[GRLUG] random loss of local keyboard

[Michael Mol]

On Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 4:03 PM, John-Thomas Richards <jtr at jrichards.org> wrote:
> On Thu, Jul 05, 2012 at 03:53:06PM -0400, Michael Mol wrote:
>> On Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 3:45 PM, John-Thomas Richards <jtr at jrichards.org> wrote:
>> > On Thu, Jul 05, 2012 at 03:37:35PM -0400, John-Thomas Richards wrote:
>> >> I've been getting random loss of functionality in my laptop keyboard.
>> >> While typing it just stops responding.  A USB keyboard works fine.  The
>> >> touchpad continues to work.  I've been running `tail -f
>> >> /var/log/messages' in a term to see if I can see something.  This time
>> >> nothing was registered.  About an hour before I got this:
>> >>
>> >> Jul  5 14:19:38 auerbach kernel: [18269.884919] colord[16472]: segfault at 8 ip 000000000040bc6d sp 00007fff111751c0 error 4 in colord[400000+20000]
>> >> Jul  5 14:19:45 auerbach pulseaudio[16637]: [pulseaudio] pid.c: Stale PID file, overwriting.
>> >> Jul  5 14:30:18 auerbach kernel: [18909.213563] CPU7: Core temperature/speed normal
>> >> Jul  5 14:30:18 auerbach kernel: [18909.213565] CPU3: Core temperature/speed normal
>> >> Jul  5 14:30:18 auerbach kernel: [18909.213566] CPU3: Package temperature/speed normal
>> >> Jul  5 14:30:18 auerbach kernel: [18909.213567] CPU7: Package temperature/speed normal
>> >> Jul  5 14:30:18 auerbach kernel: [18909.213604] CPU0: Package temperature/speed normal
>> >> Jul  5 14:30:18 auerbach kernel: [18909.213607] CPU4: Package temperature/speed normal
>> >> Jul  5 14:30:18 auerbach kernel: [18909.213610] CPU5: Package temperature/speed normal
>> >> Jul  5 14:30:18 auerbach kernel: [18909.213612] CPU1: Package temperature/speed normal
>> >> Jul  5 14:30:18 auerbach kernel: [18909.213615] CPU2: Package temperature/speed normal
>> >> Jul  5 14:30:18 auerbach kernel: [18909.213618] CPU6: Package temperature/speed normal
>> >> Jul  5 14:32:19 auerbach kernel: [19029.452136] [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
>> >>
>> >> The keyboard failure happened long after this.  Any help would be
>> >> appreciated.  I did track down a similar error to the colord but that
>> >> involved a loss of a USB keyboard while the local keyboard still worked.
>> >> Close, but not quite.
>> >
>> > The keyboard will work in a VT and restarting X restores functionality
>> > for a time.
>>
>> ...
>>
>> >> Jul  5 14:32:19 auerbach kernel: [19029.452136] [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
>>
>> This is the line you should really care about. You have failing
>> hardware somewhere, and the kernel logged it.
>>
>> I think this page would set you in the right direction to identifying
>> what's going on:
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Check_Exception#Decoding_MCEs
>
> Thanks!  I'm checking it now.
>
>> ...but a random stab. The weather's been crazy hot lately. Is that
>> machine in a well-cooled room?
>
> It's in my office...so no.  It's not.  AC is running but I'm still
> sweating.

Semi-related. Do you have power management configured? I.e. CPU
underclocked when not in use, GPU underclocked when not in use, that
kind of thing? If not, that would probably be a good idea for now.


-- 
:wq