Hello, I have been running Zorin OS successfully for 3-4 years. I keep the system up to date and purchase new releases when they come out.
Recently my system has been shutting down while it is locked. The only crash log I can find is located in /var/crash/apport-retrace --confirm --gdb --sandbox system --verbose --cache /path/to/cache --output /path/to/output /var/crash/_usr_bin_software-properties-gtk.1000.crash and it is dated 9/5/2025.
I'm fairly certain that is not the most recent crash, but it is the most recent entry in that directory. Unfortunately I have no idea how to decipher the log.
I am running Zoring 17.3 Pro, with all recent updated applied. My system has 16GB of RAM, an Intel Core I7 running at 3.4 GHz and I have 2-6 TB drives and neither is above 10% utilized.
I would appreciate any guidance on where to start looking to solve the issue.
Considering this happens while the computer is locked, I think it may be related to some power settings. For instance, is your system set up to go to sleep after some period of inactivity? This can sometimes lead to this type of errors.
When did you first notice this happened? It may be that a recent update to the kernel has introduced this bug. One quick way to troubleshoot this is to start your computer using an earlier version of the Linux kernel. This page explains this in more detail:
Thank you both for your suggestions. I will follow up on both of them.
I was thinking that I first noticed this after I starting using Proton VPN about 2 months ago. It did not happen immediately, but I have disabled Proton VPN for now and have not experienced a crash in the last 24 hours.
I plan to investigate that as a possibility as well.
Does Your System run in Wayland of X11? You can check that in Settings>About. If it runs in Wayland, You could try it with switching to X11/Xorg.
To do that, go to the Login Screen (not the Lock Screen). simply reboot for that. On the Login Screen, click on Your Profile so that the Password Field appears. When it is appeared, You should see a Gear Icon in the bottom right Corner. Click on it and choose the Option ''Zorin Desktop on Xorg'' and then log in and try it again.
I do see Wayland for the Windowing system, but nothing regarding X11.
My system has run flawlessly since I stopped running Proton VPN. I just applied updates and Proton VPN was included in the update package, so I will try using it again to see if the issue persists.