kubuntu jaunty hangs completely while using mouse

[Jordi Moles]

Hi,

first of all I'm sorry if it looks like I'm repeating the same bug that has been already reported. I've read through the whole launchpad system and people talk about graphic card or xorg related freezes, and i don't feel like I'm in the same situation.

let's see...

I've been using kubuntu jaunty for quite long time. I think I downloaded one of its first alpha releases. At first it was a bit of a mess... naturally!! but now almost everything has been fixed. However, I still get the system hanged from time to time, randomly without a reason. I've gone through all the logs and failed to see the reason while it keeps hanging over and over again.

It's always when I use the mouse. It's funny cause I opened a bug some months ago about ubuntu 8.04. Back then, the problem was fixed by removing "powernow" software... and I never had this problem again. I'm using a Intel Pentium 4 processor.

When I installed Jaunty, I quickly removed powernow, but still today after all the updates I get the system hanged from time to time. It's not only the X server and not only either while using Firefox. After that, I have to entirely reboot the system by pressing the button.

I'm attaching all the logs I think can be useful, just let me know if you need anything else.

Thanks.

[Philippe Clérié (pclerie)]

I've also been having random freezes in Kubuntu. Most of the time while using Konqueror and Kontact. When I'm not using one of those two, I'm on a console, and I don't remember having a problem while using konsole.

I've installed an OpenSSH server just to check and the fact is that underneath, when accessed via ssh the computer is running just fine. Can't find anything in the logs.

I've tried killing processes one by one from the ssh process. The frozen apps (e.g. konqueror if that's what's on screen) is still on screen even while the process that owns the window is killed.

I've had problems previously with krunner dying and freezing plasma. So I tried not running krunner. No dice.

The frustrating thing with this problem is that I can't even file a meaningful bug report.

I hope my freeze is the same as your freeze.

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

Hi Philippe,

yes, if not the same bug, they are really similar and must be somehow related. Are you also running kubuntu with an Intel processor?

I can also confirm that this never happens after hours working from shell, either from inside or outside the X server (i mean Ctrl-Alt-F1). Even when I connect to my machine from work and run some tests on it... it has never hanged or showed any problem/warning/error at all. However, when I'm using the mouse for a while, it usually hangs. The problem is that, as far as I am aware of, it doesn't seem to fall into a pattern, so.. unfortunately i cannot provide any further details. I can't even speak about an exact amount of time, It could be from 5 minutes to a couple of hours, depending on how bright the moon or the sun are that day I guess :)

[Philippe Clérié (pclerie)]

I should have mentioned what I'm running. It's a System 76 Gazelle Ultra with 2GB RAM, Intel Core 2 Duo, GM965.

Software is Kubuntu, new install on a LVM partition, from Jaunty RC, updated daily until the official release yesterday.

As you say there are so far no identifiable patterns. It happens on battery or on street power, on wired or wireless networks, with or without 3D effects on. And, in my case, the mouse works after the freeze.

As for timing, it varies between just after boot and log in to kdm and anything less than, say, 4 hours.

Last, there's an awful lot of freeze bugs. In both Ubuntu and Kubuntu. I've tended to blame KDE4 because it's been a pattern ever since I've been trying it, but 4.2.2 seems to have fixed most of the other problems, except that one. Given the number of freeze bugs, it's entirely possible that this may be an issue with X.org.

Take care
Philippe

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

HI,

Philippe, It looks like we are pretty much on our own :(

i get the computer hanged constantly, every day. So... I've done some debugging on my own and it looks like there's some weird things about my bluetooth device. Do you have an usb bluetooth adapter attached to your computer?
If you have one, please take it out if you can. I can't, basically cause I'm writing from a bluetooth mouse/keyboard and i also use the device to connect to my mobile phone everyday.

[Philippe Clérié (pclerie)]

Not really! There is a lot of activity on some other «freeze» bugs.
In particular, look up #365527 and #359392. They're looking at the
xorg intel driver which could very well be the culprit. I have yet
to try a suggested work around but they really seem to be getting a
handle on things.

I just may turn out that this bug is a duplicate.

I'm planning on installing and using Ubuntu and see if the same
symptoms show up. If you can do the same, I think that will
seriously help.

