Hello fellow Linux heads /experimenters /etc.


Have a Problem that is /has been Bugging me with my old SusE Box for awhile now .


I plug in a USB drive <typically 10 ~16 Gb size> .


It gets read -identified in Suse9.2,s "clunkY' media icons/ -- all these cryptic-numeric USB id,s .


I am trying to save all my files onto USB (photos, Iso-s ,Zip,s , Mp3s) ,standard procedure (drag und Drop ) BUT my MOUSE FREEZES UP whenever I try to do this!!!!!!!! - It won,t free up. I get desperate and do a "HARD" shutdown -just hit the reset button --- excellent way to kill my Filesystem ,Ehhhhh (btw it is a reiser Filesystem) .


So far not immediate data Loss , but What is going on that is preventing me from doing this USB thing correctly???


adios -chili

It's seldom necessary to do that. Just restart the X server an log back in. Ctrl+alt+backspace to restart the X server.

As for the freezeup, be patient. Wait a while. You may have maxed the cpu and it will take a while to complete the drag and drop/file write to USB stick.

If you don't want to kill the filesystem don't use the reset button, use the power button instead. That X freezes does not mean the ACPI subsystem freezes.
Also, by any means, try a newer version of openSuse and look if that might be a bug that is already fixed. Just out of curiosity, why are you running an OS that is out of support for almost 8 years (and filled with security holes and bugs that have been fixed in those 8 years)?

I would assume it has less to with X and more to do with USB (probably 2.0 or 1.1 on your system) and how the kernel (which is 2.6.9 for Suse 9.2) manages IO on different ports. On a newer kernel with USB > 2.0 this wouldn't happen.

Your options here:

- Update the system (!)
- Update the kernel
- Be patient

The system isn't locking up. The kernel does IO asynchronously an dso it's just waiting for data to be written to the device. Wait for a few moments (or minutes ) and it will start working again.

No need to reboot or do anything. The system (or X) hasn't crashed. It's waiting on IO (which you told it to do).

Suse9.2
this has not been supported for many many many YEARS
it should NOT!!! be used

it went END OF LIFE all the way back in 2006
--- DO NOT USE !!!!!!!!
http://en.opensuse.org/Archive:SUSE_Linux_9.2


install the current OpenSUSE 13.1

Thanks for the iNfo - just a matter of tyme to upgrade it . By-the -way -- my Memory in my system is only 748mb -much smaller than my USb sticks /// would this have any thing to do with it DJ Shaji????


And for John VV the reason I am using this old Distro is my"cheapness" & the Fact it is a successful Dual Boot system ---- Linux & Win XpPro ---Do Not want to Dismantle it yet!!!! And it is NOT connected to the Net - so virus/worms aren,t a problem (unless I stick a Bad RPM in it!!).


regards ,chili

the still supported CentOS 5.10 will run just fine on that machine
and has 3 years of support left

there has been no software for 9.2 since 2006
and after 8 years
9 is not even in the mirrors
http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/

even RPMfind has none
http://www.rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/Suse_Linux_9.2.html
and only a few for 9.0
http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/Suse_Linux_9.html

so you are pretty much on your own

and installing any "new'ish" rpm is likely going to mess up the install

there is really nothing newer than 8 years old that can be installed to 9.2


as to the mouse "locking"
i am guessing this is a usb2 thumbdrive on a USB1 port

that will be dead slow

and might even look like it froze
at a one way only talking of 12 meg/sec ( MAX - real world try 2 meg/sec)
that 16 gig usb drive might take 8+ hours to transfer

I doubt so, 748MB should be more than enough for a SuSE 9.2 system.

Like DJ Shaji said, your system doesn't hang. The copy process tries to allocate memory, can't have it, and the kernel starts swapping. This Should Not (tm) have any influence on high priority processes like your mouse movement, but it does. It might also be dependent on the program which does the copy. It is this program which allocates memory.

768 MB is enough for Suse to run, but not to copy a Gig of files.

You could try and use the command line cp command.

Do not ignore the warnings of other members about running an outdated OS.

jlinkels

The amount of RAM has nothing to do with copying files to a USB drive, as files are copied in chunks, not all at one go. The kernel you run can boot in as little as 8 MB of RAM (believe me, I've tried, and played MP3s too!), and that would be enough for the task. The issue becomes the bottleneck in the whole process. Your 7200 rpm IDE harddisk can dish out about 10 MB/s, but USB 2.0 or 1.1 can take only so much of it at a time. This can cause delays when the kernel waits for IO to finish, and this can make the system stall.

By the way you have enoguh RAM to run any modern distro with an efficient desktop like xfce4, which will have all the bells and whistles while at the same time being lightweight. You can even run the tiny IceWM and configure it to behave just the way you want, and it will run faster than you can say "Windows XP End of Life"