Boot to "Safe Graphics" after upgrade to Raring

[Nick Lib]

Graphics worked in Precise. After upgrading, lightdm does not load, but the "safe graphics mode" dialog is displayed, instead This dialog fails to accomplish anything other than allowing me to exit to a terminal and I thus cannot use the system in graphical mode at all (even "safe graphics").

Booting an older pre-upgrade kernel still works (hence the odd kernel version collected by apport).

The display (a TV) is connected via HDMI to the integrated intel graphics adapter.

May be related to potentially dodgy EDID information from the display (even in Precise, the selected default resolution is not the native resolution of the display and I have to manually adjust it).

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+1ubuntu4
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.7.0-5.13-generic 3.7.0-rc8
Uname: Linux 3.7.0-5-generic x86_64
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,vpswitch,snap,mousepoll,resize,place,move,wall,grid,regex,imgpng,session,gnomecompat,animation,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,workarounds,scale,expo,ezoom,unityshell]
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDmesg:

Date: Sat Apr 27 14:53:20 2013
DistUpgraded: 2013-04-26 17:47:28,463 DEBUG enabling apt cron job
DistroCodename: raring
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller [8086:0162] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device [1462:2111]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-07-14 (287 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120425)
MachineType: MSI MS-7758
MarkForUpload: True
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.7.0-5-generic root=UUID=4cb92e57-8f73-4490-8da4-2b6c1369e72d ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to raring on 2013-04-26 (0 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 02/20/2012
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: V2.1
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: Z77A-G43 (MS-7758)
dmi.board.vendor: MSI
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: MSI
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrV2.1:bd02/20/2012:svnMSI:pnMS-7758:pvr1.0:rvnMSI:rnZ77A-G43(MS-7758):rvr1.0:cvnMSI:ct3:cvr1.0:
dmi.product.name: MS-7758
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: MSI
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.9~daily13.04.18.1~13.04-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs 20090808ubuntu36
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.43-0ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 9.1.1-0ubuntu3
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 9.1.1-0ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu6
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.7.3-0ubuntu2b2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.1.0-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.21.6-0ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.7-0ubuntu1
xserver.bootTime: Sat Apr 27 14:40:11 2013
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors:

xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.version: 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu6
xserver.video_driver: intel
---
ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,vpswitch,snap,mousepoll,resize,place,move,wall,grid,regex,imgpng,session,gnomecompat,animation,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,workarounds,scale,expo,ezoom,unityshell]
CurrentDmesg: [ 18.317458] init: plymouth-ready (started) main process (882) terminated with status 1
DistUpgraded: 2013-04-26 17:47:28,463 DEBUG enabling apt cron job
DistroCodename: raring
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller [8086:0162] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device [1462:2111]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-07-14 (289 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120425)
MachineType: MSI MS-7758
MarkForUpload: True
Package: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.21.6-0ubuntu4
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.8.0-19-generic root=UUID=4cb92e57-8f73-4490-8da4-2b6c1369e72d ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-19.29-generic 3.8.8
Tags: raring ubuntu
Uname: Linux 3.8.0-19-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to raring on 2013-04-26 (2 days ago)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
dmi.bios.date: 02/20/2012
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: V2.1
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: Z77A-G43 (MS-7758)
dmi.board.vendor: MSI
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: MSI
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrV2.1:bd02/20/2012:svnMSI:pnMS-7758:pvr1.0:rvnMSI:rnZ77A-G43(MS-7758):rvr1.0:cvnMSI:ct3:cvr1.0:
dmi.product.name: MS-7758
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: MSI
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.9~daily13.04.18.1~13.04-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs 20090808ubuntu36
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.43-0ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 9.1.1-0ubuntu3
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 9.1.1-0ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu6
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.7.3-0ubuntu2b2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.1.0-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.21.6-0ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.7-0ubuntu1
xserver.bootTime: Mon Apr 29 16:49:15 2013
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors:

xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.version: 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu6
xserver.video_driver: intel

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

Please let me know if I can provide further helpful information. (Or if imdoinitwrong.)

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

could you check if the kernel here works:

http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.9-rc8-raring/

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

Thanks Timo,

Unfortunately, the kernel you linked does not appear to work any better.

[Chris Wilson (ickle)]

All the log files here are from the working session, correct? Can you please try running apport-collect 1173491 from a VT after a failed boot?

