Ubuntu freezes. Which logs can I check out?

Question

So my computer has lately started freezing completely when I run some programs that, in the past, would work great.

What I am unsure about however, is what logs that are available to me that could help me track down the issue after a reboot?

Thanks

Solution 1

check

/var/log/syslog

If you are running gnome, then you can check the logs using "gnome-system-log" tool, type

gnome-system-log

in the run dialog.

and check the syslog in the left hand side.

if you want to check the log using terminal,

then do,

tail -f /var/log/syslog

Solution 2

If the whole machine is locking up, off the top of my head, these are the likely causes:

• Overheating. You don't need logs to determine this, but fingers :)
• GPU lockup. Is it an OpenGL (3D) application, and you don't normally run those? While locked up you should be able to ssh into it from another machine.
• Thrashing. Does the hard drive light go on steadily when it locks up? Something is using too much RAM.
• Other hardware problem. Run a memtest and/or another OS...

Solution 3

"my computer has lately started freezing completely when I run some programs"

What are those programs? The answer to your question is heavily depend on those "some programs" Anyway, check

/var/log/syslog

/var/log/kern.log Optionally you can use dmesg command to view kernel messages to check if something is wrong during boot process.

Comments

[Uri Herrera]

First run said software in the Terminal, and see what it throws,

[azote]

this seams to happen to my mining rig sometimes ... so GPU lockup ... :(

[TheHairyOne]

Check the dates of the syslog* files in /var/log, my particular hang occurred on a Friday night and had been renamed and compressed as syslog.2.gz by Monday. Log was full of cntlm events, which to me means I once again left my browser with dozens of tabs opened. Thus reminding me once more that one day I need to learn how to enable the out of memory killer in Ubuntu.

[Admin]

What do I look for in /var/log/syslog? Any keywords?