I have the same problem. It is not related to screen saver nor to VNC.
It is an old bug and has been around for a long time. It was originally reported in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-settings- daemon/+bug/624477 on 2010-08-26 and **INCORRECTLY** closed on 2010-09-01 by Karl Lattimer (karl-qdh). Please give that person a reprimand. I have noticed that Ubuntu routinely closes bugs without fixing them. That does not make the bug go away, it just makes people hate Ubuntu. I do not have a /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon-3.0 I only have /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon-2.0 and /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon I'm running gnome 2.32.1 build date 4/14/2011 I'm running Ubuntu 11.04 I have all current updates. I'm ALWAYS running Firefox. I have used several different versions since first noticing this problem. Currently, I'm using 13.04 I always have lots of tabs open. I tend to keep my system running and I stay logged in for weeks at a time. I have seen this bug for a LONG time (many months, at the least) when gnome-settings-daemon starts taking 100% CPU, it does so for a long time (10-15 minutes), and then sometimes, stops monopolizing the CPU and g-s-d usage drops down to 0%. It later can go back to using 100% I will try deleting the /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon-2.0/keyboard.gnome-settings-plugin and /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon/keyboard.gnome-settings-plugin -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/969359 Title: [keyboard]: gnome-settings-daemon consumes 100% cpu (and blinking numlock) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-settings-daemon/+bug/969359/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs