[GRLUG] Browsers crash on Kubuntu

[Bob Kline]

If the system doesn't reboot,  it wedges.
At that point I can't use the keyboard to
do anything - it simply freezes.  So the
two outcomes are a spontaneous reboot,
or a frozen I/O - neither the keyboard nor
the mouse work.  This is why I have to
press the reset button.

If I had one - and I don't - I could attach
a dumb terminal to a serial port and
probably get in that way.  I did that kind
of thing 10 years ago with a Caldera (.....)
system.

     -Bob


On 12/7/06, Justin Denick <justin.denick at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> On 12/7/06, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I have Kubuntu 6.10 running on a junker
> > I picked up at VC Tech Source last summer.
> > Works fine but for one highly annoying
> > exception.  Browsers crash.  Not just
> > wedge,  but cause the system to reboot.
> > I'd just write the machine off as a loss but
> > for the fact that it works fine in all other
> > respects.  e.g.,  it   plays DVDs fine.
> >
> > The basic question is whether anyone else
> > in the group is seeing anything like this?
> >
> > I've attached the xorg.conf file from the
> > system.  The point here is that the default
> > color depth appears to be set to 24, which
> > some people have reported on the Internet
> > cures a similar problem they are having.
> > But the xorg.conf has always been set this
> > way and doesn't help a bit.
> >
> > Some other observations:
> >
> > *  I've run firefox using "firefox -safe-mode",
> > to avoid using any plugins.  It still crashes
> > eventually,  even though some have suggested
> > that it is those same plugins that cause the
> > problem when certain web sites are entered.
> > And it is a fact that certain web sites will cause
> > the problem I am having almost immediately.
> >
> > *  I've tried several browsers.  Firefox,  Opera,
> > Konqueror.  Opera crashes the second I
> > launch it.  Konqueror works best,  but only in
> > the sense that it takes a while longer before
> > the screen wedges or the system reboots.  A
> > wedge means that I have to reboot the system.
> > The only difference being that in many cases
> > the system reboots on its own.
> >
> >
> > In most other ways the machine works fine.
> > I can FTP entire OSes,  and do most anything
> > as long as it doesn't involve a browser.  But
> > that of course a serious limitation.
>
>
>
> This would eliminate the possibility that ethernet drivers are the issue.
> Also, the fact that it plays DVD's fine would also eliminate Video issues.
> However, the output of /var/log/Xorg*.log would be helpful.
>
> Instead of restarting the machine, why can't you just restart the X server?
> CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE will kill X and xdm, gdm, or kdm will then restart it for
> you.
>
> Or, from the CLI, you could /etc/[init|rc.*])/[k,g,x|]dm restart
>
> Either way, I think your closer to solving the problem by fixing the browser
> issue.
> Launch firefox from the CLI (verbosely  if possible) and look at the output.
>
>
> > Does any of this suggest anything to anyone
> > that I can look in to?   The machine could be
> > defective in some way,  in which case it will
> > live out its days in a landfill,  along with all of
> > the other Canadian garbage.
> >
> >   -Bob
> > _______________________________________________
> > grlug mailing list
> > grlug at grlug.org
> > http://shinobu.grlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/grlug
> >
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> In vino veritas.
>         [In wine there is truth.]
>                 -- Pliny
> _______________________________________________
> grlug mailing list
> grlug at grlug.org
> http://shinobu.grlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/grlug
>
>