Kernel hangs on boot with Matrox Millenium G450

[chgarde]

Binary package hint: linux-image

As soon as the kernel is loaded, it hangs (or sometimes reboot)
just after displaying "Starting up..."

This bug has been reproduced on 2 different x86 machines with the same Matrox card :
1. COMPAQ AP230 1GhZ - Intel Pentium III (attached files come from this one)
2. Generic Intel Celeron 1Ghz

The card (see attached output from lspci -vvv) is :
Matrox Graphics, Inc. Millennium G450 32Mb SDRAM Dual Head

Ubuntu kernels 2.6.24 and 2.6.27 are affected. (linux-image-2.6.24/7)

The only way I found out to prevent this hangup was to disable the option CONFIG_FIRMWARE_EDID in the kernel.
Symbol: FIRMWARE_EDID [=y]
Prompt: Enable firmware EDID
Defined at drivers/video/Kconfig:56
Depends on: HAS_IOMEM && FB
Location:
-> Device Drivers
  -> Graphics support
     -> Support for frame buffer devices (FB [=y])

Please note that
- Passing the nofb parameter at boot has no effect
- neither does the parameter video=vesafb:noedid,(...)

If we want Ubuntu to boot on this hardware, I can see 2 options :
- disable CONFIG_FIRMWARE_EDID by default (I don't have any idea of the impact of doing this)
- patch the kernel to add a boot parameter to be able to disable EDID at runtime on Ubuntu kernels
- At least, put a kernel with CONFIG_FIRMWARE_EDID=n on the alternate install CD.

Do not hesitate to contact me for any further information.
Regards,
chris.

[Andy Whitcroft (apw)]

This is not a bug in the linux-meta package, moving to the linux package.

[Paul Tagliamonte (paultag)]

This also effects me. I have a New Jetway Geode Nano-ITX

I can confirm that this bug is not only on Debian / Ubuntu, but Slackware / SLAX. I can also confirm CONFIG_FIRMWARE_EDID is Yes

Confirmed that both boot params do not work as well.

[Paul Tagliamonte (paultag)]

A helpful description. The only issue with my case is that it will not boot, it blocks for hours. I don't think a long delay is the issue.

This enables access to the EDID transferred from the firmware. On the i386, this is from the Video BIOS. Enable this if DDC/I2C transfers do not work for your driver and if you are using nvidiafb, i810fb or savagefb.

In general, choosing Y for this option is safe. If you experience extremely long delays while booting before you get something on your display, try setting this to N. Matrox cards in combination with certain motherboards and monitors are known to suffer from this problem.

[Paul Tagliamonte (paultag)]

I have recompiled my kernel with EDID = N

I have had success in fixing this issue, however this is only a workaround.

[Alvin (alvind)]

On Maverick, only a blank screen can be seen during boot. Not a single message. This is the same in recovery mode. Is there a workaround in order to get a shell? It's a fresh install from the alternate cd, but there's no ssh server installed.

[Martin Bishop (martin-bishop)]

Confirmed to affect G550 cards as well.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

chgarde, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. Hardy desktop reached EOL on May 12, 2011.
Please see this document for currently supported Ubuntu releases:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

We were wondering if this is still an issue on a supported release? If so, 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 please provide the information following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingKernelBoot ? As well, please run the following command in a supported release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux <replace-with-bug-number>

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.

[chgarde (christophe-garde)]

I've just tested the latest Ubuntu 12.04LTS x32

I've been able to launch the alternate installer CD, install Ubuntu with the text installer, and run it on my PC with Matrox Graphics, Inc. Millennium G450 32Mb SDRAM Dual Head without any problem.

As far as I'm concerned, this issue is now solved in the latest Ubuntu distribution.