Killing a process when desktop hang

[Haines Brown]

> On Tuesday 27 June 2006 16:04, Haines Brown wrote:
> > > > Thanks for the suggestion, but the problem is that my entire desktop
> > > > is hung, not just the application. C-M-F3 does not take me to a
> > > > console, and C-M-BkSp does not shut down the X server.
> 
> barring a hard shutdown using the power switch or hitting the reset button on 
> the case, this is your only hope...
> 
> http://linuxgazette.net/issue81/vikas.html
> 
> never had to use it myself... don't know if it works or not or even if Ubuntu 
> has had support for it compiled into the kernel.
> 
> Good news for you... it's enabled.

I read the article you cited, and on my present machine (debian) and
on the ubuntu machine is is apparently enabled (cat
/proc/sys/kernel/sysrq returns "1"). However, it does not seem to work
on the ubuntu machine (nothing happens). The LG article says: Magic
SysRq is invoked as < Alt+SysRq > + < command &gt. The SysRq key is
also labelled as Print Screen." I do A-PrntScrn-u and nothing happens.

I find that when I'm hung (I did a couple dirty shutdowns and when
rebooted, both desktop and keyboard hung when I tried to configure
Evolution (zooming the map image), and when I tried to use Firefox to
download a webpage (mostly completed, but everything hung before
completion). When I'm hung, hitting the Caps Lock key fails to turn the
Caps Lock LED on. Isn't the keyboard driver in the kernel? If so,
nothing I do with the keyboard will have any effect.

My graphics card is an AGP GeForce4 MX440, and I'm using the default
nv driver for it. I'm not sure it is working entirely properly,
however, for I get screen artifacts. However, it was working before
installing ubuntu (also with the artifacts). I don't seem to hang when
I use my gui terminal, and perhaps the hang is associated with more
demanding graphic display. However the screen saver runs ok, and I
should think it is rather demanding of video.

dmesg did not reveal up anything interesting except for Emergency
Sync and some Emergency remounts, but that may be the result of the
previous dirty shutdown. 

I find now that when I start any application, they try to start
(rotating timer), but time out. Even the terminal, which opened after
the boot, but I can't reopen it.     

Haines Brown