System freezes and or locks up, but mouse still moves

[Cathead Fred]

Hello,

I am experiencing the issue that as soon as I install Dapper Drake 6.06 my KDE Screen will freeze, but I can still use my mouse. After a few minutes my mouse will then stop moving. I have tried Ctrl+Alt +Backspace but that does not work. I have to do a full reboot and then the process will start all over again. Sometimes when I log in I will get the error pop up message,"The process for media protocol died unexpectedly". But this error message does not happen all the time. Sometimes my screen will freeze immediately and sometimes it will freeze after a couple of minutes.

Before I installed Kubuntu I was running Windows 2000 and everything was running fine. No problems. I then ran the Kubuntu live cd from Connical and everything ran well except for being a little slow.

I first thought this issue was a RAM issue or a hard drive space issue or a virus issue or a spyware issue. I don't think it is any of those things.

I then lurked on the Ubuntu Forums, the Kubuntu Forums, and I also Googled for the answer. Currently, I believe that my issue has something to do with the Nvidia Driver not being installed or configured properly.


So Far I have tried:

(1). Downloaded Automatix and installed the Nvidia drivers. Result: Screen froze

(2). Borrowed an ATI Card (I think a Radeon 7800?) and installed it. Computer did not like it. The screen would just flicker. I tried this with both the live cd and with the full install of Kubuntu

(3). I read a post by Tseliot that showed me how to get into recovery mode and select in the Section Device "vesa" instead of "nv". This seems to make things stable enough so I can get into KDE to attempt to try different video card driver installs.

(4). Found Tseliot's "Latest Nvidia Dapper...HOWTO: Latest NVidia drivers" and attempted Method #1. Everything appeared to install beautifully, then when I downloaded updates I my computer locked up again. It says in the Howto that if you change your kernel or your kernel is updated then you need to reinstall the driver. I checked my kernel before trying Method #1 and after and it said it was 2.6.15-23-386. I used uname -r in the terminal to check.

(4a). When I tried Method #1 I installed it with the standard Nvidia driver. The Nvidia GeForce2 MX 200 card that I have does not appear on the legacy driver list.


My questions are:

(A). Am I on the right track here? Is the issue I am seeing a video card driver issue? Or is it something elese? Could it be a combination of problems?

(B). If this is a video driver card issue should I try Tseliot's Method #1 using the Nvidia legacy driver? Or should I try Method #2 with either the supported or the legacy driver?

(C). Should I try a different way of installing the Nvidia driver? I have seen slightly different ways mentioned in the Ubuntu and Kubuntu Forums.


My current setup is:

Kubuntu Dapper Drake 6.06
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-6BXE
CPU: Intel Pentium III, 450 MHZ
RAM: 256MB (PC100 SDRAM)
HD: 40 Gig WD
Video Card: Nvidia Geforce2 MX 200


If you need a xorg.config file or a log file of some kind point me to instructions on how to get them and post them so I can provide this information to you.

Thank you for your time!

Cathead Fred

[XsavciX]

Re: System freezes and or locks up, but mouse still moves

Did u try kernel 2.6.15-26-686?

[Cathead Fred]

Re: System freezes and or locks up, but mouse still moves

Did u try kernel 2.6.15-26-686?

No I did not. Do you recommend I try this? If so, how do I do it?

[XsavciX]

Re: System freezes and or locks up, but mouse still moves

Sorry for delay.
I recommend it because is a last kernel release that dapper use.
It is simple to install. Just add to apt sources.list fallowing repository:

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-updates main restricted universe multiverse

and type
apt-get dist-upgrade or apt-get install linux-686

[Cathead Fred]

Re: System freezes and or locks up, but mouse still moves

Thank you for your help XsavciX! Before I read your post I found information on various threads written by tseliot in the Ubuntu Forums. Also, he did include some of this particular troubleshooting info in his latest HOWTO: Latest NVIDIA drivers. This was my process.

1. Install Kubuntu. Within a minute or two the system will freeze in KDE but your mouse will work
2. Reboot your computer.
3. While your computer boots you will see the GRUB Menu. Select and go into the GRUB Menu and select the line with "Recovery Mode" and press ENTER.
4. You will get a command line
5. At the command line type -w /etc/X11/xorg.conf and hit the Enter key
6. Scroll down the file with your keyboard (using your arrow keys) until you get to the section that says, "Section Device"
7. Set the driver to "vesa" instead of "nv" (you will have to type this)
8. Press CTRL+X (this will save and exit out of the file)
9. You should be at the command prompt. type reboot and hit the enter key
10. Your computer will then re-boot into KDE. Your video should work and be stable but it won't look that great.
11. Use tseliot's Method #1 at http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/Latest_Nvidia_Dapper
12. Once the Nvidia driver is installed by Method #1 the system will freeze but the mouse will work
13. Repeat steps 2 through 6 then go directly to step 14
14. Follow tseliot's instructions in the Problems Section #4, Titled: "If you have an AGP graphic card and your system freezes but you can still move your mouse pointer" located at http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/Latest_Nvidia_Dapper
15. Reboot and hopefully your screen looks better and it is still stable

I am sure there is probably an easier way to do this but it is working right now for me. I'm going to play with it for a week or two until I am satisfied and close this.

These are the threads I got the information from:
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthre...+driver+freeze
http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/Latest_Nvidia_Dapper


Tseliot, if you are reading this, please put the information on rebooting into grub and changing "nv" to "vesa" so one can install using your Method #1. And implementing Problem Section #4. You can't use a terminal if you system is frozen!