Screen goes blank and computer becomes unresponsive.

[Keith Hatton]

Binary package hint: xorg

This happened on both an Acer Aspire 1691WLM laptop (single boot Ubuntu 6.06LTS) and also my Dell4700 (single boot Ubuntu 6.06LTS) recently.

I beleive it only started happening after I downloaded the latest kernel first week in June.

The computers were left running Open Office each time.

On the Acer the screen was blank and stayed blank and unresponsive. The computer had to be crashed and restarted. It operated normally after that.

On the Dell I moved the curser as the screen was going dark and the image came back but the computer was unresponsive and I had to crash that. The computer appears to function properly now.

I see that this is a fairly common bug and this is not a new bug report.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Hi Keith,

Could you give the ID numbers of bugs that report these same issues? I'll check them out.

[Keith Hatton (keith-yoruk)]

Hi Bryce,

Is there an easy way to find them again? When I first reported the bug
six or seven similar bugs appeared on a list but now I can't find them.

I suppose one way to try to see them is for me to start to list another
similar bug and hope that the same list appears?

By the way the same problem happened again on the Acer today about 2
hours ago: Open Office left for several minutes then a blank screen and
an unresponsive computer. Crashing was the only way to get it back.

Regards,

Keith.

On Mon, 2007-06-11 at 09:06 +0000, Bryce Harrington wrote:
> Hi Keith,
>
> Could you give the ID numbers of bugs that report these same issues?
> I'll check them out.
>
> ** Changed in: xorg (Ubuntu)
> Status: Unconfirmed => Needs Info
>

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Hmm, no prob, I can do the poking around to find the dupe bugs, if you can give me some information.

Can you please attach your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file? I can use this to find what driver you're running. Also, please include the output from the following command: discover --disable=serial,parallel,usb,ide,scsi --format="%V %M\t%S\t%D\n" video

Also, can you check your screensaver settings and see if you have any 3D screensavers ("OpenGL") active? If I recall correctly, in Dapper the screensaver by default cycled randomly through different screensavers, which could cause crashes very similar to what you experienced, on some graphics hardware. Changing the screensaver settings solves that problem. In Feisty we set things to not do this by default, so this particular issue won't happen in the future.

[Keith Hatton (keith-yoruk)]

Hi Bryce,

Please find information requested below.

On Fri, 2007-06-15 at 04:51 +0000, Bryce Harrington wrote:
> Hmm, no prob, I can do the poking around to find the dupe bugs, if you
> can give me some information.
>
> Can you please attach your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file? I can use this to
> find what driver you're running.

File here:
.........................

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool,
using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the /etc/X11/xorg.conf manual
page.
# (Type "man /etc/X11/xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades
*only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically
updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi"
 # path to defoma fonts
 FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
 Load "i2c"
 Load "bitmap"
 Load "ddc"
 Load "dri"
 Load "extmod"
 Load "freetype"
 Load "glx"
 Load "int10"
 Load "type1"
 Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
 Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
 Driver "kbd"
 Option "CoreKeyboard"
 Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
 Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
 Option "XkbLayout" "gb"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
 Identifier "Configured Mouse"
 Driver "mouse"
 Option "CorePointer"
 Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
 Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
 Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
 Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver "wacom"
  Identifier "stylus"
  Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
                                                      # /dev/input/event
                                                      # for USB
  Option "Type" "stylus"
  Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver "wacom"
  Identifier "eraser"
  Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
                                                      # /dev/input/event
                                                      # for USB
  Option "Type" "eraser"
  Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver "wacom"
  Identifier "cursor"
  Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
                                                      # /dev/input/event
                                                      # for USB
  Option "Type" "cursor"
  Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
End...

[Jessica Doyle (jlhdoyle)]

Rather than create a new bug, I'll say I've been having this same problem for a week or so (IBM Thinkpad T40 running single-boot Feisty, kernel version 2.6.20-16-generic #2 SMP). It has happened both when I try to bring my laptop out of hibernation and when I've just left it running and stepped away for a bit, but it has yet to happen when there's been any recent (within last 5 minutes) activity.

xorg.conf below.

Thanks for your help with this, Bryce (et al.).
Jessica

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the /etc/X11/xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man /etc/X11/xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi"
 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi"
 FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
 # path to defoma fonts
 FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
 Load "i2c"
 Load "bitmap"
 Load "ddc"
 Load "dri"
 Load "extmod"
 Load "freetype"
 Load "glx"
 Load "int10"
 Load "type1"
 Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
 Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
 Driver "kbd"
 Option "CoreKeyboard"
 Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
 Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
 Option "XkbLayout" "us"
 Option "XkbOptions" "lv3:ralt_switch"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
 Identifier "Configured Mouse"
 Driver "mouse"
 Option "CorePointer"
 Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
 Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
 Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
 Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
 Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
 Driver "synaptics"
 Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
 Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
 Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
 Option "HorizScrollDelta" "0"
        Option "SHMConfig" "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver "wacom"
  Identifier "stylus"
  Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
                                                      # /dev/input/event
                                                      # for USB
  Option "Type" "stylus"
  Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver "wacom"
  Identifier "eraser"
  Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
                                                      # /dev/input/event
                                                      # for USB
  Option "Type" "eraser"
  Option ...

