Earlier this week i had problems with linux crashing at random moments (during gimp and google earth). The only thing working was the mouse. Nothing else seemed to function (not even alt-ctrl-del. Is there any recovery from this? Being new to linux (and a windows user) i realized i didnt know how to handle crashes in linux. any help on this would be appreciated.
Also as i searched forums i found advice to others to turn off the desktop effects. I did this and the crashes stopped. Is there anyway i can enable the effects and have a stable system?
FYI: Ctrl-Alt-Backspace a couple of times quickly will restart the Desktop (not a reboot!)
You need to post info on your graphics driver and general machine specifications. What desktop? gnome/kde?
And also: what version of opensuse are you running? I experience a problem like yours on two machines the both running os11.0 whith an nvidia card. In this case i can confirm that it’s a compiz issue. During this freeze if i enter a terminal (ctrl alt f1) and i kill the compiz process i am able to re-enter the graphic interface (ctrl alt f7). But anyway i don’t know a definitive work around
im running gnome with suse 11.1. system is dell c521 with amd x2 5400 and nvidia 8500. im not entirely sure on the nvidia drivers. i used the ‘one click install’ from the suse site for those.
When mine crashes, im not able to do any alt-ctrl-del or alt-ctrl-backspace or alt-ctrl-f1. My only option was to hold down my power button.
Possibly the benefits of not using desktop effects outweighs the flashy flop that results from using it.