[i830] Fonts smear after a while of use (Hardy->Intrepid regression)

[Aschwin]

The attached screenshot shows an exteme case of font smearing that can occur after a while of use. This happened after the upgrade to Intrepid Ibex (8.10) and didn't happen on Hardy Heron (8.04). Parts of the text also vanish while interacting through the keyboard and mouse, it seems that the smearing is as if the fonts are rendered with an offset showing as a smear. As each individual glyph smears the same way I suspect that some interaction between the font renderer/cache (pango?) and the X driver causes this.

I haven't found any other report on this behaviour, so it seemed prudent to report this regression.

Here some more info on the setup:

   * Ubuntu 8.10
   * HP Omnibook 510
   * Subpixel rendering in use
   * No visual effects

$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82830 830 Chipset Host Bridge (rev 04)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82830 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller] (rev 04)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82830 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller]
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 42)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801CAM ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801CAM IDE U100 Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:03.0 Multimedia audio controller: ESS Technology ES1988 Allegro-1 (rev 12)
01:04.0 Communication controller: ESS Technology ES2838/2839 SuperLink Modem (rev 01)
01:05.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1410 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
01:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801CAM (ICH3) PRO/100 VM (KM) Ethernet Controller (rev 42)

$ xdpyinfo
name of display: :0.0
version number: 11.0
vendor string: The X.Org Foundation
vendor release number: 10502000
X.Org version: 1.5.2
maximum request size: 16777212 bytes
motion buffer size: 256
bitmap unit, bit order, padding: 32, LSBFirst, 32
image byte order: LSBFirst
number of supported pixmap formats: 7
supported pixmap formats:
    depth 1, bits_per_pixel 1, scanline_pad 32
    depth 4, bits_per_pixel 8, scanline_pad 32
    depth 8, bits_per_pixel 8, scanline_pad 32
    depth 15, bits_per_pixel 16, scanline_pad 32
    depth 16, bits_per_pixel 16, scanline_pad 32
    depth 24, bits_per_pixel 32, scanline_pad 32
    depth 32, bits_per_pixel 32, scanline_pad 32
keycode range: minimum 8, maximum 255
focus: window 0x2a0000b, revert to Parent
number of extensions: 31
    BIG-REQUESTS
    Composite
    DAMAGE
    DOUBLE-BUFFER
    DPMS
    Extended-Visual-Information
    GLX
    MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
    MIT-SHM
    MIT-SUNDRY-NONSTANDARD
    RANDR
    RECORD
    RENDER
    SECURITY
    SGI-GLX
    SHAPE
    SYNC
    TOG-CUP
    X-Resource
    XC-APPGROUP
    XC-MISC
    XFIXES
    XFree86-DGA
    XFree86-DRI
    XFree86-Misc
    XFree86-VidModeExtension
    XINERAMA
    XInputExtension
    XKEYBOARD
    XTEST
    XVideo
default screen number: 0
number of screens: 1

screen #0:
  dimensions: 1024x768 pixels (270x203 millimeters)
  resolution: 96x96 dots per inch
  depths (7): 24, 1, 4, 8, 15, 16, 32
  root window id: 0x6a
  depth of root window: 24 planes
  number of colormaps: minimum 1, maximum 1
  default colormap: 0x20
  default number of colormap cells: 256
  preallocated pixels: black 0, white 16777215
  options: backing-store NO, save-unders NO
  largest cursor: 64x64
  current input event mask: 0xfa8033
    KeyPressMask KeyReleaseMask EnterWindowMask
    LeaveWindowMask ExposureMask StructureNotifyMask
    SubstructureNotifyMask SubstructureRedirectMask FocusChangeMask
    PropertyChangeMask ColormapChangeMask
  number of visuals: 3
  default visual id: 0x21
  visual:
    visual id: 0x21
    class: TrueColor
    depth: 24 planes
    available colormap entries: 256 per subfield
    red, green, blue masks: 0xff0000, 0xff00, 0xff
    significant bits in color specification: 8 bits
  visual:
    visual id: 0x22
    class: DirectColor
    depth: 24 planes
    available colormap entries: 256 per subfield
    red, green, blue masks: 0xff0000, 0xff00, 0xff
    significant bits in color specification: 8 bits
  visual:
    visual id: 0x44
    class: TrueColor
    depth: 32 planes
    available colormap entries: 256 per subfield
    red, green, blue masks: 0xff0000, 0xff00, 0xff
    significant bits in color specification: 8 bits

