Screen blanks permanently on Toshiba Satellite 1800 during 7.10 Live CD bootup or full installation

[Richard]

Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.22

I've been attempting to install Xubuntu and Ubuntu 7.10 on my Toshiba Satellite 1800 (PIII 850MHz with 256MB RAM) laptop which has a Trident CyberBlade graphics controller with AGP bus and 8Mb memory.

The installation process stops after some time with just a blank screen and flashing cursor being displayed. It seems to me to be a graphic driver issue as I've seen mention on forums of this causing problems (especially on laptops) and the installation progress window, titled 'Select and Install Software' had been showing references to 'video' immediately prior to the failure so I assume it was selecting and installing a video driver.

I've had Ubuntu 7.04 successfully running on this laptop, and have attempted 7.10 installation many times and have removed all the HD partitions before most attempts. Things I've done include:
- Tried the 'alternate' versions of Xubuntu and Ubuntu and the problem occurs at the same stage for both.
- Run 7.04 as a live CD while 7.10 has been the installed OS and the 7.04 displays OK, but the 7.10 won't.
- Tried an 'upgrade' using the Xubuntu 7.10 alternate CD to update the installed Xubuntu 7.04, with no internet connected. The update process was completed with all new files installed and obsolete files removed and the display still OK, but once the obligatory restart was perform I again had no display.
- I did an md5sum on the Xubuntu 7.10 'alternate' downloaded file, and I've also run both CD's 'live' on other computers, so I'm happy that the CD's are OK.
- Attempted to 'upgrade' 7.04 using Synaptic and the process completes without error until the computer is restarted at the end, when the blank screen returns.
- Selecting 'Safe Graphics Mode' at the start of the install doesn't help.
- Since the failures of 7.10 I've reinstalled Ubuntu 7.04 and Xubuntu 7.04 and both still have a functioning display.
- Currently I've reverted to Xubuntu 7.04 and won't attempt 7.10 further unless there is a resolution to this problem

On one occasion I did a fresh install of the command line version of Xubuntu from the alternate CD, after which I installed and ran Lynx web browser (just to prove that something worked OK). I then entered the command 'sudo aptitude install xubuntu-desktop' (because I found it on a post somewhere and it looked like it might add the gui). I haven't a clue what 'aptitude' refers to but it ran for about 45 minutes and appeared to have finished OK. Then when I booted I got with the error message "Failed to start the X server (your graphical interface). It is likely it is not set up correctly." The X server output states
"/etc/gdm/failsafeXServer: line 47 [: too many arguments
Warning: Could not retrieve EDID because get-edid is not installed"
and the o/s reverts to the command line format.

Why has 7.10 taken a backwards step in not supporting a display that it used to?

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

The Hardy Heron Alpha2 release will be coming out soon. It will have an updated version of the kernel. It would be great if you could test with this new release and verify if this issue still exists. I'll be sure to update this report when Alpha2 is available. Thanks!

[Richard (rwalker-clear)]

Thanks Leann. Do you know when it may be coming out? In a few days I'll be away from broadband internet access for about 3 weeks so won't be able to download sizeable files (and apart from that I haven't ever tried dial-up on my Linux laptop), but if it is due for release before December 27 then I'll keep a close lookout for it.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Hi Richard,

It's actually supposed to be out today, I'm just not sure when exactly. You can maybe keep and eye on the following link. Thanks!

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/hardy/

[Richard (rwalker-clear)]

Hi Leann

There is no improvement. I've downloaded the PC (Intel x86) alternate install CD (as I have only 256MB RAM) and installed Hardy Heron Alpha2 onto my Toshiba Laptop so that it has the dual boot options of that or 7.04. The new kernel is shown as 2.6.24-2 in the boot options list. However the symptoms are still the same - when the colour loading bar fills up then the screen goes blank forever. When I use cont-alt-del the display returns as the coloured segments finish returning to dark. When I start 7.04 (kernel 2.6.20-16) after re-booting the computer works fine.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Thanks for testing Richard. Per the kernel team's bug policy, can you please attach the following information:

* uname -a > uname-a.log
* cat /proc/version_signature > version.log
* dmesg > dmesg.log
* sudo lspci -vvnn > lspci-vvnn.log

Please be sure to attach each file as a separate attachment. For more information regarding the kernel team bug policy, please refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies . Thanks again and we appreciate your help and feedback.

