Suffering occasional system freezes

[trinidad]

Yep swap is wrong. I'll get back to you with the fix.

TC

[ian_r_h]

Thanks again.

Also, is there any way I can avoid this problem during the actual build process as well?  For example, when upgrading to v3.8 I plan to build from fresh, rather than update from v3.6.  And I'm shortly to receive a new laptop which I plan to put LL on and would like to get the build right from the outset.

I guess this would be useful to anyone else who installs by following the prompts and opts to encrypt the hard disk.  (For example, family and friends which are expressing an interest in moving from Windows to LL!)

And if it is any help in this instance, the fdisk -l command returns as below:-

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 465.8 GiB, 500107862016 bytes, 976773168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x435f1829

Device     Boot   Start       End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sda1  *       2048    999423    997376   487M 83 Linux
/dev/sda2       1001470 976771071 975769602 465.3G  5 Extended
/dev/sda5       1001472 976771071 975769600 465.3G 83 Linux

Partition 2 does not start on physical sector boundary.




Disk /dev/mapper/sda5_crypt: 465.3 GiB, 499591938048 bytes, 975765504 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/mapper/linux--vg-root: 461.4 GiB, 495380856832 bytes, 967540736 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/mapper/linux--vg-swap_1: 3.9 GiB, 4206886912 bytes, 8216576 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes

[trinidad]

What you are trying to do must be done via command line, as configuring an installer for this many instructions and using MBR would be too big and unusual of an undertaking. A litte research on LUKS should make this obvious to you. To start with given you decided on whole disk encryption you would use fdsik to configure the LVMs and install afterwords with your fingers crossed.

TC

[ian_r_h]

Firstly, the terminal command is actually sudo fdisk -l in my previous post.  Sorry for missing the sudo part out.

Secondly, both my other LL laptops (my alternate and my test unit), still running kernel 4.4.0-generic 98 without serious issues, report the same under sudo fdisk -l.  This suggests the configuration was set up at installation ("build time").

This means that anyone (especially a fellow newbie) who follows the prompts from the 64-bit LL 3.6 live-DVD during installation, but checks "encrypt entire hard disk" (and the wipe disk) option may get the same configuration as I have.

Using the terminal commands suggested at

https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-chec...e-command/

I get the following:-

Code:

ian@linux02:~$ cat /proc/swaps
Filename                Type        Size    Used    Priority
/dev/dm-2                               partition    4108284    0    -1
ian@linux02:~$ swapon -s
Filename                Type        Size    Used    Priority
/dev/dm-2                                  partition    4108284    0    -1
ian@linux02:~$ free -g
              total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:              3           0           2           0           0           2
Swap:             3           0           3
ian@linux02:~$ free -k
              total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:        3960120     1026068     2187332      127540      746720     2555424
Swap:       4108284           0     4108284
ian@linux02:~$ free -m
              total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:           3867        1002        2135         124         729        2495
Swap:          4011           0        4011
ian@linux02:~$ vmstat
procs -----------memory---------- ---swap-- -----io---- -system-- ------cpu-----
r  b   swpd   free   buff  cache   si   so    bi    bo   in   cs us sy id wa st
0  0      0 2186944  32080 714664    0    0    51     8   85  300  4  1 94  1  0
ian@linux02:~$ vmstat 1 5
procs -----------memory---------- ---swap-- -----io---- -system-- ------cpu-----
r  b   swpd   free   buff  cache   si   so    bi    bo   in   cs us sy id wa st
0  0      0 2187068  32088 714992    0    0    50     8   85  300  4  1 94  1  0
0  0      0 2185952  32088 716096    0    0     0     0  355  982  3  2 95  0  0
0  0      0 2186324  32088 716096    0    0     0     0  407 1303  2  4 93  0  0
0  0      0 2186200  32096 716096    0    0     0    12  314  950  2  2 96  1  0
0  0      0 2186324  32096 716096    0    0     0     0  327 1000  3  1 96  0  0

However, one of these three units (I am not sure which), has shown swap being used when I was running task manager previously; complete with noticeable disk activity.  This suggests that at some point in ..98, ..101 and/or ..102 kernels swap had been working.  Also, I have tended to use very large, scripted spreadsheets in a project in recent past in LibreOffice, without any issues.

Again, I hope this helps.

It looks to me like swap is (or had been) working, even if it is not configured as expected(?)  Though I am certainly concerned by the red error message under sudo fdisk -l in my previous post (which is present on all three machines).

Is there any safe way to test the swap file operation?  I.e., to run a test use of the swap space, which will not cause any harm but will report the success or failure of the use of the swap space?

[trinidad]

Again to use LUKS the way you want to use it requires learning the neccessary commands. There are many ways to set it up (though you have chosen one with some difficulty). If you are intent on the configuration you have described, and intent on encrypting the whole disk before installation, it is best to install the system without swap and without any other partitions, and configure swap afterwards which will require a knowledge of LUKS. You probably already have misalligned partitions on all three of your machines. Read up on LUKS first and be sure you understand what you are trying to accomplish, and read the LL help manual before reinstalling.

TC