GUI freezes, sometimes doesn't load at all

Hi Viktor,

Sorry to hear about your problem.

As to restarting GUI: if you can get a console running (type: ALT-F2, then "gnome-terminal" (without the quotes), press ENTER) , you might try:

sudo gdm restart

That should restart gnome.

As to the freezing problem: Have you checked the logs? System>>Administration>>Logs

thnks for the reply.

about trying to restart gnome the way you suggested, i get the following message:
** (gdm-binary:1735): WARNING **: Failed to acquire org.gnome.DisplayManager

** (gdm-binary:1735): WARNING **: Could not acquire name; bailing out

i've looked at the logs, but i'm still a noob and i don't really know what i should be looking for. i've looked at several logs around to moment gnome freezes. but i don't see anything special. should i look at specific logs or for specific things?

this time it freezes when i try to open the programme "stellarium" (just out of the ubuntu software center), i've also been able to use a memory stick as long as i eject it via nautilus (don't know if that's what it's called, the thing you use to browse disks and folders on your computer, still very new to this) in stead of right-clicking on the desktop-icon. still freezes with external hard-drive.

thnks in advance for any advice

you can look at the output of dmesg, to see if any of the kernel drivers are spitting out any error messages.

dmesg | less

Stellarium is a 3D (opengl) application -- can you run other 3D applications without any worries?

this is the only error i found with dmesg | less:

[ 588.773584] ACPI Error: No installed handler for fixed event [0x00000000] (20100428/evevent-306)

i looked at the syslog:

these errors i got without anything going wrong (don't know if they might be relevant):

Dec 6 13:05:43 viktor-portable kernel: [ 1.429935] ACPI Error: Could not disable RealTimeClock events (20100428/evxfevnt-533)

Dec 6 13:15:13 viktor-portable kernel: [ 588.773584] ACPI Error: No installed handler for fixed event [0x00000000] (20100428/evevent-306)

this is most from the last time it froze, earlier today, (there's several errors and warning and i don't know how they relate, so i rather copied too much) i used virtual console "sudo shutdown 0" to shut it down, had to turn the power off by holding down the on-button:

Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable kernel: [ 16.195763] [drm] Initialized radeon 2.5.0 20080528 for 0000:01:05.0 on minor 0
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable gdm-binary[784]: WARNING: Unable to load file '/etc/gdm/custom.conf': No such file or directory
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable gdm-binary[784]: WARNING: Unable to find users: no seat-id found
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable gdm-simple-slave[863]: WARNING: Unable to load file '/etc/gdm/custom.conf': No such file or directory
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable init: apport pre-start process (867) terminated with status 1
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable cron[877]: (CRON) INFO (pidfile fd = 3)
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable anacron[894]: Anacron 2.3 started on 2010-12-06
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable acpid: starting up with proc fs
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable cron[900]: (CRON) STARTUP (fork ok)
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable init: apport post-stop process (895) terminated with status 1
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable acpid: 36 rules loaded
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable acpid: waiting for events: event logging is off
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable cron[900]: (CRON) INFO (Running @reboot jobs)
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable anacron[894]: Will run job `cron.daily' in 5 min.
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable anacron[894]: Jobs will be executed sequentially
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable acpid: client connected from 937[0:0]
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable acpid: 1 client rule loaded
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable kernel: [ 16.787004] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x64
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable kernel: [ 16.787010] ath: EEPROM indicates we should expect a direct regpair map
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable kernel: [ 16.787016] ath: Country alpha2 being used: 00
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable kernel: [ 16.787019] ath: Regpair used: 0x64
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable kernel: [ 16.806808] phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel'
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable kernel: [ 16.807592] ath5k phy0: Atheros AR2413 chip found (MAC: 0x78, PHY: 0x45)
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable avahi-daemon[685]: Joining mDNS multicast group on interface eth0.IPv6 with address fe80::2a0:d1ff:fe36:7264.
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable avahi-daemon[685]: New relevant interface eth0.IPv6 for mDNS.
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable avahi-daemon[685]: Registering new address record for fe80::2a0:d1ff:fe36:7264 on eth0.*.
Dec 6 10:58:19 viktor-portable kernel: [ 16.935403] ppdev: user-space parallel port driver
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> (eth0): device state change: 7 -> 8 (reason 0)
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> Policy set 'Auto eth0' (eth0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS.
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> Updating /etc/hosts with new system hostname
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable kernel: [ 17.073592] vboxdrv: Found 1 processor cores.
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable kernel: [ 17.076320] vboxdrv: TSC mode is 'synchronous', kernel timer mode is 'normal'.
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable kernel: [ 17.076326] vboxdrv: Successfully loaded version 3.2.12 (interface 0x00140001).
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable modem-manager: (net/vboxnet0): could not get port's parent device
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> Activation (eth0) successful, device activated.
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> Activation (eth0) Stage 5 of 5 (IP Configure Commit) complete.
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: devices added (path: /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.4/0000:02:04.0/net/wlan0, iface: wlan0)
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: device added (path: /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.4/0000:02:04.0/net/wlan0, iface: wlan0): no ifupdown configuration found.
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> found WiFi radio killswitch rfkill0 (at /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.4/0000:02:04.0/ieee80211/phy0/rfkill0) (driver <unknown>)
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: devices added (path: /sys/devices/virtual/net/vboxnet0, iface: vboxnet0)
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: device added (path: /sys/devices/virtual/net/vboxnet0, iface: vboxnet0): no ifupdown configuration found.
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> (wlan0): driver supports SSID scans (scan_capa 0x01).
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> (wlan0): new 802.11 WiFi device (driver: 'ath5k' ifindex: 3)
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> (wlan0): exported as /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/1
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> (wlan0): now managed
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: 1 -> 2 (reason 2)
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> (wlan0): bringing up device.
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> (wlan0): preparing device.
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> (wlan0): deactivating device (reason: 2).
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable kernel: [ 17.457075] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <warn> /sys/devices/virtual/net/vboxnet0: couldn't determine device driver; ignoring...
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable nm-dispatcher.action: nm_dispatcher_action: Invalid connection: '(null)' / 'connection setting not found' invalid: 1
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable nm-dispatcher.action: Script '/etc/NetworkManager/dispatcher.d/01ifupdown' exited with error status 1.
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: starting -> ready
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: 2 -> 3 (reason 42)
Dec 6 10:58:20 viktor-portable wpa_supplicant[719]: Failed to initiate AP scan.
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable kernel: [ 20.061521] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,commit=0
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable gdm-session-worker[1193]: WARNING: Unable to load file '/etc/gdm/custom.conf': No such file or directory
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Successfully called chroot.
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Successfully dropped privileges.
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Successfully limited resources.
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Running.
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Watchdog thread running.
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Canary thread running.
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable init: plymouth-stop pre-start process (1283) terminated with status 1
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable polkitd[1229]: started daemon version 0.96 using authority implementation `local' version `0.96'
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Successfully made thread 1214 of process 1214 (n/a) owned by '113' high priority at nice level -11.
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Supervising 1 threads of 1 processes of 1 users.
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Successfully made thread 1302 of process 1214 (n/a) owned by '113' RT at priority 5.
Dec 6 10:58:23 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Supervising 2 threads of 1 processes of 1 users.
Dec 6 10:58:24 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Successfully made thread 1303 of process 1214 (n/a) owned by '113' RT at priority 5.
Dec 6 10:58:24 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Supervising 3 threads of 1 processes of 1 users.
Dec 6 10:58:24 viktor-portable gdm-simple-greeter[1190]: Gtk-WARNING: /build/buildd/gtk+2.0-2.22.0/gtk/gtkwidget.c:5684: widget not within a GtkWindow
Dec 6 10:58:25 viktor-portable ntpdate[1149]: no server suitable for synchronization found
Dec 6 10:58:25 viktor-portable kernel: [ 22.378018] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,commit=0
Dec 6 10:58:28 viktor-portable kernel: [ 25.904030] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
Dec 6 10:58:30 viktor-portable gdm-session-worker[1193]: GLib-GObject-CRITICAL: g_value_get_boolean: assertion `G_VALUE_HOLDS_BOOLEAN (value)' failed
Dec 6 10:58:37 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <error> [1291629517.790066] [nm-manager.c:1317] user_proxy_init(): could not init user settings proxy: (3) Could not get owner of name 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerUserSettings': no such name
Dec 6 10:58:37 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <error> [1291629517.830441] [nm-manager.c:1317] user_proxy_init(): could not init user settings proxy: (3) Could not get owner of name 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerUserSettings': no such name
Dec 6 10:58:39 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Successfully made thread 1426 of process 1426 (n/a) owned by '1000' high priority at nice level -11.
Dec 6 10:58:39 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Supervising 4 threads of 2 processes of 2 users.
Dec 6 10:58:39 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Successfully made thread 1433 of process 1426 (n/a) owned by '1000' RT at priority 5.
