Bug #987498 “Unity/compiz freeze but mouse still move” : Bugs : xserver-xorg-video-ati package : Ubuntu

Revision history for this message

Id2ndR (id2ndr) wrote on 2012-04-23:

#1

BootDmesg.txt Edit (63.1 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
BootLog.gz Edit (742 bytes, application/x-gzip)
CurrentDmesg.txt Edit (1.9 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Dependencies.txt Edit (2.5 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
DpkgLog.txt Edit (1.5 MiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
GconfCompiz.txt Edit (27.9 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
LightdmLog.txt Edit (3.0 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Lspci.txt Edit (14.5 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Lsusb.txt Edit (482 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
MonitorsUser.xml.txt Edit (10.2 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcCpuinfo.txt Edit (1.5 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcInterrupts.txt Edit (1.7 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcModules.txt Edit (2.6 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
UdevDb.txt Edit (134.6 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
UdevLog.txt Edit (321.8 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
UnitySupportTest.txt Edit (583 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
XorgLog.txt Edit (53.8 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
XorgLogOld.txt Edit (44.0 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Xrandr.txt Edit (4.1 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
xdpyinfo.txt Edit (25.0 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")

bugbot (bugbot) on 2012-04-26

tags:

added: freeze

Revision history for this message

Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote on 2012-05-05:

#2

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

Changed in xserver-xorg-video-ati (Ubuntu):
status:	New → Confirmed

Revision history for this message

Antec (info-janmob) wrote on 2012-05-08:

#3

Whole 12.04 Ubuntu freezes for me randomly and the computer must be hard rebooted or cltr + alt + f1 than logging in and then sudo reboot. The system is a dual boot with WXP. The system can work well for several hours, but suddenly it just freezes both in Firefox and Chromium, Dell Dimension E521 with an ATI X1300Pro ..

Info hardware:
00:00.0 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
00:00.1 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 0 (rev a2)
00:00.2 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 1 (rev a2)
00:00.3 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 5 (rev a2)
00:00.4 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 4 (rev a2)
00:00.5 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
00:00.6 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 3 (rev a2)
00:00.7 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 2 (rev a2)
00:02.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
00:04.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
00:09.0 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
00:0a.0 ISA bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 LPC Bridge (rev a3)
00:0a.1 SMBus: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 SMBus (rev a3)
00:0a.2 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 Memory Controller 0 (rev a3)
00:0b.0 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:0b.1 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:0e.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 Serial ATA Controller (rev a1)
00:0f.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 Serial ATA Controller (rev a1)
00:10.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 PCI Bridge (rev a2)
00:10.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 High Definition Audio (rev a2)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RV516 [Radeon X1300/X1550 Series]
03:00.1 Display controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RV516 [Radeon X1300 Pro] (Secondary)
04:07.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
04:09.0 Network controller: Texas Instruments ACX 111 54Mbps Wireless Interface

Whole 12.04 Ubuntu freezes for me randomly and the computer must be hard rebooted or cltr + alt + f1 than logging in and then sudo reboot. The system is a dual boot with WXP. The system can work well for several hours, but suddenly it just freezes both in Firefox and Chromium, Dell Dimension E521 with an ATI X1300Pro ..

Info hardware:
00:00.0 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
00:00.1 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 0 (rev a2)
00:00.2 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 1 (rev a2)
00:00.3 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 5 (rev a2)
00:00.4 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 4 (rev a2)
00:00.5 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
00:00.6 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 3 (rev a2)
00:00.7 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation C51 Memory Controller 2 (rev a2)
00:02.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
00:04.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
00:09.0 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
00:0a.0 ISA bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 LPC Bridge (rev a3)
00:0a.1 SMBus: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 SMBus (rev a3)
00:0a.2 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 Memory Controller 0 (rev a3)
00:0b.0 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:0b.1 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:0e.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 Serial ATA Controller (rev a1)
00:0f.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 Serial ATA Controller (rev a1)
00:10.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 PCI Bridge (rev a2)
00:10.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation MCP51 High Definition Audio (rev a2)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RV516 [Radeon X1300/X1550 Series]
03:00.1 Display controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RV516 [Radeon X1300 Pro] (Secondary)
04:07.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
04:09.0 Network controller: Texas Instruments ACX 111 54Mbps Wireless Interface

Revision history for this message

Id2ndR (id2ndr) wrote on 2012-05-08:

#4

It may be related to Thunderbird when it received a new mail, but only sometime. Indeed I'm able to get a failsafe desktop when unity/compiz freeze by using unity-2d/metacity, and then I notice that Thunderbird window that was minimized cannot display it content (unity-2d show a dark window). I've noticed that twice so far, so I'm still not sure but it may help.

