Random crashes while web browsing

[JustinFischer]

(Update 5/19: I can now reproduce the bug either booted normally or from the live CD)

I've got the strangest bug and no idea what is causing it. While web browsing, sometimes the OS will completely crash. The crash always goes the same way:

First, it shows some text on the screen too fast for me to read, but it looks like red ASCII bullet points followed by white text, both over a black background.

* SOMETHING SOMETHING
* SOMETHING SOMETHING
* SOMETHING SOMETHING

After doing this for about half a second, it enters some kind of loop. The top half of the screen alternates between black/white vertical bars and solid black, while the bottom half of the screen remains solid black.

The only way I've been able to get out of this is by pressing the power button, and doing so shows me the *buntu logo (currently using Xubuntu) and then turns itself off.

Here's why I can't figure out what's wrong:

• The crash happens in GNOME, KDE, and XFCE. I have since uninstalled KDE because I was just checking to see if it still crashed.
• Both Firefox and Google Chrome cause the crash.
• No other programs seem to crash this way; just the web browsers. I've played games and listened to music for hours with no problems.
• Opening the same pages doesn't reproduce the crash. It happens randomly every hour or so.
• Even simple pages (like tabs of JPEGs with no HTML) cause the crash.
• This is a recent install from an Ubuntu 10.04 CD.
• I was previously using Kubuntu 8.04 and had no issues.

[deancasino]

Same here too! Mem test for 24hours, no worries. Sadly, I can report I don't get this problem with Windows 7...

[JustinFischer]

Progress! I can now reproduce the crash at will. When I go into my GNOME screensaver settings, it shows the walking ant with a spotlight for a second, and then goes straight to the black/white vertical bars part of the crash.

I'm not certain that it's the exact same thing as the web browser crash, but it certainly seems similar.

[JustinFischer]

I can also reproduce it when I boot to the Ubuntu live CD. Any ideas for how I can narrow down the cause of this bug?

[CFury]

I have a similar issue, however my screen just goes black and then loads the login screen. Sometimes it's happens when I'm typing in the Google searchbar, and sometimes it happens when a busy page is loading. Frequent updates have made the issue rear it's ugly head less and less so I'm thinking it's just minor bugs that are currently being worked out. Additionally I'm using Namoroka as my browser, so this could also be part of the issue.

Cheers,
C

[mdtimepc]

Using Ubuntu 10.04 and I also have had this issue both when on the web or returning to the desktop from a running screensaver. However, after the last round of updates I have not had the issue in the last couple of days. Hope it is fixed now.