Playing video completely crashes system

[Kefyr]

Hello everybody,

I have a problem here that I don't think is specific to Kubuntu (22.04) as I was experiencing it on Linux Mint MATE too but as I'm now using Kubuntu and want to keep doing so I want to get to the bottom of it. The problem is that while I am able to play video files after a fresh boot of the system, after using the system for a little while (perhaps an hour or two), any attempt to open a video file of any format and in any program (online videos streamed in websites excluded) will completely crash the system to a black screen (with Mint the screen was just a scrambled mess), so I feel as if it is a hardware issue and I have no idea what to do about it.

The system I'm using is a Macbook Pro 2015 (15 inch). Using ANY GNU/Linux distro has been a living nightmare on this cursed thing but so far Kubuntu seems to be working quite well aside from this machine-breaking bug

Any help would be most appreciated!

[claydoh]

Do you know what graphics card your Macbook has?
if unsure, tke a look in kInfoCenter, or the lspci command and look for graphics adapter info

I know these laptops can take some extra work, but this sort of thing does not seem to be the norm as far as I can tell.

I'd see if you can monitor temps - perhaps it IS a hardware issue, or needs cleaning or something.

[Kefyr]

Do you know what graphics card your Macbook has?
if unsure, tke a look in kInfoCenter, or the lspci command and look for graphics adapter info

I know these laptops can take some extra work, but this sort of thing does not seem to be the norm as far as I can tell.

I'd see if you can monitor temps - perhaps it IS a hardware issue, or needs cleaning or something.

Greetings. Thank you for your reply.

Info Center says the graphics processor is "AMD VERDE" but from I've always understood it to be AMD Radeon R9 M370X as per here. Here's the output of the lspci command either way:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Crystal Well DRAM Controller (rev 08) 
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Crystal Well PCI Express x16 Controller (rev 08)
00:01.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Crystal Well PCI Express x8 Controller (rev 08)
00:01.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Crystal Well PCI Express x4 Controller (rev 08)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI (rev 05)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev
04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #1 (rev d5)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #3 (rev d5)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #4 (rev d5)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM87 Express LPC Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series Chipset Family Thermal Management Controller
(rev 05)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Venus XT [Radeon HD 8870M / R9 M270X
/M370X] (rev 83)
01:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Oland/Hainan/Cape Verde/Pitcairn HDMI Audio [Rade
on HD 7000 Series]
02:00.0 SATA controller: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device a801 (rev 01)
04:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM43602 802.11ac Wireless LAN SoC (rev 01)
05:00.0 Multimedia controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries 720p FaceTime HD Camera
06:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 Bridge [Falcon Ridge 4C 2013]
07:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 Bridge [Falcon Ridge 4C 2013]
07:03.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 Bridge [Falcon Ridge 4C 2013]
07:04.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 Bridge [Falcon Ridge 4C 2013]
07:05.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 Bridge [Falcon Ridge 4C 2013]
07:06.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 Bridge [Falcon Ridge 4C 2013]
08:00.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 NHI [Falcon Ridge 4C 2013]

And yes, I haven't had so many issues as I've had with this laptop but I am stuck with it for the time being unfortunately so I want to be able to fix this problem. The computer does get quite hot regularly but even after letting it cool down if it has been running for over an hour or so, it will crash the system regardless.

Edit: I should also add that this problem never occurred on macOS (and the computer rarely had heating issues on it either as it does now, and this was only a short time ago) so I can only suspect it's an issue with the OS and its interaction with the hardware. I just really do not want to return to macOS for reasons not exactly relevant to this thread. As far as cleaning goes - it was cleaned out not too long ago (maybe a little over 6 months or something).

[ShadYoung]

From what you are saying I tend to agree its hardware, it sounds like a cooling problem. You are possibly getting heat soaked. If this was a PC I would suggest you get into the bios so you can force the fans to 100%, and test it, but I don't know if Macs are the same in that regard. Nor do I know what sensors are exposed to the OS, but I would install Psensors to see if you can get an idea of temps. There is a Macbook fan control program for KDE. Check the link below.

The fact that it is crashing only when launching a video suggests its a hardware decoder chip (or circuit), or associated VRM that might be overheating and/or not getting enough power. Temperature can increase resistance which will drop voltage. Even running idle it may be overheating on some spot on the mobo not related to the cpu. I have seen components running at 120c at idle (they were not far from failure obviously).

I would also disable the compositor and see if that does anything. It may be a graphics memory glitch that creeps up as the system is in use.

https://store.kde.org/p/1130324/

[Kefyr]

*snip*

Thanks for your reply!

The repository for the fan control program doesn't seem to be working. Seems to be quite an old thing so perhaps the repository for it is just kaput nowadays. It says that it was for fans that aren't working and I can say with certainty that the fans are working (they tell me with the noise ). I've attached a reading of normal temperatures while using the computer for basic stuff (web surfing, emails, an online video, etc.) although I'm not even sure what is what exactly. Regardless, I've turned off the compositor and so far so good. Computer has been on for a few hours and still able to play video files. Will post again if problem persists.

Once again, thanks for your assistance

[Kefyr]

Update: Seems it's still doing it despite compositing being turned off

Had no programs running (except of course the usual background processes), computer was totally cool (temperature-wise) sitting on my desk with ample space to breathe then black screen when attempting to play a video...