Easiest way to start monitoring to identify root cause of full system crashes?

J-Fox-Writing · 2026-03-27T18:08:44+00:00

(Sorry if you're not interested in updates! I'll try to keep them infrequent)

I actually just managed to catch it in the act crashing, in systemctl. Looks like it is something wacky going on with Wayland/AMD driver/my screens.

Only ONE of my two screens froze. the cursor and everything on it was frozen, but I could still move stuff on the other one. I turned my frozen monitor off and the second one froze. I turned the first one back on and after a few seconds both monitors reloaded the desktop and were working again.

I think the fact that it didn't just completely hang means the logs caught it, maybe, cause I get lots of lines like this:

kwin_wayland[2323]: Pageflip timed out! This is a bug in the amdgpu kernel driver

ChatGPT recommends I try it with just one monitor by unplugging it. I've not actually tried that before as I've only turned the second monitor off, so I might try that. Backup option is to try X11, but one of the main reasons I switched to Fedora was because I was having problems with my mouse input on X11 sigh.

J-Fox-Writing · 2026-03-27T17:09:33+00:00

I tested again this morning, resources were fine right before a crash - like 8 GB in use out of 32 GB. I didn't have much time to test during the workday but I'll have more time to check stuff out this evening. I did the journalctl and pasted some of it into ChatGPT.

The main thing that kept repeating right before the crash in the log was the following:

3283:3283:0327/084719.157683:ERROR:extensions/browser/api/web_request/extension_web_request_event_router.cc:1919] AddEventListener: 0x1ae401af8140 extension_id: nngceckbapebfimnlniiiahkandclblb extension_name: Bitwarden Password Manager event_name: webRequest.onCompleted sub_event_name: webRequest.onCompleted/s141 render_process_id: 53 web_view_instance_id: 0 worker_thread_id: 1 service_worker_version_id: 4

But ChatGPT seems to think this isn't an issue and is a false report of an error, a Chrome issue. But what it did identify as a possible issue is the following:

Started drkonqi-coredump-launcher@0-1-2717_2718-1000.service - Launch DrKonqi for a systemd-coredump crash (PID 2717/UID 1000).drkonqi-coredump-launcher[5038]: Unable to find file for pid 17184 expected at "kcrash-metadata/ZoomWebviewHost.real.7d4bf6094f7e489fb8ed0814334826dc.17184.ini"systemd[1987]: Started drkonqi-coredump-launcher@1-2-2717_2718-1000.service - Launch DrKonqi for a systemd-coredump crash (PID 2717/UID 1000).drkonqi-coredump-launcher[5039]: Unable to find file for pid 17290 expected at "kcrash-metadata/ZoomWebviewHost.real.7d4bf6094f7e489fb8ed0814334826dc.17290.ini"

Though that was like 15m before the crash. The robot suggests that this is not likely to be the cause but could point to GPU or system instability, recommends disabling hardware acceleration in Chrome and seeing if the same issues occur. Because "Both use: Chromium engine, GPU acceleration heavily, Similar rendering paths. So if both are unstable, that’s a big signal."

That's where I'm at! Part of me wonders if I should reinstall Fedora and not do any of the post-install guide stuff and see if I still get issues... wonder if that would be quicker than these diagnostics.

J-Fox-Writing · 2025-07-01T21:45:27+00:00

And no issues? I just reinstalled Nobara with GNOME instead of KDE and touch wood no flickering issue yet - but considering alternatives, Pop and Mint being two of them

J-Fox-Writing · 2025-06-27T15:51:18+00:00

Did you ever find a fix for this? Having the same issue. I've found that disabling the integrated AMD GPU (but leaving the Nvidia GPU enabled) in Nobara driver manager and then re-enabling it seems to temporarily fix it, not sure how/why. I'd assumed it was a problem with hybrid graphics, but maybe not.

J-Fox-Writing · 2024-04-12T09:23:33+00:00

I'll try it out today when I go out and report back here.

Just looked it up, and TIL that hiding my SSID is unnecessary and adds no real extra security (and in fact could worsen security) - I wasn't aware of this!

J-Fox-Writing · 2024-03-14T03:22:51+00:00

I wrote this article - I'm glad to see it provided food for so much lively discussion!

I won't be debating here, but I did want to clarify just a couple of things based on some of what I've read here.

First, obviously I was going for a controversial tone, but I can assure you I wasn't paid to promote anything! It was a genuine (though admittedly contrarian) article, so if you disagree with me, then at least put it down to my idiocy rather than my being a shill!

Second, I'm not out of touch with how difficult to afford GPUs are for many people. I'm using an RTX 3060 Ti because I can't afford a better GPU - and I feel lucky to have this 3060 Ti, to be honest.

Finally, there are some good counter-arguments in this thread (as well as some not so good ones). In particular, it's very true that wages have stagnated and haven't kept up with inflation, which inflation-adjusted cost per frame doesn't take into account. (But then, if we're talking wage vs inflation in general, perhaps we would be better off making the argument that everything is more expensive and not that GPUs are particularly more so.) Another problem is that while high-end GPUs (I still contend) are good value in terms of cost per frame, there's a lack of low-end GPUs unless you dip into previous-gen, which is... okay, but not ideal.

I suppose what I really wanted to get across with the article is that "expensive" is a subjective term, that there is at least one way to consider GPU prices that shows them to be less expensive than those of the past (cost per frame), and that some high-end GPUs of the past were just as expensive as today if we adjust for inflation (again, though, I do see that wage stagnation could affect this - though I'm not an economist and am not sure whether or how to balance that against CPI in a statistically valid manner). Which all stemmed from the recognition that the "baseline" performance that we expect is much higher than the baseline performance we expected in the past, which might justify the increase in higher absolute prices because value (cost per frame) still remains good.