--

Philippe

------
The trouble with common sense is that it is so uncommon.
<Anonymous>

On Wednesday 29 April 2009 14:05:17 Jordi Moles wrote:
> HI,
>
> Philippe, It looks like we are pretty much on our own :(
>
> i get the computer hanged constantly, every day. So... I've done
> some debugging on my own and it looks like there's some weird
> things about my bluetooth device. Do you have an usb bluetooth
> adapter attached to your computer? If you have one, please take
> it out if you can. I can't, basically cause I'm writing from a
> bluetooth mouse/keyboard and i also use the device to connect to
> my mobile phone everyday.

[Zack Evans (zevans23)]

@Phillipe,

Yes, looks like you have one of the Intel 965 bugs you're already reading about, so yours is most likely duplicate. Bryce has posted to several of those with some further troubleshooting instructions, I think the best thing you can do is follow those at the moment...

@Jordi,

I just searched for "nvidia freeze jaunty" and found several open bugs, so I don't think you are on your own - maybe look through some of those?

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

i just realised that my comment sounded like i was complaining about something. I apologise for that.

I only meant that it looked like there were so many similar bugs alike but all different at the same time and therefore it was unlikely that we could get it fixed in a reasonable period of time, provided that i use kubuntu every day and it hangs no less that once a day and even a week is a lot of time for me.

Anyway... I've tried applying all of the solutions that have been proposed on those bugs you posted, but none has worked so far for me, the system keeps hanging at least once a day.

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

well.. i just want to let you know about what i've been trying so far. Unfortunately, without any success, as the computer keeps hanging completely at least once a day, but someone may roll out some possible problems from this.

I must say that the computer doesn't respond to ping after crashing, so it's not just xorg or kde.

what i've tried is:

-removing the bluetooth device and using a ps2 mouse and keyboard.
-using ppa repositories to get the latest video drivers.
-using a different video card, another nvidia card i've got.
-downgrading the nvidia driver to the 96 version.
-using "nv" instead of "nvidia" in xorg.conf.

Just let me know if you need any extra information i can give you.

[jtholmes (jtholmes)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better.
Unfortunately, we can't fix it because your description didn't include enough information.

Next time this happens, can you switch to a text console by hitting
CTRL + ALT + F1, login there, and then run
sudo apport-collect -l linux 366222
then run
sudo poweroff and see if the machine powers off

If the machine still won't shutdown then run
'top' and it might tell you what the machine is stuck on

If you know how you can probably kill the X server and relogin w/o
shutting down the machine
thanks
~

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

Hi jtholmes,

I can't do that as it's not just kde freezing, but the whole system. I can't ssh or ping into this computer when this happens. Is there any other way to get the information you need? May be there's a way for kubuntu to put that information automatically into a logfile before it crashes?

[jtholmes (jtholmes)]

Could you please take time to file out the following
information and add it to the bug report.

If something does not apply leave it blank.
Some are yes/no (ex: using wireless).
For instance if you are using Wirless and answer
yes, then ignore wired, etc.

kernel version:
Graphics Chip Mfgr:
Graphics Chip Model:
File System Type for /:
Is this problem on a Laptop:
Laptop mfgr:
Laptop model:

Is this problem on a Desktop:
Desktop mobo mfgr:
Desktop mobo model:

using wireless:
ethernet card driver:

using wired:
ethernet card driver:

bios mfgr:
using Compiz:
using Kde:
using Gnome (metacity):

Much of the above information can be obtained from the command
   lspci -vvv

Thanks in advance

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

kernel version: 2.6.28-11-generic
Graphics Chip Mfgr: nvidia
Graphics Chip Model: nVidia Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200]
File System Type for /: ext3
Is this problem on a Laptop: No
Laptop mfgr:
Laptop model:

Is this problem on a Desktop: Yes
Desktop mobo mfgr: ASRock
Desktop mobo model: 775Dual-880Pro

using wireless: NO
ethernet card driver:

using wired: YES
ethernet card driver: via-rhine

bios mfgr: American Megatrends Inc.
using Compiz: No
using Kde: Yes / 4.2.2
using Gnome (metacity): No

[jtholmes (jtholmes)]

Excellent reply

The developers are aware of the problem and are working on a solution
thanks

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

That's great news! Thanks.

Do you know if this is something that has to do with a very rare combination of hardware? Or is it more serious?

I'll look forward to the fix for it.

Just let me know if you need any further details.

Thanks.

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

Hi again,

i keep upgrading the system every day hoping that this will get fixed. Today, several packages were updated:

udev, cups, apci,update-manager-core and so on.

Well... after that... the whole system has completely hanged 5 times already.

