I am using KDE 4.3.3, the latest Nvidia graphic card 190.42, and xorg server 1.7.1.

Whenever I launch the kickoff menu, or try to change the settings in the KDE panel, or launch krunner, or click on a plasmoid that creates a plasmoid context menu, or many things directly related to plasma-desktop, X suddenly gets 100% load in one core and the screen completely freezes (except for the mouse) for 5+ seconds.

This only happens with the nvidia driver, not the vesa driver, and it happens whether desktop effects are enabled or not. All other applications launch and function fine; it seems to exclusively revolve around plasma-desktop.

Does anyone know what might be causing this behavior?

Thanks.

after upgrading the xorg you should always rebuild the nvidia kernel and install it. That way it can create the symlinks needed. I have heard nothing good lately about the 190 driver just google it.
since this is a hardware to software issue in the future please post the hardware and the software. nvidia 190 covers a lot of cards.
I only use the nvidia scripts for installing in slackware.
and the other big thing if you upgraded in current then you also need to do a slackpkg install-new for the new dependencies that come with kde 4.3.3

I am having the exact same problem that thorjelly describes. KDE 4.3.3, Arch linux using X.org server development version 1.7.1.901-1, and the 190.42 drivers. I've had no real problems with the 190 series drivers until now. I'm 99% sure that it was not KDE 4.3.3 that caused this bug, but the latest update to the X.org server. Also, I have recompiled the Nvidia drivers, but the problems persist.

In fact.. now I KNOW it is the X.org server. I had an older package of the 1.7.1 server that I just manually re-installed, and all the bugs have disappeared!

Thank you! That fixed it for me too. Non coincidentally, I'm in Arch as well. I didn't actually realized I upgraded xorg-server with my latest update, heh. I don't know what the difference between 1.7.1 and 1.7.1.901 is. Did Arch just screw up the package or include a svn or beta version of the xorg-server package for some reason? Weird...

but realistic its a bug in the driver being worsened by the newer xorg.
why not use the vesa driver? truly in Linux you dont need to bother with video drivers.

Yeap, just did the same thing as foxcm2000. Downgraded from
xorg-server-1.7.1-901-1 to xorg-server-1.7.1-1
and that fixed the problem on archlinux.

(had the exact same symptoms as thorjelly.. was this close
to nuking kde and going back to gnome).


Many thanks to foxcm2000. May his/her life be filled with an
endless supply of chocolate-chip cookies.

It was actually a symptom of a patched xorg. 1.7.1-901-1 uses a patch which fixed some gnome apps but broke KDE. Now, in arch, the package has been updated to 1.7.1-901-2 which fixes both problems. Maybe the reason xorg needed to be patched in the first place was an nvidia driver problem, I don't know.

Also. Maybe you're comfortable with whatever crappy intel chip you have on your motherboard and can get away with saying that, but I bought a laptop with a dedicated graphics card for a reason. ;p