Normally I first try see if it is only the graphical interface that has crashed by pushing ctrl+alt+F1 or F2 or F3 to try and switch to another terminal. If I can switch, I log in and reboot or restart the window manager.
I also try SSH into the machine if I have another of around.
If I do reboot, then I use ‘journalctl -b-1 -e’ to see what happened at the time the system froze.
A lot of distros disable the functions of the magic sysrq key for security reasons. If it’s enabled, it should work as long as the system is still capable of reading keyboard inputs.
I’ve used Alt+PrtSc (the magic sysrq key) with r,e, i, s, u, and b to trigger what I’ve read is a more “graceful” forced restart. I’m still learning what the hell I’m doing, though, so don’t take my word for any of this.
There is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key but I’ve had some hit and miss success in actually getting it to work.
Normally I first try see if it is only the graphical interface that has crashed by pushing ctrl+alt+F1 or F2 or F3 to try and switch to another terminal. If I can switch, I log in and reboot or restart the window manager.
I also try SSH into the machine if I have another of around.
If I do reboot, then I use ‘journalctl -b-1 -e’ to see what happened at the time the system froze.
A lot of distros disable the functions of the magic sysrq key for security reasons. If it’s enabled, it should work as long as the system is still capable of reading keyboard inputs.
I’ve used Alt+PrtSc (the magic sysrq key) with r,e, i, s, u, and b to trigger what I’ve read is a more “graceful” forced restart. I’m still learning what the hell I’m doing, though, so don’t take my word for any of this.
(edit: goofed the key order)