$ glxinfo
name of display: :0.0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
    GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap,
    GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer,
    GLX_OML_swap_method, GLX_SGI_swap_control, GLX_SGIS_multisample,
    GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, GLX_SGIX_visual_select_group
client glx vendor string: SGI
client glx version string: 1.4
client glx extensions:
    GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context,
    GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_MESA_allocate_memory,
    GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer, GLX_MESA_swap_control,
    GLX_MESA_swap_frame_usage, GLX_OML_swap_method, GLX_OML_sync_control,
    GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGI_swap_control, GLX_SGI_video_sync,
    GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, GLX_SGIX_pbuffer,
    GLX_SGIX_visual_select_group, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap
GLX version: 1.2
GLX extensions:
    GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context,
    GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_MESA_swap_control,
    GLX_MESA_swap_frame_usage, GLX_OML_swap_method, GLX_SGI_swap_control,
    GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,
    GLX_SGIX_visual_select_group
OpenGL vendor string: Tungsten Graphics, Inc
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) 830M 20061102 x86/MMX/SSE
OpenGL version string: 1.3 Mesa 7.2
OpenGL extensions:
    GL_ARB_multisample, GL_ARB_multitexture, GL_ARB_point_parameters,
    GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp, GL_ARB_texture_compression,
    GL_ARB_texture_cube_map, GL_ARB_texture_env_add,
    GL_ARB_texture_env_combine, GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar,
    GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3, GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat,
    GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two, GL_ARB_texture_rectangle,
    GL_ARB_transpose_matrix, GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object,
    GL_ARB_vertex_program, GL_ARB_window_pos, GL_EXT_abgr, GL_EXT_bgra,
    GL_EXT_blend_color, GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate,
    GL_EXT_blend_func_separate, GL_EXT_blend_logic_op, GL_EXT_blend_minmax,
    GL_EXT_blend_subtract, GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint, GL_EXT_cull_vertex,
    GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array, GL_EXT_copy_texture,
    GL_EXT_draw_range_elements, GL_EXT_fog_coord, GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays,
    GL_EXT_packed_depth_stencil, GL_EXT_packed_pixels,
    GL_EXT_point_parameters, GL_EXT_polygon_offset, GL_EXT_rescale_normal,
    GL_EXT_secondary_color, GL_EXT_separate_specular_color,
    GL_EXT_stencil_wrap, GL_EXT_subtexture, GL_EXT_texture, GL_EXT_texture3D,
    GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp, GL_EXT_texture_env_add,
    GL_EXT_texture_env_combine, GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3,
    GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic, GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias,
    GL_EXT_texture_object, GL_EXT_texture_rectangle, GL_EXT_vertex_array,
    GL_3DFX_texture_compression_FXT1, GL_APPLE_client_storage,
    GL_APPLE_packed_pixels, GL_ATI_blend_equation_separate,
    GL_ATI_separate_stencil, GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip,
    GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_INGR_blend_func_separate,
    GL_MESA_pack_invert, GL_MESA_ycbcr_texture, GL_MESA_window_pos,
    GL_NV_blend_square, GL_NV_light_max_exponent, GL_NV_point_sprite,
    GL_NV_texture_rectangle, GL_NV_texgen_reflection, GL_NV_vertex_program,
    GL_NV_vertex_program1_1, GL_OES_read_format, GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap,
    GL_SGIS_texture_border_clamp, GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp,
    GL_SGIS_texture_lod, GL_SUN_multi_draw_arrays

