desktop non responsive

kkershner · 12-16-2009, 10:07 AM

Using KDE 4.2.4 with slackware 13.0
periodically the gui will go non responsive, that is to say no buttons will change when clicked or hovered, can't see typing, move windows, change desktops, etc etc but the mouse cursor does move and i can log in remotely with ssh just fine. a click of the power button initiates a normal shutdown as does "shutdown -r now" from an ssh shell.
No errors that I can find in any logs to run me down the right path.

stumped

intel mobo D845GVSR w/82854G onboard video (an oldie but a goodie)

bendib · 12-16-2009, 05:09 PM

KDE has always given me problems. Have you tried CTRL-ALT-Backspace? Or CTRL-ALT-F2 to get to a virtual console? IF you can, I recommend installing GNOME or KDE3.x.

brianL · 12-17-2009, 07:44 AM

Get the KDE 4.3.1 packages, it's a lot better. This is what I did, based on a howto by Alien Bob:

Code:

mkdir kde43
cd kde43
lftp -c "open http://cardinal.lizella.net/~vbatts/...ackages/4.3.1/ ;mirror x86"
su root
upgradepkg --install-new *.t?z

kkershner · 12-19-2009, 09:43 PM

well that certainly made a mess of things, no icons now, no task bar at bottom, i'll need a few days to sort this advice out. jeez

damgar · 12-19-2009, 09:51 PM

http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?is...090518#feature gives instructions for upgrading the whole system from 13 to current. My whole system improved drastically upon doing so and kde stability issues went away moving to 4.3.1. I believe this will give you in large part a fresh install of a good chunk of your system.

brianL · 12-20-2009, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kkershner

well that certainly made a mess of things, no icons now, no task bar at bottom, i'll need a few days to sort this advice out. jeez

Which advice made a mess of things? Mine?

kkershner · 12-20-2009, 10:58 AM

after installing the upgrade pkgs to 4.3.1 from your suggested location I have no taksbar at the bottom, most icons show as generic or simply non existant. i'm slowly recovering the desktop look and feel back to what it was. must admit im better on slack in a server environment than i am in the desltop environment.

kkershner · 12-20-2009, 11:01 AM

i will admit though that it seems more stable at this point. while i work to fix it it hasn't stopped responding yet. the silver lining i suppose . lol

kkershner · 12-22-2009, 09:26 AM

A few hours of tinkering in my spare time has resulted in normal functionality, a new panel, oxygecolors icon theme etc etc. The original problem remains though, seems I spoke too quickly on my previous post. Brian, I think your advice was sound but the package you recommended was a bit unpolished, no big deal, it's all good now.

The GUI still goes non responsive, mouse cursor motion ok but any clicks or keyboard input falls on a deaf GUI, a remote shell works fine and all is cured by reboot. It seems to occur during random activities, moving a window, opening or closing an app, clicking cancel, resizing a window, which leads me to the gui or the graphics card. Without any error message in the logs I remain as before, stumped.

brianL · 12-23-2009, 04:57 AM

Like you said, it could be something to do with your graphics card. Press the Report button and ask for this thread to be moved to the Slackware forum, more chance of getting things sorted out there.

kkershner · 12-23-2009, 03:19 PM

continuing on... I have installed the intel driver set from intel (i915Graphics.tar.gz) made their recommended kernel boot tweaks still to no avail

jschiwal · 12-25-2009, 07:10 AM

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Linux - Slackware and has been moved accordingly to help your thread get the exposure it deserves as per your request.

Woodsman · 12-25-2009, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Using KDE 4.2.4 with slackware 13.0 periodically the gui will go non responsive, that is to say no buttons will change when clicked or hovered, can't see typing, move windows, change desktops, etc etc but the mouse cursor does move and i can log in remotely with ssh just fine. a click of the power button initiates a normal shutdown as does "shutdown -r now" from an ssh shell.
No errors that I can find in any logs to run me down the right path.

I saw the same occasional behavior when I first tried using 4.2.4/13 with my HTPC. Frustratingly I was doing little with the desktop because my focus was on HTPC elements. The only way out was ssh or Ctrl-Alt-Backspace. I never found an answer. Eventually I went back to 3.5.10/12.2 for my HTPC.

I suspect 4.3.4 might help but I haven't yet tested.

I'm using an NVidia chip set (Asus M3N78-EM motherboard) and the proprietary NVidia drivers.

dugan · 12-25-2009, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kkershner

well that certainly made a mess of things, no icons now, no task bar at bottom

Code:

rm -rf ~/*.kde*

That will clean out your KDE settings and allow KDE to generate new default ones.

kkershner · 12-28-2009, 11:20 AM

A rather dangerous thing to do there dugan, so I backed up that directory first and tried that. it didn't work either. of course it restored my desktop back to the missing icons, missing panel, deleted all mail and such, rebuilt the kde configs etc etc. A quick restore of the orignal .kde folder brought me back to normal.
The problem remains.
Do we not have a log to examine or method of debug to determine what causes such conditions? Since the system doesn't crash I should be able to trace the problem from a shell login, that is if I knew where to look.