[vmwgfx] Update to mesa and xorg-server causes Cinnamon desktop to not render properly

[Vinay Sajip]

On a VMWare Workstation VM running Linux Mint 20.1 (64-bit) with Cinnamon 4.8.6 or Linux Mint 20.2 (64-bit) with Cinnamon 5.0.5, upgrading to a specific mesa and xorg-server version, followed by a system restart, led to the Cinnamon desktop not rendering correctly, such that the desktop was unusable. The rendering problem is that icons and menus are displayed as grey rectangles and it's not possible to see what they are.

I believe the problem is in one of these packages:

* mesa 21.0.3-0ubuntu0.2-20.04.1
* xorg-server 2:1.20.11-1ubuntu1-20.04.2

Restoring the system from backup, and then upgrading but omitting the above two updates and restarting, the system behaves as expected. It's not immediately clear which of these packages is causing the problem.
---
ProblemType: Bug
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.18
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: vinay 1218 F.... pulseaudio
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CurrentDesktop: X-Cinnamon
DistroRelease: Linux Mint 20.1
InstallationDate: Installed on 2021-01-30 (187 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Linux Mint 20.1 "Ulyssa" - Release amd64 20210103
IwConfig:
 lo no wireless extensions.

 ens33 no wireless extensions.

 tailscale0 no wireless extensions.
Lsusb:
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
 Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0e0f:0002 VMware, Inc. Virtual USB Hub
 Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0e0f:0003 VMware, Inc. Virtual Mouse
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Lsusb-t:
 /: Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=uhci_hcd/2p, 12M
     |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
     |__ Port 2: Dev 3, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/7p, 12M
 /: Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/6p, 480M
MachineType: VMware, Inc. VMware Virtual Platform
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcFB: 0 svgadrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.4.0-80-generic root=UUID=681c361f-49a2-4943-94c0-abb7554046f8 ro quiet splash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-80.90-generic 5.4.124
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-5.4.0-80-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-5.4.0-80-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.187.15
RfKill:

Tags: ulyssa
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-80-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 05/20/2014
dmi.bios.vendor: Phoenix Technologies LTD
dmi.bios.version: 6.00
dmi.board.name: 440BX Desktop Reference Platform
dmi.board.vendor: Intel Corporation
dmi.board.version: None
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 1
dmi.chassis.vendor: No Enclosure
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnPhoenixTechnologiesLTD:bvr6.00:bd05/20/2014:svnVMware,Inc.:pnVMwareVirtualPlatform:pvrNone:rvnIntelCorporation:rn440BXDesktopReferencePlatform:rvrNone:cvnNoEnclosure:ct1:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.name: VMware Virtual Platform
dmi.product.version: None
dmi.sys.vendor: VMware, Inc.

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better.

Please execute the following command only once, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:

apport-collect 1938998

When reporting bugs in the future please use apport by using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

Please note: `ubuntu-bug`, `apport` & bug reporting tools are provided with Ubuntu by default, many require manual addition for some releases of downstream OSes based on Ubuntu (eg. Linux Mint). You should check with your distribution first.

[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

apport information

[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

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[Simon Garrett (simongarrett)]

Just wondered if anyone might pursue this? Cinnamon on Ubuntu might be a minority sport, but I wonder if this problem indicates a problem in mesa or xorg-server.

[Ubuntu Kernel Bot (ubuntu-kernel-bot)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Since this was update-related and 5 months ago we should ask: Is the problem still present?

[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

Has this (now confirmed) problem been identified and fixed, and if so, which versions of the package(s) contain the fix? With this information, one could update to the version containing the fix and seeing if the system actually works as expected. I now generally turn off the updates for these packages when the update manager suggests them, as I don't want to interrupt my workflow by having to restore from backup if the fix isn't in there.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

The bug has not been confirmed by another human. That's just the status used by the kernel bot.

Since all the relevant packages (mesa, xorg-server and kernel) have been updated since this bug was logged we would appreciate it if you could retest.