3 GLX Visuals
   visual x bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer ms cav
 id dep cl sp sz l ci b ro r g b a bf th cl r g b a ns b eat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0x21 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x22 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x44 32 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None

36 GLXFBConfigs:
   visual x bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer ms cav
 id dep cl sp sz l ci b ro r g b a bf th cl r g b a ns b eat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0x45 0 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x46 0 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x47 0 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x48 0 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x49 0 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x4a 0 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x4b 0 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x4c 0 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x4d 0 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x4e 0 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x4f 0 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x50 0 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x51 0 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x52 0 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x53 0 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x54 0 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x55 0 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x56 0 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x57 0 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x58 0 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x59 0 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x5a 0 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x5b 0 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x5c 0 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x5d 0 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x5e 0 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x5f 0 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x60 0 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x61 0 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x62 0 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x63 0 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x64 0 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x65 0 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x66 0 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x67 0 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x68 0 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow

$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "InputDevice"
 Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
 Driver "kbd"
 Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
 Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
 Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
 Identifier "Configured Mouse"
 Driver "mouse"
 Option "CorePointer"
 Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
 Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
 Driver "synaptics"
 Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
 Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
 Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
 Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
 Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
 Identifier "Default Screen"
 Monitor "Configured Monitor"
 Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
 Identifier "Default Layout"
 Screen "Default Screen"
 InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

[This is an automated message]

Hi aschwin,

Thanks for including an image to demonstrate the issue. Could you also please attach the output of `lspci -vvnn`, and attach your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file from after reproducing this issue. If you've made any customizations to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf please attach that as well.

[Aschwin (aschwin)]

# lspci -vvnn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 82830 830 Chipset Host Bridge [8086:3575] (rev 04)
 Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- DisINTx-
 Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort+ >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
 Latency: 0
 Region 0: Memory at <unassigned> (32-bit, prefetchable)
 Capabilities: [40] Vendor Specific Information <?>
 Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
 Kernel modules: intel-agp

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation 82830 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller] [8086:3577] (rev 04)
 Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:001b]
 Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
 Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
 Latency: 0
 Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 10
 Region 0: Memory at e8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
 Region 1: Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
 Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 1
  Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1+ D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
  Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
 Kernel modules: intelfb

00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation 82830 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller] [8086:3577]
 Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:001b]
 Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
 Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
 Latency: 0 (2500ns max)
 Region 0: Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
 Region 1: Memory at e0080000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
 Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 1
  Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1+ D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
  Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #1 [8086:2482] (rev 02)
 Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:001b]
 Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
 Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
 Latency: 0
 Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 10
 Region 4: I/O ports at 1800 [size=32]
 Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
 Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #2 [8086:2484] (rev 02)
 Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:001b]
 Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
 Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
 Latency: 0
 Interrupt: pin B routed to IRQ 10
 Region 4: I/O ports at 1820 [size=32]
 Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
 Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #3 [8086:2487] (rev 02)
 Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:001b]
 Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Steppin...

[Aschwin (aschwin)]

Here an additional screenshot with more funny artifacts. Sometimes it seems that rendering very quickly to the screen causes the font-smear (e.g. when openening a webpage). And as I type this whole words of this text disappear and reappear as I continue typing.

[Aschwin (aschwin)]

I tried to flush the font cache somehow, but couldn't find a way other than using xrandr to change resolution and back to the previous resolution. It is a fair work-around.

[Rahul-schmizz (rahul-schmizz)]

Created an attachment (id=25152)
Corrupted layout

Section "Device"
        Identifier "Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller"
        Driver "intel"
        BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
        Option "AccelMethod" "UXA"
EndSection

rahul@googly ~ $ uname -a
Linux googly 2.6.30-rc2-zen0-08372-gb1961bf-dirty #7 SMP PREEMPT Sun Apr 26 16:17:05 CEST 2009 i686 Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2300 @ 1.66GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

Kernel uses this patch
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/anholt/drm-intel.git;a=commitdiff_plain;h=f544847fbaf099278343f875987a983f2b913134;hp=cd97824994042b809493807ea644ba26c0c23290

For corruption, see the attached image.

