I'm having the same problem on my laptop. It's an Acer Aspire 5745-7247. When I use an external Logitech mouse (model M-BZ96C), there is no problem at all, but when I use Acer's built-in touch pad, the problem begins immediately (so it's VERY easy to reproduce). I generally have to resort to using only the keyboard to close things down, and then I have to reboot. Since I can reproduce this problem consistently, I'd be happy to lend a hand. To start, if it helps, below is some info about the laptop, which is running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. I'd be great to get this problem fixed, so please let me know how I can help. lspci: ------ 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 18) 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 18) 00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller (rev 06) 00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 05) 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 05) 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 05) 00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev 05) 00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 05) 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev a5) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 05) 00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 4 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05) 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller (rev 05) 00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Thermal Subsystem (rev 05) 01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications AR8151 v1.0 Gigabit Ethernet (rev c0) 02:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01) 3f:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 05) 3f:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 05) 3f:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Link 0 (rev 05) 3f:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Physical 0 (rev 05) 3f:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 05) 3f:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 05) lsmod: ------ Module Size Used by aes_i586 7268 3 aes_generic 26863 1 aes_i586 binfmt_misc 6587 1 ppdev 5259 0 dm_crypt 11331 0 nfsd 238967 13 exportfs 3437 1 nfsd nfs 265078 0 lockd 64849 2 nfsd,nfs nfs_acl 2245 2 nfsd,nfs auth_rpcgss 33767 2 nfsd,nfs joydev 8740 0 snd_hda_codec_intelhdmi 11622 1 snd_hda_codec_realtek 203344 1 arc4 1153 2 snd_hda_intel 22005 2 snd_hda_codec 74201 3 snd_hda_codec_intelhdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel snd_hwdep 5412 1 snd_hda_codec snd_pcm_oss 35308 0 snd_mixer_oss 13746 1 snd_pcm_oss snd_pcm 70694 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss snd_seq_dummy 1338 0 ath9k 306138 0 snd_seq_oss 26722 0 mac80211 205402 1 ath9k ath 7611 1 ath9k sunrpc 193053 12 nfsd,nfs,lockd,nfs_acl,auth_rpcgss snd_seq_midi 4557 0 snd_rawmidi 19056 1 snd_seq_midi snd_seq_midi_event 6003 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi snd_seq 47263 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event snd_timer 19098 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq snd_seq_device 5700 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq snd 54180 17 snd_hda_codec_intelhdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device uvcvideo 57054 0 videodev 34361 1 uvcvideo v4l1_compat 13251 2 uvcvideo,videodev psmouse 63245 0 serio_raw 3978 0 acer_wmi 13861 0 soundcore 6620 1 snd snd_page_alloc 7076 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm cfg80211 126528 3 ath9k,mac80211,ath led_class 2864 2 ath9k,acer_wmi lp 7028 0 parport 32635 2 ppdev,lp fbcon 35102 71 tileblit 2031 1 fbcon font 7557 1 fbcon bitblit 4707 1 fbcon softcursor 1189 1 bitblit vga16fb 11385 0 vgastate 8961 1 vga16fb i915 287458 3 drm_kms_helper 29329 1 i915 usbhid 36110 0 hid 67032 1 usbhid drm 162409 4 i915,drm_kms_helper intel_agp 24375 2 i915 ahci 32200 2 i2c_algo_bit 5028 1 i915 agpgart 31724 2 drm,intel_agp video 17375 1 i915 output 1871 1 video