To get back on unity-2d/metacity do the following things:
Ctrl-Alt-F1
[wait until it switch; that can take about 30 seconds]
[login]
killall -9 compiz
DISPLAY=0:0 metacity --replace &
DISPLAY=0:0 unity-2d-panel &
DISPLAY=0:0 unity-2d-shell &
killall -9 compiz
Ctrl-Alt-F7

Revision history for this message

Christophe (touil1976) wrote on 2012-05-08:

#5

I have the same problem.

I use a freshly installed Ubuntu 12.04 64 bits, and when I log under unity (3d) the GUI freezes after some time randomly. It can be when I surf the web with firefox or when I read a pdf file in evince. The mouse still moves on the screen, but nothing happens when I click somewhere. The system goes on working, for example, the music in rythmbox does not stop. All I can do is to Ctrl-Alt-F1 and get a console.

I think the problem is due to compiz, as no problem occurs when I log under unity2d.

My config: Dell E520, graphics : Radeon X1300 with the radeon free driver.

Revision history for this message

Christophe (touil1976) wrote on 2012-05-08:

#6

I think this could help. The bug just appeared again as I was within a gnome classic (WITH effects) with my ubuntu 12.04 64 bits.

So it looks like it's really a issue of compiz and not really a bug in unity.

Revision history for this message

Mark Dyas (mark-dyas) wrote on 2012-05-21:

#7

I get exactly the same problem on a Dell Dimension 9200 using 12.04 32 bit.

Config: Radeon X1300 with the free driver.

Revision history for this message

zob (zob) wrote on 2012-05-21:

#8

Same problem (only in 3d mode)

Same Graphics:

*-display
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: M52 [Mobility Radeon X1300]
       vendor: Hynix Semiconductor (Hyundai Electronics)
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       version: 00
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm pciexpress msi vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=radeon latency=0
       resources: irq:16 memory:d8000000-dfffffff ioport:2000(size=256) memory:ee100000-ee10ffff memory:ee120000-ee13ffff

Some distro:

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Release: 12.04
Codename: precise

Kernel:
3.2.0-24-generic #38-Ubuntu SMP Tue May 1 16:18:50 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

No problems at all in 2d.

I doesn't seem to write anything to /var/crash:
lars@lars-ThinkPad-T60:/var/crash$ ls -l
totalt 13280
-rw------- 1 whoopsie whoopsie 0 maj 16 00:25 _usr_bin_mscore.real.1000.uploaded
-rw-r----- 1 lars whoopsie 2157539 maj 14 17:17 _usr_bin_totem-video-thumbnailer.1000.crash
-rw-r----- 1 lars whoopsie 7145130 maj 15 23:01 _usr_lib_libreoffice_program_soffice.bin.1000.crash
-rw-rw-r-- 1 lars whoopsie 0 maj 15 23:02 _usr_lib_libreoffice_program_soffice.bin.1000.upload
-rw------- 1 whoopsie whoopsie 0 maj 21 21:08 _usr_lib_libreoffice_program_soffice.bin.1000.uploaded
-rw-r----- 1 lars whoopsie 4290905 maj 20 16:52 _usr_share_pyshared_rabbitvcs_ui_diff.py.1000.crash

Revision history for this message

Bob Rader (rader) wrote on 2012-09-12:

#9

I am seeing a problem with the same description (running Unity + compiz in precise (12.04), display manager hangs so that the mouse moves, and the keyboard allows me to get to tty1). My laptop is a lemu4 (lemur ultra) from system76 -- it uses Intel graphics. If I select Ubuntu 2D, I don't see the problem. But I like using Unity. I should probably spend some more time running 2D to check that it indeed does not occur there.

