If the evaporator coils behind the back panel of the freezer are icing up because of auto defrost failure that will stop the circulation of cold air and eventually affect the freezer too.
In most of the new units they now have the evaporative defrost control. It senses when to defrost based on how many times and for how long the door is opened. It's more energy efficient but there does seem to be lots of problems with the board.
If frost is not the problem then what denman said.