[Tom McCullough (thomas-mccullough)]

I have a satellite 1805-253 (very similar, trident cyberbladei1 850Mhz piii, etc) I have the exact same results. The system is actually working minus the display, because I can go into reboot by CTRL-ALT-DEL then enter. I cannot switch to a console with CTL-ALT-F1 - 6. I had the same results from the testing net-install disc for debian. (lenny) debian etch worked fine as did 7.04. init level 1 works fine. if you want any log outputs, I can post them.
I have 7.10 on my desktop and I am very impressed.
tom................

[Richard (rwalker-clear)]

I'm away from my Ubuntu Satellite for another 2 weeks or so and then I'll need to figure out how to obtain and attach the requested information so you are most welcome to do so yourself Tom.

[Tom McCullough (thomas-mccullough)]

Attached are the four log files requested. note that the dmesg log is from run level 1 since the computer is not usable in normal boot. I tried blindly typing into a console by ctrl+alt+f1 then root<enter> password<enter> dmesg >dmesg1.log, but got nothing. Then ctrl+alt+del followed by <enter> and the computer tries to reboot. The reboot function never has worked. It does display the shutdown splash screen at the end of the shutdown. It is noteworthy that the same results are obtained with the old kernel (2.6.20-16-generic) after the distribution upgrade to 7.10. Prior to the upgrade the computer worked perfectly other than the reboot problem. That is a minor nuisance but might be a topic for another bug report. I have tried noapic and nolapic as boot options with no change. I tried lapic once also as the dmesg output suggests that. Also using vga=791 is not working after the upgrade. It worked fine for the consoles with the 7.04 install. Now the screen goes blank immediately at boot. I can type blindly in run level 1 <root password><enter> followed by halt shuts the computer off. If there is anything else I can do to help, let me know. I would like to save my installation since it take about six hours to download. I have the 7.04 and 7.10 i386 net install disks with good md5sums. the 7.10 disc fails the same way as the upgraded system boot.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Thanks Tom. I've seen other bug reports regarding the reboot issue. I can't remember the bug numbers off the top of my head, but you might want to look into it. Also regarding the vga=xxx issue, that's already been reported here: http://launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/+source/linux/+bug/129910 . Regarding this bug report, I don't suppose you'd be able to capture the dmesg output from the newer Hardy Alpha2 kernel (2.6.24)? It contains an updated version of the kernel and is actively being worked on right now. It would be more useful for the development team to have logs against the more recent kernel. You can download and try the new Hardy Heron Alpha2 release from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/hardy/alpha-2/ . You should be able to then test the new kernel via the LiveCD. Thanks!

[Tom McCullough (thomas-mccullough)]

I have the hardy alpha-2 liveCD now and I am getting virtually the same effects. I tried it in an HP desktop with a celeron processor and it worked ok. In the Satellite laptop, it still fails to initialize X. I booted without quiet and splash and the only fail I saw was avahi (sp?) If I'm correct, that has to do with wireless, right? after starting GDM, several more lines are displayed, crond is one, I didn't see the others. Then the screen blanks and no console switching, no X, same as before. I will play around some more, and if there is anything specific I can do, let me know.
I'll try to boot into run level 1 and copy the logs to a thumb drive. Post tomorrow hopefully.

[Tom McCullough (thomas-mccullough)]

here are the logs from a run level 1 boot of hardy alpha-2

[Tom McCullough (thomas-mccullough)]

Work was slow today so I compiled a 2.6.22 kernel that works on the toshiba satellite 1805-s253. I used the tarball from http://packages.ubuntu.com/gutsy/source/linux-source-2.6.22 I have attached the config file. hope this helps. the only thing I modified after the working kernel is to add the wireless LAN support I forgot to activate! I have a USB zd1211b based belkin adapter and also an orinoco based pc card with a brand name I won't mention!! I don't think those changes will break the kernel, but I didn't have time to recompile. It took almost four hours on my toshiba. someday I'll learn to compile for the laptop on the desk monster. (amd athlon64 dual core 3500+).

