[gm45] L-shaped memory with invalid swizzling

[Alexander Lindo]

I have been having an issue with garbled graphics on an ASUS K50IJ Laptop with Intel GMA X4500 integrated graphics.

It is a difficult bug to recreate in a timely fashion as it requires you to be on the system for a decent amount of time (like an hour, sometimes less). Usage scenario to recreate this bug: would be to gradually build up to 10 Firefox or Google Chrome tabs. Minimize the applications, Open a 4000x3000 pixel photo in GIMP, do some editing. After using the computer for a while, go to the launcher and click Firefox or Chrome. Close Firefox or Chrome and then close GIMP. Firefox will take a while to close and while the hard drive is loading, the screen will suddenly become garbled.

I've been a user of Ubuntu since version 6.06 (Dapper Drake) and have been using it exclusively on this laptop since version 12.04. I have not had this issue until 14.04.

Logging out and back in, after which the graphics are back to normal. I also checked to see if it was a memory issue but System Monitor does not appear to display such an issue.

WORKAROUND: Add the following to /etc/default/grub and update grub:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="mem=2616mb”

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+1ubuntu8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-34.60-generic 3.13.11.4
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-34-generic x86_64
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.3
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Tue Aug 19 14:34:16 2014
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: trusty
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1862]
   Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1862]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-08-07 (12 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2)
MachineType: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. K50IJ
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.13.0-34-generic root=/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-root ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 12/04/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 217
dmi.board.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.board.name: K50IJ
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr217:bd12/04/2009:svnASUSTeKComputerInc.:pnK50IJ:pvr1.0:rvnASUSTeKComputerInc.:rnK50IJ:rvr1.0:cvnASUSTeKComputerInc.:ct10:cvr1.0:
dmi.product.name: K50IJ
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.11.2+14.04.20140714-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.52-1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 10.1.3-0ubuntu0.1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 10.1.3-0ubuntu0.1
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.8.2-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.3.0-1ubuntu3.1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.910-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.10-1ubuntu2
xserver.bootTime: Tue Aug 19 09:31:11 2014
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors:

xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:
 product id 488
 vendor LGD
xserver.version: 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2

[Chris Wilson (ickle)]

L-shaped memory on gm45 chipset and the bug shows the same symptoms of broken swizzling after paging out.

[Alexander Lindo (alexanderlindo)]

Yes, I confirm this to be an issue with swapping. Disabling swap resolves the issue of garbled graphics at the memory peak level. If you're running a computer with enough ram, the swap partition can permanently be disabled by adding "swapoff -a" to "/etc/rc.local"

This is merely just a workaround. Hope it gets fixed soon.

[Alexander Lindo (alexanderlindo)]

I have managed to find a more suitable fix, one which could easily be implemented for other systems using this graphics chip or similar. The Intel X4500 graphics chip does not have dedicated memory for graphics and thus relies on the system memory. From my testing it would appear that Ubuntu by default does not allocate any permanent memory for this graphics chip and thus when a user depletes the the system memory, graphics card suffers as well, hence the graphics distortion.

The logical fix for this is to allot permanent memory for the graphics chip and have the rest available to the OS. This is done by editing grub: "sudo gedit /etc/default/grub" and reducing the amount of ram available to the system. I have 3 GB RAM and the x4500 is said to use up to 384, so 3000-384 = 2616 therefore we place the following line in grub using gedit: "GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="mem=2616

When we are done we type "sudo update-grub" in the terminal.

Restart and the problem does not occur anymore.

By limiting the OS to 2616mb ram we are ensuring that it does not tamper with the RAM we have dedicated to the graphics chip. This not not only fixes the graphics distortion issues but also appears to improve performance of the OS overall. Before this implementation I would have to log out once every half hour or less and sometimes restart. With this implementation I have had this pc running for 3 days non stop with out issues.

The original website regarding the GRUB fix is here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsVideoCardsPoulsbo

[Alexander Lindo (alexanderlindo)]

This bug is still very much present and has worsened in Ubuntu 14.10. Follow the above workarounds (especially comment #3, as comment #4 seems to be less helpful on 14.10 ). This bug needs to be fixed.

