[gutsy, hardy] Blank screen on Intel 830 laptop using intel driver

[Shaun Crampton]

Binary package hint: xserver-xorg

I installed the Gutsy beta on my Toshiba Satellite 3000-X4 laptop (intel i830 chipset). X worked fine after running the configure script. I then updated via update manager, and now I get a blank screen when I start X (gdm is running because I can log in by typing blind and then VT switch to a console). From the logs, it seems that X is trying to use the wrong refresh rate or screen resolution, even though I have an explicit
 "Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480""
line in xorg.conf.

I've tried this using the Intel driver.

-Shaun

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

Here's the Xorg log for an unsuccessful run. My laptop has a 1024x768 screen so the higher res modes seem inappropriate.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

Ah, it seems to work with the i810 driver instead, but I'm sure it worked at first with the (auto detected) intel driver.

[Albert Damen (albrt)]

An update to xresprobe was published yesterday which may be related to this bug.
Previously xresprobe would not use ddcprobe in this configuration, but after yesterday's update ddcprobe will be used.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

"$sudo xresprobe intel" gives me 1280x768 (WRONG)
"$sudo xresprobe i810" gives me 1024x768 (CORRECT)

Is there any way to work around this problem? The i810 driver is much more flakey on this PC than the intel driver. I'd really like to get the intel driver back.

[Albert Damen (albrt)]

You could try to revert to the old xresprobe version and see if that works. You can do that in synaptic:
- select the xresprobe package
- in the menu choose package, then force version
- in the dialog select the old (ubuntu4) xresprobe
then apply and try what sudo xresprobe intel says.

If that gives the right response you may also be able to get X running with the intel driver again.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

Unfortunately, the ubuntu4 version gives the same result :-(

[Albert Damen (albrt)]

Thanks for testing Shaun, sorry it didn't work. I hope you find a solution soon.
Based on your results I will mark xresprobe as invalid.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

I've added the intel driver as the probable source of the bug. Since "xresprobe i810" gives the correct result, it suggests the intel driver itself is to blame.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

Here's the part of the log that looks relevant to the problem. It appears that the VESA 1024x768 modes are rejected for some reason, then the 1280x768 modeline come from nowhere (the intel driver maybe?). X then decides to use that (final line).

(II) intel(0): EDID for output LVDS
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "640x350" (vrefresh out of range)
<snip/>
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1024x768" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1024x768" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1024x768" (vrefresh out of range)
<snip/>
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "2048x1536" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Printing probed modes for output LVDS
(II) intel(0): Modeline "1280x800"x60.0 83.46 1280 1344 1480 1680 800 801 804 828 (49.7 kHz)
(II) intel(0): Modeline "1280x768"x60.0 80.14 1280 1344 1480 1680 768 769 772 795 (47.7 kHz)
(II) intel(0): Modeline "1024x768"x60.0 65.00 1024 1048 1184 1344 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync (48.4 kHz)
(II) intel(0): Modeline "800x600"x60.3 40.00 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync (37.9 kHz)
(II) intel(0): Modeline "640x480"x59.9 25.18 640 656 752 800 480 490 492 525 -hsync -vsync (31.5 kHz)
(II) intel(0): Output VGA disconnected
(II) intel(0): Output LVDS connected
(II) intel(0): Output LVDS using initial mode 1280x768

[Albert Damen (albrt)]

Shaun, bug 147846 may be the same issue as you have.
Could you try to downgrade package xserver-xorg-core to the previous version (probably ubuntu6) and test again?

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

I'll try the downgrade if I can find the old deb (doesn't show in synaptic), but I notice from the changelog that the only change from ubuntu6->ubuntu7 was to drop a patch related to determining resolution on intel hardware. Looks like that change fixes some people's issues (LP #144956) but causes mine.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

Downgrading to xserver core ubuntu5 solves the problem. X works fine with the intel driver and xresprobe reports the correct values.