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

This report will remain open against the actively developed kernel and will be closed against linux-source-2.6.22. Thanks!

[Daniel Dickinson (cshore)]

Here's comments from a bug report I made before I found this one that might be helpful

That bug is here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg/+bug/223774

In Gutsy it was possible get the display on a Toshiba Satellite 1800 (which I'm putting together for an group I'm part of) working by editing the Device section of of /etc/X11/xorg.conf to have Option "NoDDC" "true". This no longer works in Hardy and thus the laptop is a paperweight with Hardy. (vesa driver doesn't work either, for either)

The display adaptor built into the laptop is a Trident CyberBlade/i1

A fresh install of Hardy does not solve the problem. Only reverting to Gutsy and editing xorg.conf does.

In fact for Gutsy it is necessary to install an xorg.conf that has NoDDC before the initial installation of xserver.org is made or else the installer hangs with a blank screen during the configuration of that package.

This makes Ubuntu unsuitable for distribution with this laptop as it'd be far too easy for someone to end up with a non-working system, and depending on who gets it (it's a donation that's being raffled off), I may not be close enough to support the end user in case of trouble.

[Damian Melniczuk (quantumdamage)]

I use hardy with kernel 2.6.24-16-generic and still have this problem. Any clue?

[Azurit3 (azurit3)]

I have a laptop(Compaq 1201EA) that had XP installed until today, running with no problem.

As I'm using mainly Ubuntu 8.04 in my Desktop since it came out, and I'm enjoying it, so I decided to install it in the laptop too.

I tried to install Ubuntu 8.04 with the x86 live CD,

but found the laptop monitor will hang.

Hoping in text mode the problem didn't exist, I downloaded the x86 alternate desktop CD to install in text mode, and installed Ubuntu without any problem.

The fist time my computer was booting the newly installed Ubuntu installation, the same problem occurred. The monitor hangs while starting Ubuntu, and it doesn't react to Ctr+Alt+F1 or Ctr+Alt+Backspace

to be able to start a session without gdm to crash I disable it, by booting in safe mode and:
update-rc.d -f gdm remove

after that I installed ssh server so I could login through my Desktop:
sudo apt-get install openssh-server

In my Desktop:
ssh 192.168.1.2
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install xresprobe
sudo apt-get install discover1
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-core-dbg
( tried to find xserver-xorg-video-trident-dbg but didn't found any. )
sudo update-rc.d -f gdm remove
sudo reboot

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf_bak

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
-----------------------
>Section "ServerFlags"
> Option "NoTrapSignals" "true"
>EndSection
-----------------------

sudo gdb /usr/bin/Xorg
(gdb) run -keeptty -dumbSched
-----------------------
Starting program: /usr/bin/Xorg -keeptty -dumbSched

[Thread debugging using libthread_db enabled]

This is a pre-release version of the X server from The X.Org Foundation.

It is not supported in any way.

Bugs may be filed in the bugzilla at http://bugs.freedesktop.org/.

Select the "xorg" product for bugs you find in this release.

Before reporting bugs in pre-release versions please check the

latest version in the X.Org Foundation git repository.

See http://wiki.x.org/wiki/GitPage for git access instructions.

X.Org X Server 1.4.0.90

Release Date: 5 September 2007

X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0

Build Operating System: Linux Ubuntu (xorg-server 2:1.4.1~git20080131-1ubuntu9)

Current Operating System: Linux laptop 2.6.24-16-generic #1 SMP Thu Apr 10 13:23:42 UTC 2008 i686

Build Date: 15 April 2008 05:26:17PM

 Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org

 to make sure that you have the latest version.

Module Loader present

Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,

 (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,

 (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.

(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Mon May 19 17:08:59 2008

(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"

[New Thread 0xb7c0b6b0 (LWP 5256)]

(II) Module "ramdac" already built-in

(II) Module "i2c" already built-in

(II) Module "ddc" already built-in

-----------------------

the last output was "ddc", It seems to get stuck in it
When I Ctr+C
-----------------------
Program received signal SIGINT, Interrupt.

[Switching to Thread 0xb7c0b6b0 (LWP 5256)]

0xb7acf3a6 in mmioReadST01 (hwp=0x821aa60) at ../../../../hw/xfree86...

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.