There's no signal of crashes or the tiniest warning/error in the log files :(

[jtholmes (jtholmes)]

I share your frustration, however, I may have a solution, if you are adventrous

YOu will need to know how to install a .deb package
and be able to edit and change parts of your /boot/grub/menu.lst

I can write up a procedure on my Ubuntu web page but you will need to
know what I am talking about in the procedure.

I am basically talkin about installing the next (proposed) Ubuntu kernel
and booting it.
One person having these strange lockups said installing the proposed kernel
cured his problems.

So reply to this bug if you are able to handle the requirements I outlined
above and we will proceed with the proposed kernel.
jt

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

Hi,

Great news!!!

I think I can handle it. I'm a system administrator myself, it's my job. I work with BSD's and Debian's, and I'm used to compiling customised kernels and so on.

I'll look forward to your fix.

Thanks.

[Thomas Weissel (xapient)]

@jtholmes... do you mean the Package Name:
linux-image-2.6.28-12-generic 2.6.28-12.43 ??

is it "save" to enable pre-released and unsupported updates to get this kernel.. ??? (if i activate these sources i also get mesa-dri in a newer version.. i read about it in other threads.. it could be the reason for this systemfreeze too...)

@jordi moles: did it work for you?

thx.
i experienced the freezes on a futjitsusiemens notebook with intel graphics ... it started right after the new installation of kubuntu jaunty.. :-(

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

@xapient:

i don't know yet, jtholmes hasn't told me yet how to install the "fixed" kernel he's talking about.

[Thomas Weissel (xapient)]

is your intel graphics driver using the UXA acceleration method.. its just to find out more about the cause of the freezes... (and if this bug report is a duplicate)

(you could search your /var/log/Xorg.0.log)

thx..

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

I don't have an intel graphic card.

as i said before I've got a nvidia card and even tried replacing it with a different one, also nvidia, but the problem persists. I've also tried upgrading and downgrading the nvidia drivers without any positive result.

[merkri (kristian-markon-deactivatedaccount)]

I thought I'd post here because, although there are other bug reports of freezes upon upgrading to Jaunty, this one sounds very similar to what I'm seeing.

Basically, I ran KDE on Kubuntu Intrepid more or less without any freezes, installed Jaunty RC without any apparent freezes (but didn't use it very long before upgrading). I upgraded to Jaunty final about two days ago, and all of a sudden today the system started hanging.

The first thing I noticed is that mouse clicks weren't responding and I started having problems with mouse focus (e.g., I would click on the foreground window and it would switch to a background window). The keyboard seemed to respond fine, however.

At first it involved only a couple of windows, but eventually it happened to all of the windows and I couldn't do anything and had to reboot.

Since, then, though, KDE is essentially unusable, with the same pattern ever since. It boots and loads KDE, and everything seems fine initially. The taskbar responds (e.g., it will minimize appropriately and appear with mouseover), but when I go to the KDE startmenu, applications won't open, and a terminal session manager plasmoid I have won't respond. I can open Firefox and Dolphin, but eventually I start having the same mouse problems with those applications, and the taskbar won't respond anymore.

I can get into a shell with CTRL+ALT+F1 as described above, but that's about it.

I've tried apt-get upgrade and everything seems upgradable.

The mouse is a USB mouse with Intel USB interface on the mobo.

It's a Dell XPS 420 system, Intel quad-Core2 Extreme processor 3GHz 1333FSB12MB

This is the info from above (I couldn't find all of it):

kernel version: 2.6.28-11-generic
Graphics Chip Mfgr: ATI
Graphics Chip Model: Radeon HD 3870
File System Type for /: ext3
Is this problem on a Laptop: No
Laptop mfgr:
Laptop model:

Is this problem on a Desktop: Yes
Desktop mobo mfgr: Dell (?)
Desktop mobo model: ?

using wireless: NO
ethernet card driver:

using wired: YES
ethernet card driver:

bios mfgr: ?
using Compiz: No
using Kde: Yes / 4.2.2
using Gnome (metacity): No

[merkri (kristian-markon-deactivatedaccount)]

Oops. I meant to say "I've tried apt-get upgrade and there doesn't seem to be any more recent upgrades with the repositories I have."

[merkri (kristian-markon-deactivatedaccount)]

Well...that was bizarre.

After awhile, I figured out that I could use the terminal and Dolphin in KDE without many problems (although I couldn't scroll through the terminal with the mouse).

I took at a look at the running processes with top, and killed Xorg.

Expectedly, it crashed to the Kubuntu login menu (recovering pretty well, I think).

