Comment 1 for bug 316575

Steps to reproduce (this has worked every time so far):
1. Start Conky, showing CPU usage & acpi_temp.
2. Start Firefox.
3. Open System > Preferences > Appearance > Themes.
4. Change the theme.
5. Verify CPU usage rising quickly into 100% and staying there.
6. Verify a quick increase in ACPI temp (Conky works all the time during this), e.g. from 45 C to 63 C.
7. Verify that the Firefox window "has darkened" and that mouse clicks produce no response.
8. Drop into VT (Ctrl+Alt+F3), log in and start top; try killing relevant processes (I killed Firefox and the process beginning gnome-appearance--- as well as some 3rd process...) and return to the X session (Alt+Ctrl+F7).
9. Verify that the session situation has not changed (X hangs?).
10. Drop into VT (TTY 3) and do sudo poweroff.
11. Restart the computer and log in to X.
12. Verify that the theme appearance has changed, but not as expected: the theme seems like a mixture of two themes.

Sorry for the possible terminological confusion &c; I am a non-tech user.

Please request extra info if needed.