**SOLVED**
PROBLEM:
Nautilus file manager freezes within seconds of loading, especially when
scrolling.
THE ENTIRE SYSTEM FREEZES, not just Nautilus.
ROOT CAUSE (CONFIRMED):
The nouveau GPU driver for the GeForce 320M is hitting VRAM limits during
rendering,
causing GPU faults that lock up the entire system.
Evidence from previous boot kernel log (journalctl -b -1):
nouveau 0000:04:00.0: fb: trapped write at ... nautilus[3887] ... reason
0000000b [VRAM_LIMIT]
nouveau 0000:04:00.0: gr: TRAP_PROP - TP 0 - Unknown CUDA fault at address...
(hundreds of these errors in rapid succession)
The GeForce 320M has only 256MB VRAM (stolen from system memory). When Nautilus
scrolls and triggers GPU rendering operations, it exceeds VRAM limits. The GPU
enters a fault state that locks up X11 and freezes the entire system.
The problem has TWO layers:
1. X11 modesetting driver uses "glamor" for GPU-accelerated 2D rendering
2. GTK4 apps use GPU-accelerated rendering by default
Both hammer the limited VRAM and trigger nouveau faults.
FIXES APPLIED:
1. Disabled glamor (GPU acceleration) in X11:
Created /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-disable-glamor.conf with:
Section "Device"
Identifier "modesetting"
Driver "modesetting"
Option "AccelMethod" "none"
EndSection
This forces X11 to use software rendering instead of GPU acceleration.
2. Added to ~/.profile:
export GSK_RENDERER=cairo
This forces GTK4 apps to use software rendering.
REQUIRES REBOOT TO TAKE EFFECT.
If system freeze occurs again, run: journalctl -b -1 | grep nouveau
TESTING RESULTS (2025-12-31 ~14:05):
Fix confirmed working. After reboot with glamor disabled:
- Only 1 VRAM_LIMIT error at boot (during startup, not Nautilus)
- No TRAP_PROP cascade errors
- No new GPU errors during Nautilus usage
- Nautilus scrolling works without system freeze
Before this fix was attempted, there were hundreds of TRAP_PROP and
VRAM_LIMIT errors in rapid succession.
NOT THE ROOT CAUSE (previously suspected):
- Tracker indexer /proc/self/mountinfo errors (cosmetic warnings)
- Thumbnail generation issues
- D-Bus timeouts
SYSTEM INFO:
- Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS
- Nautilus 46.4
- Tracker 3.7.1
- Hardware: MacBook Pro 7,1
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 320M (MCP89) - 256MB VRAM (stolen system memory)
- GPU Driver: nouveau (open-source)
- X11 Driver: modesetting (glamor disabled)
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2137276
Title:
Nautilus crashes when "Files" GUI application loads
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