Today, every time I invoke "vi" in an xterm compiz hangs, using 100% of a cpu. The recovery ( Ctl + Alt + F1 to get to tty1, then "top" to check the compiz cpu use and get its pid, then sudo kill -9 <pid>, then "sudo service lightdm restart", then login to X-window environment) works without leading to new problems. If one doesn't kill compiz, a new one will be loaded by lightdm, leaving the orphan compiz to use an entire cpu. And if you hit the problem and don't kill the new compiz, you now have two cpus locked up.

Revision history for this message

Dmitri (dmitry-a-moudraninets) wrote on 2013-01-05:

#10

Looks like that my PC is affected too. I can add that I noticed that xorg process consumes a lot of CPU time even when my PC is completly idle. Here is my hardware config:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express DRAM Controller (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express PCI Express Root Port (rev 02)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 02)
00:1a.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 5 (rev 02)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 6 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 92)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801IB (ICH9) LPC Interface Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801IB (ICH9) 2 port SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) 2 port SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF108 [GeForce GT 430] (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GF108 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Attansic L1 Gigabit Ethernet (rev b0)
03:00.0 SATA controller: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB363 SATA/IDE Controller (rev 03)
03:00.1 IDE interface: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB363 SATA/IDE Controller (rev 03)
05:01.0 Ethernet controller: D-Link System Inc DGE-528T Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (rev 10)
05:02.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Audigy (rev 04)
05:02.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Audigy Game Port (rev 04)
05:02.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Creative Labs SB Audigy FireWire Port (rev 04)

Looks like that my PC is affected too. I can add that I noticed that xorg process consumes a lot of CPU time even when my PC is completly idle.  Here is my hardware config:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express DRAM Controller (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express PCI Express Root Port (rev 02)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 02)
00:1a.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 5 (rev 02)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 6 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 92)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801IB (ICH9) LPC Interface Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801IB (ICH9) 2 port SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) 2 port SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF108 [GeForce GT 430] (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GF108 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Attansic L1 Gigabit Ethernet (rev b0)
03:00.0 SATA controller: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB363 SATA/IDE Controller (rev 03)
03:00.1 IDE interface: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB363 SATA/IDE Controller (rev 03)
05:01.0 Ethernet controller: D-Link System Inc DGE-528T Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (rev 10)
05:02.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Audigy (rev 04)
05:02.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Audigy Game Port (rev 04)
05:02.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Creative Labs SB Audigy FireWire Port (rev 04)

Revision history for this message

Pieter (diepes) wrote on 2013-01-14:

#11

Similar problem on Lenovo T420.

Sometimes switching to console and back to X seems to wakeup everything.
Normally the mouse can still move on the screen, just nothing happening.

Looking through my logs i found a couple of error messages in syslog.

> Jan 7 21:06:29 t420 kernel: [ 225.148702] [drm:i915_hangcheck_hung] *ERROR* Hangcheck timer elapsed... GPU hung

maybe someone else can confirm if they have seen the same, also planning to disable Bluetooth as this has given me problems before.

Revision history for this message

EDEMPCO (edempco) wrote on 2013-01-28:

#12

I have been watching and waiting for a solution for a long time. I have also tried to determine where the error is, without success. I have determined that the lock up occurs when selecting icons from the Unity menu in 3D. The menu slides out from the left, while the mouse hovers, and as the mouse moves away with an icon selection, the Unity menue stays out and the screen freezes. The mouse freely moves, but has no mouse key selection capability. The only two choices are: 1) a hard boot or 2) using the TTY screen (Ctrl, Alt, F1) to login and then use the command "Kill -9 -1" to soft start with Grub. No error messages or logs to verify the freeze condition.

I have a Toshiba M400 convertible. Intel® Core™2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz × 2 processor and 32 bit OS. It reports an "unknown" graphics card, but the card is an Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 8MB-128M dynamically allocated shared graphics memory.

My guess is that it's a Unity related problem. I'm still looking for solutions ... it's happening a lot, sometimes 3 times a day.

Revision history for this message

bduncan (beduncan) wrote on 2013-09-06:

#13

This is a Compiz issue - it doesn't seem to be related to my video drivers at all. Running 12.04LTS on HP 8570w (Nvidia K1000 - just in case there's a pattern), this also happened on my last HP 8560w (also nvidia). However - this problem seems to appear relatively randomly, I've found that bouncing Compiz = instant relief.

