Mint 12 freezing

[bigseb]

Something is causing Mint to freeze. I don't know what's causing it but when it happens nothing works, including mouse. Have to ctrl+alt+backspace.

This has only happened 3 or 4 times in the last few days but its really annoying. Programs that were running when this happened were firefox and banshee.

[karashata]

Check this bug report: MGSE media player extension seems to break Shell after a period of time in use

Also, check these forum threads: GUI hangs, need to kill Xorg, Mint 12 - Gnome-Shell locking up randomly, A question and issue about the MGSE media player extension.

A growing number of people have determined, and the bug's been confirmed, that the media player control extension that Linux Mint is shipping with causes the Shell to freeze up while Banshee or Rhythmbox are playing audio after a period of time. The current solution is to disable the MGSE Media Player extension and replace it with a similar extension from the WebUpd8 GNOME 3 PPA which does not exhibit the same issues as the MGSE extension. More info can be found in one of those other topics I linked to.

[bigseb]

Check this bug report: MGSE media player extension seems to break Shell after a period of time in use

Also, check these forum threads: GUI hangs, need to kill Xorg, Mint 12 - Gnome-Shell locking up randomly, A question and issue about the MGSE media player extension.

A growing number of people have determined, and the bug's been confirmed, that the media player control extension that Linux Mint is shipping with causes the Shell to freeze up while Banshee or Rhythmbox are playing audio after a period of time. The current solution is to disable the MGSE Media Player extension and replace it with a similar extension from the WebUpd8 GNOME 3 PPA which does not exhibit the same issues as the MGSE extension. More info can be found in one of those other topics I linked to.

I thought it had something to do with the player. Is amarok 'safe'?

[karashata]

It's not the media players themselves, Banshee and Rhythmbox do not cause the Shell to freeze up on their own. It's specifically the MGSE media player extension that Linux Mint ships with. Disabling the extension will allow you to continue to use Banshee without a problem, and there's a replacement extension available (info's on one of those other topics) that's very similar to the MGSE extension if you wish to use it.

That said, I'm not sure whether or not Amarok can use the media player extension, so it might be safe to use it without having to disable the extension. However. if it turns out Amarok can use the extension, and eventually causes the Shell to freeze up, please go to that bug report page I linked to in my previous post and add that information. (If it does use the extension, but doesn't cause the Shell to crash, that might also be good information to add, as every bit helps narrow down exactly what's causing the extension to break the Shell.)

Just so it's clarified, by "using the extension" I mean that, when the media player application is running and playing music, the little music note icon appears on the top Shell panel with the current track information and media player controls appearing in a drop-down menu interface when clicking on it. If the application is running but that icon does not appear, the application is not supported by the extension and should not cause any problems.

[bigseb]

Just to be sure: the MGSE media player exension allows for the icon in the top panel? I don't like that to begin with, can't it be switched off somehow? Then all would be well, right?

[karashata]

If you launch GNOME Tweak Tool (aka. Advanced Settings), you can disable the extension by going to the Shell Extensions section and flipping the switch next to "Media Player Extension" to Off. This will solve the problem for you.

[bigseb]

If you launch GNOME Tweak Tool (aka. Advanced Settings), you can disable the extension by going to the Shell Extensions section and flipping the switch next to "Media Player Extension" to Off. This will solve the problem for you.

lol... I had switched Banshee to Clementine in the meantime (which also froze btw) and did what you suggested in one of the other links, also about switching off the shell extensions... Now the icon is still in the top panel but the player main window doesn't show at all

[karashata]

You may need to log out and log back in for it to properly be disabled, or hit Alt+F2, type in 'r' and hit Enter to trigger a Shell restart without having to log out. Sometimes the Shell doesn't seem to properly disable the extension when just flipping the switch to Off.

If that doesn't fix it, a full system restart definitely should.

[bigseb]

If you launch GNOME Tweak Tool (aka. Advanced Settings), you can disable the extension by going to the Shell Extensions section and flipping the switch next to "Media Player Extension" to Off. This will solve the problem for you.

lol... I had switched Banshee to Clementine in the meantime (which also froze btw) and did what you suggested in one of the other links, also about switching off the shell extensions... Now the icon is still in the top panel but the player main window doesn't show at all

Hang on just double clicked the icon and up popped the main window. Now to test if it works...

[bigseb]

If you launch GNOME Tweak Tool (aka. Advanced Settings), you can disable the extension by going to the Shell Extensions section and flipping the switch next to "Media Player Extension" to Off. This will solve the problem for you.

lol... I had switched Banshee to Clementine in the meantime (which also froze btw) and did what you suggested in one of the other links, also about switching off the shell extensions... Now the icon is still in the top panel but the player main window doesn't show at all

Hang on just double clicked the icon and up popped the main window. Now to test if it works...

Update: removed Banshee, installed Clementine. Switched off media player shell extensions. Been running beautifully all of last night and this morning, no more freezing.

Will keep an eye on this and report back in a few days.