Ubuntu 20.04 Server Randomly Crashes After Installing Desktop

mrjamin07

11/28/23, 4:21 PM

I have Ubuntu 20.04 server running on dedicated HP Proliant DL120 G7 hardware (Xeon E31230 3.2GHz, 32GB RAM, 4x 1TB SATA, Embedded Matrox G200).

The server is stable without any issues until I install a desktop (either ubuntu-desktop/gdm3 or xfce/lightdm). After the desktop is installed, the server is functional for a period of time, before randomly crashing and refusing to reboot normally. A hard reset allows the server to reboot, and the behaviour repeats.

Note that I only access the desktop via xRDP, but crashes happen regardless of whether a session is logged in or not.

I'm not a particularly advanced Linux user, so I'm struggling to know where to start to try and diagnose the cause of this problem. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

=====

The hardware spec is something I didn't consider fully, but might actually be the problem. Running:

lspci -v -s 01:00.1

Returns

01:00.1 VGA compatible controller: Matrox Electronics Systems Ltd. MGA G200EH (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
    Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company MGA G200EH
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
    Memory at f9000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=16M]
    Memory at fbde0000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
    Memory at fb000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8M]
    Expansion ROM at 000c0000 [virtual] [disabled] [size=128K]
    Capabilities: [a8] Power Management version 3
    Capabilities: [b0] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
    Capabilities: [c0] Express Legacy Endpoint, MSI 00
    Kernel driver in use: mgag200
    Kernel modules: mgag200

From the looks of that output, the system only has 16MB of video RAM. I'm not sure if this is shared from the main system memory or not. But as you say, that doesn't bode well for running a GUI.

0 + 2

desktop-environments

Esther

11/28/23, 4:25 PM

any logs from when the server crashes? /var/log/syslog, or use dmesg

matigo

11/28/23, 10:28 PM

Which display resolution were you using? Looking at [the tech specs](https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c02793595), that machine probably has a limit of 64 or 128MB RAM being dedicated to the video system, which would make any graphical environment struggle

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