Gnome Screensaver Locks-Up Display

[JSeymour]

Hi All,

Specifications:
Dell PoweEdge 1600SC
ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro 256MB PCI graphics adaptor

Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala"
Linux 2.6.31-22-generic #69-Ubuntu SMP Wed Nov 24 08:51:08 UTC 2010 i686
ATI fglrx drivers
Set up for dual-head display using two Princeton 19" monitors

Using the Gnome desktop and screensaver

At some point, I suspect since the last kernel upgrade, I've begun experiencing a problem when the screen locks: I tap a key on the keyboard and the monitors wake up, but I get no "unlock" dialog. I can usually Ctrl-Alt-F1, login and gracefully reboot the system, but sometimes I have to hit hard reset.

Any clues on what's causing this and how I can fix it? For now I've disabled the screensaver in "System -> Preferences -> screensaver" (I assume that'll stop the problem), but that's not an optimal solution.

Thanks,
Jim

[JSeymour]

Nobody has any clues or suggestions?

Thanks,
Jim

[noah++]

Have you perused any of the logs from the time of the lockups -- Xorg.log, syslog, etc?

[karthick87]

Have you checked the option "Lock screen when screensaver is active" in your screensaver preferences??

[JSeymour]

Have you perused any of the logs from the time of the lockups -- Xorg.log, syslog, etc?

Thanks for the follow-up, Noah.

Only thing I've found of interest is

gdm-simple-slave[29823]: WARNING: Unable to load file '/etc/gdm/custom.conf': No such file or directory

in /var/log/syslog, prior to the reboot. I've located that elsewhere in the logs, incl. areas that don't seem to have resulted in me rebooting. There is an Xorg.log.0.old with a timestamp that matches the hour:minute of the syslog entry with the "custom.com" error message timestamp. There's a lot of informational stuff in there. Can't tell what's important and what's not.

I searched on the warning message. Inconclusive results, incl. the instance by developers that the message has no bearing on anything. Problems that seem related/associated with this continue to be reported by Ubuntu 10.x users.

The problem has not recurred since I disabled the screen saver/locker.

Have you checked the option "Lock screen when screensaver is active" in your screensaver preferences??

I think you misread my issue. The problem isn't that screen-locking isn't happening, it's that, sometimes, when it does, I cannot make it un-happen.


Thanks,
Jim

[spantch101]

check your power management utilities...(open synaptic and search pm-utils) if you are using a laptop with 1.4 installed remove and reinstall 1.3 http://packages.ubuntu.com/de/lucid/...utils/download after installing 1.3 reboot ... fixes alot of power management issues in 10.10...

[JSeymour]

Thanks for the follow-up and suggestions, spantch101, but I'm not using a laptop.

Jim

[TTGRULES]

I am having the same issue? has anyone found a resolution? my screen does fine unless I Leave it locked overnight, or for a long period of time. Ive been restarting my computer every day for the past week. !!!!!

[JSeymour]

Closure, of a sort, to this? After the next kernel update, and there have been one or two more, since then, the problems mysteriously went away.

Jim

[patrick_the_fat]

Save the headache, and disable it completely with these commands! Ubuntu does not always listen when you tell it to disable the screensaver and power management. You can add this script to your home folder, mark it as executable, and link to it using System > Preferences > Startup Manager:


#!/bin/bash

xset -dpms
xset s off
xset s noblank

Your screensaver will never disrupt you again. Not a fix, but an easy solution!!