Ubuntu MATE 16.10 hanging

Support & Help Requests
#1

I have Ubuntu MATE 16.10/Compiz/Cupertino on a Dell Dimension 9150. It was hanging (keyboard and mouse unresponsive, if sound is playing it goes into a one second loop) * about once a day, now once a week. I have done a memory check, replaced the memory, and reseated the CPU heatsink in case it was overheating. In the BIOS I have tried setting Speedstep on and off. I update Ubuntu MATE daily.

Is it likely to be a hardware or software problem? (I have read on another thread that if the caps lock still switches the LED on/off it isn’t a hardware problem, but I suspect that is just done within the keyboard so I’m disinclined to believe it.) What can I run or check to identify the cause?

*Edit: I’ve since remembered that Thunderbird rather more frequently seizes up briefly (no mouse input), this clears after a minute or two.

#2

If you get to a terminal login screen by hitting CTRL+ALT+F1 (and then back to graphics with CTRL+ALT+F7) it’s likely to be a software problem.

#3

Have you tried switching to Marco? Could be a compiz problem.

You can also try the Guest session. See if it shows the same problems.

#4

v3xx - I won’t try logging in as Guest as having to use the computer as Guest (for about a week to see if it crashes again) would be inconvenient. I will try using Marco instead of Compiz as I remember Compiz always used to cause problems on another distro years ago. First I will wait for a crash to try the caps-lock key.

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#5

It’s just crashed again, the caps-lock key didn’t work. I’m not convinced that proves that it is hardware rather than software though. I’ll try Marco.
Edit: Using Marco, a day later, it has hung again, so Compiz can’t be causing the problem.
Edit: Using a different graphics card, it has hung again, caps-lock etc not working but this time the mouse was still working. Does that suggest that it is not hardware?

#6

I tried changing all the hardware then realised I had a video input and a wireless card. Removing them fixed it!
Problem not Ubuntu MATE related.

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