[Gordon Jin (gordon-jin)]

Please attach Xorg log according to http://intellinuxgraphics.org/how_to_report_bug.html.

Does this ever work for you in a previous version?

Does removing UXA from xorg.conf work?

[Rahul-schmizz (rahul-schmizz)]

Works with 2.6.99.902 and UXA - that is what I am using right now.
Will compile 2.7 again tomorrow and then attach the Xorg log, will also try to remove UXA and see what happens.
Funny thing is that this corrupted layout occurs after running the server for some time - say half an hour. Then it starts getting corrupted.

Will report more details tomorrow.

[Adam Lantos (hege)]

I can confirm this bug, my i915gm produces the same symptoms when x is running for several hours (attaching an external VGA seems to shorten the time before the corruption shows up).

I use kms/dri2/uxa with kernel 2.6.30-rc3, xserver-1.6.1, mesa-7.4, xf86-video-intel 2.7 branch (commit 296a986e5258e2fd13ec494071b7063bd639cd68).

[Rahul-schmizz (rahul-schmizz)]

Created an attachment (id=25232)
Xorg log - Intel 2.7.0 - corrupted layput

[Clemens Eisserer (linuxhippy)]

My gm945 does the same, especially after suspend to disk I see glyph and pixmap corruptions all over the place.

[anarsoul (anarsoul)]

Same for me (gma950)

I've noticed that corruption only happens when system begins to use swap. With swap disabled I have no corruption.

[anarsoul (anarsoul)]

Bug is reproducible even with tiling disabled.

xf86-video-intel from git, commit 8255cca2c9092f7ecb798944aa8f03fa3efcfa6c
kernel 2.6.30-rc3-git7,
xorg-server-1.6.1

Can't test it with EXA, because driver supports UXA only.

[anarsoul (anarsoul)]

Ok, so corruption happens only when swap is enabled, so I suspect it's caused by bit_17 not restored (or restored incorrectly) after paging operations.

Question to the driver developers:
What will happen if pages allocated by drm_calloc, i915_gem.c:2018, and swizzled only right after allocation, will be swapped out, and then loaded into memory where bit 17 differs?

[anarsoul (anarsoul)]

Created an attachment (id=25551)
patch to disable bo reuse

As stated in http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16835#c18 cause of this bug is BO reuse, and disabling BO reuse seems to help. Here's a patch that can be used as a temporary workaround

[anarsoul (anarsoul)]

Hm, it seems that disabling bo reuse doesn't solve the problem. Or my patch doesn't disable bo reuse.

With patch corruption shows up later. Without patch after running intel-gpu-tools tests corruption shows up immediately, with patch it doesn't, but it does later.

:(

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

IBM Thinkpad R31 with i830 integrated graphics is just about unreadable with jaunty after a few minutes. Intrepid no problem at all. Jaunty performance generally good, a bit jerky with flash small window, jerky on full screen flash. As I writhe this note, most characters in what I'm typing are clobbered. As requested in a couple notes preceding, here are lspci-vvnn,
xorg.conf which has uxa and tiling false,
uname -a showing linux image rc4,
Xorg.0.log
fontsmear.jpg from screen capture.

This fontsmear stuff started about the time the "NoAccel" wasl not required any more.

Thanks for any ideas. Jerry

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

lspci from Thinkpad, a nice usable laptop with Intrepid, near useless in jaunty.

jerry

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Xorg.0.log from Thinkpad

Jerry

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

uname -a from thinkpad
Linux Thinkpad 2.6.30-020630rc4-generic #020630rc4 SMP Fri May 1 09:06:03 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux

Also xorg

Note, about once a day the laptop freezes up on jaunty rc4. Does not on Intrepid. Has not this morning.

Jerry

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Font smear shows up pretty quickly running GtkPerf from Synaptic.

Jerry

[Andrew Ash (ash211)]

Is this still an issue on Jaunty? We're putting a lot of effort into the -intel driver for the upcoming release, and we'd like to send your bug upstream if possible. But first, we need to collect more information. Please report whether the card works in Jaunty, and if not, give the new 2.7.0 driver a shot. It can be found here: https://edge.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat/+archive/x-updates/

Thanks!

