desktop lock up on RHEL

Issue: my desktop would lock up and become unresponsive while the machine still had a normally functioning OS.

Resolution:
attempt #1: disable the Lenovo fingerprint reader. This didn't fix it.
attempt #2: stop using Google Chrome. Wasn't Google Chrome...
attempt #3: stay away from flash... perhaps I'll try uninstalling flash.
attempt #4: this seems to have fixed it... update the boot string with i8042.noloop

SOLVED:
--FOR RHEL update your /boot/grub/grub.conf
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (2.6.32-279.2.1.el6.x86_64)
root (hd0,2)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.32-279.2.1.el6.x86_64 ro root=/dev/mapper/vg_neo-lv_root rd_NO_LUKS LANG=en_US.UTF-8 rd_NO_MD quiet SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 rhgb crashkernel=auto rd_LVM_LV=vg_neo/lv_swap KEYBOARDTYPE=pc KEYTABLE=us rd_LVM_LV=vg_neo/lv_root rd_NO_DM i8042.noloop
initrd /initramfs-2.6.32-279.2.1.el6.x86_64.img

-- Fedora 17 (fc16 and greater, actually)
root@neo ~ # cat /etc/default/grub

#grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
#grub2-mkfont --output=/boot/grub2/unicode.pf2 /usr/share/fonts/dejavu/DejaVuSansMono.ttf
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="Fedora"
GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="rd.lvm.lv=vg_neo/lv_swap rd.md=0 rd.dm=0 SYSFONT=True KEYTABLE=us rd.luks=0 rd.lvm.lv=vg_neo/lv_root LANG=en_US.UTF-8 rhgb quiet i8042.noloop"
#GRUB_THEME="/boot/grub2/themes/system/theme.txt"# Custom stuff
GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"
GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT="true"
GRUB_GFXMODE=1600x900x16
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep
GRUB_BACKGROUND=/boot/grub/splash-tree.tga

root@neo ~ # grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

Errata: Looks like I may have been way off base. It is odd that this problem just randomly appeared.

History:
I occasionally boot my laptop to Windows 7 to allow updates and such. Unfortunately the fingerprint reader software grabbed my attention and I decided I would give it a try.

One odd result of configuring the fingerprint reader within Windows is there is a small green light on the reader after I shut the machine down. I can scan my finger when the machine is off and it will start the machine (again, from the power-off state).

I am not certain that my desktop lockup in Linux is caused by the fingerprint reader - but there is a coincidence of enabling the reader and my lockups.

When the desktop locks up, the mouse remains frozen and the keyboard is essentially unresponsive (there is a significantly delayed response). I had noticed that when the machine would go to the screensaver and I woke it up, the password entry area would fill as though I was holding down a key on the keyboard.

I'll update this post if my resolution did not solve the issue. (posted: 20120726)

NOTES:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Synaptics_TouchPad_driver_for_X#Configuration_using_Gnome

Seem somewhat related to the lockups...

messages:Jul 26 23:33:59 neo kernel: psmouse.c: TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost synchronization, throwing 2 bytes away.
messages:Jul 26 23:34:01 neo kernel: psmouse.c: failed to re-enable mouse on isa0060/serio1
messages:Jul 26 23:34:01 neo kernel: psmouse.c: resync failed, issuing reconnect request
messages:Jul 26 23:34:07 neo kernel: psmouse.c: Failed to deactivate mouse on isa0060/serio1
messages:Jul 26 23:34:08 neo kernel: psmouse.c: Failed to enable mouse on isa0060/serio1

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