Ubuntu 11.10 on Dell Inspiron 8600 gives garbled screen

[Roland Vossen]

After upgrading from Ubuntu 11.04 to 11.10, this problem appeared. I get up to the login screen, which still looks normal. However, if I pass the login screen, then I see an empty desktop, and if I right-click my mouse, large rectangular regions of the screen become garbled. The Dell Inspiron 8600 is a laptop of approx 8 years old. Could be a problem with the graphics driver (Nouveau?), could be a problem with the desktop manager.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 877703

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Roland Vossen (rvossen)]

I tried uploading additional information using apport-collect in console mode (it is using the w3m text mode browser). However, it seems I see the same problem as reported in bug #808980: I log in to launchpad, get to the screen that says 'almost finished ...' and then nothing happens automatically (I am not redirected in a couple of seconds, if that was the intention). There are a couple of links to click in this screen, the most logical choice being 'Launchpad'. If I click that one, I get a lot of information about Launchpad. I do not want that, I want a simple way to add log files to an existing bug report. The treshold for users to provide additional logs in their bug reports should be low. Still it is not clear to me how to add the log files to this bug report, any suggestion is welcome.

Bye, Roland.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

Thank you for taking the time to file a bug report on this issue.

However, given the number of bugs that the Kernel Team receives during any development cycle it is impossible for us to review them all. Therefore, we occasionally resort to using automated bots to request further testing. This is such a request.

We have noted that there is a newer version of the development kernel than the one you last tested when this issue was found. Please test again with the newer kernel and indicate in the bug if this issue still exists or not.

If the bug still exists, change the bug status from Incomplete to Confirmed. If the bug no longer exists, change the bug status from Incomplete to Fix Released.

Thank you for your help, we really do appreciate it.

[Roland Vossen (rvossen)]

I am running kernel 3.0.0-12.20

[Roland Vossen (rvossen)]

I managed to provide a log using apport-bug, using apport-collect was too unclear/cumbersome to me.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the release candidate kernel versus the daily build. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag(Only that one tag, please leave the others). 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.

If this bug is fixed by the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream-KERNEL-VERSION'. For example, if kernel version 3.1-rc9 fixed and issue, the tag would be: 'kernel-fixed-upstream-v3.1-rc9'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

Thanks in advance.

[Roland Vossen (rvossen)]

Tested both linux-image-3.1.0-999-generic_3.1.0-999.201110210416_i386.deb and
linux-image-3.1.0-030100rc10-generic_3.1.0-030100rc10.201110200610_i386.deb.

Both have the same problem as the Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20 kernel.

Added 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream' tag as requested.

[Andreas Maniatis (andreas-maniatis)]

I can confirm experiencing exactly the same problem, should be an incompatibility issue with our old Dell Inspiron 8600.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Roland Vossen, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. 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, please follow https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Filing_bugs_when_off-line to have apport collect the required information. Please do not attach an .apport file to this bug.

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.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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