Flash crashes on ubuntu 10.10 (amd 64)

[Mikko Valkonen]

Binary package hint: firefox

I installed Ubuntu 10.10 (AMD64) to my friend's HP-laptop a few weeks ago and he just told me that apparently either Firefox or the whole operating system crashes. This happens when he has multiple tabs open and he is watching a video on YouTube, changes the tab e.g. to Facebook and then back to YouTube. It seems that the screen goes gray and he can't even move the mouse (I'm not so sure about this, because he isn't that skilled with computers, so maybe only Firefox crashes, haven't seen this happening myself). I'm using 10.10 32-bit and I don't have this problem.
Can this be caused by changing the fonts of Firefox and Ubuntu, or Firefox add-ons (Google toolbar) and themes (he installed some theme which is not the default theme).

[Fortress of Solitude (fistfullofyen)]

Yes this affects me also. Here are the specs I am using:
AMD Athlon XP 3.2Mhz 32-bit
1GB dual channel DDR ram
MSI K7N2 Delta-L Mainboard
ATI Radeon™ X1600 PRO graphics cards
Running a dual monitor setup with 2 users but only one who is the administrator.

The exact same thing happens. I am viewing videos at news websites - doesn't matter any of them will do it or even you-tube. I also suffer form the user switching issue where if the other user is not logged in switching to them results in a blank screen that hangs indefinitely.

Interestingly this also happens in Opera at flash-heavy sites. IT can be pop ups or pop unders or flash video. I have the latest flash available at Ubuntu repositories.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Everything else is fantastic! I do with there was support for analog 5.1 surround sound speakers that plug in to all 3 inputs on my motherboard (creative-style): L/R to speakers; center/bass to input; rear L/R to mic.

- Fortress of Solitude

[Mikko Valkonen (mjv1989)]

Update: It seems that we fixed the problem while I was talking with my friend on Facebook. The only thing he had to do to stop these crashes was to apparently check the box in Firefox preferences->content->fonts & colors->advanced which says: "Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selections above."
So it seems that when he changed the fonts of Firefox and unchecked that box, it caused a bug. He didn't change anything else, so this must be the reason. Unless the bug comes back, he tested all the things that caused that bug and nothing crashed, so I think it's fixed now.
And he told me now that actually it was not just Firefox that crashed, his panels didn't show (autohide enabled) and the mouse didn't move. Still it would be nice, if this could be fixed so you didn't have to check that box, because some people (like my friend) need bigger fonts. The reason I haven't encountered this problem is because I haven't changed the fonts and unchecked that box, but I presume it would happen to me too if I tried it (not taking any chances XD).

Fortress of Solitude, have you uncheked that box and changed the fonts in Firefox too?

[Mikko Valkonen (mjv1989)]

Another update: It seems that we joyed too early, the bug is back. Now my friend has put nearly all fonts back to their normal settings and disabled his downloaded Firefox theme. Still, it seems that Youtube videos go gray and Firefox crashes... -.-
This is getting frustrating... -.-'

[Fortress of Solitude (fistfullofyen)]

Mikko:

Thanks for getting back to quickly. No I don't recall changing that setting. I do change many things in Firefox. I may have inadvertently done that. I will check immediately when I get home. Shame on me I am doing this at work. Oh well all that productivity and still 2 years since a raise and 2 years to go on current pay freeze - I guess I am still glad I have a job.

Anyway, The exact thing happened constantly to me. The browser - Firefox or Opera would grey out or just freeze up and the mouse would stop moving. No keyboard shortcut worked either. So, I would have to hard restart the system.

I'll report back after I get home 6pm Pacific time, USA.

Fortress of Solitude.

[Mikko Valkonen (mjv1989)]

Edit (another update): Actually Firefox no longer crashes, only the video stops working (turns gray, no video, no audio) when changing the tab.

[Mikko Valkonen (mjv1989)]

Fortress of Solitude: Yeah, no problem, but now it seems that I and my friend have only fixed this partially. The tab with the window still crashes, but it seems that Firefox no longer does that in his laptop...

[Mikko Valkonen (mjv1989)]

*window=video

[Mikko Valkonen (mjv1989)]

And by saying Firefox no longer does that I mean that it no longer crashes. Just the tab with the video. Sorry if I'm making no sense, I'm from Finland and I sometimes make mistakes with my English...

[Fortress of Solitude (fistfullofyen)]

Mikko:

No problem. Plenty of native speakers have their own English issues. No doubt you laugh at them all from where you are!

My major problem is the videos or flash content locks the mouse and the whole computer up. It seems if I am at a site with heavy flash and video it happens more quickly and with more frequency.

 - FoS

[Mikko Valkonen (mjv1989)]

Well I too figured out that my friend's laptop has issues with the same things as you do. But it's really strange, because my laptop doesn't have these issues. Maybe it's something to do with ATI or AMD? I have NVIDIA and Intel and that's the only difference I know... And since my friend has 64-bit and you have 32-bit, it's not about the bits either...
I've used Ubuntu for 5 years now and every new version has been better for me and then when I introduce my friend to Ubuntu, shit like this happens... Actually the first Ubuntu I installed for his laptop was 10.04 and it didn't have this issue so it must be the 10.10 and maybe ATI and/or AMD. This is really weird...

[Fortress of Solitude (fistfullofyen)]

Mikko:

I have been with Ubuntu since version 5.04. I occasionally switch over to Kubuntu but that is the extent of it. I went home last night and nothing I tried could fix the issue. I searched around for the log-in errors (unrelated to this error) and it is a known issue since 10.4

Now back to this flash issue. It transcends Firefox because it shows up in Opera. I have changed java debuggers and even lowered settings on the video card and 'desktop enhancements' in the ubuntu look and feel area. The whole system locks up with a greying out and the mouse locking.

I wonder if it has anything to do with running dual monitors - they are mismatched as well in specs and configuration. I also wonder if it has anything to do with the ATI/AMD proprietary drivers.

Does anyone else know what I may be missing. I tried what Mikko tried and it did not help.

FoS

[ishu161 (ishu161)]

Same problem here. I thought maybe it was my RAM at first (the system is P4,512 MB). It started out as minor inconvenience, slowing the system down when multiple tabs are open and whatnot, but until today, it didn't affect the flash content. Made up for it today though, as I spend practically all day trying to figure out what was wrong. The only change I've made before this thing got worse was change a media player plugin (for Berkeley webcast btw) from Parole to VLC. Today, every time I tried opening a youtube video, the whole system just froze. I made matters worse by doing manual restart, which led to some fancy keyboard light falshings(caps lock and scroll lock), which the guys at IRC told me was kernel panic. Now, I'm certainly not a Linux expert yet, but I figured this was bad. After a few other restarts, I got the system to work again, but I've installed "xul-ext-flashblock" to block the flash content for the time being.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Mikko Valkonen, this bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? If so, could you please test for this with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ .

If it remains an issue, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

apport-collect REPLACE-WITH-BUG-NUMBER

Please note, given that the information from the prior release is already available, doing this on a release prior to the development one would not be helpful.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for flashplugin-nonfree (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]