[i965] Garbled output on external screen after login (Intel GM965; incl. work around)

[Martin Waldburger]

Binary package hint: xserver-xorg-video-intel

Issue:
Upon log-in via GDM, any screen externally connected to an HP 2510p notebook will first show the normal brownish background for a second or so, but will then turn external screen content into a completely garbled mix of colored lines stripes (see attachment). The internal screen is not affected and shows correct content, that is the GNOME desktop. This issue is reproduced in at least 9 out of 10 logins.

Tested variations (do not change outcome):
- Multiple external displays
- Connect external screen directly via VGA out and via docking station's VGA connector
- Boot and login with lid open as well as with lid closed

System configuration:
- Fully updated Ubuntu Hardy
- Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0c) (accd. to lspci)
- Automatically created xorg.conf (no manual changes) using "intel" driver

Work around:
- Once garbled image is displayed switch to console by hitting Ctrl-Alt-F1.
- Then hit Ctrl-Alt-F7 to return to graphical display.
--> Both, internal and external, screen will display correct content.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Hi waldburger-gmail,

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. You reported this bug a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering is this still an issue for you? Can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? (ISOs are available from cdimage.ubuntu.com)

If it remains an issue, could you also attach a new /var/log/Xorg.0.log?
Thanks in advance.

The output of lspci -vvnn would also be worth having.

[Martin Waldburger (waldburger-gmail)]

The issue remained (and probably remains) with Hardy. For testing purposes, I upgraded to Intrepid beta a couple of days ago. There everything works fine -- which is nice to see. However, due to the upgrade, I won't be able to provide an upload of /var/log/Xorg.0.log from Hardy anymore.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

[This is an automatic notice.]

We'd like to forward your bug upstream, however upstream requires
that you first test it against their newer driver code.

To save you the effort of building the driver from source, we've built
packages for the driver and its new dependencies.

So you have a couple options:

 1. Download and test .debs for intrepid, from:
     https://edge.launchpad.net/~intel-gfx-testing/+archive

 -or-

 2. Download and test the Jaunty alpha-2 (or newer) Live CD,
     (which includes a beta of the new xserver 1.6 as well).
     See http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/9.04/ for ISOs

Thanks ahead of time! You can simply reply to this email to report your
findings.

P.S., if you wish to forward your bug upstream yourself, please follow
these directions to do so:
  http://intellinuxgraphics.org/how_to_report_bug.html

[laksdjfaasdf (laksdjfaasdf)]

I have a similar problem:

I have an Thinkpad T61 with 1280x800 and an external Belinea TFT monitor with 1680x1050. I position the external monitor below my Notebook TFT display with the screen resolution tool. After a few minutes, the fonts get garbled (see screenshot). That happens with and without Compiz. If I change resolution to for example 1024x768 on both screens, fonts look good again. But after a few minutes they look garbled again.

I tried your experimental drivers but it was not possible to set the correct resolution on both displays with them.

[laksdjfaasdf (laksdjfaasdf)]

I think I found the problem:

Have a look at comment 4 in bug 252094: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/252094/comments/4

I also replaced EXA through XAA and everything seems to work fine again. I will post another comment if there will be problems again. Seems I can remove my own bash script for setting resolution with xrandr :)

But why do you use things like EXA if they aren't ready for daily work, yet?

Please replace EXA with XAA for Intel based graphic cards until EXA is rock solid.

[laksdjfaasdf (laksdjfaasdf)]

My problem seems to be related to the 64 Bit Version of Intrepid. With an upgraded Hardy to Intrepid 32 Bit version I can use EXA without any bigger problems (It still works not perfect, for example an OpenGL game flickers with enabled Compiz...). Seems there is a difference between drivers for 32/64 Bit.

[laksdjfaasdf (laksdjfaasdf)]

EXA works with 32 Bit Intrepid version with small glitches.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Closing as per Martin's last comment that this is resolved in Intrepid.

@felix, I suspect your problem is an unrelated bug, so if you're still seeing it with Karmic please file a new bug using 'ubuntu-bug xorg'.