[Alexander Lindo (alexanderlindo)]

RE: Comment #5: Comment #4 still helps on Ubuntu 14.10.

[Alexander Lindo (alexanderlindo)]

I installed Ubuntu 14.10. After about 5 minutes of browsing the web, I noticed the garbled graphics. This proved that the situation with the integrated Intel x4500 graphics has worsened. As I was aware of what caused the issue in 14.04, I disabled the swap partition by adding “swapoff -a” to the “/etc/rc.local” configuration file. I rebooted, and tried the process again. It worked for a while but as the RAM began to deplete I was still faced with the same issue of garbled graphics.

I went back to the “/etc/rc.local” configuration file and removed the “swapoff -a” option. I remembered in 14.04 that editing the “/etc/default/grub” configuration file to reserve RAM for the graphics card helped tremendously while I was on 14.04. As I stated previously, the Intel x4500 graphics chip is said to steal up to 384 MB of the systems RAM (Source: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Graphics-Media-Accelerator-4500MHD-GMA-X4500MHD.9883.0.html). Before I had alloted this amount, which did help a great amount. However, occasionally when the RAM began to deplete and the SWAP was used, I was still faced with the issue of garbled graphics.

I decided to ignore the spec sheets written for the mobile x4500 graphics chip and went with the one present in the desktop version (http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5G41CM_LX/specifications/). I edited the grub configuration file to reserve 1GB of RAM (See comment #4 for more details on how to configure GRUB). This RAM would be invisible to Ubuntu while running and thus would not be disturbed when memory available to the OS becomes depleted. For my test, I ran the computer for over 3 hours, opened many Firefox tabs, visited many content rich websites; websites that I know would eat RAM. I watched as the RAM depleted. The computer gradually became slower, and processor usage increased as expected. The SWAP usage was increasing, I continued, as I maxed out the RAM, the SWAP usage increased but NO GARBLED GRAPHICS. I randomly opened other applications, like Ardour 3 with a 50+ track session, Hydrogen Drum Machine, LibreOffice writer, Thunderbird. I continued until the the SWAP was almost maxed out and the computer became unbearable to use.

Finally, I closed Firefox. This process would, under normal circumstances instantly cause the entire screen to become garbled, as the OS begins to flush the RAM and SWAP cache, restoring persistent files temporarily stored in the SWAP back to the RAM. I watched the System Monitor as the RAM and SWAP cache was restored. I viewed the dash (an area that always became corrupt graphically). There was no corruption anywhere. The speed of the computer was returned once the the RAM was restored. In the past, with garbled graphics, the computer would become unbearable to use, you would not be able to log out, you would have to shut down. All functions were intact.

In conclusion and partly supporting my previous comments above. This is not so much an issue with Swapping as it is an issue with what is being Swapped. Before reserving that 1GB of RAM, Ubuntu would use all memory available to the system as RAM depleted, before using the SWAP partition (editing the SWAPiness has little to no effect on...

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

The attachment "Document containing the Solution to Intel x4500 Garbled Graphics" seems to be a patch. If it isn't, please remove the "patch" flag from the attachment, remove the "patch" tag, and if you are a member of the ~ubuntu-reviewers, unsubscribe the team.

[This is an automated message performed by a Launchpad user owned by ~brian-murray, for any issues please contact him.]

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Alexander Lindo, as per https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/K50IJ/HelpDesk_Download/ an update to your computer's buggy and outdated BIOS is available (218). If you update to this following https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BIOSUpdate does it change anything?

If it doesn't, could you please both specify what happened, and provide the output of the following terminal command:
sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date

For more on BIOS updates and linux, please see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Bug_reporting_etiquette .

Please note your current BIOS is already in the Bug Description, so posting this on the old BIOS would not be helpful. As well, you don't have to create a new bug report.

Once the BIOS is updated, if the problem is still reproducible, and the information above is provided, then please mark this report Status New. Otherwise, please mark this as Invalid.

Thank you for your understanding.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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