Calamares whole-window graphics glitch

[sem]

In calamares on the 22.04.3 liveISO, the screen goes black and the graphics glitch out when you move the mouse. This happens once you've checked that everything is ok, and press install. Before this, during the initial setup, I noticed minor pixel graphics noise similar to what I got in firefox, but it was still usable.

On Lubuntu 20.04 I have no graphics issues. I use nvidia-340 with a GT215 (GeForce GT 240). I am not sure which graphics driver was in use in the liveISO, but I also noticed graphics pixel noise in Firefox. I was not able to use the additional-drivers application on the LiveISO to specifiy the correct driver - it could find no additional drivers. However I was told on #lubuntu that this is expected behavior for the LiveISO.

Let me know if there is anything you'd like me to do to further test this (or maybe the graphics card is too old to bother ;)

Hardware Info:
https://linux-hardware.org/?probe=730493cca3

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

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

I suspect the issue relates to the linux kernel; rather than calamares.

The version of calamares initially used in Lubuntu 22.04 LTS was packaged as 3.2.41.1-0ubuntu4 (https://packages.ubuntu.com/jammy/calamares) but was updated to 3.2.61-0ubuntu0.1 (https://packages.ubuntu.com/jammy-updates/calamares) for later ISOs, due to install problems reported.

The kernel stack on 22.04(.4) ISOs will soon change from
- linux-image-generic-hwe-22.04 | 6.2.0.39.40~22.04.16 | jammy-security | amd64, arm64, armhf, ppc64el, s390x
to
- linux-image-generic-hwe-22.04 | 6.5.0.14.14~22.04.7 | jammy-proposed | amd64, arm64, armhf, ppc64el, s390x
which may alter the issue, but no change to calamares is expected.

The current version of calamares being modified is
- calamares | 3.3.0.0-0ubuntu4 | noble/universe | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, ppc64el, riscv64, s390x
which is available for test with the Lubuntu noble ISO, if problems are encountered with that, changes will be made. Current noble ISOs are using the 6.5 kernel, so you could test with that (if easily tested on your hardware), but 24.04 will not be released with the current 6.5 kernel (which I believe is what is causing your issue).

For this bug to be valuable, `apport-collect` should be run, but I won't suggest it, as I believe your issue is kernel (or more precisely kernel module - aka video driver) related, and not the installer code itself.

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.

[sem (semitones)]

Hi Chris,

Thank you for your follow up and tips. I did try booting from the noble alpha LiveISO, and the graphical glitch was NOT PRESENT in this version of Calamares. :)

The graphics pixel noise glitch is still present in firefox. Also, the calamares installation failed with an error message, which referenced snap and Element; while I tried to copy the error message, it appears that it did not copy. However I will still run ubuntu-bug on calamares hoping that will help.

Thanks!

[ԜаӀtеr Ⅼарсһуnѕkі (wxl)]

I bet you running in safe graphics mode solves the problem. Then make sure to install proprietary drivers and this should be a non-issue.

[sem (semitones)]

My graphics card is too old to have proprietary drivers in the repo (not
compatible with the kernel in 24.04 so not in the repos), but I solved the
issue by buying a newer graphics card.

On Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 18:06 ԜаӀtеr Ⅼарсһуnѕkі <email address hidden>
wrote:

> I bet you running in safe graphics mode solves the problem. Then make
> sure to install proprietary drivers and this should be a non-issue.
>
> ** Changed in: calamares (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2047676
>
> Title:
> Calamares whole-window graphics glitch
>
> Status in calamares package in Ubuntu:
> Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> In calamares on the 22.04.3 liveISO, the screen goes black and the
> graphics glitch out when you move the mouse. This happens once you've
> checked that everything is ok, and press install. Before this, during
> the initial setup, I noticed minor pixel graphics noise similar to
> what I got in firefox, but it was still usable.
>
> On Lubuntu 20.04 I have no graphics issues. I use nvidia-340 with a
> GT215 (GeForce GT 240). I am not sure which graphics driver was in use
> in the liveISO, but I also noticed graphics pixel noise in Firefox. I
> was not able to use the additional-drivers application on the LiveISO
> to specifiy the correct driver - it could find no additional drivers.
> However I was told on #lubuntu that this is expected behavior for the
> LiveISO.
>
> Let me know if there is anything you'd like me to do to further test
> this (or maybe the graphics card is too old to bother ;)
>
> Hardware Info:
> https://linux-hardware.org/?probe=730493cca3
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/calamares/+bug/2047676/+subscriptions
>
>

[ԜаӀtеr Ⅼарсһуnѕkі (wxl)]

Generally speaking, old hardware tends to be rather well supported in the kernel but if it's a proprietary driver you need, it may be the manufacturer no longer supports it.

In any case, I'm glad to hear the issue was not with Calamares :)