on the QtCurve choice, export. If you are not importing your QtCurve settings, but just copying them into .local/share/QtCurve, conceivably some validation by using "import" might help.

However, comparing your choices with mine, most of them are different, but not in any startling way. I can't set the titlebarButtonColors; the settings sub-window for them is unresponsive. I imagine the "window decorations" theme sets them.

In KDE plasma these days there's complicated interactions between the colour scheme, application style, window decorations, and the compositor. I get quite confused and frustrated, and bash away changing this and that till I get something acceptable. It doesn't help that I find the KDE default Breeze themes and anything gnomish awful. However, plasma theming gets less buggy with every release, and the various download settings options have amazing choices. (I wish the plasma widgets had a similar wealth of choices.)

So your hangs are provoked by some complex interaction between lots of things. My guess would be kwin, because when plasmashell fails the raw windows still work, including the X root window. (In the early days of plasma the combination of kwin and the nVidia driver for my on-board graphics caused lots of hangs, and sometimes I could get past them by killing and restarting kwin from a linux console.)

[DoYouKubuntu]

I'm a QtCurve devotee from wayback too. I've never had plasma problems attributable to QtCurve, and in the early days of plasma I had lots of problems...

Would you like to export your QtCurve settings and post them here?

Absolutely. But I have two settings files, one in /usr/share/QtCurve and the other in ~/.local/share/QtCurve, and they're different; I'll post both.

/usr/share/QtCurve/Breeze.qtcurve:

[ActiveShadows]
Color=75,75,75
ColorType=5
HOffset=10
Size=29
VOffset=20

[KWin]
BorderSize=3
CustomShadows=true
EdgePad=3
InnerBorder=0
OuterBorder=0

[Settings]
activeTabAppearance=customgradient3
animatedProgress=false
appearance=customgradient3
bgndAppearance=customgradient3
bgndGrad=horiz
bgndImage=none
bgndOpacity=100
boldProgress=false
borderInactiveTab=false
borderMenuitems=false
borderProgress=false
borderSbarGroove=false
borderSelection=false
borderTab=true
buttonEffect=shadow
centerTabText=true
colorMenubarMouseOver=true
colorSelTab=0
colorSliderMouseOver=false
coloredMouseOver=colored
coloredTbarMo=false
comboBtn=none
comboSplitter=false
crButton=true
crColor=none
crHighlight=0
crSize=15
customAlphas=0
customMenuNormTextColor=#000000
customMenuSelTextColor=#000000
customMenuTextColor=false
customShades=1.16,1.07,0.9,0.78,0.84,0.87
customgradient1=none,0,0.85,0.5,0.85,1,0.85
customgradient2=none,0,1,0.5,1,1,1
customgradient3=none,0,1,1,1
darkerBorders=false
defBtnIndicator=glow
dlgOpacity=100
doubleGtkComboArrow=false
drawStatusBarFrames=false
dwtAppearance=flat
dwtSettings=0
embolden=false
etchEntry=false
expanderHighlight=3
fadeLines=false
fillProgress=true
fillSlider=true
flatSbarButtons=true
focus=line
forceAlternateLvCols=false
gbFactor=0
gbLabel=9
glowProgress=none
grooveAppearance=customgradient2
groupBox=none
gtkButtonOrder=false
gtkComboMenus=true
gtkScrollViews=false
handles=flat
hideShortcutUnderline=true
highlightFactor=2
highlightScrollViews=true
highlightTab=false
inactiveTitlebarAppearance=flat
invertBotTab=false
lighterPopupMenuBgnd=15
lvAppearance=flat
lvButton=false
lvLines=false
mapKdeIcons=true
menuBgndAppearance=flat
menuBgndGrad=horiz
menuBgndImage=none
menuBgndOpacity=100
menuDelay=225
menuIcons=true
menuStripe=none
menuStripeAppearance=flat
menubarAppearance=flat
menubarApps=VirtualBox,smplayer,amarok,arora,kcalc,kaffeine
menubarHiding=0
menubarMouseOver=true
menuitemAppearance=flat
noBgndGradientApps=
noBgndImageApps=
noBgndOpacityApps=dragon,smplayer,vmplayer,vmware,inkscape,totem,kaffeine,kscreenlocker,sonata
noMenuBgndOpacityApps=vmplayer,vmware,inkscape,gtk,totem,sonata
noMenuStripeApps=soffice.bin,gtk
passwordChar=9679
popupBorder=false
progressAppearance=customgradient3
progressColor=origselected
progressGrooveAppearance=customgradient1
progressGrooveColor=base
reorderGtkButtons=false
round=slight
roundAllTabs=true
roundMbTopOnly=false
sbarBgndAppearance=flat
scrollbarType=none
selectionAppearance=customgradient2
shadeCheckRadio=origselected
shadeMenubarOnlyWhenActive=false
shadeMenubars=none
shadePopupMenu=true
shadeSliders=#3DAEE9
shading=hsl
sliderAppearance=customgradient2
sliderFill=true
sliderStyle=circular
sliderThumbs=none
sliderWidth=9
smallRadio=true
sortedLv=none
splitterHighlight=3
splitters=none
square=2
statusbarApps=kde
statusbarHiding=0
stdBtnSizes=false
stdSidebarButtons=false
stripedProgress=none
stripedSbar=false
sunkenAppearance=customgradient3
tabAppearance=customgradient3
tabBgnd=2
tabMouseOver=glow
tbarBtnAppearance=none
tbarBtnEffect=none
tbarBtns=standard
thin=0
thinSbarGroove=false
titlebarAlignment=left
titlebarAppearance=flat
titlebarButtonAppearance=flat
titlebarButtons=2189
titlebarEffect=none
titlebarIcon=menu
toolbarAppearance=flat
toolbarBorders=none
toolbarSeparators=flat
toolbarTabs=true
tooltipAppearance=flat
unifyCombo=true
unifySpin=true
unifySpinBtns=false
useHighlightForMenu=true
useQtFileDialogApps=googleearth-bin
vArrows=false
version=1.8.14
windowBorder=41
windowDrag=3
xCheck=false
xbar=false

