Screen freezes randomly, but can access tty

The past few weeks, I’ve had the screen freeze randomly. During this time:

  • The mouse pointer + trackpad works, it even changes from pointer to cursor, etc. based on where it is
  • Nothing is clickable/draggable
  • Not sure what causes it because sometimes it happens when Alt+Tabing, sometimes when opening new windows of apps
  • I can access tty with ctrl+alt+F2 when it freezes and use it normally
  • killall plasmashell and DISPLAY=:0 kstart5 plasmashell works in the sense that there aren’t any errors, but there is no change at all on the first screen. The open applications are still frozen, like a picture.
  • The only way to get out of this (without a restart) is systemctl restart sddm which kills the session.

So I’m curious what’s the middle ground between restarting plasmashell and sddm? Or how do you find out what the problem is?

journalctl logs don’t seem helpful (the freeze happened ~10:43, I switched to tty2 as soon as it froze):

❯ journalctl --no-hostname -b -1 --priority=7 --no-pager --since "10:40:00" --until "10:50:00"
Jan 25 10:40:20 systemd[1279]: Started Brave - Web Browser.
Jan 25 10:44:00 kwin_x11[1558]: kwin_core: XCB error: 152 (BadDamage), sequence: 28135, resource id: 18530022, major code: 143 (DAMAGE), minor code: 3 (Subtract)
Jan 25 10:44:23 systemd[1]: Started Getty on tty2.

system info:

❯ sudo inxi --admin --verbosity=7 --filter --no-host --width
System:
  Kernel: 5.15.85-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-5.15-x86_64
    root=UUID=3bb61f55-7569-4520-be19-9500a3ec84fd rw rootflags=subvol=@
    nouveau.modeset=0 quiet apparmor=1 security=apparmor
    resume=UUID=dbcee042-8509-4be9-983b-0bfd00b2ac50 udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.26.4 tk: Qt v: 5.15.7 wm: kwin_x11 dm: SDDM
    Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Nitro AN515-57 v: V1.18 serial: <filter>
  Mobo: TGL model: Scala_TLS v: V1.18 serial: <filter> UEFI: Insyde v: 1.18
    date: 06/22/2022
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 51.5 Wh (100.0%) condition: 51.5/57.5 Wh (89.5%)
    volts: 17.2 min: 15.4 model: LGC AP18E8M type: Li-ion serial: <filter>
    status: full cycles: 49
Memory:
  RAM: total: 15.41 GiB used: 5.58 GiB (36.2%)
  Array-1: capacity: 128 GiB slots: 8 EC: None max-module-size: 16 GiB
    note: est.
  Device-1: Controller0-ChannelA-DIMM0 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous
    size: 8 GiB speed: spec: 3200 MT/s actual: 2933 MT/s volts: curr: 1.2
    width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: Crucial Technology
    part-no: CT8G4SFRA32A.C8FJ serial: <filter>
  Device-2: Controller0-ChannelB-DIMM0 type: no module installed
  Device-3: Controller0-ChannelC-DIMM0 type: no module installed
  Device-4: Controller0-ChannelD-DIMM0 type: no module installed
  Device-5: Controller1-ChannelA-DIMM0 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous
    size: 8 GiB speed: spec: 3200 MT/s actual: 2933 MT/s volts: curr: 1.2
    width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: Samsung
    part-no: M471A1K43EB1-CWE serial: <filter>
  Device-6: Controller1-ChannelB-DIMM0 type: no module installed
  Device-7: Controller1-ChannelC-DIMM0 type: no module installed
  Device-8: Controller1-ChannelD-DIMM0 type: no module installed
CPU:
  Info: model: 11th Gen Intel Core i5-11400H socket: U3E1 bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    arch: Tiger Lake gen: core 11 level: v4 note: check built: 2020
    process: Intel 10nm family: 6 model-id: 0x8D (141) stepping: 1
    microcode: 0x42
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 6 tpc: 2 threads: 12 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 480 KiB desc: d-6x48 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 7.5 MiB desc: 6x1.2 MiB
    L3: 12 MiB desc: 1x12 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1562 high: 4196 min/max: 800/4500 base/boost: 2673/4500
    scaling: driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave volts: 0.8 V
    ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 1045 2: 831 3: 1184 4: 1293 5: 800 6: 1303
    7: 1091 8: 1229 9: 3902 10: 4196 11: 801 12: 1076 bogomips: 64536
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm acpi adx aes aperfmperf apic arat
    arch_capabilities arch_perfmon art avx avx2 avx512_bitalg avx512_vbmi2
    avx512_vnni avx512_vp2intersect avx512_vpopcntdq avx512bw avx512cd
    avx512dq avx512f avx512ifma avx512vbmi avx512vl bmi1 bmi2 bts cat_l2
    cdp_l2 clflush clflushopt clwb cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16
    cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts epb ept ept_ad erms est f16c flexpriority
    flush_l1d fma fpu fsgsbase fsrm fxsr gfni ht hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp
    hwp_notify hwp_pkg_req ibpb ibrs ibrs_enhanced ida intel_pt invpcid
    invpcid_single lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx monitor movbe movdir64b
    movdiri msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx ospke pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm
    pdpe1gb pebs pge pku pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pts rdpid rdrand rdseed
    rdt_a rdtscp rep_good sdbg sep sha_ni smap smep split_lock_detect ss ssbd
    sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow tsc
    tsc_adjust tsc_deadline_timer tsc_known_freq umip vaes vme vmx vnmi
    vpclmulqdq vpid x2apic xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveopt xsaves xtopology xtpr
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  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 status: Vulnerable: eIBRS with unprivileged eBPF
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel TigerLake-H GT1 [UHD Graphics] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
    driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-12.1 process: Intel 10nm built: 2020-21
    ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,DP-2 bus-ID: 0000:00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:9a68 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GA107M [GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile]
    vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: nvidia v: 525.60.11
    alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 525.xx+
    status: current (as of 2022-12) arch: Ampere code: GAxxx
    process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-22 bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:25a5 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: Chicony HD User Facing type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 3-9:2
    chip-ID: 04f2:b64f class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.6 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.7
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia
    alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0
    screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22")
    s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: ChiMei InnoLux 0x1521 built: 2020 res: 1920x1080
    hz: 144 dpi: 142 gamma: 1.2 size: 344x193mm (13.54x7.6") diag: 394mm (15.5")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.1 renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (TGL GT1)
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Tiger Lake-H HD Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel alternate: snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl
    bus-ID: 0000:00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:43c8 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:2291 class-ID: 0403
  Sound API: ALSA v: k5.15.85-1-MANJARO running: yes
  Sound Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.21 running: no
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.63 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Tiger Lake PCH CNVi WiFi vendor: Rivet Networks
    driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:43f0
    class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp0s20f3 state: up mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  Device-2: Realtek vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: r8169 v: kernel
    port: 3000 bus-ID: 0000:2c:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:2600 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp44s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: tailscale0 state: unknown speed: -1 duplex: full mac: N/A
  IP v6: <filter> virtual: stable-privacy scope: link
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX201 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 3-14:3
    chip-ID: 8087:0026 class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 3 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: see --recommends
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller driver: vmd
    v: 0.6 port: N/A bus-ID: 0000:00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:9a0b rev: class-ID: 0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.14 TiB used: 655.72 GiB (56.0%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Kingston model: OM8PDP3256B-AA1
    size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: EDFK0S03 temp: 63.9 C scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes health: PASSED on: 207d 22h cycles: 759
    read-units: 65,069,087 [33.3 TB] written-units: 36,647,096 [18.7 TB]
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: SanDisk model: SSD PLUS 1000GB
    family: Marvell based SSDs size: 931.52 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B sata: 3.2 speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 00RL temp: 26 C scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes state: enabled health: PASSED on: 212d 17h cycles: 2351
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 129.06 GiB size: 129.06 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 98.15 GiB (76.0%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7
    maj-min: 259:7 label: Manjaro uuid: 3bb61f55-7569-4520-be19-9500a3ec84fd
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 572 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5
    maj-min: 259:5 label: N/A uuid: 656C-BD52
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 129.06 GiB size: 129.06 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 98.15 GiB (76.0%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7
    maj-min: 259:7 label: Manjaro uuid: 3bb61f55-7569-4520-be19-9500a3ec84fd
  ID-4: /media/data raw-size: 931.51 GiB size: 931.51 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 557.58 GiB (59.9%) fs: ntfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda1
    maj-min: 8:1 label: Data uuid: 0EF8194F0EF8194F
  ID-5: /var/cache raw-size: 129.06 GiB size: 129.06 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 98.15 GiB (76.0%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7
    maj-min: 259:7 label: Manjaro uuid: 3bb61f55-7569-4520-be19-9500a3ec84fd
  ID-6: /var/log raw-size: 129.06 GiB size: 129.06 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 98.15 GiB (76.0%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7
    maj-min: 259:7 label: Manjaro uuid: 3bb61f55-7569-4520-be19-9500a3ec84fd
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6 maj-min: 259:6 label: N/A
    uuid: dbcee042-8509-4be9-983b-0bfd00b2ac50
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1 size: 100 MiB fs: vfat label: ESP
    uuid: 42A8-7A7A
  ID-2: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 size: 16 MiB fs: N/A label: N/A
    uuid: N/A
  ID-3: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3 size: 100 GiB fs: ntfs label: Acer
    uuid: AE16A93E16A90883
  ID-4: /dev/nvme0n1p4 maj-min: 259:4 size: 1024 MiB fs: ntfs label: Recovery
    uuid: 2026A9D826A9AF6A
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 1 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 3-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 16 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-9:2 info: Chicony HD User Facing type: Video driver: uvcvideo
    interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s power: 500mA chip-ID: 04f2:b64f
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 3-14:3 info: Intel AX201 Bluetooth type: Bluetooth driver: btusb
    interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 8087:0026
    class-ID: e001
  Hub-4: 4-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 8 rev: 3.1 speed: 20 Gb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  Src: /sys System Temperatures: cpu: 42.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 379 Uptime: 43m wakeups: 2 Init: systemd v: 252 default: graphical
  tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 11 Packages: pm: pacman
  pkgs: 1690 libs: 455 tools: pamac pm: flatpak pkgs: 0 Shell: Zsh (sudo)
  v: 5.9 default: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.24