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Andrew,
Sure is an issue on IBM Thinkpad R31 i830, updated to rc4 etc. Run GtkPerf a couple of times and text is essentially black blotches and unreadable. Let me give the 2.7.0 driver a try. It's using 2.6.3 driver now.

Jaunty's running well otherwise, however I do get an occasional hang for all I know might be related to whatever is spraying random pixels onto the fonts.
Jerry

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Andrew,
Installed 2.7.0 driver as reported by Xorg.0.log. I was able to run GtkPerf three times O.K., fonts O.K. Then I startedl firefox and over half the fonts in this message are big black blotches.

For what it is worth, GtkPerf was about 2% faster with 2.7.0 than 2.6.3 however it doesn't mean buch since to do any meaningful work at all I've got to boot up Intrepid. Nice having dual boot.

Tried taking screenshot but couldn't read the window.

Jerry

[Andrew Ash (ash211)]

Jerry:
Just a couple more things and I think we'll be ready to send this upstream:

 - a before/after Xorg.0.log from the non-working 2.7.0 and the working version in Intrepid
 - whether Aschwin's xrandr resolution switching clears things up
 - an updated screenshot if corruption has changed

Aschwin:
You reported that things were fine in Hardy but not in Intrepid, but Jerry doesn't seem to be having a problem with Intrepid. Could you please also post a before/after Xorg.0.log? I'm curious what the driver versions we're looking at are here.

[Aschwin (aschwin)]

Unfortunately, the HD died on the laptop, and I haven't gotten around replacing it as it is already an old laptop, and the docking station isn't working at all, so no life-cd trials either. :-(

If I do get a replacement, I'll give both a try again.

-Aschwin

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

My IBM Thinkpad R31 with i830 with Ubuntu Jaunty gets corrupted fonts in a few minutes especially with Firefox. The Intel driver is 2.7.0 I think (I'm on a different pc now). It's got 512 mb memory so I'm not sure how it will do with no swap but I'll try it tomorrow.

Jerry

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Just tried turning swap off. The Thinkpad R31 i830 has 512 mb memory so it is not very happy with swapoff. The font corruption still appears, however it is slower to spread from character to character. Do note Ubuntu Jaunty is strongly affected, with driver 2.7.0 and the preceding drivers. Ubuntu Intrepid is not affected that I've noticed.

I have an IBM ThinkCentre A30 with Intel i845. It does not have the problem (yet).

Jerry

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Bugzilla 21415 may well be the same problem. Some comments there said that turning swap off helped. This Thinkpad R31 has 512 mb and is not very happy with swap off, however it does run. The font smear or corruption (extra bits) is slower in appearing. I'll attach Xorg.0.log with swap off and font corruptions accumulating. . On this Thinkpad the trouble appeared about the time the driver was updated so Option "NoAccel" was not necessary.

The driver in use is 2.7.0.

Jerry

[Eric Anholt (eric-anholt)]

Vasily: bit 17 shouldn't be related, because none of the pixmaps in question are tiled, and that's the only time the CPU and GPU disagree on handling things.

[anarsoul (anarsoul)]

(In reply to comment #13)
> Vasily: bit 17 shouldn't be related, because none of the pixmaps in question
> are tiled, and that's the only time the CPU and GPU disagree on handling
> things.
>

Eric, I don't know what causes this bug, I'm not a gpu-expert, so I'm trying to guess. Anyway, don't hesitate to ask me for more info/logs if you need any.

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Option "Tiling" "false" still smears fonts on my i830 video on the Thinkpad R31 which is running Ubuntu jaunty, with Option "AccelMethod" "uxa" (not sure if there is any other option with the current driver). Perhaps the preceding comments are referring to a different type of tiling?

Jerry

[anarsoul (anarsoul)]

2 xf86-video-intel developers:

Out of curiosity, when this annoying bug will be fixed? It makes gma950 totally unusable, and I'm wondering why priority of this bug is not highest.

