Toshiba Satellite R630 freezes while running on battery

I just tested with the following upstream kernel packages and the issue still resides.

linux-image-2.6.36-020636-generic_2.6.36-020636.201010210905_amd64.deb
linux-headers-2.6.36-020636_2.6.36-020636.201010210905_all.deb
linux-headers-2.6.36-020636-generic_2.6.36-020636.201010210905_amd64.deb

I am also experiencing this issue with my R630 13F, often a reset will see the system remain stable for a longer duration than first boot. I will attempt to collect data for comparison this evening.

Curiously, I used to have the exact same problem with my Toshiba NB100 netbook, but at some point (no idea what update, unfortunately) fixed it.

Is the kernel struggling with new Insyde EFI/BIOS?

Attached is an lshw output. I have yet to receive a crash when using wired ethernet (wifi still enabled and connected, however - I was trying to see if anything popped out via netconsole and needed to use eth0 for that), but I haven't done sufficient boots to be sure about this.

I should point out that REISUB doesn't work when the system locks up.

Regards,
Steve.

I've just read the comments of bug id 644898 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/toshset/+bug/644898) and applied toshiba_acpi patch as described in the comments https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/toshset/+bug/644898/comments/11 and https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/toshset/+bug/644898/comments/13 .

Now freeze issue seems to be solved (at least it runs on battery over an hour). The reason why this bug appeared in new kernels of Ubuntu is described at this link https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/kernel-team/2010-June/011112.html

I'm sorry. It still freezes even if toshiba_acpi patch is applied. So, forget my comment #5 about this issue. It doesn't solve the freeze issue.

I'd like to reference a post made by solnyshok in a related thread on Ubuntu forums, with some information that makes sense, although it is somewhat circumstantial:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=10106819&postcount=67

"This morning I used laptop outside, it is quite cold there, so machine was getting colder instead of warmer and it kept crashing. Seems that there is a problem, that if processor is not hot enough (or thermal sensors are not warm enough) it would lockup."

My experience is that I have to power cycle after a freeze, so in effect its a "cold" boot, except for the system temperature of course, which has been warming up over a couple of minutes. Usually by the second or third boot it no longer freezes.

I have some time to do some more tests now, so I will. This will include power cycling by removing the battery, in order to make sure I'm clearing as much state as possible.

I installed the latest kernel release (2.6.32...) of Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx onto Ubutun 10.10 Maverick Meerkat. So, I downgraded the kernel version to that I don't have the problem before upgrade. Now I don't have freeze issue right now.

I had headphone sound problem with that old kernel but it works normally with ubuntu 10.10. I think new version of userspace alsa staff solved that headphone jack issue. I also sometimes had not booting problem after grub with that old kernel. It still continues to exists with ubuntu 10.10. But after a boot cycle it usually boots normally. It is acceptable for me instead of freezing while doing critical job. I can live with old kernel, since it is more stable.

This problem still happens on a R705-25 running the latest 2.6.37-020637rc1-generic (PPA) kernel. Worryingly, it now happens on both battery and AC adaptor.

It seems that the problem is solved by the latest bios (v1.8). No more freeze for me, at last it is possible to use Ubuntu on this machine !

Thank you for information Noël. I've just upgraded to BIOS version 1.8. I booted my Toshiba R630 with battery power. It seems stable. At least 10 minutes past without any freeze and any duration longer than 3 minutes is a record for me :-).

I'll test it for long time tomorrow.

I upgraded to BIOS version 1.8 too ... but I'm still encountering freezes. The last time my laptop ran for about 20mins until the freeze occurred, so it seems the new BIOS only raised the average runtime.

My laptop is a R630-14j.

About 15-16 days past since upgrading my R630-11L to BIOS 1.8.

I'm still using latest Ubuntu 10.10 kernel 2.6.35-24-generic (x86_64 bit version) from that day. There is no freeze encountered so far. Even I did a 5 day uptime by suspend to ram (during some nights) and resume, many time switching to battery power and again switching back to AC power. It absolutely stable.

Ok, it seems the freeze was because of some other problem. The last few days I had a stable system while running on battery.

I have the same problem but I'm struggling to see how to upgrade the BIOS.. I have a "BIOS180_EC140.exe" file from Toshiba (is that the right one?) but can see no way to apply it without installing windoze. They don't make the file available in any other format. How did you guys flash your BIOS from this windows exe?

Toshiba release BIOS updates in various forms for some devices, including bootable ISOs. However, ludicrous as it may seem, in the case of this laptop model, they seem intent only upon supporting flashes from within Windows. I asked for Toshiba's help with this; they told me to put Windows back on. I told them to sod off.

I am debating a few options:

1. Try flashing from a BartPE build of Windows XP
2. Swap a hard drive from another laptop into it, with Windows on, and flash from it.
3. Cave in and spend several hours "restoring" Windows, then reversing the process again.

I will post back here the method I use as it may be beneficial to others experiencing this issue. I'll avoid discussing it further, though, as it's not exactly pertinent to the bug itself.

After some investigation, the BIOS for the R700/R705 (or some models of it) is identical to the R630, and the US site offers a bootable ISO as a means of performing the update. So, I grabbed that and ran it.

The file can be had from here: http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/downloads/t310v180.exe or via the downloads section on this page: http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/modelContent.jsp?ct=SB&os=&category=&moid=2682552&rpn=PT310U&modelFilter=R700-S1310&selCategory=2756709&selFamily=1073768662#

This worked for my R630-13F.

The US BIOS update pack includes various methods. I diff'd the windows executable updater with the one offered by the UK site to verify they were identical, and so assumed the ISO would contain the same BIOS :) I suggest people at least do the same for their models just to be sure... of if you have windows dual-boot, just use that!

As for whether it's fixed the problem for me, it's too early to tell, but the thermal limit errors have gone from dmesg, so I'm hopeful.

good call Steve. I can confirm the flash worked fine on my UK R630-13T also. So far, I've been using the laptop on battery power for almost 10 minutes! (That's about nine minutes longer than the previous best). Will report back later after it's discharged more.

For info (and I'll keep it brief as it's not part of the bug).. I ran the t310v180.exe using wine, this extracts the contents (shut down the program that starts up with it). One of the files is a .iso - burn that to a CD. Reboot the laptop, holding down the "~" key at startup. When asked for media, insert CD and hit a key. Update happens almost immediately. Remove CD, reboot, all good.

Guys I can confirm I had the same problem but followed Steve procedure and at the moment look fine.
My model is Toshiba satellite R 630 -138.

yes, I've been running on battery with no problems now, for several hours at a time. Looks fixed to me.

You could also try using a bootable USB stick and FreeDOS. Instructions can be found here: http://blog.nguyenvq.com/2010/12/20/update-system-bios-on-a-linux-machine-with-a-windowsdos-updater/

I also had this problem with my r630-112, updating the BIOS to v1.8 did the trick!

Sezai Yilmaz, this bug report is being closed due to your last comment regarding this being fixed with an updated BIOS. 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.