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

apport information

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

You are correct Chris, the original logs were indeed from a working session. I did not consider that they might only cover one session - my apologies, I hope I have not wasted anyone's time!

As you can see by the spam :S it looks like I successfully ran apport-collect from the VT... I had to guess a bit with interactive prompts, due to screen clipping, but I don't think I could have done anything too stupid there.

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

An interesting thing I noticed is that, upon login into the VT, ubuntu tells me that there is a "new release" available (13.04) and that I sould use do-release-upgrade to upgrade to it. Perhaps something went wrong in the upgrade process.

Actually trying to run do-release-upgrade tells me that there is no new version, though, and dpkg --configure -a does not pick anything up.

[Chris Wilson (ickle)]

X is starting cleanly and is shutting down normally less than a second later - this is usually an issue with the session or login manager not loading. Ominously in this case, there are no lightdm logs. Sadly it also means that I can't see the failure, the logs present are expected behaviour (in an abnormal situation).

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

Ahhh, given what you just mentioned, I remembered that I had added a line to /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf, in order to force light-dm to use the native resoltution of the display:

display-setup-script=xrandr --output HDMI2 --primary --mode 1440x900

This was returning a failure code, causing light-dm to terminate.

The reason for this, in turn, appears to be that the native resolution is no longer being detected at all!

Upon lgging into my graphical session I was greeted by a bad resulution and a very long error dialog box, spanning multiple screens (text attached). I am unable to select the native resolution, which leaves me with cropped display output.

I guess this means that the original issue was effectively my fault, although it stems from the underlying issue that the supported modes are no longer being detected correctly. Of course it is still possible that this is due to bad EDID info from the display, but the fact remains that the older kernel is able to drive the display at its native resolution.

(The reason the log was missing from my uploads was presumably because I didn't think apport needed to run as root. As it turns out, the light-dm logs are only readable by root. Apport didn't warn me / complain about this, so I assumed everyting was fine.)

[Chris Wilson (ickle)]

The EDID for the display does not mention an 1440x900 mode, so it would be very bizarre if it was its native mode. However, if you really, really want to use 1440x900, then you will need to perform an xrandr --newmode ...; xrandr --output HDMI2 --addmode ...; first.

[Chris Wilson (ickle)]

If you can dig out some old logs that show us how the 14x9 mode previously worked, that might be useful. But I think they were in error...

[Nick Lib (nikolauslieb)]

Thanks for the advice, Chris! The --newmode/--addmode arguments will be very useful. I do want to use that mode quite badly, as the display represents all other resolutions I tried (of which there were many on the older kernels) very badly.

I presently cannot remember on what basis I concluded that 14x9 was the display's actual native resolution, so I can't claim I'm certain that that is correct. However, I am quite certain that the actual native resolution is not on the list of detected resolutions. I will try to back my claims up with something solid (however, it will have to wait till tomorrow, at least, as I am not presently near the system in question).

I did try analysing the EDID data, using the "read-edid" tools from http://www.polypux.org/projects/read-edid/ . The tools did complain that there was something unexpected about the EDID data and that it was probably bad. Thus I suspect that the EDID data is indeed bad and that something changed about how faulty data is handled between kernel 3.7 and 3.8, causing the previously detected modes (of which there were many more) to no longer be detected.

As for the additional logs of the working 14x9 mode: If you are still interested in them, then I will be happy to try and produce/collect them, when I get back to the affected system. I am not quite clear on what you are after, though. If you are just interested in a set of logs where the system successfully booted with light-dm switching to the 14x9 mode, then the original set of logs I uploaded seems to be what you are looking for. In particular, you can see:

[+1.57s] DEBUG: Connecting to XServer :0
[+1.57s] DEBUG: Launching process 1674: xrandr --output HDMI2 --primary --mode 1440x900
[+2.59s] DEBUG: Process 1674 exited with return value 0
[+2.59s] DEBUG: Exit status of xrandr --output HDMI2 --primary --mode 1440x900: 0
[+2.59s] DEBUG: Starting greeter

That just shows that it didn't mind using the mode in question on kernel 3.7 (at least on RC8). However, I suspect that you were after something more specific. If so, please let me know.

Thanks for all your help, Chris!