11-24-2018, 12:37 PM
This seems to be a problem that comes up from time to time in Linux, dating back at least a couple of years. Which is not to say that the underlying cause is necessarily related. But it does suggest a few things to try to begin with. Since I have two production laptops I use in monthly rotation and the alternate is just over a month out of date, I can fail over to that if needs be. So I will try the suggestions, one by one, on the problematic and up-to-date laptop:-
1. Use a terminal and the umount /dev/sdxx command, where sdxx is the ID for the USB stick. If it freezes, then it rules out Thunar and/or X as the culprit.
2. Next, try dismounting the USB stick in Start/System/Partition Drives (I can't recall the app's name). If it doesn't freeze then it may suggest Thunar, rather than X, is the culprit.
If at either point there is a system freeze, try opening a virtual console (CTRL-ALT-F1 ?). Also, if X is suspected, try restarting X (CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE ?).
3. Also, but I would need expert help here, try LEFT-SHIFT during boot an selecting the previous kernel and see if it still freezes using Thunar as normal, and then try "kernel bisection search" - whatever that is!
Onwards...
1. Use a terminal and the umount /dev/sdxx command, where sdxx is the ID for the USB stick. If it freezes, then it rules out Thunar and/or X as the culprit.
2. Next, try dismounting the USB stick in Start/System/Partition Drives (I can't recall the app's name). If it doesn't freeze then it may suggest Thunar, rather than X, is the culprit.
If at either point there is a system freeze, try opening a virtual console (CTRL-ALT-F1 ?). Also, if X is suspected, try restarting X (CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE ?).
3. Also, but I would need expert help here, try LEFT-SHIFT during boot an selecting the previous kernel and see if it still freezes using Thunar as normal, and then try "kernel bisection search" - whatever that is!
Onwards...
Don't worry about artificial intelligence. Worry about natural stupidity. 