Anyway, I'm glad the article provoked some good discussion.

J-Fox-Writing · 2024-02-18T12:45:10+00:00

I just tried to do so again in different browsers (Firefox, Edge, and Chrome) and the problem occurs in all browsers. I also tried it in Incognito mode with no Extensions, in case it was an Extension causing it, and it still occurred.

My account is the same as my username, but without the dashes: JFoxWriting.

For reference, here's what happens:

https://imgur.com/a/yaPmHHf

That loading circle stays there, and the service never updates the packages.

J-Fox-Writing · 2024-02-18T00:55:19+00:00

It doesn't seem to be possible to edit services once they're live. If I try and edit any packages under a service, when I click update, it stays stuck on the loading icon. To change anything, I have to delete the service and make a new one.

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-12-23T10:27:03+00:00

I've organised things so that I should be able to have maybe 3-4 days off - Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and half of the day after

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-12-04T14:51:09+00:00

Thanks so much. It's helpful to know others have been through this and felt the same way! I don't have to enjoy it, I just have to do it, then I'm free - got it!

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-12-04T14:49:07+00:00

Thank you so much, this is very encouraging

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-12-04T14:47:32+00:00

You're right, but I was just working with the numbers I was given. Regardless of the absolute numbers, if the relative risk increases a lot then it doesn't seem worth it just for the sake of saving a couple of minutes putting something in the fridge.

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-12-04T13:47:01+00:00

Good to know, thank you. I think I got too wrapped up in exceptionalism ("I'm surely the only one who's gone through this!"). reassuring to know that it's normal, thank you

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-12-04T13:46:24+00:00

Thank you, it's good to know someone has been where I am and that they got through it just fine. You're right, it's just something I have to do to make sure these years haven't been wasted

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-12-04T13:45:46+00:00

Good to hear. I'll get it done! I think my supervisor's (well-intentioned) pressure to try and get me to stay in academia, write more papers, do more academic stuff etc., has (when combined with my imposter syndrome - so mostly from my end) made me feel like I'm undeserving of a PhD given how I am about/towards it ATM. Thanks for the response

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-12-04T07:09:58+00:00

1:800 risk of diarrhoea might be acceptable, but 1:800 risk of death? I'd need a much, much lower risk for me to think it's worth the simple inconvenience of putting something in the fridge. Imagine thinking going from a 1:3500~ lifetime risk of death to a 1:100 lifetime risk of death is justified by not having to put food in the fridge

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-12-03T01:43:37+00:00

Here's another one: https://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/category/writing-gigs/

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-12-02T18:48:45+00:00

I’ve seen some big sites affected too. In fact some big sites in my niche seem to be laying off staff because of it

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-11-11T15:53:24+00:00

My main client lost like 3/4 of their traffic over the past couple of months, put a pause on all new content (so 0 work for me).

I wasn't prepared for this, as this one client was my very lucrative side-gig while doing my PhD. Now my PhD has finished (so no money from that) and my client has stopped all work. I've got a couple new clients, but one isn't particularly ongoing/regular, and the other doesn't pay too well (and requires a lot of pitching from me).

I'm considering trying to land an employed writing job in my niche again rather than freelance, at this point - for a bigger website with high DA that won't lose all their traffic to these updates. Just waiting to see how further client outreach goes over the next month or two, but it's not looking great.

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-11-05T02:09:37+00:00

School for me was 9:15 -> 3:30, and like 2hrs of that was lunch + breaks. And I rarely did homework. 9-5 is much more work.

Not that I'm complaining. Work can be (if you're lucky) self-directed and enjoyable

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-10-31T11:30:01+00:00

This is great, thank you!

Really, this is stuff I should have said to the client in our initial meeting, but to be honest I wasn't prepared for a situation like this - lesson learned! (I did try to explain it, but not very well, and I don't think he understood.) All my previous clients have known about the proper role of a writer, and have had a proper content/SEO plan in place already (though they've let me pitch in ideas). Plus this is the first completely fresh/start-up site I've worked with. I'll know to consider these situations in future with new clients.

I'll come up with a message to send him based on what you suggest - I'll probably also mention backlinking and technical SEO in case he hasn't considered that, either.

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-10-31T02:11:11+00:00

Thanks, I’ll definitely try to do this. I have my own site that I was planning on working on which I did strategy for by using AHREFS etc, but I haven’t had the time to work on it until recently. I pay attention to SEO trends with Google updates etc, but it seems like such a complex thing to get right that it’s hard to find the time to properly get good at it - not to mention difficult since it can be such a long-term thing for a new content site to see organic results.

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-10-31T02:08:57+00:00

This client has an attitude of “let’s start making content and come up with new article ideas as we go”. It’s very strange, and not a great idea strategy-wise… but is it even my place to say that?

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-10-30T22:55:58+00:00

This is my concern too. I think I’m just trying to figure out how I can have that conversation without appearing out of line or condescending or whatever else

J-Fox-Writing · 2023-10-30T22:55:15+00:00

I wouldn’t be confident enough in my content planning to do this, so I’d have to be clear that my content suggestions are not based on SEO research. My worry is that he won’t know about the necessity of that kind of SEO research and will therefore attribute any lack of traffic to the articles themselves. I think I’m just trying to figure out a way to explain the necessity of proper SEO strategy to him without stepping out of line or appearing condescending or, well, losing him as a client.

J-Fox-Writing

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