Random Freeze
"Freeze anywhere, anytime!"
"Now, my laptop freezes almost anywhere - in cafes, bars, offices and even in toilets! Astonishing!" (happy Ubuntu user)
"I thought it was a joke, in the first place, but now I know, that it is possible all thanks to Ubuntu!" (another happy Ubuntu user)
"My server up-times have decreased 96% since I started using Ubuntu Dapper Drake with Random Freeze technology!" (system administrator)
"I think, that Random Freeze is the feature, that could bring a lot of new people into the Linux world." (Linux sales manager)
(In case no-one noticed - this post is full of sarcasm and that's because of the fact that I'm sick of random freezes in Ubuntu. I really love this distro and I use it every day, but facts are facts.)
Ok, since a lot of people come here searching for solutions, I will post mine. This solution is based on my own experience and I hope that it'll help some angry souls. The only thing you have to do is edit your xorg.conf file. The problem origin is in ATI proprietary drivers (fglrx) and if you don't use them then this solution is NOT for you.
Now, open up your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file as root and find your video card configuration section (btw, I hope you've backed up your xorg.conf 
) and replace that section with the following text (ATTENTION! Make sure that you don't change the 'Identifier' line - leave it as it was before! Otherwise X won't start!):
Section "Device"
#Leave the Identifier unchanged!
Identifier "aticonfig-Device[0]"
Driver "fglrx"
VendorName "All"
BoardName "All"
Option "VBERestore" "on"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "true"
Option "locked-userpages=0"
Option "no_accel" "no"
Option "no_dri" "no"
Option "DynamicClocks" "on"
Option "mtrr" "on"
Option "DesktopSetup" "Single"
Option "ScreenOverlap" "0"
Option "Capabilities" "0x00000000"
Option "CapabilitiesEx" "0x00000000"
Option "VideoOverlay" "on"
Option "OpenGLOverlay" "off"
Option "CenterMode" "off"
Option "PseudoColorVisuals" "off"
Option "Stereo" "off"
Option "StereoSyncEnable" "1"
Option "FSAAEnable" "no"
Option "FSAAScale" "1"
Option "FSAADisableGamma" "no"
Option "FSAACustomizeMSPos" "no"
Option "FSAAMSPosX0" "0.000000"
Option "FSAAMSPosY0" "0.000000"
Option "FSAAMSPosX1" "0.000000"
Option "FSAAMSPosY1" "0.000000"
Option "FSAAMSPosX2" "0.000000"
Option "FSAAMSPosY2" "0.000000"
Option "FSAAMSPosX3" "0.000000"
Option "FSAAMSPosY3" "0.000000"
Option "FSAAMSPosX4" "0.000000"
Option "FSAAMSPosY4" "0.000000"
Option "FSAAMSPosX5" "0.000000"
Option "FSAAMSPosY5" "0.000000"
Option "UseFastTLS" "0"
Option "BlockSignalsOnLock" "on"
Option "UseInternalAGPGART" "no"
Option "ForceGenericCPU" "no"
Option "KernelModuleParm" "agplock=0"
Option "PowerState" "1"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection
Now restart your computer (orjust xorg) and the freezes should go away.
April 26th, 2006 - 23:36
зачот
))
April 27th, 2006 - 06:57
Unfortunately Random Freeze® is not supported on my hardware. My Dapper remains free of freezing
Maybe it will work in Edgy Eft.
April 27th, 2006 - 07:33
froll, спасибо %)
chrisgoerner,
Have you updated your Dapper recently? Maybe this would help…
I feel great pity for you, because I’m getting the time of my life using this feature
May 6th, 2006 - 21:14
Off topic
S proshedshim dnjom rozhdenija!
(Pjotr tozhe rjadom sidit)
May 26th, 2006 - 06:05
Maybe you shouldn’t bitch about beta software.
May 26th, 2006 - 08:18
Hi, Tim. Yes, maybe I shouldn’t, but this is my blog and I write what I want to write. By the way, as I already told – this post is a joke. In fact, I can’t wait for Efty! I think, I’ll install it when flight 1 comes out %) and believe me, I will bitch about it if something is wrong (AND I’ll submit bug reports
)
June 5th, 2006 - 22:18
Same problem here. I can’t help but feel that each Ubuntu release is blingier but wobblier than the previous – Breezy was stable in comparison to Dapper and Hoary was a dream. Priorities the wrong way round here I think.
Anyhoo, I’ve tried commenting out Load “dri” in my xorg.conf. Let’s see how it goes, eh? Anymore of this and I’ll have to search for a new distro to use
June 8th, 2006 - 14:22
I am having the same problem myself, but it is rather common. Just to tailor the GUI to my likings (in about a half an hour), it froze 5 times. Half of the time, I didn’t even have any applications open. I was just renaming shortcuts on the desktop. Go figure! Never heard of this problem.
