Comment 0 for bug 1555351

There seem to be a lot of issues related to this:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/159356 http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/42824/why-does-my-desktop-lock-up-when-i-copy-lots-of-files-to-a-usb-drive http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1775789 https://communities.vmware.com/thread/499790?tstart=0
http://askubuntu.com/questions/744002/high-load-freezes-ubuntu-completely-everytime-have-to-reboot
http://itvision.altervista.org/why.linux.is.not.ready.for.the.desktop.current.html

In particular, according to the last link, this is a deep issue with Xorg and the Linux kernel.

Basically the problem is this. Whenever an intensive application runs which consumes lots of memory or hard drive i/o, Ubuntu (maybe this is more general to any Linux distro, I don't know) freezes completely. It is even impossible to kill the offending task. Only "solution" is then to wait for the application to finish, or restart PC.

The links above give specific examples of what to do to reproduce this issue.

I have used Windows in the past (hate to compare, and I'm not coming back to it), and I know it doesn't have this issue (at least not as bad as Ubuntu), in the sense that the PC is always somewhat responsive, and you can attempt to kill the intensive application to recover the system. So I guess this is something that can be fixed.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.10
Package: linux-image-4.2.0-32-generic 4.2.0-32.37
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.2.0-32.37-generic 4.2.8-ckt4
Uname: Linux 4.2.0-32-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.19.1-0ubuntu5
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 Cannot stat file /proc/18210/fd/20: Input/output error
                      USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: cossio 2082 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC1: cossio 2082 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Wed Mar 9 22:28:53 2016
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=37d586ee-f517-4977-b9cd-189c200b0bac
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-08-03 (219 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 15.04 "Vivid Vervet" - Release amd64 (20150422.1)
MachineType: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. X550LA
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.2.0-32-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=52be177f-a0ea-4053-be39-bbeaff1a22df ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.2.0-32-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.2.0-32-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.149.3
SourcePackage: linux
UdevLog: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/var/log/udev'
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to wily on 2016-01-31 (38 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 04/01/2014
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: X550LA.505
dmi.board.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.board.name: X550LA
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrX550LA.505:bd04/01/2014:svnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:pnX550LA:pvr1.0:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnX550LA:rvr1.0:cvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:ct10:cvr1.0:
dmi.product.name: X550LA
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.