(UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

IpreferXfce · 2020-07-29 13:23:29

Before I start this post, I want to make you all aware that I'm posting about this in several forums. I'm doing this because I think there is more involved in this problem then just one piece of software.

The first post I made about this was made weeks ago on the MX Linux forums.
My Second Post is on the VLC Forums.
My Third Post is here:

I first noticed this problem when I was running MX Linux 19.1. Then I noticed the same problem on Xubuntu 20.04 and then Linux Mint 20 XFCE. Now for the story.

My favorite two Media Players is MPV and VLC. I use MPV for playing most videos. I use VLC when I need something with more advanced features. Due to the problem I've been having with VLC, I've had to use SMplayer instead. When I first ran into my problem, I got out the Dell Diagnostic Disc and tested the hardware. Then I ran Memtest86+ over night. It ran for about 7 hours and found no problems with my RAM. Since this is a test computer, It contains no hard drive. Instead I use a dock that is directly connected to SATA. I have multiple hard drives set up with multiple Linux OSes. Currently: MX Linux 19.2, Xubuntu 20.04, and Linux Mint 20 XFCE. I choose to only list the VLC version for MX Linux 19.2. If you want those other VLC versions I can check later. In MX Linux 19.2 I tested VLC running on XFCE and Fluxbox. I also tested the Apt version and the Flatpak version. Now I'm ready to tell you what happens.

On that Dell Computer: Vostro 400 with NVIDIA GT218 [GeForce 210] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nvidia v: 340.108 and XFCE 4.14.2 (Compositor Enabled) When I'm watching a long 1080P MP4 video. Something that is over 40 minutes, the video in VLC will freeze up, but the sound will continue. The mouse will still move around, but I can't click on anything. Nothing on the keyboard effects anything on the Desktop. However I can press ctrl+alt+F1 and change to another tty. Then I login and reboot.

When I booted MX Linux 19.2 into Fluxbox and ran VLC with the same video, everything went ok. When I reported this to the Folks at MX Linux, it was suggested that I try turning the XFCE compositor off, and then try to run the same video. I tried that. Believe it or not, just simply turning off the XFCE compositor made VLC behave. I've also came across this same issue on Xubuntu 20.04 and Linux Mint 20 XFCE. Got any ideas why this is happening?

System Specs Generated By MX Linux 19.2:

VLC Version: 3.0.11 Vetinari

System:    Host: mx Kernel: 4.19.0-9-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.19.0-9-amd64 
           root=UUID=8d67d93a-9639-4e58-b157-cdbbe9db3bf7 ro quiet splash 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.14.2 tk: Gtk 3.24.5 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm4 dm: LightDM 1.26.0 
           Distro: MX-19.2_x64 patito feo February 15  2020 base: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: Dell product: Vostro 400 v: N/A serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 3 
           serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Dell model: 0GN723 v:  serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: 1.0.15 date: 06/23/2008 
Battery:   Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech M215 serial: <filter> 
           charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core2 Duo E4600 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Core Merom 
           family: 6 model-id: F (15) stepping: D (13) microcode: A4 L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 bogomips: 9576 
           Speed: 2254 MHz min/max: 1200/2400 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1197 2: 1197 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Vulnerable 
           Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion 
           Type: mds status: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode; SMT disabled 
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
           Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
           Type: srbds status: Not affected 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: NVIDIA GT218 [GeForce 210] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nvidia v: 340.108 
           bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:0a65 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: nvidia resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: GeForce 210/PCIe/SSE2 v: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 340.108 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 82801I HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:293e 
           Device-2: NVIDIA High Definition Audio vendor: eVga.com. driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 10de:0be3 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-9-amd64 
Network:   Device-1: Intel 82562V-2 10/100 Network vendor: Dell driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: ff00 
           bus ID: 00:19.0 chip ID: 8086:10c0 
           IF: eth1 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: D-Link System DGE-528T Gigabit Ethernet Adapter driver: r8169 v: kernel 
           port: de00 bus ID: 02:01.0 chip ID: 1186:4300 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 19.93 GiB (4.3%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD5000LPLX-08ZNTT0 size: 465.76 GiB 
           block size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm 
           serial: <filter> rev: 1A02 scheme: MBR 
Partition: ID-1: / raw size: 463.73 GiB size: 455.45 GiB (98.21%) used: 19.93 GiB (4.4%) fs: ext4 
           dev: /dev/sda1 
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.00 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap swappiness: 10 (default 60) 
           cache pressure: 100 (default) dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 46.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 47 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 40% 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ buster main non-free
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vivaldi.list 
           1: deb http://repo.vivaldi.com/stable/deb/ stable main
Info:      Processes: 187 Uptime: 41m Memory: 3.85 GiB used: 633.0 MiB (16.0%) Init: SysVinit 
           v: 2.93 runlevel: 5 default: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 alt: 8 Shell: bash v: 5.0.3 
           running in: quick-system-in inxi: 3.0.36