June 8th, 2006 - 16:45
Tim,
It is 8th June and as far as I know currently Dapper should be stable, but random freezes are still there.
I’m still using Dapper and still don’t know what the problem is. I must say, that if the problem stays I’ll have to look for another distro in a few months. Because it’s now VERY annoying (magine – you’re working peacefully writing PHP in Bluefish or GEdit and BAM! – you have to restart and rewrite the last lines of code since you didn’t hve an opportunity to ctrl+s).
Quirky,
I don’t know if it worked for you, but it definately didn’t work for me.
First I thought that my fglrx driver messes with the system, so I switched to ati – no result. I switched to vesa and again – it freezes. I’m experiencing these freezes for several months already and I still don’t know what causes them. I haven’t found any log messages telling about problems… And this is strange. I thought it was some kind of kernel panic… but… asalready said – no signs of it…
June 8th, 2006 - 17:59
I’ve had the same problem, at first I thought it was due to the alpha status. Then it went release, it still freezes. What is worse is there is no log indicating what the problem is, it freezes with no apps, debuggers, anything. Just randomly. There is no indication or reason for these freezes.
June 21st, 2006 - 21:03
I have been using Ubuntu since Hoary on my IBM X24 without any incident. I even loaded several flights of Dapper and had no problems. Once I started using the later flights of Dapper (5 and on I believe) I started having the random freeze issue. It happens withing 10 – 30 mins of booting. It doesn’t happen in any specific app but I do see it most in Firefox because that is what I use the most. From what I have been reading this seems to be a pretty common issue specifically on ThinkPads. Time to switch distros on this laptop I guess
August 10th, 2006 - 16:16
Exactly same problem for me, Breezy works fine, Dapper freezes random. IT’S FCKING ANNOING. I’ll install gentoo in a few mins. kthx problem solved no ubuntu anymore np.
August 14th, 2006 - 14:50
This may help.
Using gedit from the command line:
“sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst” (without quotes)
Go down, and on the kernels list, on the kernel line add the following:
noapic
nolapic
pci=noacpi
the kernel line will now look something like:
title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.12-10-k7
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.12-10-k7 root=/dev/sda3 ro quiet noapic nolapic pci=noacpi splash
initrd /initrd.img-2.6.12-10-k7
savedefault
boot
Then use Automaix or Synaptic to download BUM (Boot Up Manager) once done goto Services from the Administration menu to disbale the following:
acpid
apmd
powernowd
acpi-support
quick fix workaround but it works..
August 21st, 2006 - 00:24
Mine does the same – breezy was stable – upgraded to dapper and random freeze. Tried the fix from vierranet but to no avail, it’s a sod cos I like the distro and am desperate to migrate away from windows 100% but as bad a micro$hites bloatware is at least it doesnt give me the same hassles linux / unix distro’s do. I have bog standard hardware – P4 2.4ghz on asus P4P800E mobo, ati 9500 pro and terratec dmx 6 fire sound. Whatever the changed in dapper sure has broken my system.
August 24th, 2006 - 21:49
same problem on my x24. fortunately i have an good old win 2000 installation in the lappi too. so i am still able to work without hangs…and for the last year it never hung (the windows i mean)
September 22nd, 2006 - 15:09
Same issues on my ibm x24. Older version of ubuntu was a lot more stable.
drop resolution etc.. still seems to happen on an increasing basis.
I swear it is due to crappy ati / radeo drivers etc.
September 22nd, 2006 - 19:53
Anthony, today I can say that all of my problems with random lockups are gone. The latest ATI drivers & quite a lot of lines in the xorg.conf saved me. If you have trouble – then you might try searching Ubuntu Forums or I can paste the contents of my xorg.conf (the “Device” section) here.
September 23rd, 2006 - 04:46
This random lockup you describe has happened to me with installs of Ubuntu, Kbuntu, PCLinuxOS and now Mepis. All are the latest versions. I tnink it’s caused by something other than the software.
September 23rd, 2006 - 04:57
Forgot to mention, my computer has been working perfectly with Win XP for almost 2 years. Addon to last comment.
September 23rd, 2006 - 13:10
Found the freeze / lockup propblem for my IBM x24 laptop w/ATI Radeon
Mobility 7500) by modifying my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.
Around the lines that look like this:
============
Section “Device”
Identifier “ATI Technologies, Inc. Radeon Mobility M7 LW
[Radeon Mobility 9000]”
Driver “ati”
============
Insert this before “EndSection”:
============
Option “RenderAccel” “0″
============
After restarting the computer, I have had no more crashes.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=244308
Blame ATI – not linux
December 25th, 2006 - 18:30
Hi
I had the same issue until i added “fglrx” to DISABLED_MODULES in /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common.
If you have installed ATI proprietary driver, but still have old fglrx.ko in your /lib/modules/*/volatile that old driver will still be loaded causing problems.
February 28th, 2007 - 20:27
Вот почему OS X победит.