VGA and second monitor on ATI HD 6670 (Dell XPS 8300) is broken

[Luiz Angelo Daros de Luca]

Hello,

I reported this problem for kubuntu but I was asked to rereport it using ubuntu. The kubuntu bug (with screenshot) is https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg/+bug/969758

Just after grub, VGA output just show a flicking color with a barelly visible top bar (about 10px).

What I tested:

1) LiveCD from ubuntu and kubuntu beta2 does not have problems. Same for windows.
2) Starting with DVI and VGA at boot, VGA has the problem
3) Starting with VGA alone at boot, VGA has the problem
3a) Starting with VGA alone at boot, sometimes, I got VGA working with screen divided in the middle and parts swapped
4) Starting with DVI alone at boot, DVI does not have problem
5) Starting with VGA alone at boot and plugin DVI after boot, the problem goes to DVI and VGA works.

I have another problem that might be related:

The first time I logged in kubuntu and ubuntu (unity 3d), when both VGA and DVI output are plugged, it freezes (the composer?). However, I can go to console (tty1), log and kill xorg. Unity2d works. Unplugging VGA, in kubuntu, I can log into kde for the first time. The following logs into kde works with or without VGA.

It seems that someone askes at the first login in kde something to the video driver that does not answer. When it has a valid config, it does not ask anymore and I can log without problems (but still got the VGA problem)

PS: system is fresh installed, first user and fully updated and I'm not using proprietary drivers (fglrx).

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: xorg 1:7.6+12ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-20.33-generic 3.2.12
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-20-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.0-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,vpswitch,snap,mousepoll,resize,place,move,wall,grid,regex,imgpng,session,gnomecompat,animation,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,workarounds,scale,expo,ezoom,unityshell]
CompositorRunning: None
Date: Wed Apr 4 21:06:33 2012
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: precise
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus: bcmwl, 5.100.82.38+bdcom, 3.2.0-20-generic, x86_64: installed
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes, whatever it takes to get this fixed in Ubuntu
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Beta amd64 (20120328)
MachineType: Dell Inc. XPS 8300
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=pt_BR:pt:en
 TERM=xterm
 LANG=pt_BR.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-20-generic root=UUID=fcf7b47b-c88f-498a-a0b2-4750277ba109 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 10/17/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A06
dmi.board.name: 0Y2MRG
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A01
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA06:bd10/17/2011:svnDellInc.:pnXPS8300:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0Y2MRG:rvrA01:cvnDellInc.:ct3:cvr:
dmi.product.name: XPS 8300
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.7.4-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.32-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 8.0.2-0ubuntu3
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 8.0.2-0ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.11.4-0ubuntu9
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.7.0-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.99~git20111219.aacbd629-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.17.0-1ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20111201+b5534a1-1build2

[Luiz Angelo Daros de Luca (luizluca)]

I isolated the problem.

I have both kubuntu and ubuntu 12.04b2 installed. Whenever one of them update the kernel, it replaces the grub2 configuration. Anyway, the other (k)ubuntu is detected by /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober and its entries are added to grub menu.

If I select the entry generated by os-prober, there is no problem with VGA. If I use the main entry, I got the problem. The difference from the default entry (generated by /etc/grub.d/10_linux) and os-prober are:

        recordfail
 gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
 insmod gzio

I guess the gfxmode present only in 10_linux entries that causes the problem. Maybe it is related to the fact that my two monitor support different max resolutions.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Luiz Angelo Daros de Luca, 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 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 xserver-xorg-video-ati REPLACE-WITH-BUG-NUMBER

Please note, given that the information from the prior release is already available, doing this on a release prior to the development one would not be helpful.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for xserver-xorg-video-ati (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]