Last edited by IpreferXfce (2020-08-03 12:31:14)

eriefisher · 2020-07-29 13:56:50

Do you have an .xsession-errors file. it may show some indication of what's going on.

Since you can get into another TTY can you check processes, maybe htop. Sounds like it's pinning the cpu or consuming ram. How about a different Nvidia driver?

IpreferXfce · 2020-07-29 14:15:54

eriefisher wrote:

Do you have an .xsession-errors file. it may show some indication of what's going on.
Since you can get into another TTY can you check processes, maybe htop. Sounds like it's pinning the cpu or consuming ram. How about a different Nvidia driver?

What do you want me to search for in .xsession-errors file?

The distros that I listed only give me one Nvidia driver to install. If I attach a ppa to Xubuntu or Linux Mint I can down grade the driver to a lower version. However that Nvidia card is old enough that I don't believe they are making any newer drivers. On all my former Linux Installs I used the same driver version that I am currently using now and things worked. But I was also running a lower version of XFCE and VLC too.

eriefisher · 2020-07-29 17:50:05

If you delete the .xsession-error file and restart, run VLC until the issue shows up then anything in the file will be current.

As for the driver, maybe the open source driver rather than the Nvidia closed drive.

You could also try Compton rather than the XFCE compositor.

IpreferXfce · 2020-07-29 20:24:23

eriefisher wrote:

If you delete the .xsession-error file and restart, run VLC until the issue shows up then anything in the file will be current.
As for the driver, maybe the open source driver rather than the Nvidia closed drive.
You could also try Compton rather than the XFCE compositor.

Last Night I tried the open source driver on Linux Mint 20. The video players really struggled without the Nvidia diver.

I think I should stick with MX Linux for testing. I will remove the .xsession-error file and let a mp4 video crash it. Then I'll report the contents of the file.

We can try Compton later.

IpreferXfce · 2020-07-31 03:09:15

I followed your instructions. The .xsession-error file is too long in MX Linux 19.2 For some reason that distro throws a lot of errors in that file over and over again. In just 30 minutes I had a 93 page file. I saved a copy of the one it created when VLC went down. What do you want me to look for in it?

eriefisher · 2020-07-31 21:31:01

30 minutes and it's that big???? I don't think mines that big and I'm lucky if I reboot once a week. I'm sure some of it is just warnings for one reason or another but still! I would try and research some of the more repetitive ones and try and clear up as much as I could. I'm sure some are minor and can be ignored or are irrelevant to your issue but all together you may have a bigger problem.

IpreferXfce · 2020-07-31 22:43:09

eriefisher wrote:

30 minutes and it's that big???? I don't think mines that big and I'm lucky if I reboot once a week. I'm sure some of it is just warnings for one reason or another but still! I would try and research some of the more repetitive ones and try and clear up as much as I could. I'm sure some are minor and can be ignored or are irrelevant to your issue but all together you may have a bigger problem.

Most people say that Dell and Intel, computers are a good choice for running Linux.

I'm trying to see what can be done about the .xsession-error file. On the MX Linux forums, I started a post about .xsession-error file. You can watch it here: https://forum.mxlinux.org/viewtopic.php?f=108&t=59522

Last edited by IpreferXfce (2020-07-31 22:45:51)

IpreferXfce · 2020-07-31 23:57:13

I made a video showing the .xsession-errors grow. The distro is MX Linux 19.2. The file manager is Thunar. At the end of the Video I open the file up in Libreoffice Writer. As you will be able to see it grew to 44 pages in just a few minutes. The Video is a full 1080p. You wlll need to watch it in 1080p full screen.because anything less then that, will be blurry. The file that is growing is highlighted blue.