Btw, one more ubuntu release (i.e. 9.10) with buggy intel driver and you'll lose 95% of linux users with intel graphics.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NzIyMA

[Rahul-schmizz (rahul-schmizz)]

This is now more annoying than the infamous KDE bug "system tray background are not transparent". While that was a minor UI regression, this is clearly more than that. I have to restart my X session after every couple of hours or so going through the trouble of saving all the work that I doing and then resuming it again.

At this point, I only wish I knew how to fix it so that I could lend a helping hand. Sadly, my knowledge in this field is rather limited to say the least.

[Adam Lantos (hege)]

2.7.1 still produces this bug, so I'm stuck with 2.6.3. Do someone have any idea what causes this?

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

i830 video graphics as of May 23 with all latest Ubuntu 9.04 updates & xorg 2.27.1-1 fonts get corrupted and smear within a few minutes. gtkperf and firefox aggravate the situation. Turning swap off does not help.

i830 on the IBM Thinkpad R31 runs just fine with Ubuntu intrepid 8.10 which is the only way I can get work out of that pc. Dual boot saves the day.

i845 video graphics on IBM ThinkCentre tower does not have the problem. It was running quite slowly however with latest updates it's reasonable. I'm running Ubuntu jaunty 9.04 and Ubuntu karmic 9.10 alpha O.K.

Jerry

[Adam Lantos (hege)]

today I upgraded to .30-rc7 + libdrm-2.4.11 and the problem seems to be fixed, at least there is no corruption after 6 hours of uptime.

[Rahul-schmizz (rahul-schmizz)]

Corruption persists with libdrm-2.4.11 and 2.6.20-rc7 (my screen is corrpupted atm). Will rebuild major X components and see if that improves anything.

[Stavallo (stavallo)]

Corruption persists for me, too, with -rc7 kernel and drm, mesa, xserver, xf86-video-intel git master as of a couple of days ago. Corruption appeared after just one resume from suspend to disk.

[anarsoul (anarsoul)]

(In reply to comment #20)
> today I upgraded to .30-rc7 + libdrm-2.4.11 and the problem seems to be fixed,
> at least there is no corruption after 6 hours of uptime.
>

It's still reproducible for me with 2.6.30-rc7, libdrm from git, xf86-video-intel from git. If you don't want to wait for a couple of hours, just run tests from intel-gpu-tools to get fonts and some pixmaps corrupted.

[mr.c.d (master-akala)]

i am also having this problem.

i am running ubuntu karmic alpha 1 with:

 xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.7.1-1ubuntu1
 xorg 1:7.4~5ubuntu20.
 intel 915.

i'm new to linux and reporting bugs, so if there is any more info i can provide, please ask.

[mr.c.d (master-akala)]

Created an attachment (id=26205)
example of font and graphics corruption

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala Alpha 1 has the same font smear/graphics character corruption with Intel i830 video graphics on IBM Thinkpad R31.

That's installed from the same Ubuntu Karmic Koala install CD that works O.K. as far as fonts go on three other PC's, with Intel i845, ATI Radeon Express, ATI Mobility.

Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope smears fonts, Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex does not.

Jerry

[anarsoul (anarsoul)]

It seems that this patch:

http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/intel-gfx/2009-May/002566.html

fixes the problem.

[Eric Anholt (eric-anholt)]

Rahul: Does the following patch queued up to for-linus in the kernel help you?

commit 07f4f3e8a24138ca2f3650723d670df25687cd05
Author: Kristian Høgsberg <email address hidden>
Date: Wed May 27 14:37:28 2009 -0400

    i915: Set object to gtt domain when faulting it back in

    When a GEM object is evicted from the GTT we set it to the CPU domain,
    as it might get swapped in and out or ever mmapped regularly. If the
    object is mmapped through the GTT it can still get evicted in this way
    by other objects requiring GTT space. When the GTT mapping is touched
    again we fault it back into the GTT, but fail to set it back to the
    GTT domain. This means we fail to flush any cached CPU writes to the
    pages backing the object which will then happen "eventually", typically
    after we write to the page through the uncached GTT mapping.