If the problem still occurs then please consider:

 * Testing a newer kernel because you're currently on the old kernel series. You can change that with 'sudo apt install linux-generic-hwe-20.04'.

 * Reporting the problem to Cinnamon (https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon/issues) if it is specific to that environment.

[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

Ah, OK. I'll re-test and report back.

[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

I've checked, and the problem is still there. The update:

~ $ sudo apt upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  adobe-flashplugin libllvm11 libllvm11:i386
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following NEW packages will be installed
  libllvm12 libllvm12:i386 linux-headers-5.4.0-94 linux-headers-5.4.0-94-generic linux-image-5.4.0-94-generic linux-modules-5.4.0-94-generic linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-94-generic
The following packages will be upgraded:
  libegl-mesa0 libexiv2-27 libgbm1 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx libglapi-mesa:i386 libglapi-mesa libglx-mesa0 libglx-mesa0:i386
  liblightdm-gobject-1-0 libxatracker2 lightdm linux-generic linux-headers-generic linux-image-generic linux-libc-dev mesa-va-drivers mesa-vdpau-drivers mesa-vulkan-drivers
  mesa-vulkan-drivers:i386 xserver-common xserver-xephyr xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-legacy xwayland
27 to upgrade, 7 to newly install, 0 to remove and 0 not to upgrade.
10 standard security updates
Need to get 160 MB of archives.
After this operation, 634 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
Get:1 http://mirror.freethought-internet.co.uk/ubuntu focal-updates/universe amd64 lightdm amd64 1.30.0-0ubuntu4~20.04.2 [144 kB]
Get:2 http://mirror.freethought-internet.co.uk/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 libegl-mesa0 amd64 21.0.3-0ubuntu0.3~20.04.5 [96.2 kB]
Get:3 http://mirror.freethought-internet.co.uk/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 libgbm1 amd64 21.0.3-0ubuntu0.3~20.04.5 [28.7 kB]
Get:4 http://mirror.freethought-internet.co.uk/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 xserver-common all 2:1.20.13-1ubuntu1~20.04.2 [26.5 kB]
Get:5 http://mirror.freethought-internet.co.uk/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 xserver-xorg-legacy amd64 2:1.20.13-1ubuntu1~20.04.2 [32.2 kB]
Get:6 http://mirror.freethought-internet.co.uk/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 xserver-xorg-core amd64 2:1.20.13-1ubuntu1~20.04.2 [1,339 kB]
Get:7 http://mirror.freethought-internet.co.uk/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 libllvm12 amd64 1:12.0.0-3ubuntu1~20.04.4 [18.8 MB]
Get:8 http://mirror.freethought-internet.co.uk/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 libgl1-mesa-dri amd64 21.0.3-0ubuntu0.3~20.04.5 [10.5 MB]
Get:9 http://mirror.freethought-internet.co.uk/ubuntu focal-updates/main i386 libgl1-mesa-dri i386 21.0.3-0ubuntu0.3~20.04.5 [10.9 MB]
Get:10 http://mirror.freethought-internet.co.uk/ubuntu focal-updates/main i386 libllvm12 i386 1:12.0.0-3ubuntu1~20.04.4 [19.2 MB]
Get:11 http://mirror.freethought-internet.co.uk/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 libglx-mesa0 amd64 21.0.3-0ubuntu0.3~20.04.5 [138 kB]
Get:12 http://mirror.freethought-internet.co.uk/ubuntu focal-updates/main i386 libglx-mesa0 i386 21.0.3-0ubuntu0.3~20.04.5 [146 kB] ...

[Vinay Sajip (vinay-sajip-9)]

See attached screenshot.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thanks.

It looks like there's a basic texturing problem in OpenGL. Since that's done entirely in software for VMs, this should be assigned either to Mesa or to Cinnamon itself. I don't think we need to involve the kernel.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

This sounds related, but it was closed by Cinnamon blaming the graphics library:

https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon/issues/10067

and is now in:

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1956512