[Techtalk] System running, but unresponsive

[David Sumbler]

I have an elderly friend who no longer has a car and can walk very
little.  Without her computer, she is rather cut off.

I had a letter from her this morning (by post) saying that her computer
(a laptop with Ubuntu 10.04) is not functioning, and briefly describing
the symptoms.  She had updated some software using Update Manager and
the computer needed to be rebooted.  But after the reboot the computer
would not respond to the keyboard nor to mouse clicks.

I can still ssh to her computer, and I can see her desktop using Remote
Desktop Viewer; but sure enough, although I can move the mouse pointer,
the computer is otherwise unresponsive.

Unfortunately my friend lives 5 hours drive away from me, and there will
be absolutely no opportunity for me to visit her for at least the next 6
weeks.  I can suggest to her that she send the computer to me in the
next day or two, and I'll then perhaps install Ubuntu 12.04 or even
14.04.

But can anyone suggest things I can try first, via ssh, which might
discover and solve the problem?

David