Score:1

Computer randomly crashing

cn flag

My laptop Asus Zenbook UX410U with Ubuntu 18.04, kernel 5.4.0-91-generic has been suffering random crashes, some of them even happening during booting. Also, I have noticed that some times when the computer boots, the BIOS seems to not load or some times it takes too much time to do it. I attach below a picture showing how one of these crashes look like enter image description here

I am looking for some help on how to diagnose the problem (and eventually solving it). I want to point out that I tried booting Ubuntu from a USB device, and it worked fine.

EDIT:

If I am not mistaken these problems started not long after running sudo apt upgrade.

guiverc avatar
cn flag
You didn't provide any specifics as to which kernel stack you're using (*Ubuntu LTS provide two alternate stack choices for LTS releases; with Ubuntu Desktop 18.04 LTS that is selected by the ISO used to install but can be changed post-install too*). I had two old laptops that performed better with GA kernel stack choice (*your screen reminded me of them so check what you're using as maybe switching to GA stack may help if you're using HWE; it may not though*)
Nmath avatar
ng flag
*"I tried booting Ubuntu from a USB device, and it worked fine"* - This tells us that the problem is something on your installed system. When did the problem begin? What changes did you make to your installed system in the time leading up to the problem's onset? If you aren't sure and don't have any idea what could be causing this, I suggest that you reinstall the OS.
cn flag
@guiverc I added the kernel information. Thanks!
cn flag
@Nmath May it be possible that the problem is actually the hardware?
Nmath avatar
ng flag
Unlikely, if the problem doesn't persist in a live session using the same hardware
cn flag
@guiverc Do I have the kernel that you suggest? If not, how can I switch to another kernel?
cn flag
@Nmath These problems started some days ago not long after running "sudo apt-upgrade". Do you know how to roll-back these upgrades?
guiverc avatar
cn flag
I had a quick look and your hardware is newer than the laptops I had issue with (*where two were fine if installs used 18.04.4 or earlier media was used; but not after it upgraded to 5.4 kernel at 18.04.5 with displays like what you showed; another box didn't like 5.3 or 5.4 but its issue didn't match your picture; but all were great on the GA kernel stack). See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack where you can have both stacks installed for comparison; & optionally remove the other if you want to save a little disk space & update bandwidth (both stacks will get updated).
guiverc avatar
cn flag
We can't know how you can roll back changes; as we don't know what backup strategy you've put in place to do this. You can select older kernels at `grub` during boot (how you choose which stack you'll use each session in my prior comment if both stacks are installed), or you can use *live* media to test some alternate kernels (*within limits; bionic is old so no dailies etc exist any longer for it*)
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