As with others here - my screens lock up (laptop or my external monitors), the mouse will still move, key combos to launch an xterm work (ctrl+alt + t) as do the other ttys but I cannot click on any existing open window to move it or type in it (only in new term windows). Killing compiz and restarting it = instant relief however this is not a fix..... The problem comes back in a short time. This often occurs under load - with many browser tabs up (FF) and with VMware WS running etc. So this issue makes running this itteration of Ubuntu almost unusable..... Please address this.

Revision history for this message

rb.eng (rb-engch) wrote on 2013-09-11:

#14

This issue impacts me multiple times a week. Sometimes the mouse continues to work but other times the mouse freezes also. I have not yet tried to open a teminal as suggested by bduncan (comment #13) but I am usually able to switch to the first terminal and kill compiz.

My freeze often occurs when switching workspaces. I often have thunderbird and chromium running in laterally in desktop 1 and 2 respectively (of four total) and use an external drive on either a laptop or a netbook with an external display attached. The problem exists regardless of the hardware I am using.

When the freeze occurs and I can get to tty1, killing compiz is my work around. I usually use sudo top and find the compiz pid and kill it with signal 3. When I switch back to tty7 the screen will trigger the clearing of the freeze after I switch to it (tty7). Then compiz restarts and after a few moments (perhaps a minute) I am back working with the application which were open. When the freeze occurs and the keyboard becomes unresponsive (unable to switch to tty1) I must do a hard reboot to continue working from a restart.

I have looked into the log files and searched for any instance of compiz logging the freeze. All I have found is the indication I have killed the process. Compiz does not seem to be tied into the apport system for reporting. I expect there are several more users with this problem but the freezes go unreported as users have no idea what to do about it.

Unfortunately these unknown freezes (unknown to development community) will continue until these problems are given priority and addressed. Bottom line is that such freezes are like the blue screen of death and give potential adopters of ubuntu a crummy experience and all the more reason to switch back to something more familiar or "stable".

Compiz has made my user experience a challenging one. To that end I have enjoyed lighter interfaces including crunchbang and trisquel. I have been reluctant to go beyond the 12.04 LTS version as I am concerned my hardware is not up to the task. Compiz IMO provides me an awful experience and these problems give me pause to encourage others to the platform.

I implore those developers with more understanding of the freeze issue to put some heat on this problem and investigate what is going on and fix this. To ignore this further may render any other work on the ubuntu project to be moot if the user experience continues to suffer, IMO. I am happy to contribute what I can to help address this but I do not have deep knowledge of the compiz system.

This issue impacts me multiple times a week. Sometimes the mouse continues to work but other times the mouse freezes also. I have not yet tried to open a teminal as suggested by bduncan (comment #13) but I am usually able to switch to the first terminal and kill compiz.

My freeze often occurs when switching workspaces. I often have thunderbird and chromium running in laterally in desktop 1 and 2 respectively (of four total) and use an external drive on either a laptop or a netbook with an external display attached. The problem exists regardless of the hardware I am using.

When the freeze occurs and I can get to tty1, killing compiz is my work around. I usually use sudo top and find the compiz pid and kill it with signal 3. When I switch back to tty7 the screen will trigger the clearing of the freeze after I switch to it (tty7). Then compiz restarts and after a few moments (perhaps a minute) I am back working with the application which were open. When the freeze occurs and the keyboard becomes unresponsive (unable to switch to tty1) I must do a hard reboot to continue working from a restart.

I have looked into the log files and searched for any instance of compiz logging the freeze. All I have found is the indication I have killed the process. Compiz does not seem to be tied into the apport system for reporting. I expect there are several more users with this problem but the freezes go unreported as users have no idea what to do about it.

Unfortunately these unknown freezes (unknown to development community) will continue until these problems are given priority and addressed. Bottom line is that such freezes are like the blue screen of death and give potential adopters of ubuntu a crummy experience and all the more reason to switch back to something more familiar or "stable".

Compiz has made my user experience a challenging one. To that end I have enjoyed lighter interfaces including crunchbang and trisquel. I have been reluctant to go beyond the 12.04 LTS version as I am concerned my hardware is not up to the task. Compiz IMO provides me an awful experience and these problems give me pause to encourage others to the platform.

I implore those developers with more understanding of the freeze issue to put some heat on this problem and investigate what is going on and fix this. To ignore this further may render any other work on the ubuntu project to be moot if the user experience continues to suffer, IMO. I am happy to contribute what I can to help address this but I do not have deep knowledge of the compiz system.

