Hi, this is my first post on these forums and I could really use some help. I have a fairly new HP (2011) 64 bit PC that originally ran windows 7. I decided to switch to a linux OS after trying it out at a friends house. Now, on my PC, the computer will freeze up, usually after opening the menu or when dragging icons. I have to restart the computer to get it back working. the graphical glitches are pretty annoying too, but more importantly, i dont want my PC to freeze up in the middle of a word doc or something.Sometimes, after freezing the screen will just go black and glitch out like crazy. please help thanks in advnace
-Newb Linux User

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=206hmw3&s=6 <-- Top left is one example of the little graphical glitches

Sounds like a graphics driver issue. Can you give a little more info about the hardware, maybe the output of lspci?

sorry if this is knda newb, but how would i get that information?

and also, im using Linux Mint 14 Cinnamon 1.6. I heard this could be the problem... Should I switch to a different version of mint 14?

I'm running that Mint version on my laptop. Runs without a problem. My laptop uses the Intel HD 3000 chip which is based in the CPU. Which graphics card do you have? Cause it sounds like a driver issue to me.

If you type in lspci in the terminal it will list the computers hardware

Edit:

This is for example wat lspci shows here

erwin@Aurora ~ $ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b5)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b5)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b5)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev b5)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM65 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
02:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 1030 (rev 34)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet (rev c0)
04:00.0 USB controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 04)

Bold noted is my laptops graphics chip.

ok here it is
00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h Processor Root Complex
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI BeaverCreek [Mobility Radeon HD 6620G]
00:01.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI BeaverCreek HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 6500D and 6400G-6600G series]
00:04.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h Processor Root Port
00:05.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h Processor Root Port
00:06.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h Processor Root Port
00:10.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson USB XHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:10.1 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson USB XHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:11.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
00:12.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson USB OHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:12.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson USB EHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:13.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson USB OHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:13.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson USB EHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson SMBus Controller (rev 13)
00:14.1 IDE interface: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson IDE Controller (rev 40)
00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson Azalia Controller (rev 01)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson LPC Bridge (rev 11)
00:14.4 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson PCI Bridge (rev 40)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 0 (rev 43)
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 3
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 4
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 6
00:18.6 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 5
00:18.7 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 7
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 06)
02:00.0 Network controller: Ralink corp. RT5390 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe
03:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5209 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
03:00.1 SD Host controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5209 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)


Also, I switched from regular cinnamon to cinnamon 2D and so far, no glitches! but i would love to run the other version any other tips much appreciated thx

Ah ok, it's an AMD chip.

When I had an HD4200 Mobility the open source drivers worked fine, but the proprietary were horrible. You may have better luck.

Go to AMD.com, and hover over Support and Drivers. A menu should pop down allowing you to select a driver.

Select:
- Notebook Graphics
- Product Line: Radeon HD

And choose your model from there. Now, it seems as if your model is not listed, so you can try Radeon 6xxxM, or wait until they specifically list it in an updated driver. Note that last I used it that all drivers came in the same package, so it's possible just installing the package will give you good results as the driver may be there and not listed.