Random Freezing on Zorin OS 15.3

Thank you very much for taking the time to explain things. Fingers crossed, some of my tech-ier students won't mind helping me through the process now, and then again when education lite 16 makes its debut. After converting, if I'm still having similar issues, I'll return to this thread and perhaps there will be some clues in the logs. But fingers crossed doing this changeover makes all the difference. Thank you again!

Or Zorin OS 16 Gamer Edition :joy:. Instant download for me :sunglasses::+1:t2:

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Throw that in Feedback Forum... If Z.G. goes for it, it would probably be a smash hit.
$40 for Zorin Pro.
$70 for Zorin Gamer Edition.

:smiley:

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Hello again,

So I changed out my computers to lite the other day (with help from a couple students). Although slightly less, I still am getting instances of freezing. Sometimes while a computer is awake, other times when the computer goes into sleep (suspend...i think), the fan goes nuts and it won't wake up.

Here are those logs you asked me for before:

If you have time, please let me know if something is up and what I might be able to do to fix this.

Thank you!!

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Neither logs show anything I can find that would explain freezing, segfaults or crashing...
How many machines are affected?

On the affected machines, are you running any Google Chrome?

The Logfile you sent showed AMD graphics. Are any affected machines using Nvidia?

One possibility may be that affected machines may need their BIOS updated.

I hope this is only on one computer- because this usually means a hardware fault within the RAM.

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Yesterday, I had perhaps 5 affected computers... though, it isn't always the same computer. They are mostly the same model with the same specs.

I do have google chrome installed - our school uses google classroom to post assignments, so I assumed it was fitting to install that browser.

As far as I'm aware, my computers are not using Nvidia

Is the best way to update BIOS on linux to go to the Toshiba or Dell website, or is there an easier method via the terminal?

Thank you for your help.

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It depends on the vintage of your laptops.
On older ones, it may be possible to make a bootable DOS USB and update BIOS from there. A newer BIOS could be updated within the BIOS menu. The last category - many newer laptops belong to this - can be updated BIOS in Windows only.

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On the affected computers, can you open Chrome, then in a new tab, enter chrome://settings in the address bar.
Select Advanced
Then UNcheck the box for use hardware acceleration when available

In terminal, run

google-chrome --disable-gpu

Thank you both for your suggestions. I will try these things and let you know.

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So, I've gone ahead and switched that google chrome setting. I tried to figure out how to update BIOS but haven't figured out how yet. Many websites told me if I do it wrong, I wreck the computer for good, so I'm hesitant.

I am still getting freezing events - some during sleep and some while the computer is being used. Almost every time this happens, the event is paired with the fan going super loud.

I really appreciate all the advice so far. If you have any other ideas I could try, please let me know. I realize we may be hitting a dead end. Is there a way to check for RAM fault as you mentioned in a previous comment?

Thank you!

Yes; a fast and simple way (That I just posted in another thread, in fact) is:

sudo apt install -y memtester

Then test with:

sudo memtester 100M 2

My older Acer Notebook used to get this on Zorin OS 15 Lite, too. None of the other machines ever did - and sometimes, after an update, the freezing-if-sleep went away. Sometimes, it came back after an update.
I never did manage to solve it...
And am now using a Tower, resolving the problem.
It does seem to usually affect notebooks - so probably Lid Switch related or Screensaver related. On a school notebook which is used by many people, I am not sure if setting to ignore lid switch will work out, as they may close the lid and drain the battery completely.

If you do not use Screensaver, then you may try

xset s 0 0

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