~/.local/share/QtCurve/mytheme.qtcurve:

[KWin]
BorderSize=3
InnerBorder=0
OuterBorder=0

[Settings]
activeTabAppearance=soft
animatedProgress=true
appearance=shinyglass
bgndAppearance=soft
bgndGrad=horiz
bgndImage=none
bgndOpacity=100
boldProgress=true
borderInactiveTab=false
borderMenuitems=true
borderProgress=true
borderSbarGroove=true
borderSelection=true
borderTab=true
buttonEffect=shadow
buttonStyleMenuSections=true
centerTabText=false
colorMenubarMouseOver=true
colorSelTab=0
colorSliderMouseOver=false
coloredMouseOver=plastik
coloredTbarMo=false
comboBtn=#D8D8D8
comboSplitter=true
crButton=true
crColor=selected
crHighlight=0
crSize=15
customAlphas=0
customMenuNormTextColor=#000000
customMenuSelTextColor=#000000
customMenuTextColor=false
customShades=1.16,1.07,0.9,0.78,0.84,0.75
customgradient1=3d,0,1.2,0.5,1,1,1
customgradient2=3d,0,0.9,0.5,1,1,1
darkerBorders=true
defBtnIndicator=glow
dlgOpacity=100
doubleGtkComboArrow=true
drawStatusBarFrames=true
dwtAppearance=shinyglass
dwtSettings=93
embolden=true
etchEntry=true
expanderHighlight=3
fadeLines=true
fillProgress=true
fillSlider=true
flatSbarButtons=false
focus=line
forceAlternateLvCols=true
gbFactor=-3
gbLabel=9
glowProgress=end
grooveAppearance=raised
groupBox=faded
gtkButtonOrder=true
gtkComboMenus=true
gtkScrollViews=true
handles=1dot
hideShortcutUnderline=false
highlightFactor=3
highlightScrollViews=false
highlightTab=false
inactiveTitlebarAppearance=shinyglass
invertBotTab=true
lighterPopupMenuBgnd=2
lvAppearance=raised
lvButton=true
lvLines=true
mapKdeIcons=true
menuBgndAppearance=shinyglass
menuBgndGrad=horiz
menuBgndImage=plainrings
menuBgndOpacity=100
menuCloseDelay=300
menuDelay=200
menuIcons=true
menuStripe=none
menuStripeAppearance=soft
menubarAppearance=flat
menubarApps=VirtualBox,smplayer
menubarHiding=0
menubarMouseOver=true
menuitemAppearance=shinyglass
noBgndGradientApps=
noBgndImageApps=
noBgndOpacityApps=totem,vmware,sonata,smplayer,vmplayer
noMenuBgndOpacityApps=totem,vmware,sonata,gtk,vmplayer
noMenuStripeApps=soffice.bin,gtk
nonnativeMenubarApps=
onlyTicksInMenu=false
passwordChar=8727
popupBorder=true
progressAppearance=shinyglass
progressColor=origselected
progressGrooveAppearance=inverted
progressGrooveColor=dark
reorderGtkButtons=false
round=slight
roundAllTabs=true
roundMbTopOnly=true
sbarBgndAppearance=shinyglass
scrollbarType=kde
selectionAppearance=soft
shadeCheckRadio=none
shadeMenubarOnlyWhenActive=false
shadeMenubars=none
shadePopupMenu=false
shadeSliders=selected
shading=hsl
shadowSize=30
sliderAppearance=shinyglass
sliderFill=true
sliderStyle=round
sliderThumbs=1dot
sliderWidth=21
smallRadio=false
sortedLv=selected
splitterHighlight=3
splitters=1dot
square=1545
statusbarApps=kde
statusbarHiding=0
stdBtnSizes=true
stdSidebarButtons=true
stripedProgress=diagonal
stripedSbar=true
sunkenAppearance=bevelled
tabAppearance=soft
tabBgnd=0
tabMouseOver=glow
tbarBtnAppearance=shinyglass
tbarBtnEffect=shadow
tbarBtns=raised
thin=0
thinSbarGroove=false
titlebarAlignment=center
titlebarAppearance=shinyglass
titlebarButtonAppearance=raised
titlebarButtonColors=#27C6FF,#27C6FF,#27C6FF,#27C6FF,#CECECE,#000000,#27C6FF,#000000,#000000,#FFFFFF,#FFFFFF,#FFFFFF,#FFFFFF,#FFFFFF,#000000,#000000,#000000,#000000,#1A89AE,#1A89AE,#1A89AE,#1A89AE,#1A89AE,#000000,#000000,#000000,#000000
titlebarButtons=10289
titlebarEffect=none
titlebarIcon=title
toolbarAppearance=shinyglass
toolbarBorders=light
toolbarSeparators=sunken
toolbarTabs=false
tooltipAppearance=raised
unifyCombo=true
unifySpin=true
unifySpinBtns=false
useHighlightForMenu=false
useQtFileDialogApps=
vArrows=false
version=1.9.0
windowBorder=52
windowDrag=1
xCheck=true

My favourite QtCurve feature is the ability to get thin and very visible scroll bars.

Yes! And so much more. I love the fine, FINE tuning QtCurve allows, like choosing your own symbol for obfuscating passwords--I like the good old asterisk! Visually, for my tastes, QtC is by far the most beautiful style.