Hello. During some months now, this machine was (and still is, sometimes) suffering from a strange progressive lock down. It always has begun with the web browser, passing to the whole X environment, and finally I could not even use a console.
After several trial and error actions, as no log entry could give any hint on what is going on, it seems that I found something consistent. This machine is a dual-boot Linux/Windows, as my wife once in a while needs to work on a Windows O.S. . The lock down starts when she saves a file received by e-mail in a ntfs-3g mounted partition, so that file would also be accessible whenever she uses Windows. The reason why I suspect of ntfs-3g is that when the lock down starts, that is, if only the web browser locks, just unmounting (and mounting back later) that partition, recovers the web browser functionality. Sometimes, when the lock down has already affected the whole graphic environment, but I still may use a console, again unmounting that same partition also unlocks everithing. I have already tried to emerge ntfs-3g with different use flags, but the problem persists. Even built a new kernel and re-emerged ntfs-3g after that. Now ntfs-3g package is using its own "fuse". I would really appreciate any hints on what to do or where to look for any more information on this subject. Perhaps I am still looking at an effect, and not the cause. Thanks Francisco -- "If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have one idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." - George Bernard Shaw
