I have installed openSuSE 11.0 (2.6.25.11-0.1-default) on my AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ and the usb mouse freezes. The system did a similar freeze under SuSE 10.1, but under 10.1 I could unplug and replug the usb mouse and it would recover. Now, nothing but a reboot (that I know of, I don’t know how to cycle just the usb mouse controller) seems to work.
I tried the install-help line and it was suggested to switch from KDE 4.0 to GNOME for the system GUI. (I did, and get the same lack of mouse response when the freeze occurs.)
It appears that the mouse freezes if I am moving it when the system is cycling a fan on/off for cpu cooling.
Any hints on what to check/logs to peruse/power settings to modify will be appreciated.
I am running Folding@Home on my machine, so it is always near maximum cpu load.
Don’t know about earlier versions, but I have similar problems, in that my mouse/keyboard sometimes is no longer recognized (a wireless combo connected through a USB receiver). However, it seems to recover upon removing and reconnecting the receiver a few times (but it seems to take some time, so perhaps its related to some timeout, too).
It’s also on 64-bit, and I have Gnome only on that machine. This seems to happen whenever I connect my external USB drive, but I also had it without that twice. Once immediately after booting (so I couldn’t log in until it recovered), once right after logging in.
The token wrote:
>
> Don’t know about earlier versions, but I have similar problems, in that
> my mouse/keyboard sometimes is no longer recognized (a wireless combo
> connected through a USB receiver). However, it seems to recover upon
> removing and reconnecting the receiver a few times (but it seems to
> take some time, so perhaps its related to some timeout, too).
>
> It’s also on 64-bit, and I have Gnome only on that machine. This seems
> to happen whenever I connect my external USB drive, but I also had it
> without that twice. Once immediately after booting (so I couldn’t log
> in until it recovered), once right after logging in.
>
>
Is wireless receiver plugged into computer directly? or into usb hub? if
hub isn’t self-powered, the current draw of the external usb drive could
cause the voltage to dip confusing the receiver.
–
L R Nix
lornix@lornix.com
Thanks for the hint! The receiver is actually plugged into a hub, but it’s one with a (connected) power supply. I used OpenSolaris with this hardware for about the last 7 months and didn’t notice any USB problems.
My usb mouse is plugged directly into a front usb port (since I had to reach it in 10.1 - makes no difference in 11.0)
On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:16:03 GMT
wdanwatts <wdanwatts@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
>
> My usb mouse is plugged directly into a front usb port (since I had to
> reach it in 10.1 - makes no difference in 11.0)
>
>
What else besides Folding@home is running? Normal user loads?
Ok, going to ask some ‘dumb questions’… no offense intended… just have to
ask to cull the list of suspects a bit:
When it DOES lock up… can you CTRL-ALT-F1/F2/F3 to see different
terminals? Can you then return to CTRL-ALT-F7? (the gui)
Does the keyboard still work? Try ALT-F2 to pop up the ‘run’ window, ALT-F1
to pop up the SLAB or Kmenu.
If nothing seems to work… do NUMLOCK or CAPSLOCK still change their
indicator LEDs? (the LED doesn’t change because you pressed the key, it
changes because the system TOLD it to change, because you pressed the key…)
Is beagle uninstalled and stopped? This is a known resource hog in 11.0 (or would that be resource dog?)
What filesystem(s) on system? Some people have reported that reiserfs
experiences ‘pauses’. (SOME people … not 100% substantiated.)
What other usb devices are plugged into system? Anything that might
experience a large data stream occasionally?
Have you checked for heat issues. With folding@home keeping cpu loaded, the
cpu and heatsink will saturate thermally and not be as effective at
dissipating heat… how’s the fan? Send the dust-bunnies away. How’s the
dust-bunny population? keep it low.
Let’s try that for now. I’d really recommend cleaning and re-gooping the cpu
and heatsink… your system sounds like it’s been in service for a while, and
an occasional refreshing of the thermal compound is always good.
I’m thinking the mouse is an indicator of problems, not a source of problems.
Loni
–
L R Nix
lornix@lornix.com
When the usb mouse freezes, the keyboard is fine.
