8.04 fresh install on Acer laptop - random freezes

[MortenBN]

Hello there, Ubuntu family. First time user here.

Installed Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop edition on my girlfriend's old laptop, an Acer Travelmate 270, today. Until now she's been using Windows XP.

Everything seems fine, but at random intervals the system freezes up, the mouse not moving, the LEDs blinking. Hard reboot necessary (I guess). It seems to happen when some moderate data processing and/or harddisk access is taking place, like opening a new link in Firefox, but other than that, no pattern is emerging.

I've tried the memtest86 on the install CD. No errors.

Any thoughts? :|

[MortenBN]

I guess I'm experiencing what a lot of people do these days, according to threads like this (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=756591) and this (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=907910).

[owend]

I've got 8.04 on an Acer laptop, too, AMD processor. I have an occasional freeze, where I have to hardboot, too. But I've got a pattern!

It happens about every third time I run Google Earth, no other times, and both when it's running alone and with other programs. The system monitor doesn't show excessive RAM, HD or processor use, so I think it's a buggy program.

My stoneage solution is to make sure evrything is saved before using GE, then hope for the best. I've got the latest GE, and it still locks.

Have you checked what programs are running when you freeze? You may be able to isolate one culprit.