[WBEL-users] Mozilla and X issues after recent updates

[Terry]

On 5/27/05, Kirby C. Bohling <kbohling at birddog.com> wrote:
> Whitebox users,
> 
>     After the last round of Mozilla and kernel updates, I've had
> problems with X during startup and mozilla randomly closing
> (possibly crashing) during normal usage.
> 
> lspci says this is the Video card:
> Intel Corp. 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Device (rev 03)
> 
> PCI ID: Class 0300: 8086:2562 (rev 03)
> 
> When I boot the machine, if it is in runlevel 5 (i.e. it starts
> prefdm) the screen will blank like it's in powersaving mode, and
> switching to a text console doesn't work.  Ctl-Alt-Del works
> sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't.  I can remotely log in an
> reboot the machine.  Ctl-Alt-Backspace doesn't ever work.
> 
> Now, if I boot to single user mode, or to runlevel 3 log in as root,
> run startx, kill X almost immediatly, then run "init 5", it will run
> prefdm without a problem.  If I boot into single user mode, or
> runlevel 3, and then run "init 5", I get the same symptoms as if I
> boot directly into run level 5 (blank screen, can't get a text
> console).
> 
> So it seems like "startx" is doing some bit of initialization that
> "prefdm".  Anybody seen anything like this?
> 
> My other issue that started at the same time is that Mozilla will
> just close down.  When I'm scrolling, or right after clicking on a
> link.  There doesn't seem to be any pattern to it that I can tell.

Sounds a lot like a memory issue, (and I see that you suspect the same).

> I haven't memtest'ed the box, but both problems started immediatly
> after running the last round of updates for the kernel (I'm not sure
> what all I installed in that batch, I believe Mozilla and the kernel
> were the two main things).  So I'm fairly sure those two are the
> source of my problems.

Revert to the old kernel and see if problems go away.



>     Anybody with similar problems?  Or ideas about what to look
> into?  I'm relatively stumped.  (I'm tempted to use this to go
> rebuild my desktop as a RHEL4 rebuild, but figured I'd at least try
> and troubleshoot it before losing a day to dealing with it).


Try a different desktop  environment?  i.e. switchdesk gnome or
switchdesk kde or .... etc.

Look at  logfile /var/log/XFree86.?    for clues