About those random lockups

[DoYouKubuntu]

You're using the same SM version I am, GG; thanks for testing the sites I noted. The JPL site was functioning fine in SM...during the few moments before my laptop froze.

The same sites in Firefox caused no problems.

I'm too timid right now to try them again in SM, although I guess I really should, right? That would be a great way to confirm...something.

Here are the specs for my System76 17.3" Gazelle. According to it, I have: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 or 1660 Ti

Looking in Settings | System Settings | Hardware | Driver Manager, I see that I'm "Using NVIDIA driver metapackage from nvidia-driver-450 (proprietary)"

I vaguely remember something to do with System76's drivers--and catastrophe--from early on, when I was having problems with this [new] laptop, but I don't recall the details now.

Given what we know, i.e., that the laptop was running fine for nine days with none of the 'random' lockups, and then I opened those three URLs in SM and the computer froze almost immediately, what can we deduce?

SeaMonkey is current. There's nothing in it, that I know of, that should be changed. Since GG's laptop didn't freeze when he ran those three URLs in the same version of SM, what? Is it a driver issue?

[GreyGeek]

I installed the latest stable version of seamonkey (2.53.5.1) and visited the sites you mentioned. At the JPL I did the virutal tour thing and seamonkey worked great. So does Waterfox and Dissenter (Brave).

I'm running an NVidia GT 650M with nvidia-390 as the display driver and it works great on this 9 year old Acer G3-771 laptop.

I didn't catch what your display driver is, but I'm beginning to think your problem may be an odd nook&cranny edge case for it.

[DoYouKubuntu]

NINE DAYS...and then it happened now.

I had just opened two sites/three tabs in SeaMonkey (in addition to my usual tabs), two of which were heavy with animation/effects. The two heavy ones: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ and https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/virtual-tour/

The other one was this https://www.jurassicquest.com/

I suspect the JPL pages, but I have nothing to back that up...other than the fact that I'd had *ZERO* lockups for nine days...until I opened them.

I overwrote my .mozilla directory with a backup, and we'll see what happens next.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Without having a binary copy of your HD before the deletions it is impossible to tell what content in any of those directories or files could have caused your lockups. Apparently it is not the kernel or the libc libraries/utilities that caused the problem. My guesses would be either something in .nv or in .kde/share/config/kdeglobals

Oh, but guess what, GG? I DO have copies!

I carefully backed everything up before plunging in and deleting it all. I figured if my purge hopelessly screwed things up and I couldn't log in, I'd log in as root, copy the files back, log in and then figure out Plan B.

Luckily, that didn't happen. *huge sigh of relief*

Anyway, I do have copies, although of course they're not in their original location on the hard drive. But the files/directories are intact.

[GreyGeek]

Without having a binary copy of your HD before the deletions it is impossible to tell what content in any of those directories or files could have caused your lockups. Apparently it is not the kernel or the libc libraries/utilities that caused the problem. My guesses would be either something in .nv or in .kde/share/config/kdeglobals

[DoYouKubuntu]

Do you think it's safe to jump for joy now? SEVEN DAYS!!! Not a hint of a lockup.

So, for now, and hopefully forever, let's assume there was something in my account that was causing these repeated lockups. What might that be?

Of course, I realize this is a broad, sweeping question, because...just because. No two members of this forum have EXACTLY identical setups, and no one (including me) knows for sure everything that was in my account's settings/directories. Just in general terms, is anyone aware of/have any experience with/have any idea about what could've caused this problem?

As noted originally, they happened in a seemingly random way; they could happen two minutes after booting up, or two hours or, rarely, two days later.

The only thing consistent was four programs I routinely use: Konsole, Dolphin, and SeaMonkey [browser and mail client]. While troubleshooting, I pared that down to SM only--it kept happening. Then I switched to Firefox--and it happened. Dolphin only--it happened. Konsole only--it happened. Nothing. It happened.

These are the directories I deleted from $HOME:

.cache
.config
.gnupg
.kde
.local
.nv
.pki
.qt
.themes
.thunderbird

I also deleted all config files, like .profile and .bashrc; I did not delete .mozilla (directory) because I had a new, clean profile in it AND I'd ruled it out as the culprit.

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated. I hope I never run into a problem like this again, but if I did, I'd at least like to have a clue what's causing it!

[DoYouKubuntu]

Good idea. As the robot pilot said " ... and nothing can possibly go wrong ... go wrong ... go wrong ..."

Ha ha ha ha! Indeed.

BTW, we're on day FIVE with no lockups! *not jumping for joy yet*

[GreyGeek]

There you go! Thanks.

By the way, we're now on day FOUR without a single lockup! I'm trying to refrain from jumping up and down for joy just yet, but I'm getting close.

Good idea. As the robot pilot said " ... and nothing can possibly go wrong ... go wrong ... go wrong ...."

[DoYouKubuntu]

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"

There you go! Thanks.

By the way, we're now on day FOUR without a single lockup! I'm trying to refrain from jumping up and down for joy just yet, but I'm getting close.

[Snowhog]

Snowhog's Sherlock Holmes quote should go here, but I can't remember it. Something about "when all other possibilities have been eliminated ...", or something like that.

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"

[GreyGeek]

Good!
It appears that the cruft causing your issue is now in the rear view mirror. Hope it fades out of sight!

[DoYouKubuntu]

I know what you're referring to, GG, but I can't think of it either.

BTW, here's how many lockups I've had since posting yesterday: ZERO!

[GreyGeek]

Snowhog's Sherlock Holmes quote should go here, but I can't remember it. Something about "when all other possibilities have been eliminated ...", or something like that.

[jglen490]

Yep, understand. It's likely just a coincidence, but not something random. Just keep watching!

[DoYouKubuntu]

You may be right, although the MozillaZine SM boards certainly don't reflect that. I mean I just don't see posts there about SM locking up computers.

And, as I've said before, I like SM and the way I have it set up. When I have to use a different browser, I feel lost! So I'm planning on sticking with it until one of us dies.