Games killing GRUB?

Issues & Assistance Newbies
1

Installed Battle.net using Lutris
Installed Starcraft 2 and Overwatch 2
Launched Overwatch 2
Intro video plays, then video freezes, audio continues ok.
Then the machine locks up completely (no hdd light, no caps or num lock functions etc.)
Forced off by holding power button.
At power on, no bootable system detected, boot straight to BIOS settings

Booted with Garuda USB key, and installer can detect EFI bootloader, but attempting to use it to boot, results in a stalled (frozen) system before login is reached.

Rebooted to Garuda Live and re-installed GRUB, and issue is fixed.

If it was a one-off, i'd leave it there, and move on. But this is probably the 3rd time it's happened when launching (different) games, over a few months. I think it's always been games using WINE.

Any insights as to what is happening here?

System:
  Kernel: 6.0.2-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen root=UUID=b7d5ee58-12df-4846-a354-6092d38c2c6a
    rw rootflags=subvol=@ quiet splash intel_iommu=on intel_iommu=igfx_off iommu=pt
    intremap=no_x2apic_optout kvm.ignore_msrs=1 default_hugepagesz=2M hugepagesz=2M hugepages=4096
    transparent_hugepage=never rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0 loglevel=3
    sysrq_always_enabled=1 systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy=0
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.26.1 tk: Qt v: 5.15.6 info: latte-dock wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM
    Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Micro-Star product: GE72VR 6RF v: REV:1.0 serial: <superuser required>
    Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Micro-Star model: MS-179B v: REV:1.0 serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: E179BIMS.10E date: 01/16/2018
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 46.0 Wh (98.3%) condition: 46.8/53.4 Wh (87.5%) volts: 12.2 min: 10.9
    model: MSI Corp. MS-179B type: Li-ion serial: N/A status: not charging
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-6700HQ bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Skylake-S gen: core 6 level: v3
    note: check built: 2015 process: Intel 14nm family: 6 model-id: 0x5E (94) stepping: 3
    microcode: 0xF0
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache: L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32
    KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3187 high: 3247 min/max: 800/3500 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
    governor: performance cores: 1: 3133 2: 3247 3: 3136 4: 3238 5: 3101 6: 3216 7: 3191 8: 3236
    bogomips: 41599
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: retbleed mitigation: IBRS
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: IBRS, IBPB: conditional, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: TSX disabled
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 530 vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9
    process: Intel 14n built: 2015-16 ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2
    bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:191b class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP106M [GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile] vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: nvidia
    v: 520.56.06 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 515.xx+ status: current (as of 2022-10)
    arch: Pascal code: GP10x process: TSMC 16nm built: 2016-21 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1c20 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: Acer BisonCam NB Pro type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-11:6 chip-ID: 5986:0683
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.4 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.4 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: nouveau alternate: fbdev,intel,nv,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915
    display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22") s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: LG Display 0x0469 built: 2014 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 128
    gamma: 1.2 size: 382x215mm (15.04x8.46") diag: 438mm (17.3") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 530 (SKL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 22.2.1 direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a170 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP106 High Definition Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pci
e: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.1
    chip-ID: 10de:10f1 class-ID: 0403
  Sound API: ALSA v: k6.0.2-zen1-1-zen running: yes
  Sound Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: no
  Sound Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.59 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wireless 3165 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:3165 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: alx
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 1969:e0a1
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: virbr0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-10:5
    chip-ID: 8087:0a2a class-ID: e001
  Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.73 TiB used: 1.53 TiB (56.2%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Crucial model: CT1000P5SSD8 size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: P4CR324 temp: 63.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: HGST (Hitachi) model: HTS721010A9E630 size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter>
    rev: A3U0 scheme: MBR
  ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Seagate model: ST1000LM014-1EJ164 size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter>
    rev: SM14 scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 931.22 GiB (100.00%) used: 276.89 GiB (29.7%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%) used: 608 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 931.22 GiB (100.00%) used: 276.89 GiB (29.7%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 931.22 GiB (100.00%) used: 276.89 GiB (29.7%)
    fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 931.22 GiB (100.00%) used: 276.89 GiB (29.7%)
    fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 15.5 GiB used: 771.2 MiB (4.9%) priority: 100 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 52.0 C pch: 71.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 297 Uptime: 8m wakeups: 1 Memory: 15.5 GiB used: 12.6 GiB (81.3%) Init: systemd
  v: 251 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 clang: 14.0.6 Packages:
  pm: pacman pkgs: 2010 libs: 566 tools: octopi,paru pm: flatpak pkgs: 0 Client: shell wrapper
  v: 5.1.16-release inxi: 3.3.22
Garuda (2.6.9-1):
  System install date:     2022-08-24
  Last full system update: 2022-10-24
  Is partially upgraded:   No
  Relevant software:       NetworkManager
  Windows dual boot:       No/Undetected
  Snapshots:               Snapper
  Failed units:            systemd-oomd.socket
2

I doubt your games are killing grub. However this could be an issue:

4 Likes
3

I did give that a thought, but as Grub is on the EFI partition, the HDD activity light was off, and I wouldn't have thought any writes to disk (if any at that stage), would not have affected anything that could prevent the system from booting. Also, this game, and Battlenet, was installed on a different physical disk.

4

Use REISUB instead.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Keyboard_shortcuts#Kernel_(SysRq)

6 Likes
5

:slight_smile:

7 Likes
6

Thanks guys. The SysReq thing has been on my todo list since forever anyway, so i'll get it done now.

But it still doesn't give me any idea of what could be happening to cause a lockup this badly in the first place, let alone trashing the ability to boot.

BTW, if the machine seems to have crashed so badly, would it even be capable of executing a script?

7

Try it and find out, it will likely work.

3 Likes
8

The REISUB sequence almost always works unless you have a kernel panic. For executing scripts after a crash, you may want to set up SSH.

2 Likes
9

SSH wouldn't be practical here, it's on the laptop, so I wouldn't have access to anything I could SSH in with, if I'm not on my home LAN. Thanks though!

10

Try installing the linux-tkg-pds kernel, then install these nvidia drivers: GitHub - Frogging-Family/nvidia-all: Nvidia driver latest to 396 series AIO installer

And install the new 5.20 drivers. Make sure you do the dkms version, and install install the drivers after installing the kernel (so the drivers will depmod to the kernel).

Disclaimer: This has allowed me to finally play every single game without issue, YMMV. For the record I'm running a Razer R15 Advanced 2021 RTX 3070 Max-Q with Optimus fully disabled in BIOS (aka Discrete GPU only), and garuda-nvidia-config completely uninstalled.

11

I'd need to look into implications of frogging, and booting without the iGPU isn't an option. I really want to get GPU passthrough running on this. I like my VM's too much!