Workstation Screen Goes White

Two people reported that their workstations froze with a blank, white screen. In each case, the computer wasn't frozen - only part of the display layer was; all applications were still running in the background. If this happens to you,you can unlock the screen like so ...

1. press alt-ctrl-f1


2. login


3. enter killall -9 kwin; exit


4. press alt-ctrl-f8

The problem is related to a bug in the KDE desktop environment, but I don't know what triggers it. If it happens to you more than once, I suggest you try using the Gnome desktop environment until I sort things out; you can choose an alternate desktop from the menu on the login screen.