System Monitor display is corrupt after upgrade to 9.10

[apinunt]

After upgrading to 9.10 the System Monitor display is nothing but a lot of dots when I open it, no text visible. All other GUI displays appears to be normal.

My computer is an IBM Thinkpad R40.

1. Click on the System Monitor icon.
2. A window appears populated with nothing but tiny dots.

[apinunt (apinunt)]

PNG of the System Monitor display.

[Jorma Ikäheimo (jorma-ikaheimo)]

I can confirm the bug.

[apinunt (apinunt)]

Are you using an IBM notebook? Might this problem be related to the video card? I'm holding off updating my 3 other systems until I know what I might expect.

[tecneeq (tecneeq)]

I have the same problem. Kubuntu 9.10, fresh install on a IBM Thinkpad T40. It's probably related to the video card. My guess is that some weird and obscure feature is used for the sake of eyecandy.

To solve the problem i tried to edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf, only to find that there is no such file.

So Kubuntu is unuseable on a Thinkpad T40, this bug should be flagged as ,,showstopper''.

For now i have to go back to Debian 5. Luckily i have a backup.

[tecneeq (tecneeq)]

I think i have a workaround. This is how i did it:

Since there was no xorg.conf in /etc/X11/, i guess Xorg makes the condig up at runtime, i had to ,,make'' one first. For this i needed Xorg to shut down. So i opened a console by pressing ctrl+alt+f1, logged in and started a root shell with "sudo sh". Then i turned off Xorg, created a new xorg.conf, copied it to /etc/X11/xorg.conf, changed it and finally restarted Xorg:

#> service kdm stop
#> Xorg -configure
#> cp /root/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf
#> vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf (change device "radeon" to device "vesa")
#> service kdm start

The display is slow and most eyecandy is turned off, but at least it works. The problem is somewhere in the Xorg radeon module i think.

[tecneeq (tecneeq)]

Since vesa is extremely slow, i played a bit more, turning on and off random options in xorg.conf. Best result so far:

Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
Driver "radeon"

This allows me to use 3d effects without garbled output. It also is considerably faster than vesa. BTW, my graphics card is called Radeon Mobility 7500.

[apinunt (apinunt)]

In addition to the System Monitor, all the OpenOffice.org applications are unusable for the same reason.

[apinunt (apinunt)]

Another screenshot. And might this problem get some quick attention for resolution? The open office programs run somewhat slowly, and a workaround that makes the system slow to a crawl essentially renders these programs useless.

[kiklol (mwolfe)]

Thanks tecneeq - had exact same problem with old Sony Vaio with legacy mobility radeon. Your change stopped the display corruption for me.

[TehSyd (theleadingcompetitor)]

I posted this bug before yet somehow mine is labeled as the duplicate. Oh well. I can confirm this bug.

[apinunt (apinunt)]

We've had some commercial power fails here today, and I notice that when my notebook goes on battery a small popup appears which is no more than a black box, with no readable text contained.

Rather than apply a work around at this moment, I would like to know if this might be considered a BUG and gain some attention in providing a FIX. If so, I will gladly await a FIX and work from one of my other systems until it is made available.

[Tom Mazzotta (tmazzotta)]

I'm having a very similar problem using a Compaq Evo N410c laptop. The video in this machine is an ATI Mobility Radeon with 16-MB DDR SDRAM.

[apinunt (apinunt)]

My notebook is an IBM ThinkPad R40 2722JT9
Video is ATI Radeon Mobility M6 LY

Perhaps that will help, and it appears the problem may be related to ATI video cards?

[sneakypete (sneakypete81)]

Same problem: Thinkpad T42, Radeon Mobility 7500.
Setting Accelmethod to EXA solves the problem for me (comment 6 - thanks tecneeq)

[Tom Mazzotta (tmazzotta)]

I can confirm that the workaround documented by techneeq resolved the issue on my Evo N410c. I created an xorg.conf file ("boardname" automatically identified as "Radeon Mobility M6 LY"), uncommended the "AccelMethod" option and defined its value to be "EXA". FYI if you are running Gnome, you will want to use "service gdm stop" and then "service gdm start" to to control the desktop manager.

Now running with visual effects set to "None", I have a usable system monitor and the system notification popup boxes are legible. I tried changing the visual effects to "normal", but my system locked-up. For an old junker of a laptop I can live (happily) without the visual effects.

Thanks goes to techneeq for hacking a solution and sharing it with the community.

[apinunt (apinunt)]

I'm curious, my IBM ThinkPad has no Xorg.conf file in /etc/X11, and none of my systems running 9.04 or 7.04 have an Xorg.conf file either. I just finished upgrading an HP Desktop to 9.10 and it had no Xorg.conf file previous or after the upgrade.
Should the 9.10 upgrade be creating an Xorg.conf file and is failing to do so?

Googling, I find mixed results on using EXA, and wonder what the developers position might be related to this problem and what, if anything should be resolved via /etc/X11/Xorg.conf, perhaps someone in a position of responsibility might give this some attention so that all might achieve a common fix? I prefer to not make changes in the / file system except through the update method so I don't have to keep track of the changes made or worry that they may be contributing to future problems.

[Bebo Ariwo (yasenchuk)]

After upgrading to 9.10 via a fresh disk install, both System Monitor and system notifications appear as described. I'm running a Dell Inspriron 4100 with the ATI Radeon Mobility M6 LY card.

I'll try the solution suggested by post #6 but I'd rather see this fixed in an update.

[tecneeq (tecneeq)]

For clarification, if you want to have your own /etc/X11/xorg.conf read post #5 in wich i describe how i got mine. Then do the change suggested in post #6.

[apinunt (apinunt)]

Will this problem get some attention? I attempted to apply what is said to be a work around, but was unable to create something that made any improvement or change.

[Martin G Miller (mgmiller)]

I have a Dell C510 with ATI mobility M6 LY graphics 16 MB video ram. I have the same corruption problem. Setting to EXA resolves the corruption, but the system becomes so slow to refresh windows, that I went back to the stock XAA acceleration. I would prefer to see a fix in the radeon drivers. This may have something to do with ATI cards with low memory. Unfortunately, there is no way to allocate more ram to video in my BIOS.

[sneakypete (sneakypete81)]

Is this a duplicate of Bug #426582 ?

[apinunt (apinunt)]

Will this bug be resolved? Or is it to be considered a feature?

[Federico Román (fromanf)]

I agree with sneakypete that is a duplicate of Bug #426582. And I also agree with apinunt that this bug must be resolved or closed.

[apinunt (apinunt)]

If this is a duplicate of Bug #426582, when I looked at that report I see that it shows Status: Fix Released, although I am completely up to date and have not received any fix. Looking at that Bug report, I am unable to determine what the fix is (was), and am left wondering if my problem as reported is therefore not a duplicate. I have added a comment on Bug #426582, and will cease to post on this Bug report, hoping there will indeed be a fix, or some attention given resolving the problem.

[sneakypete (sneakypete81)]

"Fix Released" refers to the release notes.