When my laptop is running for some time, suddenly the writing becomes encrypted type, all the DE icons are hidden. The memory icons on the display also become blurred, no click works. Turning it off and on with the stop switch is fine.
I used to use Linux Xubuntu and Ubuntu earlier, now Linux Mint. I have seen the same problem in all of them. What can I do to get the right solution.plz help me.
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Welcome to the community @Jamees, thanks for joining us! 
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Hi Jamees, welcome ! 
This is only an educated guess, but it looks like a hardware problem.
It is highly probable that the flatcable connection between your display and the motherboard is flakey. I have seen this on laptops several times with exactly the same visual result.
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I’ve seen something like this always with wrong / broken graphic drivers or broken graphics card.
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I’ve also seen this on several Compaq/HP laptops (which are notorious for overheating) where the GPU had cracked solderjoints due to thermal stress.
I did save one by reflowing the solderjoints.
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@tkn How can I solve this problem? Can I get a solution if I take it to the laptop maker and tell them that the problem you mentioned is hardware related?
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My laptop is also a HP laptop
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@Jamees Can you enter the BIOS oder EFI? When you start up the laptop, can you see everything? So the display is working?
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EDIT: If it’s an overheating problem, first try to clean the ventilation ducts from gathered dust and then see if the problem is solved. If not, open it and check if the heatpipes make full contact with the chips and maybe renew the thermal paste. If that doesn’t work, read on:
either:
- take it to a repairshop
or
- do it yourself
If you choose to do it yourself:
Depends on the cause of the problem ofcourse.
if the flatcable is the culprit
If you are lucky you only have to remove the keyboard section to reach the motherboard. Look for the flatcable that runs to the screen an reseat it into its board connector.
If the flatcable is torn or cracked, you’ll have to get a replacement but it means that you have to disassemble the display too.
Don’t do this if you are not experienced or comfortable with repairing electronics
if the GPU chip is the culprit
If the solderjoints on the GPU are cracked, the easiest way is to fully disassemble the laptop, take the motherboard out, remove the battery, wrap the board in aluminumfoil but keep the GPU chip free. Preheat your (laboratory) fan-oven on 210 °C and put the motherboard in for about 10 minutes. Take it out and let it cool down for a while.
Don’t do this if you are not experienced or comfortable with repairing electronics
The hard way is to use a heatgun, that takes quite some experience because it is very easy to overheat/melt/destroy the chip.
Don’t do this if you are not experienced or comfortable with repairing electronics
I don’t know because I do not know your laptop maker so I can’t predict his/her reaction. I’m not very good at predicting unknown people
If you mean the manufacturer (HP probably) then forget it because HP customer service is shite.
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Oh dear… 
What model is it ?
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@tkn HP-ZBook-14u-G5,( 16 gb ram)
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Duck AI mentions this:
HP-ZBook-14u-G5 overheating
The HP ZBook 14u G5 is a lightweight 14-inch mobile workstation released as part of the fifth generation in 2018. Overheating is commonly caused by dust buildup in vents, degraded thermal paste, or inefficient heat pipe transfer when the laptop is propped at steep angles.
- Check and clean air vents and fans (compressed air or professional cleaning).
- Replace degraded thermal paste between CPU/GPU and heatsink.
- Ensure the laptop sits flat to allow proper airflow; avoid blocking vents.
- Update BIOS and firmware — manufacturers sometimes release thermal/fan fixes.
- Monitor temperatures with tools (e.g., HWMonitor, Core Temp) and test under load.
- Consider a cooling pad or external fan if internal cooling is insufficient.
- If persistent, seek professional repair — possible failing fan, heat pipe, or heatsink issue.
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@tkn Thanks a lot bro, but the laptop doesn’t seem to have a heating problem..I don’t know the situation inside.
I don’t know the situation inside.
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If you follow the given link in my post, bro, you will see that you are one of the very lucky ones that does not have an overheating problem with this model.
The laptop might feel cool to the touch but check the tempsensors while running.
Anyway, bro, it might be a good idea to clean the cooling vents nevertheless by blowing compressed air through the vents and see if that helps a bit. I assume the laptop has not been undusted since 2018.
I think, bro, that the best thing to do now is follow the advise of @toadie and if that doesn’t work, you might bring it to the repairshop.
good luck ! 
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What you observe on your display is called
I second Thom’s recommended tactic to see if indeed temp is an issue. Keeping the temp monitor App on you Panel would give visibility of any Temp trending and if it coincides with a display “frazzle” event.
Verify which graphics renderer is being used by entering the command
sudo inxi -Gx
Depending on the version, there may be updates or conflicts that need to be resolved.
If you are willing, I would suggest the following to verify if simply heat or hardware related.
Would you be willing to start a CPU/Graphics intensive process, and let the process continue running for about 5 minutes after the situation presents itself (in order to get enough heat build-up to persist long enough to last during a reboot), then reboot and consider the following:
-
If you try booting from a Live ISO, and the issue is seen during the BIOS boot process, then the issue is a hardware issue.
-
If you take a screen snapshot, and you can see the effects in the snapshot, the issue is software and not hardware.
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