That fixed the problem, though, at least temporarily. I'm not sure what was going on, but whatever it was, it persisted across reboots, but got fixed when I intentionally killed Xorg. I don't know what would be different between killing Xorg versus powering off the hardware or CTRL+ALT+DEL in the shell, but it did something.

[jtholmes (jtholmes)]

Yes bizarre.

Would you run the following command and attach the output to this bug please.

    aptitude search restricted

I want to see what restricted modules are installed.
thanks

[jtholmes (jtholmes)]

xapient

dont worry about running a different kernel, we have a confirmation
and we can move forward.

thanks

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

jtholmes:

could you please tell me how to update to this new kernel? or are you working on a new kernel which will be soon available from repositories?

Thanks.

[merkri (kristian-markon-deactivatedaccount)]

Well, I can replicate things.

It started doing the same thing today again, and I could replicate the fix: applications won't respond to mouse, except for Dolphin; open terminal through Dolphin, kill Xorg, relogin, and things are fine.

This is what I get with "aptitude search restricted":

p kubuntu-restricted-extras - Commonly used restricted packages
p linux-restricted-modules - Generic Linux restricted modules.
c linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-11-generic - Non-free Linux kernel modules for version 2.6.27 on x86/x86_64
c linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-7-generic - Non-free Linux kernel modules for version 2.6.27 on x86/x86_64
c linux-restricted-modules-2.6.27-9-generic - Non-free Linux kernel modules for version 2.6.27 on x86/x86_64
i linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-11-generic - Non-free Linux kernel modules for version 2.6.28 on x86/x86_64
p linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-11-server - Non-free Linux kernel modules for version 2.6.28 on x86/x86_64
p linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-3-rt - Non-free Linux kernel modules for version 2.6.28 on x86/x86_64
i A linux-restricted-modules-common - Non-free Linux 2.6.28 modules helper script
i linux-restricted-modules-generic - Restricted Linux modules for generic kernels
p linux-restricted-modules-rt - Restricted Linux modules for rt kernels
p linux-restricted-modules-server - Restricted Linux modules for server kernels
v restricted-manager -
v restricted-manager-core -
v restricted-manager-kde -
p ubuntu-restricted-extras - Commonly used restricted packages
p xubuntu-restricted-extras - Commonly used restricted packages

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

merkri:

you said: "applications won't respond to mouse, except for Dolphin; open terminal through Dolphin, kill Xorg, relogin, and things are fine"

uhmmmm. i don't think we are experiencing the same kind of bug. In my case, the system doesn't respond to ping or anything, it completely hangs, i have to press the "reset" button, it's more like a kernel panic, not just xorg.

[merkri (kristian-markon-deactivatedaccount)]

"uhmmmm. i don't think we are experiencing the same kind of bug. In my case, the system doesn't respond to ping or anything, it completely hangs, i have to press the "reset" button, it's more like a kernel panic, not just xorg."

Yeah, the more I've dealt with this, the more it does seem different.

It's taken me a lot of trial and error to figure out what's going on, though. Also, if I leave things long enough, it does freeze completely (i.e., everything stops responding).

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

Today i decided to add jaunty-proposed repositories to see if there was some new kernel available, among other packages.

Now i've got kernel 2.6.28-12-generic running and kde 4.2.3, and the problem still persists.

jtholmes: is 2.6.28-12 the kernel you said might fix this problem?

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

@jtholmes: do you have any news about this bug? you were going to give details on how to use a new kernel which would fix it. how is that going?

i already gave up jaunty at work, cause it's not really productive to use a computer that you have to reboot twice a day for a crash. I'm still resisting at home, though. I've got very different hardware in both, but the same behaviour.

please, give us some information about the status of this bug, cause i will have to switch to another distro if you are not planning to fix it right now.

thanks.

[Marco Craveiro (marco-craveiro)]

Hola Jordi,

I just upgraded my main PC to jaunty, after running it quite successfully on my laptop for a bit. I have exactly the same issue as you, and I've also got an nvidia card (on the PC; intel on the laptop). I disabled the nvidia drivers and the crashes went away - well, for at least over an hour; I was seeing it every 10-20 mins. when i'd done configuring the box, I'm going to try all the available nvidia drivers - my guess is the 180 release is damaged goods.

[Thomas Weissel (xapient)]

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReinhardTartler/X/RevertingIntelDriverTo2.4

this did the trick..
after downgrading to the old intel driver the system freezes are gone for good..

[Marco Craveiro (marco-craveiro)]

very similar here, with nvidia: had loads of problems with the 180 drivers. removing proprietary drivers worked well - no crashes at all - but of course, no compiz niceness. now trying the nvidia 173 driver. no problems as of yet (> 1h).

