Periodic machine lockups/hangs, every 10 seconds

Bug #657744 reported by Julien Oster
14
This bug affects 2 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
linux (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

Since updating to Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick), my 5 y/o Sony VAIO Laptop experiences periodic short lockups (<1s) every 10 seconds.

During the lockup, everything stands still. No kind of output (mouse cursor movement, text output in console etc.) takes place, further evidenced by the fact that if sound is playing, the soundcard stutters on what seems to be the last sample in the buffer. Then everything resumes and works normally until the next lockup.

I wrote a small python script that constantly outputs the current system time to a file and Matlab to draw a plot of the reported time differences. The plot can be found attached to this bug or here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6617799/hangplot.png

(the python script that generates the data can be found at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6617799/dumptime.py)

Assuming that system time is unaffected by the problem, you can see that the time between soft lockups is about 10 seconds. Here are the exact differences:

   10.5005 10.7519 10.5282 10.7829 10.5291 10.7840 10.4960 10.8160
   10.4640 10.8840

Duration of a lockup seems to alternate between (very roughly) 0.25s and 0.5s:

    0.2539 0.4277 0.3080 0.4437 0.2969 0.4394 0.2817 0.4602
    0.2723 0.4935 0.2259

Please note that this is not an exact measurement, may contain sampling errors and that it works on the assumption that the system time as returned by the system call is unaffected. I just wanted a quick way to estimate intervals and duration of the lockups.

Let me know if I can provide anything else!

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
Package: linux-image-2.6.35-22-generic 2.6.35-22.33
Regression: Yes
Reproducible: Yes
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-22.33-generic 2.6.35.4
Uname: Linux 2.6.35-22-generic i686
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.23.
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ejelly 3139 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p: ejelly 3139 F...m pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/timer: ejelly 3139 f.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'I82801DBICH4'/'Intel 82801DB-ICH4 with AD1981B at irq 9'
   Mixer name : 'Analog Devices AD1981B'
   Components : 'AC97a:41445374'
   Controls : 28
   Simple ctrls : 20
Date: Sun Oct 10 17:15:39 2010
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=96440400-451e-0100-0000-000002000000
MachineType: Sony Corporation PCG-TR5MP(CH)
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=b93066f0-fe9a-4af0-9a57-d6b0b45e6f44 ro splash quiet
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/zsh
RelatedPackageVersions: linux-firmware 1.38
SourcePackage: linux
dmi.bios.date: 11/28/2003
dmi.bios.vendor: Phoenix Technologies LTD
dmi.bios.version: R0111G1
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: 4B1M0000000000000000001a0000
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Sony Corporation
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnPhoenixTechnologiesLTD:bvrR0111G1:bd11/28/2003:svnSonyCorporation:pnPCG-TR5MP(CH):pvrJ000BNDH:cvnSonyCorporation:ct10:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.name: PCG-TR5MP(CH)
dmi.product.version: J000BNDH
dmi.sys.vendor: Sony Corporation

Revision history for this message
Julien Oster (6-launchpad-net-pool-julien-oster-de) wrote :
Revision history for this message
dermis (simon-deroy) wrote :

Same problem here with my Dell Studio Desktop.

summary: - Periodic machine lockups, every 10 seconds
+ Periodic machine lockups/hangs, every 10 seconds
Revision history for this message
dermis (simon-deroy) wrote :

In my case, it seem related to the video card free drivers.

After installing proprietary drivers for my ATI card the problem seem resolve.

Revision history for this message
Julien Oster (6-launchpad-net-pool-julien-oster-de) wrote :

Not for me, my notebook has Intel graphics...

Brad Figg (brad-figg)
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Julien Oster, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. Maverick reached EOL on April 2012.
Please see this document for currently supported Ubuntu releases:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

We were wondering if this is still an issue in a supported release? If so, can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/ .

If it remains an issue, could you run the following command in a supported release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux <replace-with-bug-number>

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Julien Oster (6-launchpad-net-pool-julien-oster-de) wrote :

Unfortunately, I don't have the VAIO anymore. But I remember that some kernel daemon seemed to be the cause of it and updating the kernel fixed it, so I am pretty sure this can be closed.

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Julien Oster, this bug report is being closed due to your last comment regarding this being fixed with an update. For future reference you can manage the status of your own bugs by clicking on the current status in the yellow line and then choosing a new status in the revealed drop down box. You can learn more about bug statuses at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status. Thank you again for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please submit any future bugs you may find.

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Invalid
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