I am usually running F@H and Amarok (mp3 player), and maybe Patience (solitaire).
This week I have found that a ps/2 mechanical mouse hasn’t frozen although 2 usb light-sensing mice have (as I have, at the time, 3 mice plugged in as a diagnostic.)
When one of the usb mice freezes, (which is at the onset/turnoff of a thermal control fan) the other is unaffected. They only freeze if I am using the mouse when the fan cycles.
I have tried acpi=off and noapic to no avail.
I will try one of those cheesy usb-to-ps/2 plug converters (which does not appear to fit the plug very securely).
Does anyone know what usb daemon is in charge of the mice? When these freeze, they never (well, within two days anyway) come back without a reboot.
Ok, yeah! My keyboard is plugged in by one of those ps/2 connections also.
It appears that usb is the common denominator in what freezes.
I’ll report what (if any) problems I have using the usb-to-ps/2 converted mouse which I will configure whenever I have to cycle power again.
On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:46:01 GMT
wdanwatts <wdanwatts@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
>
> Ok, yeah! My keyboard is plugged in by one of those ps/2 connections
> also.
> It appears that usb is the common denominator in what freezes.
> I’ll report what (if any) problems I have using the usb-to-ps/2
> converted mouse which I will configure whenever I have to cycle power
> again.
>
>
Sounds like power-saving features are confusing the mouse. If it only
happens when the fan kicks in, then it might be when the cpu shifts gears to
run slower (or faster). I had a terrible time troubleshooting issues like
this a long time ago when I started with the Athlon X2 series. I found that
turning off the “Cool & Quiet” feature in the BIOS solved all of this. It
was the ‘shifting gears’ that was causing drivers and software to fail.
Yes, this affects other power-saving features.
You have a choice…
Loni
–
L R Nix
lornix@lornix.com
Well, after a few days of using a usb mouse through a usb-to-ps/2 converter to a ps/2 port on the computer I have NOT had any mouse freezes.
There appears to be some incompatibility between the usb drivers and the AMD Athlon X2 power control. Perhaps someone knows which daemon is responsible for usb ports. If I knew the driver, I could possibly test trying a stop/start to reset communication with the usb ports after a port freeze. Otherwise, I’ll just stay with the ps/2 path for my usb mouse.
Dan
On Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:46:01 GMT
wdanwatts <wdanwatts@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
>
> Well, after a few days of using a usb mouse through a usb-to-ps/2
> converter to a ps/2 port on the computer I have NOT had any mouse
> freezes.
> There appears to be some incompatibility between the usb drivers and
> the AMD Athlon X2 power control. Perhaps someone knows which daemon is
> responsible for usb ports. If I knew the driver, I could possibly test
> trying a stop/start to reset communication with the usb ports after a
> port freeze. Otherwise, I’ll just stay with the ps/2 path for my usb
> mouse.
>
> Dan
>
>
Did you try disabling “Cool -n- Quiet” from the bios?
Loni
–
L R Nix
lornix@lornix.com
No, I did not disable the “cool-n-quiet” in the BIOS. I made my choice.
On Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:36:02 GMT
wdanwatts <wdanwatts@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
>
> No, I did not disable the “cool-n-quiet” in the BIOS. I made my choice.
>
>
Fair enough. Enjoy.
Loni
–
L R Nix
lornix@lornix.com
I experienced the same problem and it is becoming very much inconvenient. In the beginning I thought it was the usb-hub-keyboard plugged in an other self powered usb-hub. Then I’ve plugged the keyboard directly into the computer and annoyingly the freezes have become less frequent. I have tried to switch of the Cooln’Quiet function, but it seems not to be related to this problem at all. Does anybody have a better idea?
The only solution which seemed permanent was to go the usb-to-ps/2 plug converter (and then use a ps/2 connection on the machine) (or you could use a ps/2 keyboard). I don’t know enough about usb to track down which daemon is in charge of it. The problem appears to be a dropped communication. (I was hoping that knowing the daemon would allow a refreshing of the usb communication since it appears that loss of communication includes loss of usb power.)