[Albert Damen (albrt)]

OK, I will mark this bug as duplicate of bug 147846.
Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide, or to see if there is a workaround for the bug. Additionally any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report. Feel free to continue to report any other bugs you may find.

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Unduping, since you have an intel.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

Still a problem in Hardy Alpha 3.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

Why is the report incomplete? What else do you require?

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

Still a problem in Hardy Alpha 4.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

From Bug 147846:

"The reason why that patch helped was that it allowed you to use Modes -settings even though the drivers are randr-1.2 capable. If you don't get the correct resolution out-of-the-box, then it's a bug in the driver or your monitor/panel reports bogus EDID information which means that the setting need to be forced. See http://wiki.debian.org/XStrikeForce/HowToRandR12"

I'll give the RandR workaround (that forces the preferred mode) a shot.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

Unfortunately, I'm still having no luck:

I booted into single user mode from the hardy CD; edited the xorg.conf as per the instructions above and then ran "startx -- :0". I'd expect to at least see a mouse pointer on screen, but I still got a blank screen.

The Xorg.0.log file says that the mode I've added (1024x768@60, I also tried 640x480) is being used on the LVDS output (which should be the laptop panel, it's the only connected display). Before it said that 1280x768 (which is too high for the screen) was being used.

The extract from the log that makes me think it's trying to use the correct mode is below:

(**) intel(0): Option "PreferredMode" "1024x768_60.00"
(II) intel(0): I2C device "DVODDC_D:ddc2" registered at address 0xA0.
(II) intel(0): I2C device "DVODDC_D:ddc2" removed.
(II) intel(0): Output VGA disconnected
(II) intel(0): Output LVDS connected
(II) intel(0): Output LVDS using initial mode 1024x768_60.00
(II) intel(0): Monitoring connected displays enabled

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Forwarded from https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/147189

Logfile shows that it's trying to use the correct mode, but the screen is blank.

Full log:

http://launchpadlibrarian.net/11779436/Xorg.0.log.2008-02-05_H4_XRandR

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

I've forwarded this upstream. Please register at bugs.freedesktop.org and subscribe to the bug, and provide more information when they ask for it.

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Please try the latest driver from the archive (2.2.0.90). It seems that the past week has seen a couple of changes to the code which could help here.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

I was the original reporter of the bug. Please give me a shout if I can help.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

I've tested 2.2.0.90 and it just worked. Looks like this bug has already been fixed. Cheers.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

I installed the 2.2.0.90 intel driver after booting the Hardy Alpha 4 live CD into single user mode. I then changed xorg.conf to use the intel driver and ran "startx -- :0" and *it just worked*. Thanks for all your help.

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Great news, closing the bug!

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

Just a question for future usage of this driver. will it be necessary to alter the xorg.conf according to Shaun Crampton'S advice?
When I use modelines in my "xorg.conf" then switching the resolution with "resapplet" - the resulution switcher - does not work any more. Switching to 800x600 results in a "800x600 within 1024x768" screen.

I had the same issues on an i830M (Intel Corporation 82830 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller] (rev 04)) on a Thinpad R31 machine.

hardy alpha 4 (fresh harddisk installation) && apt-get upgrade
xserver-xorg-video-intel Version: 2:2.2.0.90-2ubuntu2
linux-image-generic Version: 2.6.24.7.7

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

Addendum: Forgot to mention, that the display is a 1024x768.
I disabled compiz, only using DRI.

Only with the procedure described in [bug #151044 - I had some severe problems getting the driver to work...] I can get X up and running - once it runs, it is stable.

[Shaun Crampton (fasaxc)]

With the driver that finally worked, everything was autodetected. I set the intel driver in xorg.conf but needed no other manual config (didn't specify any modes or modelines for my monitor).

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

The xorg.conf at http://launchpadlibrarian.net/11779441/xorg.conf.2008-02-05_H and attached to this bug is problematic for the following reason:
There cannot be Broken References:
{'Device': {}, 'InputDevice': {}, 'Screen': {}, 'Monitor': {'Configured Monitor': None}, 'ServerLayout': {}}