Computer freezing

[frazelle09]

i don't know if this is for this forum or for the hardware forum or which one...

Am running a DuoCore, 2.8 Ghz., 2 Gb RAM computer with 2009 fully updated -- actually it says 2010 in the bootup screen, and KDE 4.3.

The Graphics card is a GeForce 6200 w/256 Mb and an Asus VH236H, 23 in. HDMI monitor connected via DVI at 1920 x 1080.  We're running a Folding@Home program which pretty much uses up one of the processors, as indicated by GKrellM.  We're using the nVidia driver 180.22 from the repo.

After a while my display moves about 2 inches to the left and i have to reboot the desktop.  Sometimes the whole computer just freezes and i have to hard reboot.  i haven't noticed any particular time when this happens.  i've seen it happen when converting an avi file to a DVD most of the time.  Sometimes when i disable Folding before running DeVeDe this helps, but other times it doesn't.

It's pretty frustrating.  i don't know what it has to do with.  Am running 4 screens in KDE.

Have a great evening! 

[Snapshot]

I'm not sure if you're experiencing the same lockup that I have or not.  Several months ago I began to have freeze ups similar to what you describe but mine would allow me to continue using the current app.  In order to use anything else I had to log-out then back in.  Sometimes this resulted in a complete freeze-up and I had to hard boot.  After many frustrating occurrences of this I believe I may have narrowed the problem down to the Aurorae theme engine.  A week ago I established a new account and began using it exclusively without Aurorae.  After a solid week I was still up and running smoothly.  Then yesterday I went back to my old account and changed the theme but not theme engine.  Overnight that account locked up and when I logged out my system froze up and I had to hard boot.  This may or not be the solution to your problem but I think it may have solved mine.  Good luck.

[frazelle09]

Snapshot!  Thanks for replying!

That's an interesting observation.  The only place i have been able to find which references Aurorae is as a Splash Screen.  i downloaded and installed the Glassified one.  Maybe this will help.  Where was your Theme Engine located?

Thanks again for replying and have a great evening! 

[Snapshot]

Aurorae is a window decoration under appearance.  I love the glassified look and was using Cupertino theme.  While I'm at it there is something I forgot to  mention.  My freeze ups were very random and I might go 5 hours or 5 days.  Five days was the longest I ever was able to go without a freeze but that was rare.  Most of the duration between lock-ups was hours or a couple of days.  Yesterday I tried simply changing the theme to Area 51 thinking that Cupertino may have been the problem.  At 810 this a.m. that account froze and when I logged out using ctrl+alt+del my screen went black with a frozen cursor.  That account was not being used, rather running in the background.  My other two accounts were fully operational and had been active for over a week.  In fact they had been logged into on the 1st.  This is why I'm all but certain that Aurorae is the culprit but can't prove it yet.  After I've used the other account in which I've installed Aurorae, for a week, I'll be more certain that it caused the problem.  Don't close this thread for a week or two until I post back with my results.  I really hope this helps as I know how frustrating this can be.  BTW, have you tried opening another user account and trying that?  If you haven't then I recommend that you do and see if your problem disappears.  Best of luck and I'll be posting back in a week or so. One last item, when you start a new user account don't make any mods until you've determined that the problem is fixed.  I only modified Firefox when I established my new account.

Bob

[frazelle09]

Well, Bob, again thanks for such a great post.  i figured out where to locate the name of the Window decoration -- under Appearance, as you mentioned.  It looks like i'm using plain ole Keramik.

Well, i've already made one change tonight.  It it holds i won't proceed.  If not i'll create another user.  Thanks again for posting and have a great evening!  , fred

[Snapshot]

Fred, I have had too many posts to count and several of them never got a reply of any kind so when I saw your thread and no one else had responded I felt obligated to see if I could help.  Other posts of mine have received tremendous support from users and moderators so I guess it just depends on the topic.  Anyway I'm glad to help if I can and hope that this fixes your problem.  Establishing a new user account is a way to start fresh and build it slowly so that you can narrow down the problem without a complete re-install.  As I suggested in an earlier post don't close this thread for a week or so and give me time to report back on my own similar problem.  Stay tuned for chapter II.

[frazelle09]

Giggle.  i couldn't help but try and find the decoration you were using.  i found it w/Synaptic, installed it and 30 seconds later my compu crashed.  Hard reboot.  Continued using decoration -- very beautiful, i like it a lot, too.  However about 3 minutes ago it went under again and this time upon reboot i have reverted to Kermik.

Yes, i've noticed that replies pretty much depend on the topic -- this type of topic is a real challenge because it can be due to so many variables -- graphics card, power supply, brown-outs?, KDE4 and so on.  Actually i'm hoping that when 2010 comes out things will sort themselves out.

Have a wonderful evening! 

[Snapshot]

Fred, I'm beginning to think that my theory is spot on but it will take time to prove it.  I too love the theme but will sacrifice beauty for function as I see that you do too.  There are many other nice themes so experiment with a few until you find one that you like.  I've just changed mine twice in the last 10 minutes and am still not settled on one.  There are many possibilities as to the cause but I am all but certain I've found mine. 

BR,
Bob

[ThirdOfSix]

frazelle09,

I think that I have seen the same thing on my system. I am not sure because my memory is kind of hit and miss on some things.

Anyway, the only thing that our systems have in common is the video card and driver.

That card does some odd things depending on what monitors are plugged in and which port they are using.

You might try connecting your monitor to the other output on the card.

The two ports do not behave the same in all respects.

I think that what happened on mine when I saw those symptoms was that the  video card would first decide to use a really odd scan rate which caused the display shift. 

As I remember, using the other output did not do it.

Then I found that the method of mounting the heat sink on the card was kind of iffy so I removed it and reapplied the heat sink compound and reinstalled it.

I think that I went back to the original port after that and have not had the problem since.

Of course their are two or three companies making cards with the same chip set and yours may be different than mine.

[frazelle09]

Thanks, ThirdOfSix!  Yes, i really think it has to do with my card as well.  i haven't seen too many posts about monitor/card/computer freezing problems under KDE4.

Last summer it was doing the same thing -- and this was before KDE4 if i remember correctly -- so i guess it's probably not software-related.  i solved it for the time being by installing a small fan which pointed directly at the graphics card.  GKrellM shows the GPU at 49 degree C.  'Suppose it's still running hot?

Figure out what to do later.  Gotta go to work.  Have a great morning and thanks for posting!