Linux mint 22.3 cinnamon desktop freezing, audio and mouse cursor fine.
I’m having an issue in linux mint 22.3 cinnamon where the GUI locks up but audio still plays and the mouse cursor still moves. The solution is to press ctrl+alt+f1 to take me to a terminal and then press ctrl+alt+f7 to go back to the GUI. Then everything works fine. Forgive me, I do not know what to call the terminal when accessing ctrl+alt+f1 other than tty1.
I also have an issue where when using a browser (librewolf / waterfox / zen) and using the pop out video window, sometimes over time it will lock in the main browser window and the solution is to minimise and restore the window. Sounds related.
I am new to linux and not sure where to start. I think there is something up with the cinnamon desktop environment but I do not know what. Hardware has been stress tested, multiple components, multiple days. I think it is a software issue but could be wrong, that is why I am asking for help.
Any help / thoughts much appreciated.
Thank you.
8 replies
If the issue is under X11, try their Wayland session. Otherwise, you will have to wait until December, when they go fully Wayland with their more stable version. If you're already using Wayland, use X11. I don;'t think there's much to do otherwise for such an issue.
Could you please explain a little more on what X11 and wayland are? My current level of understanding is just that I am running the cinnamon desktop environment. How can I find out the information you are looking for? Also, why is it that going into ctrl+alt+f1 and then ctrl+alt+f7 to go back, resolve the issue? Thanks for your reply.
I suspect when you swap between the terminal screens you force a resolution input to the screen and/or force the GPU to define what it is expecting to the screen.
If it's not wayland / x11 then try changing your display cable and also which of hdmi/dvi/display port you are using (ie if using hdmi swap to a display port out of GPU and into monitor for example) if you can.
I'd also check what video drivers you're using and see if there are any known issues - I vaguely recall early NVidia GPUs (umm 10x0 series I think ? I run AMD and so dont pay a lot of attention) have been deprecated from the latest kernel (don't think that has flowed down to Mint as it runs older/stable kernels but worth checking).
In addition to the info throwaway403 provided, the practical step you need to know is - at the login screen you can choose between wayland and x11 (although most people never notice the option),
reboot your machine, or just logout
on the standard version 22 cinnamon login screen you should see a little picture of a mountain in a circle click on that and it will give you a couple of options (cinnamon default, cinnamon software rendering, cinnamon on wayland)
choose one of the three you're not currently using and then login
Try the other options if that doesn't fix it. If none of them fix it then it prob isnt an X11/wayland issue
Note where you choose the x11 vs wayland changes depending on which display manager you're using and whether you've installed any themes - so if it doesn't look as described then click on stuff on the login screen until you find it - the only other things will be accessibility options and virtual keyboards unless you've installed something really left field
Not the one you asked*.
But, to put it simply, there's a piece/suite of software that's actually responsible for displaying stuff. Even your Desktop Environment is contingent upon it. X11 and Wayland are the two most popular 'options' for that and (to be frank) the ones that are 'actually' in use. The former is the OG and was for the longest time pretty much your only option. But the latter has come a long way and is a superior option for most.
In the context of Cinnamon, its Wayland implementation is still relatively immature. Heck, only with its next release will it become non-experimental. But, even then, it is possible that switching will make a difference here.
Invoke
echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPEwithin a terminal. It will return whichever you're on.What urs hardware? Post output of inxi - Fxx
I am a privacy focused individual. I have researched that command and confirmed sensitive information such as MAC addresses are included. I see that the "z" flag omits this information. Would inxi -Fxxz be acceptable. Still it reveals much of my hardware which to be honest I am uncomfortable with. Thank you for your response though.
U can remove all identifiers