Linux Keeps Crashing

Before undertaking any of the more time-consuming solutions below, here are a few basic steps to get you start:

• Check for System Updates: Keeping your Linux system up-to-date with the latest package releases is essential for mantaining your systems functionality. Run the command sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade to update your systems packages.
• Kill Unnessessary Processes: Unlike OS' like Windows, Linux distributions are often very reluctant to automatically close your programs. This can cause your system resources to be streatched super thin. Use the command sudo ps aux to find processes and sudo pkill -15 "process_name" to request termination, or sudo pkill -9 "process_name" to force immediate termination.
• Examine your System Logs: System Logs, or crach reports, are a record of operating system events and can help determine what happened up to the point where your system crashed.

If your device is crashing despite the previous steps you will likely need to install/reinstall the drivers manually, or a piece of hardware is incompatable with your Linux distribution.

• If you are using a Linux live USB then you are going to want to look in /var/log/syslog or dmesg.  The syslog directory sould provide imporatnt information regaurding your devices drivers and hardware. Graphics errors will be listed in ~/.Xsession-errors or /var/log/Xorg.0.log.
• The part's manufacturer may have drivers that are even more current than Acer's. This is especially relevant for graphics processing. Check AMD, Intel, or NVidia directly.

Avoid any program advertised as a driver updater if it doesn't come directly from an electronics manufacturer (ie. Intel, AMD, Realtek). These can install the incorrect drivers at best or malware at worst.

• If updating doesn't resolve the issue, and you think you know which device is the issue, try uninstalling the driver and reinstalling it. This will be specific to your Linux distribution.

If your machine crashes randomly, it might be due to overheating. Overheating can happen for various reasons. iFixit has pages on this topic for many devices including Dell, Lenovo, HP, Razer, Acer, Asus, and Samsung. But to get you started, consider the following...

• Remove any internal dust that has built up: Use compressed air, or other eco-friendly alternative, to remove as much dust as possible. For the greatest effect, pull the fans out and clean them separately.
• Check to see if your cooling fan has failed: If your systems cooling fan is not moving air through your system, then heat can build up in your system. Listen for signs of fan function. Is it making any noises? If so, are the noises it's making normal? If the fan is clicking, grinding, or making any odd noises, it is best to replace it.
• Replace your system's thermal paste: Remove your heatsink and reapply thermal paste to your CPU. This can optimize thermal transfer to the heat sink and lower operating temperatures, and reduce system crashing.

If you continue to experience problems then the problem could be that your storage drive could have currupted data..

• If your storage drive is SMART capable, then you can test your drive with the smartmontools application set.
• Open the terminal program and use the command sudo apt-get install smartmontools to install smartmontools, and sudo smartctl -I /dev/sda to test if your drive is SMART compatable. /dev/sda is the parth your hard drive.
• If your drive is SMART capable, but not enabled, you can enable it with sudo smartctl -H on /dev/sda.
• Use the command lsblk to list your avalable disks, and unmount the disk you intend to check with sudo unmount /dev/sda (replacing the path with the appropriate information).
• Check your disk's health with sudo smartctl -H on /dev/sda.
• Run the comand sudo fsck /dev/sda to check the filesystem
• Scan the disk for bad blocks using sudo badblocks -v /dev/sda.
• Remount the disk sudo mount /dev/sda. If your device’s drive has tested as bad, or has a more traditional hard drive disk (HDD), consider replacing it with an solid state drive (SSD) for a performance boost. SSDs are more energy efficient and much speedier.

Random Access Memory, commonly known as RAM, is a likely hardware culprit for issues with kernel panics and freezes with your OS.

• Reseat your RAM modules. Numerous tiny pins could be slightly out of alignment. Removing them and reinstalling them might be all it takes to fix this.
• Test your RAM by running a diagnostic.
  • IT Professionals have been using memtext86 for ages to test RAM. It's a free tool, and its documentation is excellent! However, it requires a bit more knowledge to use.
• RAM tests are notoriously long, and minor failures are complex for tests to find. Trust diagnostic failures, but not passes. Multiple diagnostic runs may be needed to find an issue.
• Replace the memory if diagnostics fail—either increasing the overall size or keeping the exact amount and speed.