Revision history for this message

monomakh (monomakh) wrote on 2013-09-13:

#15

I have the same problem on intel graphics. No info in syslog, but its looks like [drm:i915_hangcheck_hung] error before kernel 3.8.0-31.

Revision history for this message

penalvch (penalvch) wrote on 2014-01-08:

#16

Id2ndR, 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 -p xserver-xorg-video-ati 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

Changed in xserver-xorg-video-ati (Ubuntu):
importance:	Undecided → Low
status:	Confirmed → Incomplete

Revision history for this message

Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote on 2014-03-10:

#17

[Expired for xserver-xorg-video-ati (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

Changed in xserver-xorg-video-ati (Ubuntu):
status:	Incomplete → Expired

Revision history for this message

Daniel Manley (i-daniel-l) wrote on 2015-01-06:

#18

this is happening to me with ubuntu 14.10 on an Acer laptop. I thought it was related to firefox usage and switching to chrome gave me abuot 5 days relief from the problem. but it just happened to me this morning. switching to tty1 and then back to Unity didn't help. I got the stock orange background image after briefly seeing the unlock screen, and then my desktop apps. mouse still moved, but nothing seemed to work. I do run google hangouts to be in contact with work and it continued to stream. I could hear the office and they can see me.

Aspire E1-510-2827
Linux danwork 3.16.0-28-generic #38-Ubuntu SMP Fri Dec 12 17:37:40 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Intel® Celeron(R) CPU N2920 @ 1.86GHz × 4
graphics: Intel® Bay Trail

Daniel Manley (i-daniel-l) on 2015-01-06

Changed in xserver-xorg-video-ati (Ubuntu):
status:	Expired → Confirmed

Revision history for this message

Daniel Manley (i-daniel-l) wrote on 2015-01-06:

#19

apologies for the comment in a "ati" ticket - I should have been in the "intel" group. please disregard and sorry for the bother.

Revision history for this message

penalvch (penalvch) wrote on 2015-01-06:

#20

Daniel Manley, thank you for your comment. It would be most helpful if you filed your own report via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug xorg

Please ensure you have xdiagnose installed, and that you click the Yes button for attaching additional debugging information.

When opening up the new report, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

Thank you for your understanding.

Changed in xserver-xorg-video-ati (Ubuntu):
status:	Confirmed → Incomplete

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frado (frado65) wrote on 2015-01-14:

#21

I've the same problem, it happen often when I log in GNome first time and then sometimes when I'm using VmWare and switch from Vm and host (physical machine).

$ ubuntu-bug xorg
--> [5569:5569:0114/073520:ERROR:nss_util.cc(819)] After loading Root Certs, loaded==false: NSS error code: -8018
ATTENTION: default value of option force_s3tc_enable overridden by environment.
Created new window in existing browser session.

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frado (frado65) wrote on 2015-01-14:

#22

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: Dell Device 053d
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 46
        Memory at f6400000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
        Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        I/O ports at f000 [size=64]
        Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
        Capabilities: <access denied>
        Kernel driver in use: i915
        Kernel modules: i915

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penalvch (penalvch) wrote on 2015-01-14:

#23

frado, thank you for your comment. So your issue may be dealt with as soon as possible, and so your hardware may be tracked by having necessary debugging information automatically attached, could you please file a new report with Ubuntu by executing the following in a terminal:
ubuntu-bug xorg

Please ensure you have xdiagnose installed, and that you click the Yes button for attaching additional debugging information.

For more on why this is most helpful, please read the official Ubuntu documentation from the respective Ubuntu developer groups, and triage teams:
X.Org, Ubuntu Bug Control, and Ubuntu Bug Squad: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/BestPractices#X.2BAC8-Reporting.Focus_on_One_Issue
Ubuntu Community: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Bug_reporting_etiquette

When opening up the new report, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

Thank you for your understanding.

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Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote on 2015-03-16:

#24

[Expired for xserver-xorg-video-ati (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

Changed in xserver-xorg-video-ati (Ubuntu):
status:	Incomplete → Expired

Ubuntu
xserver-xorg-video-ati package

Unity/compiz freeze but mouse still move

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Ubuntuxserver-xorg-video-ati package

Unity/compiz freeze but mouse still move

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Ubuntu
xserver-xorg-video-ati package