    [anholt: Note that userland does do a set_domain(GTT, GTT) when starting
    to access the GTT mapping. That covers getting the existing mapping of the
    object synchronized if it's bound to the GTT. But set_domain(GTT, GTT)
    doesn't do anything if the object is currently unbound. This fix covers the
    transition to being bound for GTT mapping.]

    Fixes glyph and other pixmap corruption during swapping. fd.o bug #21790

    Signed-off-by: Kristian Høgsberg <email address hidden>
    Signed-off-by: Eric Anholt <email address hidden>
Vytautas: Does the following patch queued up to for-linus in the kernel help you?

commit 07f4f3e8a24138ca2f3650723d670df25687cd05
Author: Kristian Høgsberg <email address hidden>
Date: Wed May 27 14:37:28 2009 -0400

    i915: Set object to gtt domain when faulting it back in

    When a GEM object is evicted from the GTT we set it to the CPU domain,
    as it might get swapped in and out or ever mmapped regularly. If the
    object is mmapped through the GTT it can still get evicted in this way
    by other objects requiring GTT space. When the GTT mapping is touched
    again we fault it back into the GTT, but fail to set it back to the
    GTT domain. This means we fail to flush any cached CPU writes to the
    pages backing the object which will then happen "eventually", typically
    after we write to the page through the uncached GTT mapping.

    [anholt: Note that userland does do a set_domain(GTT, GTT) when starting
    to access the GTT mapping. That covers getting the existing mapping of the
    object synchronized if it's bound to the GTT. But set_domain(GTT, GTT)
    doesn't do anything if the object is currently unbound. This fix covers the
    transition to being bound for GTT mapping.]

    Fixes glyph and other pixmap corruption during swapping. fd.o bug #21790

    Signed-off-by: Kristian Høgsberg <email address hidden>
    Signed-off-by: Eric Anholt <email address hidden>

(swapping isn't the only case that this bug can fix, but it's the most common as the cpu cache of the object will be hot with writes at the time we don't want it)

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Not that I know anything about patches, however the referenced patch looks like it is for i915 while I have the problem with an i830.

Thanks, Jerry

[anarsoul (anarsoul)]

Jerry, even 8xx intel cards use i915.ko module. i830.ko is used only by old XFree86 4.3 and/or Xorg 6.7. Newer Xorg uses i915.ko

[Eric Anholt (eric-anholt)]

Jerry, you have different hardware and should be on your own bug report, not tagging along on someone else's.

[Rahul-schmizz (rahul-schmizz)]

(In reply to comment #28)
> Rahul: Does the following patch queued up to for-linus in the kernel help you?
>

Hi Eric,

Thanks for the patch. I just recompiled my kernel with the patch and would report if I see any problems. I am trying to mess around with intel-gpu-tools to see if I can reproduce the corruption.

Thanks
Rahul

[Stavallo (stavallo)]

It really looks like that this annoying bug has been fixed for me (GM965, DRI2+KMS) thanks to this patch. Congratulations to Eric and Kristian!

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Latest Intel xorg driver 2.7.99 on i845 video graphics gets character smear/extra pixels as well as i830.

I now have 2 pc's, a Thinkpad R31 with i830, and a ThinkCentre tower with i845 which are not usuable with Ubuntu karmic 9.10 for any length of time.

Jerry

[Rahul-schmizz (rahul-schmizz)]

The patch provided by Eric (for the kernel) fixes this bug for me. Should I mark this bug as fixed?

[Carl Worth (cworth)]

Thanks everyone for the reports and testing and feedback!

It seems evident that the central issue here is fixed.

If you still have lingering side issues, please feel free to open new bug reports for them.

-Carl

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

2.6.30,8 karmic daily build 6/06 still has font smear on i830. Easy to reproduce, with Firefox running start gtkperf. Apparently the proposed fixes in Debian Bugzilla 21415 have not made it into the karmic build yet.

