Random session crashes, then login screen

[halfsoul]

I'll be working/playing/surfing and then suddenly the screen goes black and then the login screen pops up. After logging in, the previous session is gone, it's like I've logged on for the first time. There doesn't seem to be a pattern or trigger, although I almost always have Transmission and Chrome running.

linuxrawkstar seems to have had the same problem, resolved by replacing the graphics card:
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=206&t=102691&p=591264#p591264

lshw output attached.

Obligatory information:
1) The version and edition of Linux Mint you are using
Release: 13 (maya)
Edition: Cinnamon 64-bit
$ uname -a
Linux joel-LM13 3.2.0-23-generic #36-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 10 20:39:51 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

2) What you did for the problem to happen, and how to reproduce it.
Seemingly random, haven't been able to intentionally reproduce.

3) What happened.
suddenly the screen goes black and then the login screen pops up. After logging in, the previous session is gone, it's like I've logged on for the first time.

4) What you expected to happen instead.
No catastrophic system crashes.

5) If the problem happened once, sometimes, or always.
Sometimes, at least 5 times now.

[halfsoul (joelishness)]

I disabled the NVIDIA proprietary driver (version current) and the crashes appear to have disappeared. Next steps:
1. Leave it this way for awhile longer to see if it is truly fixed or if I've just been lucky so far
2. Activate the NVIDIA proprietary driver (post-release update) to see if it has the same issue

[J Morris (ejm181)]

Should add I have this same problem, using64-bit Mint 13 with ATI Graphics Card. Was not a problem with Mint 12. Tried using MATE or XFCE desktops. No pattern to what causes logout, often when clicking a hyperlink but can be anything. System has 8Gb RAM and is very lightly used.

It's not NVIDIA-related, it's a much more fundamental X issue, I feel.

Will post whatever logfiles are required? lshw output attached

[halfsoul (joelishness)]

Update:
1. Leave it this way for awhile longer to see if it is truly fixed or if I've just been lucky so far
DONE -- Disabling the proprietary NVIDIA driver (version current) definitely resolved the issue, no random crashes at all.

2. Activate the NVIDIA proprietary driver (post-release update) to see if it has the same issue
DONE -- The post-release update driver induced the same random crashes.

@J Morris: Does disabling the proprietary drivers resolve your issue?

[david minford (davidminford)]

I posted this as a new bug (sorry) , this is happening to me as well.
Every now and again the laptop(dell d620) shows a black screen ,then a login screen all previous work is lost,it`s like the laptop has just been turned on.
I`m running mint 13 32 bit mate,I don`t think it`s graphic card related the dell d620 has a Intel Media Accelerator 950 in it.

[Eric Goulet (eric-m-goulet)]

Bingo. This describes perfectly the problem that I am experiencing with Linux Mint. I have not found a solution.

[minty (joe-facoy)]

try DRIVER MANAGER ...change to reccomended

[nymeria (apurva-satarkar)]

I am facing a similar problem; the session abruptly closes and desktop appears

[Sez Prouting (sarah-prouting)]

Mint 17.2 64-bit version,
Cinnamon 12.6.13.
I use the onboard graphics on an Asus 7170 mobo (No NVDIA).
Symptoms are random but the most common triggers are scrolling in firefox (all pages intermittently but almost always in facebook), entering text, especially in FF or in Netbeans.
Screen goes blank for a couple of seconds, then the logon/welcome screen is displayed and a timer makes me wait 10 seconds before automatically logging me back in.
After logging back on all windows are closed and work is lost.
Don't know if it's related but graphics also display strangely, usually after I scroll and especially in text editor. White space in the window goes dark with purple/pink horizontal lines. Keyboard navigation (typing or arrow keys) returns graphics line-by-line.

$ uname -a
Linux helium 3.19.0-31-generic #35~14.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Tue Oct 6 10:49:42 UTC 2015 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I update kernals when they become available, 3.16.X, 3.19.X and 4.2.X they all have the same problem.

All the bugs described here are just what I am experiencing: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg/+bug/980519