Total GUI hang (except mouse), what?

[Konstigt]

Just had a total hang of the GUI. Could not click anything or do anything. Only moving the mouse cursor worked.

Tried alt-f2, r, enter to reload but to no avail.

VT-switching to vty1 worked. From a console I did 'export DISPLAY=:0 && cinnamon --replace'. Didn't help.

Switching back I noticed this in my syslog:

Jun 4 13:27:31 thonov-mint kernel: [ 9706.867825] [drm:drm_mode_getfb] *ERROR* invalid framebuffer id
Jun 4 13:27:31 thonov-mint kernel: [ 9706.867837] [drm:drm_mode_getfb] *ERROR* invalid framebuffer id

Buggy gfx driver? How do I troubleshoot further?

$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Linux Mint 13 Maya
Release: 13

$ apt-cache policy xserver-xorg-video-intel
xserver-xorg-video-intel:
Installed: 2:2.19.0-0ubuntu1~xup1
Candidate: 2:2.19.0-0ubuntu1~xup1
Version table:
*** 2:2.19.0-0ubuntu1~xup1 0
500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/ ... es/ubuntu/ precise/main i386 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
2:2.17.0-1ubuntu4 0
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main i386 Packages

[axel668]

did you do all your updates ? solved it more or less for me ... (Cinnamon hung up twice while I was playing with new addons, but since I finished my configuration it has not happened again).
I was also able to restart X with Ctrl+Alt+Backspace, and didn't have to reboot from VT-1 anymore (except once in the very beginning, but that was before running updates).

[Konstigt]

did you do all your updates ? solved it more or less for me ... (Cinnamon hung up twice while I was playing with new addons, but since I finished my configuration it has not happened again).
I was also able to restart X with Ctrl+Alt+Backspace, and didn't have to reboot from VT-1 anymore (except once in the very beginning, but that was before running updates).

All updates are applied.

I've had this hang three times today. Maybe it has happened more than last couple of days because I am using a docking station at work but haven't used it before when I was working at a customer / at home.

So I strongly suspect it's more a intel driver issue than cinnamon issue now.

[Konstigt]

A few tips for debugging further in this thread:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... bug/466310

I will try cat:ing /sys/kernel/debug/dri/*/i915_error_state next time.

[esteban1uy]

Well... there's something that you could try: forcing software rendering.
If the problem is related to some kind of bug at the graphics driver (at kernel level or mesa), then you can be sure executing this command at a terminal and watching for system freezes:

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bash -c "LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 cinnamon --replace &"

If the system equally hangs using software rendering, then it is possible that this is a specific problem of cinnamon, otherwise it will be something related to the kernel, xorg or mesa.

[Mike65]

I have similar problems with an Ati card. A few times the whole desktop was freezed today with all the windows opened except the mouse. Sometimes a window comes on top (terminal, blank popup msg) and it stays there, but the icons under that are working correctly (i can close a window if i can find the X under the freezed window or start an app). When i tried software rendering the desktop was really laggy, i used it a few minutes. Ctrl+alt+backspace is the solution and it quite annoying

[Konstigt]

I have similar problems with an Ati card. A few times the whole desktop was freezed today with all the windows opened except the mouse. Sometimes a window comes on top (terminal, blank popup msg) and it stays there, but the icons under that are working correctly (i can close a window if i can find the X under the freezed window or start an app). When i tried software rendering the desktop was really laggy, i used it a few minutes. Ctrl+alt+backspace is the solution and it quite annoying

Hi

So you could go from a frozen desktop to a working (but laggy) desktop with 'bash -c "LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 cinnamon --replace &"?

My biggest problem is that if I have work that is not saved I will loose that by closing X.

[esteban1uy]

Well, The purpose of using the software rendering was to detect whether the problem was due solely to flaws in the hardware 3D acceleration.
If the only way for you to have a working Cinnamon desktop (even if it's laggy) is using software rendering, then real problem is that you have an unsupported graphics card.

So, keeping that hardware configuration, you basically have two options:

1- Install MATE desktop.
2- Use Gnome Classic (fallback) mode.

[Konstigt]

Aha okey. Problem is that it is very intermittent. The day that I did the OP I had 3 freezes. The next day I was in my office I didn't have any at all.

Looking through dmesg/syslog/Xorg.log I haven't found any info about what had happened those times.

[esteban1uy]

Aha okey. Problem is that it is very intermittent. The day that I did the OP I had 3 freezes. The next day I was in my office I didn't have any at all.

Looking through dmesg/syslog/Xorg.log I haven't found any info about what had happened those times.

I know, there are a lot of people reporting the same kind of problems, but it seems to be something Mint "inherited" from Ubuntu, because there is another bunch of people using Ubuntu Precise and pulling their hairs with the same misterious hangs and freezes. It seems to affect certain systems with Gnome3 based desktops (Unity, Gnome-shell and Cinnamon).

If it's not very problematic for you, install Mate desktop, or even better, make a clean install of Mint Maya Mate Edition.

[Rehdon]

It's happening to me on a fresh Maya Cinnamon edition install. Annoying because the only thing you can do is kill and restart the X session. At the moment doesn't seem to happen under Lisa + Cinnamon, so that's where I spend most of my time.

Suggesting to install Mate when I want to use Cinnamon is not that helpful any progress on unearthing the bug?

Rehdon

[esteban1uy]

It's happening to me on a fresh Maya Cinnamon edition install. Annoying because the only thing you can do is kill and restart the X session. At the moment doesn't seem to happen under Lisa + Cinnamon, so that's where I spend most of my time.

Suggesting to install Mate when I want to use Cinnamon is not that helpful any progress on unearthing the bug?

Rehdon

Nope, no progress

But if you want to use Cinnamon, Mint 12 Lisa with Cinnamon seems to be free of bugs.

[anantshri]

i am also facing a simmilar situation not so frequently but so far around 5 times in total 5 days .

I am using MINT 13 : MATE edition
ATI proproitery drivers

[Penurious Penguin]

Having similar issues myself on Maya (Mate), using an Asus K53E (Intel i5).

Check this out: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=103054 -- It's a pretty popular thread and covers what seems the same issue. There appear no universally valid conclusions yet, at 13 pages and 7,500+ views. Even the Great Clem has posted there!

I found this relevant: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Troubleshooting/Freeze (Specifically, the "Symptoms" section). May possibly help in understanding the nature of the problem.

[Konstigt]

Just had this issue 5 times in 15 minutes! Only working with Libreoffice Writer. Particullary when scrolling (using external mouse with wheel) it triggers the freeze.

Edit: Different thread about the same(?) problem: http://forum.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=103054

Edit2: A workaround was mentioned in that thread, just kill -9 your cinnamon pid from a tty (ctrl-alt-f1) and your work can be resumed!

[artscoop]

You can also try

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killall -3 cinnamon

Normally cinnamon will restart instead of die.

I have the same bug but only when using applets with popups. The freeze only happens when I click something on the panel, and most the time this something can trigger a popup. I'm sure there is no coincidence. Happened in cinnamon since 1.6 with 3 computers

[Gannet]

I have the same problem with Linux Mint 17 and Cinnamon 2.2. Just a few times in the last four weeks. This morning it happened as I clicked a youtube video running in FireFox to pause it. Mouse cursor moved but PC didn't respond to clicks or key-presses other than [Ctrl][Alt][Backspace] which took me out. I logged back in as before but the screen and its components stopped loading half way through and it froze as before. I rebooted and, cross fingers, it has been OK.

I have posted a report on Github with the contents of some of the log files - https://github.com/linuxmint/Cinnamon/issues/2946