Kernel update 2.6.24-17 gives white screen on log in

[DestroyMicroshaft]

I got a update today May 27 2008, my kernel was upgraded from 2.6.24-16 to -17, upon reboot and login I was greeted with a white screen. Logging into failsafe gnome worked fine, and booting into 2.6.24-16 kernel worked fine. so I tried to reinstall my driver (ati catalyst 8.4) with no success. I used envy with no success, I also tried a few different fglrx versions, all with no success except with the new catalyst 8.5, but got alot of corruption when using compiz-fushion. I no Im not the only one with this issue, theres a thread on http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=808177&highlight=white+screen+update

Thank you

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This bug did not have a package associated with it, which is important for ensuring that it gets looked at by the proper developers. You can learn more about finding the right package at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage . I have classified this bug as a bug in linux the kernel for Hardy Heron.

[rannsaicher (rannsaicher)]

I have the same problem, I run ATI 9600XT card, was on ati 8.4 drivers and kernel 2.6.24-16-386. During upgrade to 2.6.24-17 2 nights ago I noticed a message indicating an inability to add the fglrx module to the kernel, and on reboot was able to log in but end up at white screen.
I used the grub menu to boot back into the 2.6.24-16-386 kernel and upgraded the ati driver to 8.5.
Still no luck starting the -17 kernel.
Some investigation showed the update did not download the 2.6.24-17 kernel headers.
I booted on -16 kernel and used package manager to download the 2.6.24-17 kernel headers, and at the end of the install, post processing invoked dkms and installed the fglrx module onto the -17 kernel
heres my dkms status output now.
fglrx, 8.493.1, 2.6.24-16-386, i686: installed
fglrx, 8.493.1, 2.6.24-17-386, i686: installed
however on rebooting to the -17 kernel i still get the white screen.
this output from dmesg shows the following error that i spotted on the console
 36.674638] fglrx: disagrees about version of symbol struct_module
[ 48.207605] lp0: using parport0 (interrupt-driven).
[ 48.231707] fglrx: disagrees about version of symbol struct_module

[rannsaicher (rannsaicher)]

Thinking back on the above , i think the update brought down the 2.6.24-17-generic headers. I think i recall at one point booting into 2.6.24-17-generic recovery mode and seeing it install the fglrx module against that kernel. I later removed it from dkms leaving status as above.

[Matt Wheeler (funkyhat)]

I seem to have this problem too

Seems to be related to Compiz/fgrlx

Almost everything just prints white to the screen. The only things that are visible are my cursor and application icons when I press alt-tab (I can see the compiz visual alt-tab window switcher is working, just a white box though)

This is not fixed with the -18 kernel upgrade

[rannsaicher (rannsaicher)]

Agreed, I just pulled down the update to the -18 kernel tonight and the problem is still there.
dmesg has these lines when booting on -18 kernel
[ 45.119128] fglrx: disagrees about version of symbol struct_module
[ 45.703044] parport_pc 00:09: reported by Plug and Play ACPI
[ 45.703148] parport0: PC-style at 0x378 (0x778), irq 7, dma 3 [PCSPP,TRISTATE,COMPAT,EPP,ECP,DMA]
[ 56.907946] lp0: using parport0 (interrupt-driven).
[ 56.932244] fglrx: disagrees about version of symbol struct_module

[Matt Wheeler (funkyhat)]

Still a problem with the -19 kernel update

[Steve Illgen (sillgen)]

I just experienced the same problem when upgrading from -18 to -19 this morning (23 Jun 2008). I reverted back to the -18 image and everything is working fine now.

I am using compiz and compiz-kde. I tried removing these to see if this fixed the problem (since they were in the update package as well), but this did not fix the problem. I reinstalled these packages once I reverted back to the -18 image.

I am also using the fglrx driver for the ATI Radeon adapter in my laptop.

Thanks.

[rannsaicher (rannsaicher)]

Yes Ive tried the -19 kernel along with upgrading to the latest ati driver (8.6) ,This driver didnt work with the -17, -18 or -19 kernel. Im still stuck on the -16. Can anyone else confirm that they get the message
fglrx: disagrees about version of symbol struct_module
in their dmesg. ( you need to search a dmesg file from the failed boot - they are stored, zipped, in /var/log/ as dmesg.x.gz where x is an integer, bigger integer older file. The current one from the latest boot is dmesg.
This appears to be the only symptom I can trace when the failure occurs. Ive tracked this message down to some sort of version or crc check in the kernel code that appears to be handling the load of the fglrx kernel module. ( this is done in module.c for those c programmers who want to poke around in kernel source).

[rannsaicher (rannsaicher)]

Further research and Ive come up with this ( and im way out my depth here !!!)

$ sudo modinfo -F vermagic -k 2.6.24-16-386 fglrx
2.6.24-16-386 mod_unload 486
$ sudo modinfo -F vermagic -k 2.6.24-17-386 fglrx
2.6.24-16-386 mod_unload 486
$ sudo modinfo -F vermagic -k 2.6.24-18-386 fglrx
2.6.24-16-386 mod_unload 486
$ sudo modinfo -F vermagic -k 2.6.24-19-386 fglrx

Vermagic isnt changing with each compilation of the module, it seems to be stuck on -16. The module was initially compiled from the ati package against a running -16 kernel, then installed against the different kernel versions using dkms build and dkms install with the -k parameter . Is this part of the problem ??

build of module for -19 is ......
sudo dkms build -m fglrx -k 2.6.24-19-386 -v 8.501

Kernel preparation unnecessary for this kernel. Skipping...

Building module:
cleaning build area....
pushd /var/lib/dkms/fglrx/8.501/build; sh make.sh --nohints; popd.....
cleaning build area....

DKMS: build Completed.

$ sudo dkms install -m fglrx -k 2.6.24-19-386 -v 8.501
Running module version sanity check.

fglrx.ko:
 - Original module
   - No original module exists within this kernel
 - Installation
   - Installing to /lib/modules/2.6.24-19-386/updates/dkms/

depmod....

DKMS: install Completed.

[rannsaicher (rannsaicher)]

I HAVE A FIX
Following the clue i found above - that vermagic is the same for all dkms installs, i decided to reinstall the ati_8.6 driver whilst running under the 2.6.24-19 kernel as it seemed maybe the ati installer generated module was carrying its vermagic and other symbols etc from the -16 kernel definitions used in the compile, onwards. Another clue was the Kernel preparation unneccesary message during dkms install.
HERES THE STEPS
Commands prefaced by $
I was stuck on 2.6.24-16 kernel so I booted into 2.6.24-16 and used dkms to remove the kernel module from the 2.6.24-19 kernel (this step probably not required, as later on the install seemed to clean fglrx out of my dkms tree)
in a terminal window.
$dkms status
to show what versions and kernels your modules are installed against.
$sudo dkms remove -m fglrx -v 8.501 -k 2.6.24-19
...removes the 8.501 version from the -19 kernel.

I booted into 2.6.24-19 recovery mode ( pick it from the grub menu), and now as root, cd to where the ati 8.6 installer is located and run the installer
$sudo sh ati-driver-installer-8-6-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/hardy
after the installer completes, install the generated packages
$sudo dpkg -i *.deb
during the install of packages dkms is invoked, and at this point it cleaned out all fglrx modules ( including the one on the -16 kernel that was my lifeline !)
check the kernel module is available
$dkms status
which gives me this output;
fglrx, 8.501, 2.6.24-19-386, i686: installed
confirming the kernel module fglrx is available for the -19 kernel
$reboot
and it came up on -19 kernel, allowing me to log in and voila- no white screen anymore.

Wonder if theres an issue with dkms?

Enjoy.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

The Ubuntu Kernel Team is planning to move to the 2.6.27 kernel for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. As a result, the kernel team would appreciate it if you could please test this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. There are one of two ways you should be able to test:

1) If you are comfortable installing packages on your own, the linux-image-2.6.27-* package is currently available for you to install and test.

--or--

2) The upcoming Alpha5 for Intrepid Ibex 8.10 will contain this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. Alpha5 is set to be released Thursday Sept 4. Please watch http://www.ubuntu.com/testing for Alpha5 to be announced. You should then be able to test via a LiveCD.

Please let us know immediately if this newer 2.6.27 kernel resolves the bug reported here or if the issue remains. More importantly, please open a new bug report for each new bug/regression introduced by the 2.6.27 kernel and tag the bug report with 'linux-2.6.27'. Also, please specifically note if the issue does or does not appear in the 2.6.26 kernel. Thanks again, we really appreicate your help and feedback.

[kernel-janitor (kernel-janitor)]

Hi reisderek,

This bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? Can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/ .

If it remains an issue, could you run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux-image-`uname -r` 235262

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

This bug report was marked as Incomplete and has not had any updated comments for quite some time. As a result this bug is being closed. Please reopen if this is still an issue in the current Ubuntu release http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . Also, please be sure to provide any requested information that may have been missing. To reopen the bug, click on the current status under the Status column and change the status back to "New". Thanks.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]