Linux Lite Forums

Hello there.
I've been searching for a niche and lightweight Linux distro and I've found this Lite. I had Mint before but it was very heavy and easy and not niche. Arch or Debian are stable but they are not niche to me and Ubuntu was heavy too because my PC heats up fast. In computer works my habit is to look for the underrated one instead of popular one And the game center in this distro looked helpful for keeping Windows programs.
But when I said I wanted Linux with challenge I was looking for challenge in setup and configuration, not instability.
My specs are:
Lenovo ThinkCenter
Intel I5 quad core 3470S
8GB RAM
Intel HD Graphics 2500
500 GB HDD

I've downloaded the latest version form its official site and when I installed it after a few days it did a big update. I also installed Wine to work with some Windows applications.
But I ran to several problems.
I enabled a screensaver and when I leave computer idle for a while, it will freeze. I thought it is because of Wine programs but it wasn't. I disabled all of screen locks so it was solved.
When I bring the power menu and and select a option with keyboard, it will all freeze.
I was trying to install Lazarus IDE for my work, but when I installed one of its dependencies or clicked on its launch then the system froze.
For each freeze I'd have to force shutdown by holding the power button and then the partitions become inaccessible when crashed. So I'd have to return to windows and run chkdsk.
I've heard about Ctrl+Alt+F3 or F1 or Backspace, but none of them helped.

Also, when I pause the VLC Media Player and then resume, mutes and unmutes several time each time. But it doesn't happens if I resume after lesser than 9 seconds.

If is there any solution to this, I'd be glad to keep working with this distro. But if nothing works, I'd have no choice but to move to new distro and abandon all the good memories.
I hope I'm posting this in right place because its my first ever time posting in a Linux forum.

And off topic, first time I found this distro in a video which was comparing Linux and Windows running in 512 MB of RAM and it was using Lite, but the system requirements in the Linux Lite site was 2GB of RAM. And if Lite has such problems while using 1GB of RAM when idle, then what about Arch which needs minimum of 512MB ? is this one gonna freeze even more?

Sorry to hear you are having problems.

Utiva Wrote:my PC heats up fast

Is the cooling working properly ?

Utiva Wrote:When I bring the power menu and and select a option with keyboard, it will all freeze.

Not sure what you mean by this, can you explain exactly what triggers the freeze please ?

Utiva Wrote:For each freeze I'd have to force shutdown by holding the power button...

Is the system totally frozen at this point ?
Mouse pointer not responding
Desktop clock stuck at time of freeze
Pressing NumLock and Caps Lock don't toggle the indicator LEDs
No disk activity

Utiva Wrote:...and then the partitions become inaccessible when crashed.

This is a bit confusing. What exactly do you mean by 'the partitions become inaccessible' ?

Utiva Wrote:So I'd have to return to windows and run chkdsk.

Is your system dual boot ?

Utiva Wrote:... is there any solution to this

System freezes are hard to diagnose.
Ensure the system is properly cooled.
If possible, check the hard disk integrity to eliminate disk errors as a possible cause.

Utiva Wrote:Also, when I pause the VLC Media Player and then resume, mutes and unmutes several time each time. But it doesn't happens if I resume after lesser than 9 seconds.

Not experienced this, but a quick search found this which may be relevant.
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1457272/...use-resume

(08-22-2026, 06:39 PM)stevef Wrote: [ -> ]Sorry to hear you are having problems.

Utiva Wrote:my PC heats up fast

Is the cooling working properly ?

Utiva Wrote:When I bring the power menu and and select a option with keyboard, it will all freeze.

Not sure what you mean by this, can you explain exactly what triggers the freeze please ?

Utiva Wrote:For each freeze I'd have to force shutdown by holding the power button...

Is the system totally frozen at this point ?
Mouse pointer not responding
Desktop clock stuck at time of freeze
Pressing NumLock and Caps Lock don't toggle the indicator LEDs
No disk activity

Utiva Wrote:...and then the partitions become inaccessible when crashed.

This is a bit confusing. What exactly do you mean by 'the partitions become inaccessible' ?

Utiva Wrote:So I'd have to return to windows and run chkdsk.

Is your system dual boot ?

Utiva Wrote:... is there any solution to this

System freezes are hard to diagnose.
Ensure the system is properly cooled.
If possible, check the hard disk integrity to eliminate disk errors as a possible cause.

Utiva Wrote:Also, when I pause the VLC Media Player and then resume, mutes and unmutes several time each time. But it doesn't happens if I resume after lesser than 9 seconds.

Not experienced this, but a quick search found this which may be relevant.
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1457272/...use-resume

Thanks for answer, I was just downloading the Debian since any other distros are either heavy or problematic and they are all just based on Ubuntu and Ubuntu is based on Debian as far as I know. But I paused for now.

1: yeah my cooling works right and I cool it down with my desk fan when it goes far, it has one cooling fan at front and I left the case door open for more air.

2: I just said that I bring the power menu by pressing Alt+F4 in desktop and navigate using arrow keys and when suspend is selected I press Enter to confirm it, but everything got frozen except the mouse in this case.

3: when everything is frozen, sometimes the cursor works but sometimes not, the disk activity indicator on the case will be stuck in active and I didn't see if the clock works or the Capslock indicator can toggle.

4: By inaccessible partitions, I mean that when a NTFS partition is mounted and the system shuts down without its own command (by muting the power) next time I boot Lite the partition cannot be mounted and returns an error. However when I tried a solution for a fresh mount it worked, but I don't remember what it was. It was something that creates a folder in a folder in filesystem and that folder will open the partition, but this doesn't fixes the problem and if I don't run chkdsk I'd have to always use this method to mount it and the file manager can't mount it.

5: yeah it is dual boot. when partitions become inaccessible I boot my Windows 10 LTSC and run chkdsk to remove bad sectors.

1) If your PC is running hot the cooling system may need to be improved.
There are plenty of guides on the Internet but basically the recommendation is to have inlet and exhaust fans positioned to force air over the heat sensitive components.
Opening a case may not help as the forced air flow is disrupted.

2) If you suspend by clicking 'Menu', then the power icon, then the 'Suspend' option does the same freeze occur as doing the suspend via the keyboard ?

3) Please check and report what the clock and Caps Lock indicator show when frozen.  It is important information.
Along with the mouse cursor moving (sometimes), the more signs of life the better the chance that something might get logged.  Once you've responded on this, I can outline a test to check the log if you wish to try.

4 and 5) Thank you for clarifying about the NTFS partition and chkdsk.  That makes sense now.  I'm not familiar with the folder within a folder concept you describe.  For the moment, I'd avoid mounting the NTFS partitions until the freezing is understood.

chkdsk removing Bad Sectors is a concern.  Like other hardware issues, a failing HDD can be the cause of freezing.

In Linux Lite, click Menu and begin typing 'Hard disk' into the search bar.
When you see the option for 'Hard Disk and SSD Health Inspection' click on it.
Enter your password if asked.
In the window that opens, ensure the disk is selected, then click 'Device' and 'View Details'
On the General tab, scroll down and look for the 'Overall Health Self-Assessment Test' result.
Take a look under the Error Log tab - it should be clear.