Hardy (kernal 2.6.24-16-generic) freezes randomly

[jon partsch]

Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 random freezes using kernal 2.6.24.16-generic

Total screen freeze, cannot move cursor, cannot exit using Ctrl+Alt+Backspace, must do hard boot
Sorry, I am new at Linux and I do not know how to provide any more information than this:

Dell latitude x200
933 Mhz Pentium IIIM
Intel 830MG shared graphics
256 MB RAM @ 133 Mhz FSB
No wireless card
No devices connected

[jon partsch (jpartsch1979)]

This problem seems to have gone away after specifying the use of the i810 driver in the xorg.conf file. Is it possible to automatically enable/specify xorg to use this driver when ubuntu is installed on systems using the intel 830MG shared graphics chipset? This would save novice users like me a ton of headaches. Thanks.

[jon partsch (jpartsch1979)]

Oh no! I spoke too soon. The bug has shown itself again. My edit to xorg.conf did nothing! I thought I was free from the bug because I ran almost a whole day without any lock-ups, but it happened again - right after I commented that it had stopped!! Someone please help with this!!!!

[Janne Moren (jan-moren-gmail)]

Could this be something like the bug below:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/223081

Note that the overheating I wrote about at first turns out to most likely have nothing to do with this.

[jon partsch (jpartsch1979)]

Thanks Janne,

I don't think my bug is the same as yours. Our system archaetectures are pretty different and the freeze seems to manifest itself differently. My CPU does not seem to be stressed in any way.

One thing, perhaps not an issue at all. Powertop indicates 70-100 wakeups/sec mostly from USB systems. Is this normal, or can it be reduced?

[Jeffrey Seguerra (jepong)]

@jon partsch

Sir... we have the same problem.

This bug also occur on my IBM ThinkPad R31 (2656-L6U)... may workaround is to disable Compiz.

I was pissed at first but it solved the problem. Try it and let see if it works for you.

[jon partsch (jpartsch1979)]

I think I have finally found a workaround to this problem. I am attaching my edited xorg.conf file for anyone to see. I recommend a similar configuration for anyone using the intel i830MG graphics in their laptop, at least until this bug is fixed. The configuration is based on a source online from someone that installed on a ThinkPad X31. They have the same chipset as me. Their xorg.conf file can be found at: http://www.onderka.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/xorg.conf_x30. I fooled around with this file until I got x.org to work without locking-up.

I think the real key here was setting option "DRI" = "false"

This reduces the richness of the Ubuntu 8.04 platform experience by eliminating some of the effects, but it works. I hope this bug will be addressed in the next version of the intel device driver.

Please let me know if anyone has any experiences or advice to share. I don't really know much about this stuff. I don't really understand what "DRI" is or why turning it off may have circumvented this bug. I hope someone can explain it to me.

Thanks!!

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

See
- https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=14528
- https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/192088

[Andreas Moog (ampelbein)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug 192088, so it is being marked as such. 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.