I have a pretty decent laptop with enough RAM, an SSD and i5 processor. I had been running Ubuntu alongside Windows on it but recently decided to reinstall Ubuntu in the dual boot system. Took me some time but the process was smooth and once completed, I was happy with a fresh (not-broken) system running on the latest Ubuntu 24.04 LTS version. So far so good, but after installing Chrome, I kept getting Apps Not responding in Ubuntu 24.04 warnings asking me to either wait or force quit. The same error message was popping up with Settings app, and even Firefox.
While I was reading about it on the forums, it happened and I managed to get a screenshot. It looks something like this :
I shrugged it off as a one-go event initially but it kept happening with Chrome, sometimes on the Settings app, or with Mozilla. It certainly wasn’t the browser because it happened with other applications and it was certainly not because of low system resource because my earlier version of Ubuntu was running great on it.
I also noticed that the system is too slow for my liking. I don’t think a system that can run Windows 11 and a Ubuntu 24.10 in VM at the same time without any issues should have a problem running Ubuntu 24.04 standalone on the bare metal.
So, what’s the problem with 24.04 LTS? Frankly, I don’t know. Many users have complained about these Apps not responding in Ubuntu 24.04 and some of them have tried a few things that has helped them. I don’t have a ‘confirmed’ solution for this, however, any one of the below mentioned things can fix it for you.
a. Temporary solution first
Many users have found out that the system works better in terms of performance and they don’t see the Apps not responding in Ubuntu 24.04 by switching to system terminal and then switching back to GUI.
To open system terminal
ctrl + alt + f4To exit
ctrl + alt + f2This has worked intermittently for me so far. Now, lets try some of the options that could fix it permanently for you.
1. Turn Off opengl settings.
Ok, this seems to have been working for me at last and hence I have put it up first in the list. I have turned off opengl settings for Apps, and Apps not responding in Ubuntu 24.04 errors are gone.
To do so, open Settings, navigate to Apps > App Center and toggle opengl which is enabled by default.
2. Updating your system
You should always update your system in any case. If there’s a bug which Canonical or your Desktop Environment has identified and provided a fix, updating it will fix that.
Go to System Settings > Software Updates.
Software Updater will check and download for any updates for your system and it may take some time if you are doing it right after a fresh install.
Restart your system once it completes and see if the issue persists.
3. Switching between Wayland and X11
If it didn’t help, try switching from Wayland to X11 drivers. It could be a compatibility between Nvidia and Wayland.
To switch, login to a terminal using root
vi /etc/gdm3/custom.confYou will see a commented line
#WaylandEnable=falseUncomment it by removing # from the front and save the file. Restart your system and check again for the error.
4. Reinstall GNOME Desktop Environment
Some people have narrowed it down the gnome desktop and the only thing that has fixed it for them is by reinstalling gnome DE.
Fire up a terminal and run below command to reinstall it.
sudo apt-get reinstall gnome-remote-desktopMake sure to use ‘reinstall’ to remove and not just ‘install’ which basically checks for any update available to the already installed gnome DE.
5. Reinstall Ubuntu 24.04 or any other version
Well, if you have nothing else working for you, go and reinstall Ubuntu in dual boot. If you really need your system handy and don’t have anything else to work with, I would even suggest to pick any other Ubuntu version instead of 24.04.
Wrapping Up
Right, as of now I don’t see any Apps freezing for me, turning off the opengl settings has fixed it for me but I am going to spin a VM and see if it’s reproducible. You can try each one of them and let me know which one of it helped in the comment section.
I’m also going to keep updating this article if I see any other possible solutions and any update from the official channels, so don’t forget to bookmark us.
Cheers.