Can you check to run that if it causes the issue?

$ sudo btrfs qgroup show /
❯ sudo btrfs qgroup show /
ERROR: can't list qgroups: quotas not enabled

(exit code 1)

And no, it doesn’t freeze screen.

That is ok, You have disabled quota. It has nothing to do with your issue.
Something is wrong in your KDE environment.

I had a similar issue before, moving the window to the edge of the screen (scaling the window to half the screen) the screen froze. Later, I found that there was no such problem with creating a new user, so I created a new user and transferred the data to solve this problem.

I have a lot of things in this user and would prefer not to move everything. There’s no specific trigger afaik, since I’m doing different things when it freezes.

Hi, i had this issue for some time, always some seconds after starting plasma.

I replaced the .cache folder in my user folder by a link to /tmp (tmpfs folder) i renamed .cache, then the cache is flushed everytime i stop computer (for now i didn’t see any problem doing that…, just using much more memory with cache).

I have no more freeze (may be just delete .cache content may work, but when i checked i had very old things from software i don’t use anymore in that folder that’s why i decided to go with a volatile cache ^_^b).

I hope it may help…

I’ll try clearing cache and see if it freezes. Since it’s irregular (more than once a day to once a week), it’ll be difficult to tell if it’s fixed. Will report back if it repeats.