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Linux Mint freezes almost completely

but the mouse keeps working fine , very weird

other symptomp (not sure if it is related)
right click context menu is very slow to draw on the screen

reasons , not entrirely sure :
- sometimes “out of the blue”
- sometimes after many tabs in several browser windows
- almost certain when huge file transfers , defintely to usb disk and/or ntfs formatted disks

my impression it is cinamon related , otherwise the mouse would not wiork as well
restart laptop “fixes” this , but that is not a solution

some actions :

  1. a ‘workaround’ that betters the situation :
    settings > windows > alt-tab :
    alt-tab switcher styler : set it to : window preview (no icons)
    see : https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon/issues/3275
    (issue was already in Mint 17 ! , maar nog steeds zie hieronder )

  2. log file : .xsession-errors
    (located in user home root dir)
    gTile.js
    een zak js errors :
    Cjs-CRITICAL **: 10:59:02.735: JS ERROR: TypeError: actor is null
    unsubscribe_from_focused_window_changes@/home/ward/.local/share/cinnamon/extensions/gTile@shuairan/3.8/gTile.js:1451:9
    App/this.ResetFocusedWindow@/home/ward/.local/share/cinnamon/extensions/gTile@shuairan/3.8/gTile.js:1358:31
    App/this.OnFocusedWindowChanged@/home/ward/.local/share/cinnamon/extensions/gTile@shuairan/3.8/gTile.js:1338:18

=> settings > extetuions > gTile disabled
cinamon merkbaar sneller ( fucking javascript)
maar nog steeds dezelfde error !
=> uninstalled

! taming the log file #TODO
https://hibbard.eu/prevent-xsession-errors-file-growing-too-large/

  1. swap file

excellent analysis

Please notice that this issue has been closed, and it is five years old.
It may be closed as an issue but it’s still a PITA for users. Speaking personally it started after I added an Nvidia graphics card(GTX710) and Cinnamon now locks up every day or two. I fix it with a Ctrl-Alt-Esc restart of Cinnamon. But it’s still annoying.

The reason it is happening to you is that you are running low on memory
I have 16GB installed and rarely use more than 4 unless I’m doing heavy duty GIMP work.

problems, also if you use USB3 devices at capacity, etc.
And I have no USB3 devices.

Most people either live with this or have moved on to something different.
True, but It’s still annoying though! And enough to mean Cinnamon is currently
unusable in a business type environment where a lockup in the middle
of a customer interaction is unacceptable.
==But the cause remains a mystery.==

I have also seen it mostly with Nvidia cards, but cant be 100% sure that is the main problem, I have seen that happen with some virt settings.
I can assure you ==I can consistently reproduce the problem executing something that will tax the interrupts in the system. Be it heavy disk access, heavy USB use, continuous 100% CPU use etc. Or at least I assume it is the interrupts, might be semaphores.==
I looked up the code, and well, I cant pretend to understood what I saw, it is quite a large project, and I am current with Java, javascript and python, so in short I could not figure out a solution. That solution would mean better understanding the problem, and smarter ppl than me with good knowledge of the project could not fix it, or even identify a root cause. All I have is a guess and a way to reproduce the problem.

As for having 16GB of Ram.. plenty of it will be used by caches, etc, and that is good, you dont want to have unused memory! )Just look at the most recent Lunus Torvalds rant) .. but that means that you will have page faults, etc.

Last time I tested the project, one year ago, the problems were still there.
It is feasible to use it with 16GB, or was for me, but a hassle not worth the effort, so I switched.