[i845] Resolution cannot be set higher than 640x480 and doesn't fit screen

[Ken Sharp]

In Lubuntu 11.10 I cannot set the resolution higher than 640x480. The screen clearly doesn't like this and doesn't fit the desktop. See attached photo https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/874694/+attachment/2545700/+files/2011-10-15%2000.59.24.jpg .

WORKAROUND: Use kernel parameter:
i915.modeset=0

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.15.901-1ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic i686
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu3
Architecture: i386
Date: Sat Oct 15 00:43:38 2011
InstallationMedia: Lubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release i386 (20111012)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_GB:en
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: xserver-xorg-video-intel
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Dave Gilbert (ubuntu-treblig)]

Hi Ken,
  Can you run apport-collect 874694 with your machine in this state? It should add a load of logs to the bug report to determine what's happening.

Dave

[Ken Sharp (kennybobs)]

apport information

[Ken Sharp (kennybobs)]

It doesn't seem to have added a great deal of information.

[Dave Gilbert (ubuntu-treblig)]

Odd; it doesn't! OK, can you add:
  1) /var/log/Xorg.0.log
  2) /var/log/kern.log
  3) The output of xrandr

Dave

[BJB (bugeaud)]

I had similar issue on Ubuntu 11.10 on old Amilo L6820, adding i915.modeset=0 as linux kernel param at the grub did the trick.

Please note that I did not have investigated any sideeffect of this parameter (performance drop, etc), but at least I can run ubuntu 11.10.

Without this parameter, this issue is blocking the use of 11.10 on affected laptop (think big icons on 640x480 !).

[Ken Sharp (kennybobs)]

Thanks for that, BJB, that works!

Not sure if the bug lies in the graphics drivers then?

[BJB (bugeaud)]

To me there is a problem around KMS with i915. As far as I understand, the value 0 disable the KMS and force the usage of the video driver mode detection instead of the kernel base handling. So, I would say this is rather a KMS (aka Kernel 3.0 ?) issue. Anybody please correct me if my understanding is wrong.

I noticed a first problem with value 0, you can run Ubuntu but you will not be able to perform some tasks such as :
 - Switch from user console (CTRL+ALT+number)
 - Switch from user session (user menu at top right)
- Close a user session (menu at top right)

Basically anything that makes the screen mode switch (once started) now makes the screen goes black, and the only solution is then to reboot.

So, I do not consider my solution as a complete workaround. The issue is still blocking until anybody find a refined way.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Dave Gilbert (ubuntu-treblig)]

Ken, thanks for the logs - can you just clarify what machine model this is and what monitors it has?
xrandr and X think that it has a 640x480 internal LCD and an external higher res monitor - what's the reality?

Dave

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Yeah I think BJB's right, this looks like a bug in KMS.

[Ken Sharp (kennybobs)]

Dave, the laptop is an EiSYSTEM Ei System 4419 (I've never heard of it either).

The underneath claims
'15.1" TFT Celeron 2.60GHz 256MB'

Will upload the lspci, but if anything else would be more useful, then just let me know.

[Dave Gilbert (ubuntu-treblig)]

Hi Ken,
  One more question - do you have any external monitor plugged in at all - or is it just the internal LCD?

[Ken Sharp (kennybobs)]

There is an output for an external monitor but there is nothing plugged into it. Just the internal LCD is active.

[Dave Gilbert (ubuntu-treblig)]

High impact for users of this hardware -> High

[WChoco (whitecbusch)]

I have the same issue with a Dell Inspirion 1100 laptop, screen is stuck at 648x480 when booting from the HDD. I can provide logs if needed, but I also wanted to add that the 'liveUSB' boot of 11.10 WILL display correctly, and xrandr shows three (LCD) display options when booting from the USB whereas when booting from HDD, only one (LCD) option is available (640.480).

(There are VGA display options, however I am only using the LCD. Bios is 32A and no option is available to turn off the VGA port.)

As a work around, or an area to focus on to find the bug:
 Are there any files created in memory after the USB correctly loads that I could copy over to the HDD to make the HDD boot run properly? (grub files, init files, X11, capser files?)

(Know just enough to break stuff)

[WChoco (whitecbusch)]

Just started working! Whatever patch you guys just put out did the trick. Thanks Guys!

[mateor (mateor)]

I had this problem last week, so unless the patch isn't merged ( your comment doesn't seem like you installed a patch manually) it is still a problem. I have seen a million resolutions all across the internet, ranging from overly simplistic to downright insane. I tried many, none worked.

I did find a solution, though and the problem can be resolved in grub. I used grub customized because I am new to Ubuntu, and that was easy. You can get it from the software center, although I used the terminal because the screen resolution blocked the install button. There Isabel advanced settings tab, and you can select the maximum resolution for your screen (1024x768 for me)

I am looking at full-screen ocelot right now.

Now if only I could find a fix for the screen turning off randomly (NOT from suspend/hibernate! It just cuts off in the middle of use while the processor is going full throttle.)

[mateor (mateor)]

Damn. The program is Grub Customizer. Love/hate the auto-correct.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Ken Sharp, 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? If so, could you please test for this with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ .

If it remains an issue, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

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

Also, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Please do not test the kernel in the daily folder, but the one all the way at the bottom. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested and remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

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 text:
needs-upstream-testing

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, please comment as to why specifically you were unable to test it and add the following tags:
kernel-unable-to-test-upstream
kernel-unable-to-test-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

Marking Low due to WORKAROUND.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[BJB (bugeaud)]

I have update the Amilo config to 15.04. The bug is still there.

Settting i915.modeset=0 does not bring improvement anymore : instead of 640x480 max resolution stuck at top left of the screen you now get the 640x480 max reslution in the middle of the screen.

Any fix on this is highly welcomed to be able to run Ubuntu on those machine.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

BJB, it will help immensely if you filed a new report via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug linux

Please feel free to subscribe me to it.

[BJB (bugeaud)]

I openned a dedicated issue for the Amilo case as per Christopher request.
See Bug 1493997

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]