[amdgpu] Incomplete display of text

[Mark Burns]

Ubuntu release: 20.04.1

* What is expected to happen.

All gui text elements to display complete words.

* What actually happens.

Since a recent update, gui text displays incompletely.

I'm posting this with some difficulty from the affected system, but have noted similar issues being experienced by others and I share links below:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1328937/ubuntu-20-04-only-shows-half-text
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1329312/xubuntu-20-04-incomplete-words
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1329059/on-the-desktop-xfce-displays-text-incorrectly
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1332354/ubuntu-20-04-is-showing-a-bad-text

The issues above seem to suggest the the issue may lie with the AMD graphics driver, although in my case I think I am using the 'radeon' open source driver.

The issue occurs regardless of me use the current or previous kernel version installed.

Please let me know if there is any more information that I can provide, and I will do my best to get it to you.

Many thanks,
Mark.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+19ubuntu14
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-72.80-generic 5.4.101
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-72-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.16
Architecture: amd64
BootLog: Error: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/var/log/boot.log'
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CompositorRunning: None
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Sat Apr 24 12:07:35 2021
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: focal
DistroVariant: ubuntu
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Richland [Radeon HD 8570D] [1002:990e] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Richland [Radeon HD 8570D] [1043:8526]
MachineType: NOVATECH LTD MBB-66004G
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_GB:en
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.4.0-72-generic root=/dev/mapper/vgubuntu-root ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 05/03/2013
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 6102
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: F2A55-M LK
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev X.0x
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: NOVATECH LTD
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr6102:bd05/03/2013:svnNOVATECHLTD:pnMBB-66004G:pvr1.0:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnF2A55-MLK:rvrRevX.0x:cvnNOVATECHLTD:ct3:cvr:
dmi.product.family: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.product.name: MBB-66004G
dmi.product.sku: SKU
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: NOVATECH LTD
version.compiz: compiz N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.105-1ubuntu1~f~mesarc2
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 21.1.0~rc2+git2104212235.09d505a3ab7~f~mesarc2
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx N/A
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.20.9-2ubuntu1.2~20.04.2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:19.1.0-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20200226-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.16-1

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thank you for your bug report. Which packages did you upgrade when the issue started? (the /var/log/dpkg.log record provides useful information there) Could you add your 'journalctl -b 0' log after getting the issue?

[Mark Burns (hiraethmarkb)]

The issue appears to have started around the 21st April, and apart from a couple of browser upgrades some misc packages, there appear to have been a number of Mesa related upgrades (see attached).

[Mark Burns (hiraethmarkb)]

> Could you add your 'journalctl -b 0' log after getting the issue?

See attached.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Could you try rolling back those updates see if resolves your issue?

[Mark Burns (hiraethmarkb)]

Certainly.

I might not be able get to it for a day or two, but will let you know how I get on.

Many thanks,
Mark.

On 27 April 2021 10:43:34 BST, Sebastien Bacher <email address hidden> wrote:
>Could you try rolling back those updates see if resolves your issue?
>
>--
>You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the
>bug
>report.
>https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1926009
>
>Title:
> Incomplete display of text
>
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Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

[Mark Burns (hiraethmarkb)]

I am happy to report that this issue looks to have been resolved.

The roll back took a bit of time to do, and I am still not sure that I did it fully correctly. However it did the trick.

I also note that there were some subsequent updates to both the Mesa libraries, and xserver-xorg-video-amdgpu driver, amongst which was a fix.

Thank you, Sebastien, for all your help. it is very much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Mark.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thanks, now could you try to update again tjhe amdgpu binary to see if the issue is in this one so we know to which package to reassign?

[Mark Burns (hiraethmarkb)]

Yes, of course leave this with me and I'll report back later.

[Mark Burns (hiraethmarkb)]

Ok I have been able to rollback the xserver-xorg-video-amdgpu package from 19.1.0+git2104271106.aedbf47~f~mesarc0 to 19.1.0-1, and can confirm that the issue didn't reappear.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

It appears 'amdgpu' is the wrong driver for this system. 'radeon' is the correct driver. Maybe you had a config file that was forcefully loading the wrong one?

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Also you have unsupported graphics packages installed, one of which was the package you rolled back.

In future please ensure you are not using any PPAs before reporting bugs to Ubuntu.

[Mark Burns (hiraethmarkb)]

You are right, I had forgotten about the PPA and hadn't paid close
enough attention when posting the bug originally.

Please accept my apologies.