linux-firmware 1.79.7 causes visual artifacts with nVidia displays

[Joshua Kugler]

After upgrading to 1.79.7, I began noticing visual artifacts on my screen. Light blue or light green streaks, sometimes in patterns, sometimes somewhat random. I also began getting environment lockups (especially during flash video play) with messages in the syslog like:

Oct 19 20:03:27 hosanna kernel: [130892.932466] NVRM: Xid (0000:01:00): 8, Channel 00000001
Oct 19 20:03:43 hosanna kernel: [130908.918695] NVRM: Xid (0000:01:00): 8, Channel 00000001

By environment lockups, I mean the video would stop, and I couldn't click on any windows, or use the keyboard, but I could still move the mouse around.

This behavior did not start until after I did a sleep and wake up after the upgrade.

I forced a downgrade, slept the laptop, woke up, and so far I can play flash video without lockups, and have yet to see any visual artifacts.

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS
Release: 12.04
Codename: precise

lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b5)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b5)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev b5)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b5)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM67 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF116M [GeForce GT 560M] (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GF116 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
02:00.0 USB controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 04)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: JMicron Technology Corp. JMC250 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 05)
03:00.1 System peripheral: JMicron Technology Corp. SD/MMC Host Controller (rev 90)
03:00.2 SD Host controller: JMicron Technology Corp. Standard SD Host Controller (rev 90)
03:00.3 System peripheral: JMicron Technology Corp. MS Host Controller (rev 90)
04:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6230 [Rainbow Peak] (rev 34)
05:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): JMicron Technology Corp. IEEE 1394 Host Controller (rev 30)

Marking as a security issue since the update was a security update, thus downgrading causes a security issue.

Currently running nvidia-current 295.40-0ubuntu1 due to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-graphics-drivers/+bug/1182674

[Seth Arnold (seth-arnold)]

Thanks for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. We appreciate the difficulties you are facing, but this appears to be a "regular" (non-security) bug. I have unmarked it as a security issue since this bug does not show evidence of allowing attackers to cross privilege boundaries nor directly cause loss of data/privacy. Please feel free to report any other bugs you may find.

[Joshua Kugler (jkugler)]

OK, Thanks for the update!

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[and003 (and03)]

I seem to have a similar problem with the installation of Ubuntu 19.10 on my computer ... an installation I performed today. I don't know if it's a firmware issue, but I am adding a screen grab of my own.