anyone know why my system locks up when online watching a video. The video will start to skip or repeat and I lose all control of the laptop. No commands work so I have to power off to get it back. happened about three times in the last 6 months.
If you find out, let me know. The same thing happens to me when I try to print multiple pages from one pdf document in Okular.
Every one of these are video problems. It could be a driver issue. If you are using the open source driver there may be difficulties and a switch to proprietary may be needed, its not ideal but could work. You should also check to see if there are any updates for programs that are being affected by the issues.
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Hey @bbrown & @famcoll!
Losing control of your system is highly unlikely. What I suspect is happening is that your system is running out of RAM due to the number of apps and/or processes active at a given time, which leads to the activation of the SWAP area. If your main drive is slow, it will result in breakups in the operational flow, which will trigger the effects you’re experiencing. This includes a rather… jerky mouse pointer as well.
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Thanks, Vasileios. That makes perfect sense given that the printer locks up on multi-pages from Okular and not on single pages. I thought it might be a driver issue, but you have now made it clear that it’s probably the RAM. I am running off an old Dell that I pulled from the “pile” of used computers in September when linux first stormed into my life. Appreciate your help.
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I just up my RAM to 8GB and was thinking it only happened when playing a video so I will look into that too. Thanks to all of you, I’m loving the freedom.
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