Screen freezing completely when watching YouTube videos

When I was watching a YouTube video on Zorin OS 16.1 Core, the system suddenly completely froze. The audio looped the last few seconds before the freeze. This has happened multiple times in a day and I had to force my computer to shut down. Please help. Thanks.

System:
  Kernel: 5.13.0-44-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
  parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.13.0-44-generic 
  root=UUID=19144307-10a6-47b5-80dd-1375478f921c ro quiet splash 
  vt.handoff=7 
  Desktop: Gnome 3.38.4 wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM3 3.38.2.1 
  Distro: Zorin OS 16.1 base: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: B150I PRO GAMING/AURA v: Rev X.0x 
  serial: <filter> UEFI [Legacy]: American Megatrends v: 0301 
  date: 01/13/2016 
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Keyboard 
  serial: <filter> charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes 
  status: Discharging 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-6500 bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: Skylake-S family: 6 model-id: 5E (94) stepping: 3 microcode: EA 
  L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 
  bogomips: 25599 
  Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/3600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 
  3: 800 4: 800 
  Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX unsupported 
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion 
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled 
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
  Type: spec_store_bypass 
  mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
  Type: spectre_v1 
  mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, 
  STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode 
  Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 530 vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915 v: kernel 
  bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:1912 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: i915 compositor: gnome-shell 
  resolution: 2560x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 530 (SKL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.2.6 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:a170 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.13.0-44-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-V vendor: ASUSTeK driver: e1000e v: kernel 
  port: f040 bus ID: 00:1f.6 chip ID: 8086:15b8 
  IF: enp0s31f6 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 223.57 GiB used: 61.06 GiB (27.3%) 
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Intel model: SSDSC2BW240H6 size: 223.57 GiB 
  block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
  serial: <filter> rev: RG21 scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw size: 74.02 GiB size: 72.30 GiB (97.68%) 
  used: 61.06 GiB (84.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8 C mobo: 27.8 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 244 Uptime: 1m Memory: 15.50 GiB used: 1.33 GiB (8.6%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38

Oof... ultra widescreen.

Are you using any YouTube enhancement add ons?
Do you have "Hardware Acceleration" is enabled in your browser? If so, try testing with it disabled.
Is it 16 gigs RAM?

I don't have any YouTube enhancement add ons
Yes it is 16 gigs of RAM
I have disabled hardware acceleration in Firefox and now I shall watch some more YouTube videos.

With hardware acceleration turned off, I made it through 30 minutes of YouTube videos with no freezing, and with hardware acceleration turned back on, I also made it through 30 minutes of YouTube videos with no freezing.

I think I will keep hardware acceleration off for now.

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.