s3fb driver shows garbled console

[Vernon]

Using the s3fb.ko module produces a garbled console.
This is even more obvious on Ubuntu 9.10 "karmic" which uses grub2.

The driver does not initialize the card correctly.
There are workarounds though:
In grub2:
You can initialize the card by adding "set gfxpayload=keep" just before the 'linux' line in /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
However this will only work in *some* situations.
You can't use the grub terminal mode and you have to use some specific gfx modes.
In legacy grub:
Add the option "vga=xxx" to the 'kernel' line in /boot/grub/menu.lst.

I've been using Virtual PC which is emulationg an S3 Trio32.
The s3 driver in xorg works correctly, but switching to the console is still garbled!
If you're using ubuntu-server you're stuck with no way to see what you're doing.

ProblemType: Bug
AlsaDevices: Error: command ['ls', '-l', '/dev/snd/'] failed with exit code 2: ls: cannot access /dev/snd/: No such file or directory
AplayDevices: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Architecture: i386
ArecordDevices: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
CurrentDmesg:
 [ 22.937252] eth1: no IPv6 routers present
 [ 25.080267] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
Date: Thu Nov 19 10:04:18 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
Lsusb: Error: command ['lsusb'] failed with exit code 1:
MachineType: Microsoft Corporation Virtual Machine
Package: linux-image-2.6.31-14-generic-pae 2.6.31-14.48
PciMultimedia:

ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic-pae root=UUID=512efccd-3d24-490c-8e56-e29109e3b83e ro s3fb.mode_option=800x600-8 crashkernel=384M-2G:64M,2G-:128M splash
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-14.48-generic-pae
SourcePackage: linux
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-14-generic-pae i686
dmi.bios.date: 02/22/2006
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 080002
dmi.board.name: Virtual Machine
dmi.board.vendor: Microsoft Corporation
dmi.board.version: 5.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: 3025-3946-2059-8396-5505-5332-99
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Microsoft Corporation
dmi.chassis.version: 5.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr080002:bd02/22/2006:svnMicrosoftCorporation:pnVirtualMachine:pvrVS2005R2:rvnMicrosoftCorporation:rnVirtualMachine:rvr5.0:cvnMicrosoftCorporation:ct3:cvr5.0:
dmi.product.name: Virtual Machine
dmi.product.version: VS2005R2
dmi.sys.vendor: Microsoft Corporation

[Vernon (vernonlyon)]

I'd love to help out by working on this, but I'll need some mentoring.
I've compiled the s3fb.ko module on my machine and would be happy to *try* and fix this, but I've not done any kernel development before.

I can see from debug messages I added and from playing around with bit depths that the s3fb *might* be showing a garbled console because it's not initializing the bit depth correctly?

Vernon

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

Hi Vernon,

This bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? 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 run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux 485252

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.

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[Vernon (vernonlyon)]

Hi Jeremy,

I've tried to install the release version of lucid server on Virtual PC, but to no avail!
It either crashes the VM with the error "An unrecoverable processor error has been encountered." or if I set "vga=xxx" kernel args it produces a garbled console. I've been trying a lot of combinations, but I simply can't even get it to install lucid server. I'll try lucid desktop next.

Does this mean in future that Ubuntu will not run at all in VPC?

[Vernon (vernonlyon)]

Lucid server doesn't include the s3fb module and the vesafb is blacklisted by default so you can't boot the Lucid install CD at all on VirtualPC (even with the "vga=xxx" options, it just uses the vga16fb driver which is garbled too)

On Lucid desktop though, the s3fb module is included, and by requesting the blacklisted vesafb module (which won't load) it does actually load the s3fb module. But by then the card has been initialized by grub already, so the s3fb works just fine. To actually use the s3fb module without initializing the card by not passing the "vga=xxx" option crashes the machine in VirtualPC, so it simply can't be tested in Lucid at all.

Hmmm, I wonder if the machine crashing is related to the gfx initialization and possibly the new KMS stuff?

[Vernon (vernonlyon)]

Finally I've found a way!

To start the Lucid server installation you need to add the following kernel args:
vga16fb.blacklist=yes vga=788

Then after the installation and reboot, interrupt GRUB and add the following line just before the 'insmod' line:
set gfxpayload=keep

Voila! Lucid server installed on VPC.

This should be fixed for maverick, not sure how, but I would think the vasefb module should NOT be blacklisted.
Also, if a module is specified as a kernel arg, it should be loaded even if it was blacklisted.
So if you add the arg: vesafb.mode=800x600x8
It'll load vesafb regardless of being blacklisted.

This is still only a workaround.
If gfxpayload is not set the VM crashes, and I don't know how to debug this.

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

This bug report was marked as Incomplete and has not had any updated comments for quite some time. As a result this bug is being closed. Please reopen if this is still an issue in the current Ubuntu development release http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ . Also, please be sure to provide any requested information that may have been missing. To reopen the bug, click on the current status under the Status column and change the status back to "New". Thanks.

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