[Bug 2127687] Re: Unreliable Hard System Freeze/Kernel Lockup on Browser Notification (Ubuntu 25.10 / Kernel 6.17)

I can reproduce this on Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS with the HWE kernel. Adding
my data point.

**System:**
- Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS (Noble Numbat), fresh install
- Kernel: 6.17.0-14-generic (linux-generic-hwe-24.04, from noble-updates/main)
- CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 (Skylake, 4C/8T)
- Chipset: Intel Z170 (100 Series/C230 Series)
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (GP104), driver 580.126.09 proprietary
- RAM: 64GB DDR4
- Ethernet: Intel I219-V (wired, default route)
- USB WiFi: mt76x2u (MT7612U) — was unplugged at the time of one of the freezes
- Desktop: GNOME (X11 session via gdm-x-session)

**Symptoms — identical to this bug:**
Complete hard system freeze. The journal log stops abruptly with no error, no kernel panic, no OOM message. SSH from another machine is unresponsive. Magic SysRq keys do not work. The only recovery is a hard power-button hold.

Last journal lines before freeze (completely normal, then nothing):

<timestamp> systemd[1]: Finished sysstat-collect.service
<+11s> ghostty[5252]: warning: failed to activate the on-screen keyboard

No /var/crash/ report is generated. journalctl -b -1 -p 0..3 shows only
unrelated ntfs3 MFT warnings.

**Timeline:**
- Ubuntu 24.04.4 was freshly installed with linux-generic-hwe-24.04, which pulled in kernel 6.17.0-14. The system has only ever booted this kernel on this install.
- Hard freezes began within a day of installation and have recurred roughly every 1-2 days since.
- The same hardware ran stable for years under previous OS installs with older kernels.

**Additional observations:**
1. This is NOT a GNOME/Wayland issue in my case — I am running X11, not Wayland.
2. This is NOT a GNOME extensions issue — I have standard Ubuntu extensions only.
3. Thermals are not a factor: CPU ~50°C, GPU ~45°C at idle.
4. A separate freeze (on a previous boot) was preceded by mt76x2u USB WiFi driver errors (page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown), but the most recent freeze had the mt76x2u adapter physically removed ~2.5 hours before the freeze occurred.
5. No kernel boot parameters (pcie_aspm, intel_idle.max_cstate, etc.) were set.

**What I plan to test:**
- Booting kernel 6.14.0-37-generic or 6.8 (available in repos) to confirm this is a 6.17 regression
- Adding pcie_aspm=off as a kernel parameter to rule out PCIe power state transitions

This bug appears to affect 24.04 LTS users as well (not just 25.10),
since the HWE kernel metapackage now pulls in 6.17. Given that the HWE
kernel is offered via standard apt updates, this could affect a large
number of 24.04 users.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2127687

Title:
Unreliable Hard System Freeze/Kernel Lockup on Browser Notification
(Ubuntu 25.10 / Kernel 6.17)

Status in linux package in Ubuntu:
New

Bug description:
Problem: Unreliable Hard System Freeze/Kernel Lockup on Browser
Notification (Ubuntu 25.10 / Kernel 6.17).

Log Evidence: The previous boot's journal log (journalctl -b -1)
stopped abruptly at 16:23:53 with no error or shutdown message. The
/var/crash/ directory confirmed no panic report was generated,
indicating a total kernel failure before the panic handler could run.

Trigger: The freeze occurred after a chrome browser notification pop-
up (mention the browser). This is the most probable cause.

System Details: Running on the Ubuntu 25.10 development branch with
kernel 6.17.0-5-generic. This was observed in Ubuntu 25.04 as well.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 25.10
Package: gnome-shell 49.0-1ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.17.0-5.5-generic 6.17.0-rc7
Uname: Linux 6.17.0-5-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.33.1-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sat Oct 11 17:05:38 2025
DisplayManager: gdm3
InstallationDate: Installed on 2025-10-09 (2 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 25.10 "Questing Quokka" - Release amd64 (20251007)
ProcEnviron:
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
PATH=(custom, no user)
SHELL=/bin/bash
TERM=xterm-256color
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
RelatedPackageVersions: mutter-common 49.0-2ubuntu5
SourcePackage: gnome-shell
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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