Jerry

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Karmic A2 release still has font smear.

Is there any data we can get to help?

This bug has been around since the "NoAccel" problem was fixed in the Intel drivers on Jaunty in Februrary.

Upstream thinks they fixed it on Bugzilla Bug 21415 released and verified on June 3. Any chance Ubuntu will pick up the fix?

Thanks, Jerry

[Andrew Ash (ash211)]

I feel your pain, Jerry :(

It looks like the patch fd.o is queued up to go into Linus's branch shortly but hasn't made it yet [1]. I'd guess that without any hangups, it will go into the 2.6.31 release. Conveniently, that's also the kernel version targeted for the final Karmic release as well [2].

If you're feeling adventurous and want to compile the kernel yourself, check out [3]. You would want to use the git source and get the patch in from there.

I was also able to find (while looking up that patch) a reference to it in the #ubuntu-x IRC channel [4] (search for 07f4f3e8a24138ca2f3650723d670df25687cd05). There's a lot of signal in that log, so it would be a good one to be familiar with.

So I guess the short of it is to wait for the fix to make it in. To get a better idea of how the patch is being handled, you should ask on #ubuntu-x.

[1] https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=21415#c28
[2] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/specs/KernelKarmicKernelDecisionSession
[3] https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Kernel/Compile
[4] http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2009/05/28/%23ubuntu-x.txt

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

From the upstream bug, this one needs a kernel patch as its solution. Resetting bug to the kernel.

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Font smear very much still with us on karmic 2.6.31-1 as updated on 20090704.

Either Ubuntu never picked up the fix from upstream on bugzilla 21415 or else the fix doesn't work or whatever.

For useful work on this IBM Thinkpad R31 it's still Intrepid which doesn't smear. Jaunty and karmic do.

Jerry

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Below is the git commit id for the patch which fixed the upstream bug referenced here. This patch is already in the 3.6.31-1.14 Karmic kernel. However, it seems the hardware reported here is different than the hardware reported in the upstream bug report. Might be good to open a new bug report upstream to track this issue against this specific hardware. Thanks.

ogasawara@emiko:~/ubuntu-karmic$ git log 07f4f3e8a24138ca2f3650723d670df25687cd05
commit 07f4f3e8a24138ca2f3650723d670df25687cd05
Author: Kristian Høgsberg <email address hidden>
Date: Wed May 27 14:37:28 2009 -0400

    i915: Set object to gtt domain when faulting it back in

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

2.6.31-2 karmic font smears very much. The screen looks like black ink blots sprayed all over it. It's back to intrepid to do any useful work on this Thinkpad R31 i830.

Do note that KMS is causing video performance to get slower and slower example compare GtkPerf from Ubuntu Synaptic. Half the letters in this sentence are ink blotches, and I just updated and dist-upgraded and re-booted moments ago.

Thanks for anyone's help on this problem.

Oops, now they are all black.

Jerry

[jerrylamos (jerrylamos)]

Surprise! 2.6.31-3 karmic update & dist-upgrade and no smears!

Font smear problem fixed on this i830 IBM Thinkpad R31.

Video performance is still pretty sluggish at 65 seconds on GtkPerf compared to Intrepid at 36 seconds however that's another launchpad bug #399559.

Thanks, Jerry

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

@Aschwin, since you are the original bug reporter, can you comment if this is now resolved for you as well (assuming you've been able to replace the HD as mentioned in comment 15)? Thanks.

[Aschwin (aschwin)]

As it is on old Omnibook 510 of which the docking station no longer functions and thus I currently have no CD-drive, I haven't yet taken the time to buy a HD and install Ubuntu on it before replacing the broken HD.

It would, however, be interesting to know whether the bug is indeed fixed, but alas I don't think it will happen any time soon. :-(

It was nevertheless very interesting to follow this bug-report, and I am happy that this obscure bug was repeatable by someone else and likely fixed at the moment. :-D

-Aschwin

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Aschwin, thanks for the update. I'm going to go ahead and mark this Fix Released for now based on Jerry's feedback. Thanks.