I've been facing some frustrating stability issues with my Linux installations. First, I set up MX Linux with XFCE on my ThinkPad, but my keyboard settings keep changing on their own, and the login screen was so broken that I had to start the desktop environment manually. On another PC with Linux Mint, the update manager isn't functioning correctly; it doesn't show what needs updating, so I'm stuck managing software through the terminal. The only smooth experience I've had has been with Bazzte on my gaming PC, unless a game crash freezes everything. I chose a Debian-based distro with XFCE expecting a stable boot setup for browsing, but I'm still encountering random crashes about once a week. Is this just how computers are in 2025? Also, I'm puzzled by Firefox and other Firefox-based browsers—when I use them for extended periods, CPU and RAM usage go haywire, even after closing tabs. Anyone else faced similar issues?
5 Answers
You could try using Linux Mint with XFCE instead of MX on your ThinkPads. It might resolve some of those stability issues you're experiencing. Also, how much RAM do you have on those machines?
Sounds like you might be dealing with several hardware issues. Things like keyboard settings changing on their own usually don't happen randomly unless there's a deeper problem. Maybe your drivers need updating, or there might be something off with your hardware?
I have a ThinkPad L490 running Mint and E470 with MX, and both work fine with no weird issues. Are you sure your hardware is in good shape?
Check the age of your storage drives. Old drives, especially SSDs, can start losing files unexpectedly due to corruption. I recommend using gnome-disks to check their health. It might just be a failing drive causing your issues!
The SSD on my L490 is only 4 months old, and the one on the E470 is around 2 years. Also, I replaced the thermal paste last year.
If your installations are consistently unstable across different distros, the issue might be with a faulty SSD or NVMe drive. They can behave erratically as they near the end of their lifecycle. It's worth checking that out.
Firefox can be quite resource-heavy, which might be why your CPU and RAM usage spikes. If you're running low on memory—like 1 or 2 GB—swapping could make it seem like your system is crashing. Consider trying a lighter web browser and a lightweight distro if your hardware is older!
Both laptops have 16GB of RAM.