[dundee] Graphics cards, Firefox and Thunderbird.

[Malcolm]

I'm struggling to work out why my computer won't load firefox and thunderbird.

I was running PCLinuxOS and if I tried to start either FF or TB the computer
would lock up. The mouse would still move but clicking it achieved nothing, the
only cure being a restart. After complete removal and reinstallation of FF&TB
there was no change, likewise after a complete reinstall of PCLOS. I then tried
wiping the harddrive and reinstalling with the same result, each time I tried
the computer .locked up. No other programs I tested did this though I didn't try
them all and not as often as FF/TB. Konqueror still worked as a browser.

I googled various solution and tried them, none of which worked and some didn't
even make sense.

My cure has to been to avoid FF/TB and to this end I've installed OpenSuse as
I've used it before and it has Kmail instead of TB. It also has FF on it so I
thought I'd give it go and it works OK but with the occasional glitch.

Which leads me to the graphics card part, once so far the screen has partly
disintegrated into something like a magic picture and the clicking the mouse on
anything achieves nothing. The graphics card is the same one as came with the
computer, a Dell Inspiron 530, and is a GeForce 8300.

Finally the point of my post: Is it possible that the graphics card is
faulty/overheating/possessed? £20 will get me one from Ebay so it's not that bad
if I have to buy one to eliminate this possibility.

Added as it might be relevant: I frequently have about 20 FF windows open at any
one time.

Any other suggestions for a cure are welcome.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/dundee/attachments/20140319/f5d03305/attachment.html>