Video is only a minute and 26 seconds.

https://youtu.be/wOJw8jVM1gU

Last edited by IpreferXfce (2020-07-31 23:58:22)

IpreferXfce · 2020-08-01 00:15:32

I was trying to do a search for some errors in .xsession-errors. The entire XFCE desktop locked up. I had no mouse or anything. But I was able to switch to tty1 and reboot.

alcornoqui · 2020-08-01 09:18:01

Maybe it's of not use (and I can't give an explanation on it anyway), but I had a "somehow similar" trouble with VLC until I changed the setting in Preferences > Video > Display > Output to XVideo Output (XCB).

Give it a try to play with those settings if nothing else is working. It completely solved my problem!

IpreferXfce · 2020-08-01 14:41:32

It's been a month ago, but I did play around with that setting in VLC. I feel that I need to change the title of my original post. The desktop is starting to crash more and more often. I discovered that both VLC and Libreoffice writer caused it to crash. In case there is a hardware issue, last night I ran the entire Dell Diagnostic of Hardware disc. It took hours, to run it. It tested everything on the system and everything passed. That seems to mean that MX Linux has got a problem. But since I also experienced similar issues with Xubuntu 20.04 and Linux Mint 20. There must be some kind of bug between my old hardware, and the new XFCE. I think I'm going to wipe my Xubuntu 20.04 and Linux Mint 20 test drive, and install Linux Mint 18.x and Xubuntu 18.04. Because those were the last two distros that worked good on that computer. If they give me trouble, then I'll know it's something in the hardware.

IpreferXfce · 2020-08-01 14:52:53

Picture of the frozen desktop, trying to open VLC.
I was only trying to open it one time. I don't know why it shows two. But that is what it did before crashing.

https://i.imgur.com/cYidgVc.png

I'm in tty1. I'm showing the Kernel Version.
https://i.imgur.com/wHBh1pN.png

I'm showing the CPU temp during the XFCE crash.
https://i.imgur.com/REvEunn.png

I'm showing Htop During the XFCE crash.
https://i.imgur.com/OAoNSFR.png

Here is a short 10 second video of Htop.
https://youtu.be/h-GGeJtQiZ4

Here is short video what the desktop looks like when I return to that tty. All you can see is the mouse against a black screen.
https://youtu.be/ymSOgPn-hmo

IpreferXfce · 2020-08-01 15:54:55

@eriefisher

I have an .xsession-errors file for you to look at, if you want.

All I did was start the computer up, login, and wait for about a half of a minute. Here is what my MX Linux 19.2 .xsession-errors file looks like. https://pastebin.com/Resx5F0N

woistmeinauto · 2020-08-01 20:02:48

Why don't you try some other DE booting from live usb? So that it's clear the DE is to blame or not.

IpreferXfce · 2020-08-01 20:13:54

woistemeinauto wrote:

Why don't you try some other DE booting from live usb? So that it's clear the DE is to blame or not.

When you have an nvidia card you can't do a full test in a live environment. The only way is to do a full install and then install the nvidia drivers.

woistmeinauto · 2020-08-01 20:17:41

IpreferXfce wrote:

woistemeinauto wrote:
Why don't you try some other DE booting from live usb? So that it's clear the DE is to blame or not.
When you have an nvidia card you can't do a full test in a live environment. The only way is to do a full install and then install the nvidia drivers.

I think Manjaro comes with drivers, with the choice of free and non-free.
Edit: I just checked, yes it gives the option to choose when booting live. I think it utilizes GPU from usb.

After booting you can check with

inxi -G

or

hwinfo --gfx

Last edited by woistmeinauto (2020-08-01 20:24:06)

IpreferXfce · 2020-08-01 20:42:11

woistemeinauto wrote:

IpreferXfce wrote:
woistemeinauto wrote:
Why don't you try some other DE booting from live usb? So that it's clear the DE is to blame or not.
When you have an nvidia card you can't do a full test in a live environment. The only way is to do a full install and then install the nvidia drivers.
I think Manjaro comes with drivers, with the choice of free and non-free.
Edit: I just checked, yes it gives the option to choose when booting live. I think it utilizes GPU from usb.
After booting you can check with
inxi -G
or
hwinfo --gfx

Not sure it's worth it. It would take my internet connection over an hour to download a manjaro iso.

