Screen breakup and freezing on all my Linux distros

[mgdwcb]

Hello.

I have been using some popular distros of Linux for a while but I am still a beginner when it comes to troubleshooting.

I have developed a screen and freeze problem with all Linux distros.

The problem is that soon after loading or logging in the screen shows small fractal pattens then the mouse and keyboard freeze. It is not limited to one distro. I have Fedora 16 and Ubuntu 10.10 installed on one removable HD, Debien 6 on an external HD and Mint on flash drive (shows how keen I am on Linux!); I also have tried various live CDs – including Knoppix 6.4.4 and they all have this same problem.

If I boot into my other removable HD where I have Windows Vista loaded, the problem persists but after a complete shutdown of power and waiting a while the screen is restored and is perfectly OK in Windows Vista.

This problem has made me more determined to get to grips with troubleshooting in the future, so grateful if anyone can point at what the solution might be.

Many thanks in advance


AMD Athlon 64x dual core
Graphics card Geforce 7600GT
Logitech cordless mouse

[oz]

Hello

Parts substitution is generally the best way to troubleshoot issues like this, and since the corruption happens in Linux, and in Windows, I'd recommend trying another video card to see if the problem persists. If you don't have a spare card on hand, maybe you can swap one out with another computer, at least for testing purposes.

[jayd512]

Hi there.

100% agreement with oz.
If both OSs are updated, and the symptoms persist, then a hardware issue seems possible.

[mgdwcb]

Thanks.

The problem has been solved. I don't have another card but I had an idea to uninstall my graphics card driver and re install it (in Windows Vista)

Linux is now ok.

[jayd512]

So you reinstalled the driver in Vista... and that move fixed your issue in Linux?

[mgdwcb]

Well, no. I thought it did at first (the problem affected Windows and Linux) and everything was ok for a while but then the problem came back and it is, as was suspected here, the video card.

Thanks for the help and sorry for the confusion.

[jayd512]

I'm glad you found the issue.
And don't be sorry for confusion...
You've joined a group of hobbyist troubleshooters!