Score:1

Ubuntu suddenly crashes, then all the icons turn into grey boxes

sv flag

Sometimes Ubuntu 20.04 suddenly crashes and all of the icons turn into grey boxes. The system doesn't freeze and I can still move the mouse around, but that's about it. No terminal, no apps, etc...

I'm using a Dell G7 7588 notebook. Ubuntu is installed on a SSD.

I've had this problem about 6 months ago and what I did was quite simple: unistall and install Ubuntu. This solved the issue for about 6 months, but the problem came back. I did the same thing as before, but now the problem won't go away.

My notebook is always plugged in an AC adapter, since the battery is almost dead. It can't stay 5 minutes without turning off.

If I wait long enough, the system will crash for good. It starts showing a bunch of text on a black background. This hasn't happened to me in a while, so, unfortunately, I don't have an image for this. I can't recall what it said, but I think it had something to do with "extfs"...

picture of screen

raddevus avatar
us flag
Interesting, it is as if it is losing it's links to those items. I had this problem (or very similar one) when I (unknowingly) attempted to update to 22.04 from 20.04.
Nmath avatar
ng flag
When did the recent problem start on this current installation? While your previous installation is not relevant to your current problem, it could be beneficial to self review what commonalities existed from when the problem started on this installation vs when it started the last time. For example, did you make any changes that affect customization, like anything to do with icons or themes? Did you add third party software that is not part of official Ubuntu repositories? Etc..
Tuxmuller avatar
sv flag
@Nmath, the problem started a day after my current installation. As for the software, I haven't installed anything weird. I've only installed Brave, Discord, VLC and the Nvidia gpu drivers. Maybe it's related to hardware rather than software? I don't know, to be honest. Thank you very much for replying.
Nmath avatar
ng flag
Some of that software is not in repos. How exactly did you install each of the software not in repositories? The library of software in Ubuntu repos is tested to work with your version of Ubuntu. Other software is not and is installed at your own risk. How and why did you install Nvidia drivers? These drivers should have been installed automatically in the background when you installed the system, provided that you selected the options to install 3rd party proprietary drivers and to download updates during installation. Other methods of installing Nvidia drivers are known to cause problems.
David avatar
cn flag
When I have seen problems like that that reoccur it has been the hard drive failing.
Tuxmuller avatar
sv flag
@David, hello. I think that might be the case. Yestarday my notebook, before booting Ubuntu, booted Dell's system checker. Guess my SSD might have to be replaced.
David avatar
cn flag
Shall I make this an answer so you can accept it?
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