continuing Install problems, no video

[Gene Caldwell]

I have discussed this problem in detail at the forums where I thought it was being reported as a bug. It was decided in the forums that I need to report this issue as a bug here. Here is the link to the bug I reported in the forums. : http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=402118 I have a dozen different computers and no version of Ubuntu since 6.06 will install because of display problems or problems like this link : http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=402081 . its either one or the other, but it seems odd that I can't get any Ubuntu based distro (Ubuntu, Xubuntu, LinuxMint, Fluxbuntu ) to install on any of my 12 computers. I have not been able to get ANY Ubuntu release since 5.10 to install on any of my computers except once when I used an odd video card. It seems that all versions of ATI and Nvidia have this issue. however I have had no issues at all installing into VMWare. I went into quite a bit of detail in the link at the start of this report and tried all the support advise that was posted. I am having a refresh rate problem that I cannot not resolve. What I have noticed in VMWARE is that the refresh rate is set to 46hz, but that rate causes my monitor to display an error message that the current display is not valid when I try to install on a computer.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

I spent all day in the forums trying to get this problem resolved, I am not the only person having this problem, other people are reporting this issue as well as the other issue I linked to in this report. and again, I did go into quite a bit of detail in the forum I linked to.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

here is another report of the very same problem I am having in the forums: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=378556 There are several people reporting it in this thread. I also remembered that on one occasion or maybe 2, I managed to slip past the issue and actually got past the no display issue and got an error message stating that "org.gnome.settingsDaemon" timed out and will be tried again on the next boot.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

here is another one that was just reported, http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2410823#post2410823

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

here is another one just reported since I did: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=402632

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

Thanks for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Are you connected to your LCD monitor via DVI or VGA? Thanks in advance.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

its a vga. connection

Brian Murray wrote:
> Thanks for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu
> better. Are you connected to your LCD monitor via DVI or VGA? Thanks
> in advance.
>
> ** Changed in: Ubuntu
> Assignee: (unassigned) => Brian Murray
> Status: Unconfirmed => Needs Info
>
>

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

I just tried something totally new. I picked up an old crt monitor and booted a live CD and it completed the boot AND had a display output at 1280x1024@60mz. THEN, while it was still up and running, I unplugged the CRT monitor and plugged in the flat panel monitor, and it switched on ! I have lift off. but this re-inforces the problem, why is the flat panel monitor switching off and displaying an input out of range signal error if the display output is valid when connected to a crt when booting ? IS it possible that during the probing of the video hardware that a bad signal was sent resulting in flat panel protection shutting it off ? I have no room to keep a CRT monitor around my workstation strictly for the purpose of installing an OS when I have a perfectly functional flat panel that preforms just fine with other older Ubuntu and ubuntu derived distros. My flat panel displays the 1280x1024@60 perfectly fine with other distros, why is this issue limited to only the newer ubuntu 6.04 and on distros ? Last note: I tried this method on all the other computers that had the same result and this method worked on all of them, so it is not a computer or video card problem(because they vary greatly), it is restricted to just the flat panel display. The FP is a dell 2007, brand new. however I had the very same problem with my older dell FP1701 display that was 5 years old also, and that was why I bought a new display device, to eliminate the possibility that it was my hardware, this shows to me that it is not my hardware, it is a software issue from ubnuntu 6.04 and on. Ubuntu 5.10 did not have this issue.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