Dec 6 10:58:39 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Supervising 5 threads of 2 processes of 2 users.
Dec 6 10:58:39 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Successfully made thread 1438 of process 1426 (n/a) owned by '1000' RT at priority 5.
Dec 6 10:58:39 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Supervising 6 threads of 2 processes of 2 users.
Dec 6 10:58:40 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Successfully made thread 1454 of process 1454 (n/a) owned by '1000' high priority at nice level -11.
Dec 6 10:58:40 viktor-portable rtkit-daemon[1219]: Supervising 7 threads of 3 processes of 2 users.
Dec 6 10:58:40 viktor-portable pulseaudio[1454]: pid.c: Daemon already running.
Dec 6 11:03:19 viktor-portable anacron[894]: Job `cron.daily' started
Dec 6 11:03:19 viktor-portable anacron[1784]: Updated timestamp for job `cron.daily' to 2010-12-06
Dec 6 11:04:23 viktor-portable kernel: [ 380.369065] ACPI Error: No installed handler for fixed event [0x00000000] (20100428/evevent-306)
Dec 6 11:12:57 viktor-portable acpid: client 937[0:0] has disconnected
Dec 6 11:12:57 viktor-portable acpid: client connected from 937[0:0]
Dec 6 11:12:57 viktor-portable acpid: 1 client rule loaded
Dec 6 11:12:57 viktor-portable kernel: [ 894.189139] [drm:drm_mode_getfb] *ERROR* invalid framebuffer id
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable acpid: exiting
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable init: tty4 main process (864) killed by TERM signal
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable init: tty5 main process (871) killed by TERM signal
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable init: cron main process (900) killed by TERM signal
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable init: tty2 main process (885) killed by TERM signal
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable init: tty3 main process (887) killed by TERM signal
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable init: tty6 main process (891) killed by TERM signal
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable init: anacron main process (894) killed by TERM signal
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable init: tty1 main process (1284) killed by TERM signal
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable console-kit-daemon[794]: WARNING: Couldn't read /proc/1423/environ: Failed to open file '/proc/1423/environ': No such file or directory
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <warn> error requesting auth for org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.network-control: (6) Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1.Authority.CheckAuthorization() on /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/Authority at name org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.DBus.GetConnectionUnixUser() on / at name org.freedesktop.DBus: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Could not get UID of name ':1.34': no such name
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <warn> User connections unavailable: (6) Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1.Authority.CheckAuthorization() on /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/Authority at name org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.DBus.GetConnectionUnixUser() on / at name org.freedesktop.DBus: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Could not get UID of name ':1.34': no such name
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <warn> error requesting auth for org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.enable-disable-network: (6) Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1.Authority.CheckAuthorization() on /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/Authority at name org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.DBus.GetConnectionUnixUser() on / at name org.freedesktop.DBus: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Could not get UID of name ':1.34': no such name
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <warn> error requesting auth for org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.sleep-wake: (6) Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1.Authority.CheckAuthorization() on /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/Authority at name org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.DBus.GetConnectionUnixUser() on / at name org.freedesktop.DBus: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Could not get UID of name ':1.34': no such name
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <warn> error requesting auth for org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.enable-disable-wifi: (6) Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1.Authority.CheckAuthorization() on /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/Authority at name org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.DBus.GetConnectionUnixUser() on / at name org.freedesktop.DBus: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Could not get UID of name ':1.34': no such name
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <warn> error requesting auth for org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.enable-disable-wwan: (6) Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1.Authority.CheckAuthorization() on /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/Authority at name org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.DBus.GetConnectionUnixUser() on / at name org.freedesktop.DBus: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Could not get UID of name ':1.34': no such name
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <warn> error requesting auth for org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.use-user-connections: (6) Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1.Authority.CheckAuthorization() on /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/Authority at name org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.DBus.GetConnectionUnixUser() on / at name org.freedesktop.DBus: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Could not get UID of name ':1.34': no such name
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <warn> error requesting auth for org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.network-control: (6) Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1.Authority.CheckAuthorization() on /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/Authority at name org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Remote Exception invoking org.freedesktop.DBus.GetConnectionUnixUser() on / at name org.freedesktop.DBus: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Could not get UID of name ':1.34': no such name
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: <error> [1291630399.762912] [nm-manager.c:1317] user_proxy_init(): could not init user settings proxy: (3) Could not get owner of name 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerUserSettings': no such name
Dec 6 11:13:19 viktor-portable bonobo-activation-server (viktor-2011): could not associate with desktop session: Error connecting: Connection refused
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable anacron[2076]: Anacron 2.3 started on 2010-12-06
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable anacron[2076]: Normal exit (0 jobs run)
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable kernel: [ 917.314371] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,commit=0
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable avahi-daemon[685]: Withdrawing workstation service for vboxnet0.
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable NetworkManager[682]: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: devices removed (path: /sys/devices/virtual/net/vboxnet0, iface: vboxnet0)
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable kernel: Kernel logging (proc) stopped.
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable rsyslogd: [origin software="rsyslogd" swVersion="4.2.0" x-pid="621" x-info="http://www.rsyslog.com"] exiting on signal 15.
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable kernel: imklog 4.2.0, log source = /proc/kmsg started.
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable rsyslogd: [origin software="rsyslogd" swVersion="4.2.0" x-pid="2146" x-info="http://www.rsyslog.com"] (re)start
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable rsyslogd: rsyslogd's groupid changed to 103
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable rsyslogd: rsyslogd's userid changed to 101
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable rsyslogd-2039: Could no open output file '/dev/xconsole' [try http://www.rsyslog.com/e/2039 ]
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable init: dbus main process (2148) terminated with status 1
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable init: dbus main process ended, respawning
Dec 6 11:13:20 viktor-portable init: Unable to connect to the system bus: Failed to connect to socket /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket: Connection refused
Dec 6 11:13:21 viktor-portable kernel: [ 917.944396] udev[2153]: starting version 163
Dec 6 11:13:31 viktor-portable kernel: imklog 4.2.0, log source = /proc/kmsg started.
Dec 6 11:13:31 viktor-portable rsyslogd: [origin software="rsyslogd" swVersion="4.2.0" x-pid="2187" x-info="http://www.rsyslog.com"] (re)start
Dec 6 11:13:31 viktor-portable rsyslogd: rsyslogd's groupid changed to 103
Dec 6 11:13:31 viktor-portable rsyslogd: rsyslogd's userid changed to 101
Dec 6 11:13:31 viktor-portable rsyslogd-2039: Could no open output file '/dev/xconsole' [try http://www.rsyslog.com/e/2039 ]
Dec 6 11:13:31 viktor-portable init: rc main process (1993) killed by TERM signal
Dec 6 11:13:31 viktor-portable init: plymouth-stop pre-start process (2194) terminated with status 1
Dec 6 11:13:31 viktor-portable kernel: [ 928.089540] udev[2197]: starting version 163

