[i965gm] 1" black space either side of display area

[ReedMace]

Binary package hint: xorg

Display worked fine in Intrepid. Upgrade to Jaunty has resulted in 1" of blank screen either side of display area and "Extra" visual effects, which were working in Intrepid, are no longer available. Have tried various proposed solutions: see thread http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1142585 in Ubuntu Forums. Lots more system info also available there on my machine and setup. (see ReedMace).

When booting up from cold screen area is divided into four quarters. Can only be reverted back to single area through resetting the screen resolution (to 1024x768, which is what it already is).

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.04
Package: xorg 1:7.4~5ubuntu18
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersion: Linux version 2.6.28-11-generic (buildd@crested) (gcc version 4.3.3 (Ubuntu 4.3.3-5ubuntu4) ) #42-Ubuntu SMP Fri Apr 17 01:58:03 UTC 2009
SourcePackage: xorg
Uname: Linux 2.6.28-11-generic x86_64

[lspci]
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a00] (rev 03)
     Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device [1019:9037]
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a02] (rev 03)
     Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device [1019:9037]

[Martin Olsson (mnemo)]

@ReedMace, if you boot the live CD does the black "1 stripes show up there as well?

You can optionally run this command to reset your xorg.conf configuration:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg
(there is a chance this will fix your issue, but it's not certain)

Also, the reason why you can't use 3D effects right now is another bug. The ubuntu team is working very hard on fixing that bug so 3D can be enabled again on intel 965 machines (what you have). Hopefully an update will be provided that makes it possible to turn on 3D again. If you want you can enable it anyway by passing a SKIP_CHECKS variable to compiz on startup but if you use 3D before the actual bug is fixed your computer might hang randomly (which is the reason why we temporarily disabled 3D for your particular graphics card).

[ReedMace (info-rpcbrown)]

I don't have the Jaunty live CD.

However, running the command

sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

appears to have resolved the issue. Display option of 1280x800 is now available which it previously wasn't. Full screen is now utilised. What did this command do?

Many thanks for your fast and helpful response,

ReeddMace.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg reconfigures /etc/X11/xorg.conf to the standard (minimal) configuration. Since this fixed it for you, there was apparently some misconfiguration. Looking at your old xorg.conf I cannot see anything that should have this effect. Maybe you can upload /etc/X11/xorg.conf, /var/log/Xorg.0.log and the output of `xrandr --verbose` (preferably as an attachment). Then we can check that your new configuration didn't turn off something useful.

@Martin, I have seen once that `dpkg -phigh xserver-xorg` sets the driver to "vesa". This may happen if some error is detected during installation. I prefer renaming xorg.conf, since that will give the default xorg configuration and not whatever debconf thinks is right.

[Martin Olsson (mnemo)]

@ReedMace, that command resets your configuration file to the same config that you'd get if you installed X.org cleanly today. The config file you had before had some commented out junk in it left from an upgrade (which wasn't harmful but ugly) and also a restrictive virtual size that most likely caused your issue.

@Geir, my thinking here was, hmm "two black stripes" sounds like a 4:3 running in a 16:10 and I thought, if he has a 16:10 he probably didn't want that 1024x768 virtual size in there. Why would anyone even want a virtual size that small anyway? I thought that was used for dual-head configs only (I'm not sure what exactly virtual size is though)?

The question remains of course, why did he have that virtual size in there? Maybe it was added manually (config issue) or it could have been added by gnome-display-properties when the driver was operating in some really strange low-res mode or something? Unless ReedMace repro's with live CD I think we should just close this bug as a one off config issue.

FWIW; just for fun I slapped a 1024x768 virtual size on my 965GM laptop just now (it normally runs 1280x800 on the LVDS). I was expecting it to boot 1024x768 with "two black stripes" (confirming my longshot guess above) but it didn't actually; on my system it oddly booted into 640x400, even though xrandr lists several supports modes up to 1024x768 as the highest. I totally don't get how or why the X server came up with that res. Interesting note about debconf vs missing xorg.conf btw ...

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

@Martin, well reasoned about the aspect ratio. I also though that the
virtual of 1024x768 might be too small, but it's the biggest
resolution that was listed after the EDID information (but I didn't
manually decode the hex EDID block). Interestingly, the Xorg.0.log
actually says
Output LVDS using initial mode 640x400
but in his monitors.xml sets the resolution to 1024x768, so it would
be set to that upon login.

I also think it is a one-off configuration bug, but I'd like to
exclude the possibility that the driver was changed to VESA and that
the symptoms went away because of that. The requested information lets
us check that.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

[This is an automatic notification.]

A new major version of the -intel driver is now available in Karmic.

This version includes a major reworking of the acceleration
architecture, which resolves a huge number of issues. We do not know
whether it resolves the issue you reported.

Would you mind testing Karmic Alpha-2 and seeing if it is still a
problem? CD ISO images are available here:

  http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/releases/karmic/

If the issue can still be reproduced on karmic, please report here with
your findings, and attach a fresh Xorg.0.log from your test, and we will
be able to forward the bug upstream.

Otherwise, if the bug no longer exists in Karmic, let us know that as
well.

In the off chance you encounter different bugs while attempting to test
Karmic, please report those as new bug reports.

[ReedMace (info-rpcbrown)]

Have run the Karmic live CD a couple of times. Graphics driver seems to be working very well, including the "Extra" visual effects on the display options. No issues with absent drivers or black space. Also wireless networking is good as is Update Manager (which presently hangs in Jaunty).

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Thanks for letting us know the issue is resolved in Karmic.