[Jessica Doyle (jlhdoyle)]

sorry. also:

when I run
discover --disable=serial,parallel,usb,ide,scsi --format="%V %M\t%S\t%D\n" video
 I get:

The program 'discover' can be found in the following packages:
 * discover1
 * discover
Try: sudo apt-get install <selected package>
Make sure you have the 'universe' component enabled
bash: discover: command not found

My screensaver was previously OpenGL Euphoria. I disabled the "Start automatically" option (without changing the chosen screensaver), but the problem continued.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Jessica, thanks for confirming the bug.

It sounds sort of like an issue with the screensaver. There had been a known bug with certain binary drivers which resulted in 3D (OpenGL) screensavers causing lockups like this. Does this sound plausible?

Alternately, we've had some reports of problems with video drivers, and I notice both of you are using ati cards. Could you each post the output from 'lspci -vv' so we can compare to see if you happen to have the same hardware?

[Mackenzie Morgan (maco.m)]

Is just Xorg not responding, or is the kernel unresponsive too? Can you hit ctrl+alt+f1 and get a virtual terminal? If you do that, what do you see? Is it a normal virtual terminal, or a mess? I'm having trouble where Xorg goes dead (monitor says no signal), but the kernel still responds enough to take me to the virtual terminal which looks like the mess that results from running "cat /dev/urandom"

[Duane (duane-e164)]

Not 100% sure if I'm having the same problem or not as it only started to occur after I upgraded to gutsy xubuntu, but I have the following problem and it sounds very similar.

I have the screensaver app set to blank and lock the screen after 10 minutes, and most of the time I can press a key or move the mouse and the password box appears, I type in the password and off I go. However every so often, I'm not sure if it's only when I shut the lid on my laptop or after a certain amount of time has passed but the computer becomes unresponsive at least as far as accepting a password.

I can hit ctrl+alt+f1 to switch to a console, and ctrl+alt+f7 to switch back to X, but it doesn't matter what I do I can't get back to "normal".

After killing gnome-screensaver from the console I can see my system etc the way I left it, but the mouse and other things (alt+tab) are still disabled because of the screensaver. Although I'm usually able to move mouse so that might be something else.

On the mouse thing still, I was trying to salvage my existing session and loaded a second X and when I switched back to the first instance where the mouse was on the second it also appears the mouse moved to the same location on the first.

[Duane (duane-e164)]

Ok same thing has happened twice more and I was playing around in console to try and figure out how to "unlock" the screen so everything would work again and I suceeded finally!

Here's all you need to do, switch to a console, login under the user logged in and type the following 3 commands:

export DISPLAY=:0.0
xscreensaver-command -restart
xscreensaver-command -lock

Then I hit ctrl+f7, the screen was locked and I simply logged in and everything was working. While this is deff annoying at least it isn't a complete lockup and can be recovered from.

[Ricardo (guarnero)]

Upgraded to 7.10 - everything loaded perfectly - menus were present and then I received option for "load restricted drivers" for graphics card (ATI 400). Installed drivers, rebooted and black screen came up. None of the fixes on the forums worked. Finally reverted back to 7.4. Is there an issue with Ubuntu and certain graphics cards that is causing this problem?

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Keith: you probably hit the bug where openoffice makes X hang. There's an update coming soon.

[Ricardo (guarnero)]

Thank you. I reloaded the system and it's been working great.

On Jan 11, 2008 4:30 PM, Timo Aaltonen <email address hidden> wrote:

> *** This bug is a duplicate of bug 113679 ***
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/113679
>
> Keith: you probably hit the bug where openoffice makes X hang. There's
> an update coming soon.
>
> ** This bug has been marked a duplicate of bug 113679
> xorg freezes when running openoffice
>
> --
> Screen goes blank and computer becomes unresponsive.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/119688
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

--
Ricardo Guarnero
Cafe Rozella
9434 Delridge Way SW
Seattle, WA 98106
[phone]
<email address hidden>
www.caferozella.com

[borghi (borghi)]

I am using an Acer Travelmate 6592G, with ubuntu 10.04.
After a certain time after boot, the screen fades white in ten seconds, and I need to reboot in order to be able to go on working.
What is happening?
I did not have this problem with the previous version of Ubuntu, the 9.10

Giovanni

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 04:45:08PM -0000, borghi wrote:
> *** This bug is a duplicate of bug 113679 ***
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/113679
>
> I am using an Acer Travelmate 6592G, with ubuntu 10.04.
> After a certain time after boot, the screen fades white in ten seconds, and I need to reboot in order to be able to go on working.
> What is happening?

Probably a power management related issue, rather than X.

> I did not have this problem with the previous version of Ubuntu, the 9.10

Re-test against natty 11.04 (e.g. using a livecd environment or
liveusb), and if the issue still occurs file a new bug report:

  $ ubuntu-bug gnome-power-manager