I continue to have this problem with the new ubuntu 7.04.....however this issue does not exist in xubuntu 7.04. I was able to boot the live CD and do a complete install using xubuntu 7.04, however I was not able to complete the boot process Live CD ubuntu 7.04 on any computer. I am not talking about a display problem here, this is booting errors, bad blocks, buffer errors, etc, but CD works just fine in VMware as well as upgrade process. I completed my tests on several different computers and found the following work around: when the flat panel monitor switches off due to the signal range error, simply connect a crt to get the display output working, then re-connect the flat panel display to complete the install. once installed, reboot computer, and display will once again switch off at gdm launch, again , re-connect crt display and on completion of boot and login, set a default display resolution in the display settings to prevent further display issues(This is the actual cure to my display problems). This worked every time I ran into the problem. I was not able to complete any boots on a number of my computers using ubuntu 7.04 due to errors loading the OS, however I was able to install ubuntu 7.04 in vmware just fine using the CD I burned. I was also able to upgrade ubuntu 6.10 to the new ubuntu 7.04 using the CD just fine and wow, it really is a great release !!! I wanted to give direct feed back on that! great job guys ! I will be happy to help in any way I can to resolve this display problem, I can duplicate it at will on several computers. but I have one basic problem, IDE based computers seem to have fewer boot issues, but the majority of my computers are SCSI based and many times the CD source cannot be found or errors prevent the completion of the boot process. once again, I am mearly raising the question that ubuntu 5.04, ubuntu 5.10 did not have the boot issues or the display issues. I have a burned cd of 6.04 as well as 6.06 LTS, I booted 6.04 just fine, but started having boot issues with 6.06LTS. I seem to be able to get around the problems now that I have discovered a work around with display, but the boot errors on the later releases on some computers I cannot get around. display issues are 90%, boot errors are 10%. my gut tells me that the problem is in xorg probing the FP display with some harmful settings and not receiving any response in return when it (the FP )switches off. however this does not explain why xubuntu 7.04 appears to boot properly without this display problem. same xorg version ?

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

forgot, an interesting note, xubuntu seems to have a default screen resolution when the install completes, ubuntu does not, at least that I can see.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

We've made a number of improvements to resolution detection in gutsy. Can you test this against Gutsy (7.10) and let us know if it's now resolved? Also, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Debugging for additional troubleshooting tips.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

yes, this bug is resolved.

It seems that when each ubuntu flavor finally upgrades xorg to 7.2 or
higher video detection problems go away. BTW 7.10 rocks !!! good job
guys ! pass this on to who ever for a well deserved pat on the back.
there are some small problems with 7.10 video configuration, but I am
sure it will get straightened out now that the crunch is over. I'm not a
fan of the launchpad bug reporting system, I will be happy to send you
an email reporting some of the refinement problems I am experiencing, if
you want me to ? you should be aware that upgrading 7.04 to 7.10 with
restricted nvidia drivers enabled does not allow the target system to be
correctly configured and re-boot results in some very low grade video
and an xorg dialog that is not able to resolve or fix, this results in
format and clean install. but fresh installs work very well. I was
finally able to detirmine that if you boot into recovery mode and edit
xorg.conf to specify vesa driver instead of nvidia and reboot, then GDM
starts fine and proper configuration is then possible....this new xorg
dialog that shows up for failsafe configuration does not work at all. it
goes through all the motions and seems like it worked, but it does not
seem to save the new configuration.

There is one small problem with Xubuntu...it has been reported 3 or 4
months back and thats how I figured out the work around. sorry, can't
remember bug # but terminals still crash in 24 bit mode and need to be
changed to 16 bit mode on older HP pavilions with on board intel video.
( I just spent an hour trying to find this bug #, and could not find it,
sorry - thats why I hate your bug reporting system, never can seem to
find what I really need.) at any rate, this is still a bug with the new
7.10, but the bug this email inquired about seems to be resolved.

I have no problem testing and reporting bugs for ubuntu, but I hate your
bug reporting system, it is not a pleasant experience for people and
makes it hard to report bugs.

Bryce Harrington wrote:
> We've made a number of improvements to resolution detection in gutsy.
> Can you test this against Gutsy (7.10) and let us know if it's now
> resolved? Also, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Debugging for
> additional troubleshooting tips.
>
> ** Changed in: xorg (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
>

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Hi Gene, thanks for confirming the fix. Sorry you don't like Launchpad.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

Bryce,
I have about 9 or 10 problems that I have been keeping notes on for the
last month with Ubuntu 7.10 . I'd like to report them as I have
confirmed the problems on multiple computers which have had fresh
installs. Can you help out ? I can provide good amout of details and
have already done loads of trouble shooting.
Gene Caldwell

-----Original Message-----
From: Bryce Harrington <email address hidden>
Reply-To: Bug 103530 <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Bug 103530] Re: continuing Install problems, no video
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:01:41 -0000

** Changed in: xorg (Ubuntu)
       Status: Incomplete => Fix Released