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Re: [LUG] Debian Squeeze

 

On 24/08/10 18:23, Henry Bremridge wrote:
> 
>> What did you do precisely.
>>
> 
> At the moment I have done nothing, apart from running 
> # dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

I got the impression you had tried to change the driver. Since it is in
non-free you'd have to add that repository, and install kernel module
etc, so I assumed you'd done some or all of that.

I'd see if you can stabilize it with the default driver first.

> That did not generate any visible output

I think the world has moved on from this approach.

Not least a lot of the stuff that use to be in X is now no longer
duplicated in Xorg.

> http://wiki.debian.org/ConfigureX

Is obsolete

> http://wiki.debian.org/Xorg about 1/3 way down the page

Mentions this command stopped working in Winter 2008 in testing when the
wizard was dropped.

> I do not even know what the problem is exactly. The symptoms are after a
> period of use, the desktop freezes. No mouse, no keyboard. This was after a
> default install of debian-testing.
> 
> Oddly enough:
> -   The problem seems to have got worse after she started storing files on
>     the desktop
> -   The problem seems to be triggered by internet browsing (I am not sure
>     whether it is browsing / email or time)

Firefox smooth scroll exercises broken bits of my Video driver (not as
sophisticated as Nvidia). Disable smooth scroll in Firefix/Iceweasel see
if the problem gets any better (Edit, Preferences, Advance, General tab).

But I suspect probably browsing just exercises whatever broken bit of
code is lurking.

> I know Ubuntu used a Nvidia restricted driver and I wonder whether it is
> worth my while installing that.

Start with what is logged in:

/var/log/kern.log
/var/log/Xorg.0.log
~/.xsession-errors

Especially when the error occurs, but might be worth sharing the default
content of /var/log/Xorg.0.log

Replacing the driver maybe the way to go, but my box hung the UI the
other day due to a dodgy USB connection causing it to spew 0.75 GB of
USB related error messages. Worth establishing if anything is reporting
a problem first.

Might also be that the Ubuntu had a later kernel, or different kernel,
that might also be the source of this kind of problem.

Problems with files on Desktop, can be the thumbnail creation process.
If a renderer can't render a file due to some hideous error it sometimes
gets itself in a knot, but that usually stays like it till you move the
file somewhere it doesn't want to create a thumbnail for. That is
usually logged somewhere - xsession-errors IIRC.

I normally seek out Gravity Boy in #debian when all else fails ;)

 Simon




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