Task manager alternative?

Support & Help Requests
1

Hi everybody.
I need to know the keyboard shortcut to bring up something similar to the Windows Task Manager....so that when a program crashes, I can quickly bring up Task Manager and quit just that program.
At the moment, the only incantation that I know isAlt+SysRq+B....which stops everything then restarts Ubuntu Mate. Surely there is something a little less violent?
Phil

2

None is preset that I am aware of. But you can set one in Settings > Hardware > Keyboard Shortcuts. Click add, choose the (previously unused) combination you want to assign, and browse for the application mate-system-monitor.

Or use a terminal window and the "top" program. Or command line with the "ps" and "kill" command and their options. You will find that most of the power available in all Unix/linux is at the command line--GUI admin applications are generally just interfaces to other actual command-line programs.

You definitely need a different approach: Alt-SysRq-B doesn't unmount filesystem nor sync files. It is asking for data loss.

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3

Not exactly what you asked for, but here is an alternative that I've found handy.

  1. Type Ctl + Alt + t to bring up a terminal.
  2. Type this command in the terminal:
    xkill
    (Your cursor will change from an arrow to an X.)
  3. Use the cursor to click on the application window that you want to terminate. That application will immediately be killed.

Notes:

  • This command will kill whatever you click on while the cursor is an X. (I.e. Don't click on your desktop!)
  • If you decide not to kill anything, type Ctrl + c to cancel the xkill command.
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4

There is a force quit applet available for the panel if that would work, but that application window would still have to be open, basically a gui way of what is described above I think

5

Thanks everybody.
I now find myself in the curious position of looking forward to my next freeze up.
So many things to try.
Trembling with anticipation.
Phil

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6

Having complete freeze-ups should be incredibly rare, and needs investigation and likely a bug report. Not supposed to be able to happen when running software as a regular user.

When you read the "man xkill" you will read that it only breaks the connection between the process and the window--it does not guaranteeably terminate the process.

If you really want to see ALL processes, even those without windows attached (which is most of them) open a terminal and do "ps -elF" You might pipe the output into the pager for ease in seeing it all "ps -elF | less" The process id is about the fourth column. Then you can use the kill command "kill " or "kill -9 " if it doesn't respond to the first one.

If the whole GUI is locked up, you can try one of the text "ttys". Ctrl-Alt-F1 through Ctrl-AltF6 open text terminals straight to the system. You log in with your regular userid and password. Use "exit" to logout. The entire GUI is contained in the seventh tty, which you get to with Ctrl-Alt-F7. From a text terminal, you can basically restart the entire GUI if needed safely, and without rebooting. The ttys interface straight to the operating system independently of the GUI interface and terminal windows opened in the GUI.

Linux/Unix at their roots were mainframe operating systems designed to run for months at a time with hundreds of users. Nearly anything can be modified or fixed without needing to reboot. That is not to say that rebooting isn't often just easier on a PC, though.

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7

Thanks Charles.
I'm saving all of these replies in my on-line notebook so I'll know what to do the next time it happens.....HOWEVER.....I think I'm noticing that the computer is far more reliable at the moment and it has started to behave in pretty much the fashion that i expected.
I ususally use a Macbook Air.....only two years old, but the sad realisation has hit me that when it needs replacing, now that I've retired, finding all of that cash is simply unjustifiable. I'm using the Raspberry Pi to find out whether it can suite my needs. So far, it does.....and in one respect, far better. It links to my Bluetooth speakers instantly. My Macbook is always a bit of a fiddle.
Phil

8

When I think of diagnosing and killing rogue processes, my initial goto solution is htop. It used to be that you had to install it, but now is pre-installed with U-MATE. It's a terminal application that gives a graphical view of the system processes and CPU usage. You can click on a process and kill it
(it doesn't always work but hey). I recommend giving it a whirl.

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