X Server Freezes Every Few Seconds - Suse 9.2

Hello,

I've just installed SUSE 9.2 Pro on an IBM T20 Thinkpad. Every 6-10 seconds the X server seems to freeze for about 1-2 seconds. I've tried about a dozen different monitor configs but nothing helps. SUSE 9.1 worked fine on this laptop, and so does Knoppix 3.4 Live. (I tried setting the vert. and horiz. refresh rates in SUSE to what Knoppix reports, but still no good.)

I believe SUSE 9.1 and Knoppix both use XFree86 whereas SUSE 9.2 switched to x.org, so the obvious thing to try would be switching X servers. However XFree86 is not listed in the 9.2 package list on the SUSE website. Could I install XFree86 from my 9.1 disks? If so, after I install it, what do I do to get it to start up w/ the XFree86 server instead of the x.org server?

Or is the problem something else entirely? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! The laptop is basically unusable as is.

Joe

Are you sure it's the X server? Any significant process could cause the issue you describe. I have a T23 that doesn't have the issue. My first suspicion would be network activity...misconfigured card, application trying to reach an unreachable destination...

What's running when you see this?

I've removed your duplicate post in Hardware. Please do not double post.

(Sorry for the double post - I did not see the Laptop forum at first...)

> Are you sure it's the X server?

No, just my first guess.

> My first suspicion would be network activity

Hmmm, well I do have a new Belkin wireless networking card (mod. F5D7010). I've had it plugged into the PCMCIA slot ever since I installed 9.2. I'll try booting up without it. (It did not cause a problem when running Knoppix, though. Did not have it w/ SUSE 9.1)

> What's running when you see this?

I'll have to check tonight. (Laptop's at home, I'm at work.) Thanks for your reply. I'll post back asap.

Ok, here's an update. I think you were right about it not being the X server. I booted up without the Belkin wireless card and everything seemed fine - at first. (The card does not seem to be recognized, but that's another post.) However after about 10 minutes the freezing-up-every-10-seconds behavior returned.

At this point I rebooted, saved the output of 'ps ax' and 'top' to 'before' files, and then waited for the freezing-up to start. After it did, I sent 'ps ax' and 'top' to 'after' files. Comparing the before and after processes, 'ps ax' shows only one thing running 'after' that was not running 'before': "kdeinit: kio_uiserver". (I have no idea what this is.) The 'top' before/after comparison yields four differences: "portmap", "cannaserver", smpppd", and "sshd".

Any idea what is happening here? (I can post or e-mail the entire 'ps ax' and/or 'top' outputs if that would help.) And as I mentioned earlier, the laptop runs fine w/ the Knoppix live CD (2.6.x kernel), with or w/out the Belkin card.

Thanks again for any pointers. I have the laptop w/ me today, so I can experiment as time allows.

Anything external plugged in? What's in the expansion bay?

> Anything external plugged in?
Negative.

> What's in the expansion bay?
CD/DVD ROM.

Was this an upgrade or clean install?

It was a clean install, including reformating partitions.

I've been sitting here moving the mouse around in a slow circle and timing the freeze-ups w/ a stop watch. (Hey, it's Friday.) It is very consistent. It freezes exactly every 10 seconds and stays frozen for 2 seconds. And like I said previously, it does not start immediately after bootup; takes a few minutes. (Haven't timed that. Yet.)

Also, I don't know if this is relevant, but if I'm typing something in a terminal during a freeze, the characters are not lost. They echo to the screen after it unfreezes.

Any thoughts?

Joe