To downgrade the nvidia drivers go to System | Administration | Hardware Drivers and:

- disable version 180 (I actually restarted the PC to ensure the drivers were really gone)
- enable version 173 (again, a reboot was required).

HTH

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

hi everyone.

@xapient: thanks for the advice, I've already moved back to driver 2.4. We'll see what happens. If it doesn't hang completely in 3 o 4 days i can say it's working, as right now i still have to reboot twice a day.

@marco: did that really work for you? i haven't used the non-propietary drivers cause it's not just that you are not able to run compiz. I don't really care about compiz, i just want the system to run smoothly and with the non-proprietary drivers that doesn't happen. I mean, for example while scrolling up and down with firefox or a folder with a large amount of files... kde's behaviour is "curious".
anyway.. what i did try was go back to nvidia 9x drivers, and i had the same kind of problems.

let's hope that what xapient suggested works.

thanks.

[Marco Craveiro (marco-craveiro)]

yes, sorry, that was an issue as well - the experience was just not as "smooth" really (even emacs GTK was a bit flickery!). Can't speak for the 9x drivers - didn't have to go that far down - but I must say I had no problems as of yet with v173, so I recommend those.

[Oka Kurniawan (oka-kurniawan)]

I did try to add "UXA" to xorg.conf and it helps me so far. I haven't had any crash for two days. If I had again, I will let you all know. I follow the instruction here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=7252603

But it seems the uxa is still unstable. one of the solution is to downgrade the driver as mentioned by xapient. But for me, so far adding uxa helps.

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

i did what xapient suggested... and the problem still persists.

I've gone from twice a day to once every two days or so. I can't deny it's a big improvement. However, the system still hangs with driver 2.4. while using the mouse, the same scenario. Last time, just 5 minutes ago while pressing on the "Send" button in a web form.

I'll try now with the "uxa" command in xorg.conf, although i don't really think it's going to work, i don't have much hope left.

[Jordi Moles (jordi-moles)]

hi,

i'm sorry guys, but i've had enough.

it's been more than a month since jaunty became "stable". It's true that i first installed a beta release and i upgraded from there to "stable". After trying a lot of things suggested here and in other forums i ended up making a clean install, just in case.

The problem still persists after a month and i can't put with it anymore. As it's not the first time this is happening (a similar think happened to me with intrepid and the bug reported was rejected), 3 days ago i moved to another distro. So far, no problem at all, everything has worked out of the box, no hangs, no freezes, nothing at all.

I've been an ubuntu user ever since gutsy came out, but after two bad experiences in a row i have to say goodbye.

In my opinion, it's ok to say: "this only happens to a 0.0000001% of the users and i don't know when we will find the time to fix it". But one thing that really pisses people off is the luck of information. What's more, i was "promised" a new kernel which would fix all my problems, and i'm still waiting for any information on where to download or how to proceed. I think i've put a lot of effort on trying to find out what the problem was and provided all the information you asked for as soon as posible... and what i've got is... silence.

[Andres Mujica (andres.mujica)]

As the original reported deactivated his account i'm marking this bug as invalid. However i've reassigned to the right package in case he reopens it again

[Kasper Peeters (kasper-peeters)]

Please reopen, this bug is still present in jaunty as of kernel 2.6.28-13. I experience this on a system with an nVidia GeForce 6150 LE using the nvidia 180 driver on a Dell C521. In my case the USB mouse hangs, without any trace in /var/log/messages or dmesg. The USB keyboard usually still works at that stage. Unplugging and re-plugging the mouse gives no sign in dmesg. I have not yet tried nvidia 173.

It is a very hard to debug problem, but a definite showstopper, so please give this some attention.

[[e-mail] (est-risto)]

I got similar problem, when clicking like system tray icons it opens some other menus, scrolls hang in web browser, some widgets can't be even clicked or hangs there. Using the NC6220 with intel 956 something.

[Roger (rogerbotto-gmail)]

Hi,

I was suffering the same problem since I've installed the Jaunty final version. I have an AMD x3 over and MSI mother with and Nvidia (from MSI).

I'm new in Linux. :(

I tried reconfiguring the mouse in the xorg because when I run Xinput it shows me two devices one Macintosh that I don't know why and an Imwheel PS2 mouse (the one that I'm using).

Usually the freeze problem became when I start the Nvidia 180 driver. But they have not a pattern.

Would somebody can help me?

Regards.