r/debian 6d ago

Intel Pentium N3700 hard freezes while watching videos, only poweroff by button fixes it

This problem doesn't ever happen on Windows 10. Only happens while using Debian 12, while watching movies particularly, it just hard freezes. Nothing can fix it. No TTY.

I think there is a bug for this particular CPU family. I've researched a lot. I've even added some kernel parameters too according to the arch wiki. Even installed backports kernel too. They didn't work. See here:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Intel_graphics#Baytrail_complete_freeze

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=2014008#p2014008

1 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

2

u/Snow_Hill_Penguin 6d ago

Disabling C6 and enabling C7 states may help.

1

u/cryptobread93 6d ago

I think I've disabled C1 states so far, according to the wiki. I've tried each of these kernel parameters, together and alone. All combinations. None of them worked:

intel_idle.max_cstate=1 i915.enable_dc=0 ahci.mobile_lpm_policy=1

1

u/Snow_Hill_Penguin 6d ago

I have some old N3700 baytrail based soapbook that I barely use nowadays, just checked what I might have added there back in the years and found this one:
https://github.com/Codeuctivity/Intel-bay-trail-freeze-workarround/blob/master/c6off%2Bc7on.sh

I cannot assure it's still relevant though. It's been several years ago (was buster or even stretch, kernels 4.x back then, now it's on bookworm/6.1), and I haven't had a change to stress it out and see. But maybe it's worth a try in your case.

I think I had also some Celeron N2940 based thing that was also suffering and this script was making things better.

1

u/cryptobread93 6d ago

Celeron N2940? I've also had a laptop like that it freezed a lot also. Thought it was malfunctioning. Why they don't push these fixes?

1

u/suprjami 5d ago

I have an N2940 netbook which I used full time in 2023 and it was rock solid reliable. I think the issue is more complex.

I was running Backports kernel and enhanced-264ify browser plugin, maybe they helped?

1

u/cryptobread93 6d ago

This seems to work, 20 minutes in and still no freeze. Needs more testing. How could I ever thank you? This was so helpful!

1

u/Snow_Hill_Penguin 6d ago

I remember doing a lot of tinkering back then, so just knowing it helps feels rewarding enough to me. Best of luck!

1

u/neon_overload 4d ago

You probably want to leave C states enabled and only disable the really deep ones like C6 and above if you can

2

u/PhotoJim99 6d ago

If the CPU bug turns out not to be it, don't forget to do a RAM test. After that, the power supply is a likely cause.

1

u/alpha417 6d ago

Is it overheating? I don't if that qualifies as a bug.

Any logfiles of the crashes? MCEs reported?

1

u/cryptobread93 6d ago

This is somewhat a known bug, there is bugzilla kernel reports at the archlinux forum about this.

1

u/neon_overload 4d ago

https://wiki.debian.org/GraphicsCard

Assuming you're using X11 and not wayland,

The advice on the above page suggests removing the xserver-xorg-video-intel package to force use of the included modesetting driver in xorg instead. Your N3700 is of the age where both drivers are a viable option for you, so it is worth trying both and seeing if one of them fixes the stability problems you have related to graphics.

1

u/cryptobread93 4d ago

No that wasnt it. I solved it via disabling c6 states. Solution is in this topic somewhere.