Intermittent freezing/restarting on Nuc NUC7i7DNHE don't know what else to try

[Singularity9942]

I have a NUC7i7DNHE running Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS on an M.2 SATA drive (not NVMe)

Ever since I got the machine I've experienced random crashes/restarts where the system becomes completely unresponsive and the journalctl logs reveal nothing. The system becomes unresponsive in that I lose my SSH session, can't ping the machine, and plugging in HDMI reveals nothing.

The one most reliable way I can make the Nuc freeze is by unplugging/replugging the HDMI cable once Ubuntu has started. It freezes and then eventually restarts about 80% of the time. And when it doesn't, if I immediately try it again it'll freeze. The times I'm able to get it successfully show the system again after replugging it shows me the error:

drm:skl_ddi_pll_enable error DPLL 1 not locked

That's not the full error. I took a picture of it but apparently moved the camera too fast. 

Sometimes the machine will fail to post and I have to restart it multiple times.

Here's all the things I've attempted

1. Updated HDMI firmware on both ports

2. Upgraded to latest BIOS, downgraded BIOS, reset BIOS settings, upgrade BIOS again.

3. With the machine off and power cable removed, removed the jumper, held power button down for 15 seconds, replaced jumper and held power down again for another 15 seconds

4.  Disabled HDMI CEC, HDMI Audio, SATA Port, Serial Port in the BIOS. (Doing this got the HDMI plug/unplug issue to fix temporarily.)

5. Tried a different M.2 Drive

6. Tried to legacy boot into Ubuntu instead of UEFI but for some reason the Nuc wont boot using my m.2 when I disable UEFI. It sees the m.2 drive and everything but just won't boot into it. I've read that Nucs are more reliable legacy booting but I can't even try that.

7. Installed the hwe kernel for Ubuntu

I'm at the end of my rope. This device needs to be reliable with long uptimes with no issues. I'm on the verge of trying to return it by I'm stubborn enough to give it one more shot.

Let me know if you need any other info. Thanks in advance.

[Singularity9942]

Any help or suggestions here would be much appreciated.

[LeonWaksman]

1. Could be that this problem is caused by failure in RAM or RAM slot. If you have two SO DIMMs in your NUC, try to run with only one SO DIMM at time.

2. An other reason may caused by bad Ubuntu installation. Prepare image of your drive and just for test,  install Windows 10. You don't need to buy a license and activate it, since you will not keep this installation. Just do not forget, after installing Windows, download and install the Chipset Device Software and reboot your NUC. Only then, install all the other drivers.

Leon

[Singularity9942]

Appreciate you taking the time to reply.

I've only got one ram module. I ran memtest86 on it. 4 passes returned no errors. Can I run that in the other DIMM?

Do you know why the drive wouldn't properly boot when disabling UEFI? Have you heard anything about Nucs performing more reliably when legacy booting vs UEFI?

I've read some comments on Reddit that suggest avoiding UEFI on Nucs.

I tried two different m.2 with Ubuntu server installations and both froze when removing the HDMI. Such a weird issue.

[LeonWaksman]

1. Yes, you may install the SO DIMM in the other slot and check if it helps.

2. "Do you know why the drive wouldn't properly boot when disabling UEFI?" I'm assuming that you have NVMe SSD installed in the M.2 slot. If this is the case, only UEFI boot is supported.

3. "Have you heard anything about Nucs performing more reliably when legacy booting vs UEFI?" Never heard and it is not true as well. See my answer in para. 2 above.

4. Can't advice you with the Ubuntu (you should ask in their forum), try Windows and see what happens. 

Leon

[Steven_Intel]

Were you able to check the previous post?

Let us know if you still need assistance.

Best regards,

Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.

[Steven_Intel]

Since we have not heard back from you, we will close this thread. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question, as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Best regards,

Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.