IpreferXfce · 2020-08-01 22:07:27

I've been working on this problem, on and off, for about a month. I worked on it all day yesterday and all day today. I decided to wipe MX Linux and put an older version of Linux Mint 18.3 XFCE. I'm putting this one on because I remember it worked really well. I'm not good enough to solve whatever issue. I guess if Linux Mint 18.3 XFCE fails, then maybe the hardware is going bad.

IpreferXfce · 2020-08-02 17:43:45

I decided to re open this thread. That way I can report on all the things I'm testing.

As you already know I got rid of MX Linux 19.2. I replaced it with Linux Mint 18.3 XFCE.

Linux Mint 18.3 is based off of Ubuntu 16.04. It uses XFCE 4.12.

In the repositories they have VLC 2.2.2-5. I ran a 30 minute MP4 video in VLC 2.2.2 and it run perfectly fine twice. Using flatpak, I installed VLC 3.0.11. Then I tried to open a mp4 video with that player. It instantly crashed the desktop.

For a Test, I am going to get out another hard drive, and install Linux Mint 20 Mate. Once I get everything set up, I'm going to test out VLC.

IpreferXfce · 2020-08-02 23:29:43

I have another update.
I Installed Linux Mint 20 Mate.
It comes with Mate Version 1.24.0-2
In the repositories they have VLC Version 3.0.9.2
I had to add a line to the xorg.conf file to fix screen tearing.
When I move VLC while playing, the video flickers.
In full screen mode the progress bar has trouble re appearing.
I tested VLC with a 30 minute mp4 video twice. So far I have not experienced any crashes with the Mate desktop.
I am going to check the flatpaks, to see if they have the latest version of VLC in there. If they do, I will install it, and also give it a try.

IpreferXfce · 2020-08-02 23:53:06

On Linux Mint 20 Mate:
I installed VLC 3.0.11 flatpak.
In full screen mode the progress bar has trouble re appearing.
I need to run some mp4 videos and see if this version crashes the desktop.
Then I will report my results.

IpreferXfce · 2020-08-03 01:00:20

On Linux Mint 20 Mate, I tested VLC 3.011 flatpak. Why flatpak? Because it's the only way I know how to get that version on that system. Anyways that version crashed Mate!

IpreferXfce · 2020-08-03 01:31:25

I just got to thinking about this... This confuses me. Stock VLC isn't freezing up the Mate desktop, and yet stock VLC was freezing up the XFCE desktop. Isn't Linux Mint 20 using the same version of VLC on both desktops? I got to look into this!

MrEen · 2020-08-03 01:35:45

IpreferXfce wrote:

I just got to thinking about this... This confuses me. Stock VLC isn't freezing up the Mate desktop, and yet stock VLC was freezing up the XFCE desktop. Isn't Linux Mint 20 using the same version of VLC on both desktops? I got to look into this!

Yes, they are. But I believe the Xfce version has compositing on by default, with which you had issues earlier.

Last edited by MrEen (2020-08-03 01:36:07)

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#1 2020-07-29 13:23:29

(UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#2 2020-07-29 13:56:50

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#3 2020-07-29 14:15:54

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#4 2020-07-29 17:50:05

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#5 2020-07-29 20:24:23

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#6 2020-07-31 03:09:15

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#7 2020-07-31 21:31:01

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#8 2020-07-31 22:43:09

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#9 2020-07-31 23:57:13

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#10 2020-08-01 00:15:32

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#11 2020-08-01 09:18:01

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#12 2020-08-01 14:41:32

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#13 2020-08-01 14:52:53

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#14 2020-08-01 15:54:55

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#15 2020-08-01 20:02:48

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#16 2020-08-01 20:13:54

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#17 2020-08-01 20:17:41

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#18 2020-08-01 20:42:11

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#19 2020-08-01 22:07:27

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#20 2020-08-02 17:43:45

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#21 2020-08-02 23:29:43

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#22 2020-08-02 23:53:06

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#23 2020-08-03 01:00:20

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#24 2020-08-03 01:31:25

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

#25 2020-08-03 01:35:45

Re: (UPDATE: 8:31 AM) VLC 3.0.11 and Renders Desktop Useless. (Reporting)

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