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    #1

    Screen freezes

    Hello,
    Having installed K 21.10 (from an USB-stick - since a DVD did not work!) I now have problems with recurring freezes of my laptop screen. This happens in particular with browsers (eg. with Vivaldi, but also with Firefox or Chrome - all of those at the most recent level). I wonder what might be the reason.
    The laptop is a Sony product: VGN-AW11M_H, graphics card: NVIDIA G98M [GeForce 9300M GS], using the distro-supplied Nouveau driver.
    I have tried all possible compositors - they all "freeze". Seems to be a kernel problem.
    Any hints?
    Regards
    H. Stoellinger
    Tags: None
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    #2
    Well, the nouveau driver isn't the greatest.

    I suggest open Konsole in a small window and keep it visible. Run "top" in it and wait for a screen freeze. Could just be some application taking all your RAM or CPU for a moment.

    Please Read Me
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      #3
      You are right about the nouveau driver. Nouveau actually worked fine under Kubuntu 21.04 obviously with an older kernel. The Nvidia driver for my old graphics card (NVIDIA G98M [GeForce 9300M GS]) stopped working some time ago. There is a ppa that aims at supporting it with newer kernels, but I spent a lot of time on this without success! So, I am out of luck in THIS respect! I'll try out your suggestion about RAM. Thanks!
      Last edited by hstoellinger; Dec 01, 2021, 09:33 AM.
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        #4
        It is NOT a problem of too little RAM (or swap size)...
        The situation occurs mostly with all my browsers (Vivaldi, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Firefox). Apps such as konsole or kate function flawlessly.
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          #5
          Who actually produces the Nouveau graphics driver? Maybe one can contact them directly and tell them about the problems with their driver and old graphics cards like mine...
          After all - one of the "selling-points" Linuxers brag about is that old hardware keeps being supported longer...
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            #6
            I have never dared to install a different (older or newer) kernel than the one shipped with the respective distro. But, since the Nouveau driver works fine in Kubuntu 21.04 with an older kernel, might isntalling an older kernel be the solution? Also, I see that the newest stable kernel available at kernel.org is 5.15.6. Would it be a big job to install that version?
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              #7
              IMO, you're looking at it totally the wrong way. You have old hardware - really old. When was the video card made, 2008? A newer kernel will likely be less forgiving rather than more forgiving. You should be using the oldest kernel you can. And I doubt anyone developing the Nouveau driver is interested in developing new support for something so outdated. If it were me, I'd install Debian stable or something with much slower development cycle or even an end-of-life distro, and count my blessings that it works at all. If you can find a kernel that still supports the nVidia driver made for that card you should stick with that. I believe the 5.4 kernel available in 20.04 will still support the nVidia 340 driver and that's what I'd be using.

              Please Read Me
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                #8
                Originally posted by hstoellinger View Post
                ...old hardware keeps being supported longer...
                Longer, but not forever.
                Windows no longer obstructs my view.
                Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
                "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes​
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                  #9
                  And to go back to the original 5.4 kernel on 20.04, if the install is not from the original 20.04.0 iso :https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEn...tStack#Desktop

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                    #10
                    I suppose you are right. I will try to install the last kernel that worked with the NVIDIA driver. Of course, being a glutton for punishment, I installed kernel 5.15.6. The situation is now such that most apps (kate, konsole, libreoffice, gnucash,...) work o.k., while the screen freezes when in a browser such as Vivaldi (but also others, including FF). But the screen tends to "recover" after a minute or so, works for a while and then the "game" starts again at the beginning.
                    Of course, I am writing this post under Kubuntu 20.10, and I might just stay at that level, seeing as my laptop functions very well anyway. Having spent 30 years with IBM as a large customer Systems Engineer, always having to convince my customers to buy/install the latest, best, etc., I have enough of this attitude --- and consequently have to go with the drawbacks...
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                      #11
                      Originally posted by hstoellinger View Post
                      Having spent 30 years with IBM as a large customer Systems Engineer, always having to convince my customers to buy/install the latest, best, etc., I have enough of this attitude --- and consequently have to go with the drawbacks...
                      Actually, you don't. Of course, I know that you know that.

                      This is Linux. It's all about giving you, the user, all the choices. If an installed Linux 'works for you', who cares if it is EOL (as an example). More so when it's 'home use'. Might be different if it was in a professional/work environment, but ....

                      There are people still using versions of Kubuntu that utilize KDE 3! If one is being honest with themselves, upgrading should only occur when operational needs dictate the need to upgrade. If one upgrades solely to keep on the 'bleeding edge', then one must accept that they will experience the 'cuts' that come from that bleeding edge! hehe
                      Windows no longer obstructs my view.
                      Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
                      "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes​
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                        #12
                        Correct! I have been using various Linux distros since the early 2000's too. It's just that I cannot change my habits as an old (in more than ONE way!) IT-person, having spent most of my professional life in always dealing with the "dernier cri". One doesn't change one's habits just because of retiring (officially only!).
                        On that note, do you know whether one can install KDE 5.23 on Kubuntu 20.10? I have installed it in K21.10 and I really like what I see...
                        In any case, I intend to work with K20.10 till next spring, then get myself a new laptop and install K22.04... (that will see me out!)
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                          #13
                          Here I am again!
                          Not wanting to give up on the quick (and also wanting to gather more understanding of the subject!) the state of affairs is as follows at the moment:
                          - apps - except for browsers work fine
                          - browsers (I usually work with Vivaldi) work also, but inadvertently freeze the screen - usually when pressing some random keyboard key.
                          - after something like one to two minutes the screen "unfreezes" again and everything starts all over at the beginning again.
                          - looking at syslog, I see the following messages every time after a "freeze":
                          Dec 8 11:48:49 hslaptop kernel: [ 3457.868600] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for nouveau/nv98_fuc084 failed with error -2
                          Dec 8 11:48:49 hslaptop kernel: [ 3457.868631] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for nouveau/nv98_fuc084d failed with error -2
                          Dec 8 11:48:49 hslaptop kernel: [ 3457.868635] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: msvld: unable to load firmware data
                          Dec 8 11:48:49 hslaptop kernel: [ 3457.868637] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: msvld: init failed, -19
                          Of course there is no nv98_fuc084d in /lib/firmware/nouveau
                          I wonder whether this firmware missing might be the (or one of the...) causes for this intermittent freezes.
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