Graphical corruptions with Nouveau driver makes Quantal unusable

[Jan Rathmann]

Hello,

since a few weeks I effectively can't run Quantal anymore due to strong graphical corruption when using the Nouveau driver (I have a Geforce GT430 card).

To reproduce, I just have to boot a daily live image from a USB stick. The followings happens (as shown in the camera screenshots I'm gonna attach):

- The boot logo (shown by Plymouth) is distorted
- Then for some seconds a very weird looking corrupted screen appears
- Then the desktop has loaded, but shows only corruptions instead of the wallpaper
- The dock on the left screen side is shown correctly, but it's not possible to start/use any application
- The mouse cursor isn't shown, due to "shades" of tooltips you can sometimes guess where the cursor might be

This is a regression from Precise and early Quantal, where Nouveau drivers worked much better.

To report this bug, I had to boot the daily live image with the "nomodeset" option. Even the new software-rendered Unity desktop you get in this case is barely usable due to heavy repainting issues, but that might be another bug.

Kind regards,
Jan

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.10
Package: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.1-4~ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.5.0-11.11-generic 3.5.2
Uname: Linux 3.5.0-11-generic x86_64
.tmp.unity.support.test.1:

ApportVersion: 2.5.1-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
CasperVersion: 1.321
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: compiz
Date: Thu Aug 23 08:24:12 2012
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: quantal
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes, even including gdb or git bisection work if needed
GraphicsCard: NVIDIA Corporation GF108 [GeForce GT 430] [10de:0de1] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal" - Alpha amd64 (20120822)
MachineType: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. P35-DS3
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true file=/cdrom/preseed/hostname.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash -- nomodeset debian-installer/language=de keyboard-configuration/layoutcode?=de
SourcePackage: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 07/10/2008
dmi.bios.vendor: Award Software International, Inc.
dmi.bios.version: F13
dmi.board.name: P35-DS3
dmi.board.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.board.version: x.x
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAwardSoftwareInternational,Inc.:bvrF13:bd07/10/2008:svnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:pnP35-DS3:pvr:rvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:rnP35-DS3:rvrx.x:cvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:ct3:cvr:
dmi.product.name: P35-DS3
dmi.sys.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.8+bzr3249-0ubuntu4
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.38-0ubuntu2
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 8.0.4-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 8.0.4-1ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.12.99.904-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.7.3-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.99.99~git20120713.6ef1ad6a-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.20.3-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.1-4~ubuntu1

[Jan Rathmann (kaiserclaudius)]

According to my tests this is a regression since Alpha 3 (if I boot my system with the Alpha 3 image the Nouveau driver works yet).

[Jan Rathmann (kaiserclaudius)]

Still present in Beta 1.

[Ubuntu QA Website (ubuntuqa)]

This bug has been reported on the Ubuntu ISO testing tracker.

A list of all reports related to this bug can be found here:
http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/1040495

[Jan Rathmann (kaiserclaudius)]

I did some further testing after installing the current daily image (only possible by booting the usb stick with "nomodeset").

It seems to depend on the boot options if the system comes up properly with Nouveau drivers (and KMS).

Booting with just:

quiet splash
splash
or no options specified

as kernel options makes the system come up properly (even with 3D acceleration, allthough with bug #1010794).

Otherwise, if I boot with:

ro quiet splash $vt_handoff
quiet splash $vt_handoff
ro quiet splash

it leads to the unusable desktop/login manager as reported in this bug's description.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Same problem with NVidia GT240 card on "Ubuntu GNOME Remix" 12.10 Beta (64 Bit). Booting with "nomodeset" gets around the issue.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Jan Rathmann, this bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? If so, could you please test for this with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ .

If it remains an issue, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

apport-collect -p xserver-xorg-video-nouveau REPLACE-WITH-BUG-NUMBER

Please note, given that the information from the prior release is already available, doing this on a release prior to the development one would not be helpful.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for xserver-xorg-video-nouveau (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]