TLDR; Switching back to 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS for RPI Zero 2W resolved freeze and unresponsive issue I have been having with the device
My RPI Zero 2W used to freeze and not respond when I launched a heavy task. For example, running cargo install flamegraph hyperfine could not run successfully — it froze during the build process, and I had to physically unplug the power and plug it back on.
One way to resolve this was to limit the number of cores, but then this essentially forced my RPI Zero 2W into RPI Zero W. Today, I think I know what is happening.
I have been running the 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS. There wasn’t a particular reason to — I just wanted to take full advantage of my RPI as it supported 64-bit. Then today, I gave the 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS a try. Given that RPI Zero 2W comes with meager 512MB of memory, the 32-bit OS is probably a better choice given that it reduces memory usage.
In any case, after I switch back to the 32-bit version, everything works fine with no freeze/unresponsive problem at all! I can run tasks that uses all four cores continuously and consistently, which was not possible with the 64-bit version of OS. In addition, it uses much less memory compared to the 64-bit version too.
Maybe there is a reason why the 32-bit OS is the official recommended version on the RPI website.
So, if you are also facing the similar issue, give the 32-bit OS a try.
