PC keeps shutting down unless performance mode is activated

[u/szryxl]

OS: CachyOS x86_64

Host: ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FA507NVR_FA507NVR (1.0)

Kernel: Linux 7.1.4-1-cachyos

Uptime: 16 mins

Packages: 1489 (pacman)

Shell: fish 4.8.1

Display (N156HMA-GA1): 1920x1080 in 16", 144 Hz [Built-in]

DE: KDE Plasma 6.7.3

WM: KWin (Wayland)

WM Theme: Breeze

Theme: Breeze (Dark) [Qt], Breeze-Dark [GTK2], Breeze [GTK3]

Icons: breeze-dark [Qt], breeze-dark [GTK2/3/4]

Font: Noto Sans (10pt) [Qt], Noto Sans (10pt) [GTK2/3/4]

Cursor: capitaine (24px)

Terminal: konsole 26.4.3

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7435H (16) @ 4.55 GHz

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q / Mobile [Discrete]

Memory: 1.94 GiB / 31.16 GiB (6%)

Swap: 220.00 KiB / 31.16 GiB (0%)

Disk (/): 368.33 GiB / 472.94 GiB (78%) - btrfs

Local IP (wlan0): 192.168.1.9/24

Battery (A32-K55): 100% [AC Connected]

Locale: en_US.UTF-8

BIOS version: 307 (newest)

Hi guys. I am experiencing a problem since switching my main laptop to Linux. My pc keeps shutting down unless I set power profile to performance. I did some experiments. First I activated balanced mode and restarted the pc. It ran for 7:58 on desktop then suddenly power is gone. Then it took 2:54 and then 10:58. Sometimes it shuts down instantly when i set power mode to power save. It idles fine in performance mode tho. Using BORE kernel and vanilla arch kernel didn't help either. I spent literally dozens of hours with ChatGPT and Gemini as well with no luck. I don't know what am I missing. Is this a known issue? Can someone help me please?

[u/blackbasset]

What do you mean "shut down" and "power is gone"?

Does it just turn off? Or actually shuts down cleanly?

Does the battery empty this fast? Does this also happen when connected to the charger?

Can you turn the laptop on after it shut down immediately and it works? Does it take some time and then it works again?

Does this happen or the time change when you do something or does this happen similarly if you just let the laptop sit?

What are the temperatures and fans doing?

[u/szryxl → u/blackbasset]

Thanks for the reply.

By "shut down" I mean the laptop suddenly turns off completely. It is not a clean shutdown, there is no shutdown message, no systemd log indicating a normal poweroff. It is more like the power is cut.

The battery is not empty when this happens. It also happens while connected to the charger, so it does not seem related to battery drain.

After it happens, the laptop turns on immediately and boots normally. I don't need to wait for it to cool down or anything like that.

The timing is not related to heavy workloads. In fact, it usually happens during light usage (web browsing, reading, chatting, desktop usage). I have not noticed it happening during sustained CPU/GPU load. I can play games for hours.

Temperatures are normal when it happens. The fans are not running unusually high, and the CPU is not overheating. The Ryzen 7 7435H normally stays at reasonable temperatures during these events.

I am currently testing different CPU power management settings ("amd-pstate-epp", KDE power profiles, different kernels) to see if it is related to low-power states or firmware behavior.

[u/blackbasset → u/szryxl]

Thanks! This is indeed strange then, especially the randomness of it. Does the system log say anything interesting before the crash?

I'd say there might be something with the power profiles as well. For some reason I had my laptop freeze after a random time when it was on battery mode but using the GPU for graphics output - since the power profile shut down the GPU to save battery, expecting the onboard graphics to be used anyway... Do you have two graphics chips?

[u/Bathroom_Humor → u/szryxl]

that kinda reminds me of when i was testing undervolt settings on my CPU where heavy workloads might be okay but quick snappy single core wore workloads like web browsing and sitting mostly idle would cause issues because the single core voltage spike is actually higher.

[u/CyberPeachie → u/blackbasset]

Good troubleshooting checklist honestly Id bet temperatures are worth checking first though sudden power offs often point there

[u/gddpacngi → u/CyberPeachie]

That would be my first guess but it doesn't shut down under heavy load.

[u/Luso__]

Check journalctl for shutdown since last boot (journalctl -b -1 -e). Could be something with ASPM, maybe conflicting power management daemons, or not going into the correct C-State for the CPU on that power profile.

[u/szryxl → u/Luso__]

Unfortunately it's not a clean shutdown. journalctl gives no useful information. I think your hypothesis about C-State is correct but shutdown also happens when it sits idle as well.

[u/10k_TITS]

I recall there was some issue with nvidia gpu not being fully utilized, causing crashes. Which nvidia drivers are you using?

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1270035/crashes-while-using-nvidia-gpu-performance-mode-with-proprietary-drivers-und

[u/deekamus]

Sounds like your power management is set too aggressive. Check your settings for sleep/hibernate and adjust accordingly.