[lug] debugging workstation issue

[D. Stimits]

> On April 9, 2020 at 2:14 PM Davide Del Vento <davide.del.vento at gmail.com> wrote:
>     Folks,
> 
>     My workstation, a desktop-sized server computer used as a desktop, is having a very annoying problem, which is even more severe these days that I have to rely to it for basically everything (so far the only thing I don't use it for is for when I use the restroom, but that may change soon)...
> 
>     Anyway, the problem is that sometimes at boot and sometimes after the screensaver is engaged the machine goes into a "dead" status. I suspect it can be an hybernation mode or something like that, which does not awake when I hit the keyboard, mouse or power button. A long press on the power button does trigger a reboot, with all the usual consequences of such a thing (possible files not closed, filesystem checks, loss of not-saved data, etc). When it is in this status, trying to ssh into it from another machine hangs with no response.
> 
>     It's been a long time since I debugged something like this and dmesg shows only messages since last reboot, which are clearly useless. Any clues on how to look at the logs immediately BEFORE that? Bonus points if you have any ideas on what might be going on or specifically what to look for.
> 

Ssh in and run "dmesg --follow" prior to the failure. The computer which is displaying this will still be running.

Tip: Often USB devices do not correctly handle or respond to low power mode events. If this is the case, then when mouse/keyboard fails to wake up the system, you might try to unplug and replug the mouse/keyboard and test again if you can now resume.

PS: If I were more motivated I'd edit my window manager and display manager code and remove the option to manually sleep/suspend. I hate accidentally clicking that instead of log out or shut down or reboot.
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