Pointer turns black and computer freezes

Greetings,

The subject pretty much says it. However, I should mention that a few weeks ago, when I discovered EMC, I went ahead and created a new mill configuration just fine. I was able to import files, simulate cutting, etc... Worked great. Now, however, on the same machine, I can't get anything beyond the welcome screen because, as stated, the mouse goes black and the whole computer becomes almost completely unresponsive (with the exceptoin of the mouse moving).

Something I found interesting is that I was originally accessing the computer via directly connected mouse/keyboard when EMC worked. I've recently switched to using Synergy which resulted in no response after the EMC welcome screen (no mouse movement or anything). I disabled Synergy and directly connected a mouse and keyboard as before and everything is the same except without Synergy running I can get the pointer to move upon EMC crashing but the pointer still goes black and the computer is unresponsive... Weird.

Any help would be appreciated.

Dell Dimension 2200
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
No pulp in the OJ

Thanks!

Ah. So it does!

Thanks a lot for the link. I should've mentioned that I recently had to switch out the video card (didn't think that would be an issue) but I see the problem now.

Just one question - what is VESA? I'm always a bit skeptical when I see something available for download from a huge organization like that. Is this a company that makes something or just a standards/protocol type of thing? In short - would downloading this "VESA" driver be downloading a particular product or would it be more along the lines of downloading something that someone made to comply with a list of standards in the public domain?

I know this probably sounds like more trouble than its worth but I just want to make sure I'm "playing by the rules". Please don't think I'm implying suspicion of foul play - I just want to get my ignorance out in the open on this stuff to hopefully learn something new.

Thanks so much!

andypugh -

Many thanks for your ongoing assistance, my friend.

Followed the instructions in section 4.2 of your post and everything came right back up.

Thanks again!