i'll check if i can open other 3D apps after sending this and try an external harddrive again. i'll see how i goes and if i see anything in the logs that might be usefull (once again, i apologies for my noobness, but i don't know what exactly i'm looking for, besides the word "error")

thnks in advance for any help

i can use external hard disks now. i seemed to freeze when the screensaver came into action, so i turned it off. i can't play movies very well (the image and sound are schoking all the time). still freezes for no apparent reason sometimes.

maybe it's a driver problem with the graphical card? in hardy heron i had to use a proprietary driver, but it isn't listed in this version of ubuntu. can somebody tell me how to check which drivers are installed for what hardware (or if all the hardware is even detected)? and how to find and install drivers?

thnks

that dmesg output is not useful, as it is *after* the system has booted. You need to be able to capture it immediately before the crash (how to do that is the tricky bit). When you next get a freeze, see if you can use the sysreq keys to recover a terminal, and capture the dmesg output. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key.

By default, linux has its own drivers built in, or attached to, the kernel, which are checked to ensure that they are as bug free as can reasonably be. So your linux kernel version sets what drivers you use to a large extent.

The method for installing 3rd party graphics card drivers depends on your card, so we would need to know that.

to do this, open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T, or Applications->Accessories->Terminal) and type

sudo lspci

but please open a new question, otherwise most people won't see it :)

>but please open a new question, otherwise most people won't see it :)

Ooops, please disregard that -- I wrote this in the wrong conversation thread.

didn't get the log data. but after installing a program from the manufacturer of the graphic card (ATI Xpress 200m) (ATI catalist control center) it all works.

thnks for all the help