[82G33/G31] Changing screen resolution results in a black screen

[Traumflug]

In Intrepid Ibex 8.10 AMD64 as of today, a few days after alpha4 and upgraded from Hardy, I can't change the screen resolution. Every attempt to do so with Gnome's Monitor Resolution Settings panel results in a black screen which never recovers (I've waited something like 20 minutes).

Currently I'm running 1280x1024 pixels at 60 Hz. The graphics driver is set to "intel". Gnome's panel appears to detect the CRT monitor fine and the list of resolutions offered is plausible. Even if I switch to a resolution which I know to work fine in Hardy on the same hardware, the monitor goes black and turns off after some time. I always had to hard reboot the machine, a Dell Vostro 200 using onboard graphics (Intel GMA X3100). The failure survives a reboot, resulting in an unusable computer.

Recovering isn't simple and reconfiguring xserver-xorg didn't help. So I digged around and found some graphics settings in $HOME/.config/monitors.xml. The values there are changed to what I've choosen in the panel, and re-setting them to what I had before opening the monitor resolution panel gives me back at least a useable machine.

As I don't know what Gnome's panel does or how to change resolution from the command line (there's no "fbset" installed after the upgrade), I'm stuck with hunting down the culprit.

[Traumflug (mah-jump-ing)]

No, it's neither #129381 nor #135418.

[Andreas Moog (ampelbein)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better.

This bug did not have a package associated with it, which is important for ensuring that it gets looked at by the proper developers. You can learn more about finding the right package at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage . I have classified this bug as a bug in xorg.

Please attach your X server configuration file (/etc/X11/xorg.conf) and X server log file (/var/log/Xorg.0.log) to the bug report as individual uncompressed file attachments using the "Attachment:" box below. Could you please also try to run without any /etc/X11/xorg.conf and let Xorg autodetect your display and video card? Please also attach the /var/log/Xorg.0.log from this attempt. Thanks in advance.

[Traumflug (mah-jump-ing)]

> Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better.

Thank you for picking it up so quickly.

> Please attach your X server configuration file (/etc/X11/xorg.conf) [...]

Sure.

[Traumflug (mah-jump-ing)]

> [...] and X server log file (/var/log/Xorg.0.log) [...]

I took the freedom to join all available Xorg.0.logs.

[Traumflug (mah-jump-ing)]

> [...] Could you please also try to run without any /etc/X11/xorg.conf and let Xorg autodetect
> your display and video card? Please also attach the /var/log/Xorg.0.log from this attempt.

I removed xorg.conf and logs right before rebooting and attached what I get after doing nothing but launching FireFox.

[Andreas Moog (ampelbein)]

Thank you for the information added. Could you please attach a Xorg.0.log-file that is created after you changed resolution and got a black screen? For that purpose you could press ctrl-alt-F1 to jump to a text-console and copy the file to your homefolder.

Also, please attach the output of:

lspci -vvnn > lspci-vvnn.log

to this report, thank you.

[Traumflug (mah-jump-ing)]

> Could you please attach a Xorg.0.log-file that is created after you changed
> resolution and got a black screen? For that purpose you could press ctrl-alt-F1
> to jump to a text-console and copy the file to your homefolder.

While I can switch console before changing resolution, there is no effect for the key combo after the screen went black. So I took a copy of Xorg.0.log before changing resolution and one after changing resolution plus hard reboot, before X fires up (recovery mode, root shell). The diff is attached.

[Traumflug (mah-jump-ing)]

> Also, please attach the output of:
>
> lspci -vvnn > lspci-vvnn.log

[Andreas Moog (ampelbein)]

Thanks for reporting this bug and any supporting documentation. Since this bug has enough information provided for a developer to begin work, I'm going to mark it as confirmed and let them handle it from here. Thanks for taking the time to make Ubuntu better!

[Olivier Cortès (olive)]

Hi,

I encounter this bug too, on a Sony Vaio BZ11XN (Intel GMA X4500MDH).
more info (lspci, dmesg, uname, xorg.conf, Xorg.0.log*) @ http://deep-ocean.net/files/sony/

To work around the problem, I had to delete ~/.gconf/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/xrandr/ and reboot the machine from SSH. Impossible to get a working screen, even with restarting GDM or killing X manually. No return to VTs possible after the black screen.

For now, i've forgotten to use an external monitor. The only thing that works is Clone mode : without touching the configuration, X seems to be in clone mode ; un-setting “mirror screens” to this setup with gnome resolution app and setting a different resolution on external monitor (1280x1024) does nothing, and any other changes (rotating screen) results in a ssh-reboot-needed-black-screen.

If you can't debug this problem with Traumflug, i will help. If you can, I'll be happy to stay on other bugs ;-)
Regards,

[kushykush (kushykush)]

I just downloaded the Intrepid 10. When I changed the screen resolution it resulted in a black screen as described above. I "downgraded" my resolution from high to low. This was not a problem in Ubuntu 8.04.

I am not an expert Linux user. I do not know how to use the "shell" to resolve this problem. I tried repairing the X-server but no success.

While you are finding a solution, could you direct us to a site where we can find instructions to resolve this issue. It takes time to re-install.

[Traumflug (mah-jump-ing)]

Today Update Manager gifted a lot of Xorg stuff. Of course, I immediately tried changing screen resolution and *drums* - *fanfare* - changing screen resolution works again. Still a black screen, but it recovers after few seconds. :-)

$ X -version

X.Org X Server 1.5.0
[...]
Build Date: 11 September 2008 06:25:01PM

I vote for closing the bug,
thanks a lot to developers and triagers.

MarKus

P.S.: sort of a follow-up: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-control-center/+bug/269595

[kushykush (kushykush)]

Too late for me. I already uninstalled intrepid.

On Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 5:44 PM, Traumflug <email address hidden> wrote:
> Today Update Manager gifted a lot of Xorg stuff. Of course, I
> immediately tried changing screen resolution and *drums* - *fanfare* -
> changing screen resolution works again. Still a black screen, but it
> recovers after few seconds. :-)
>
> $ X -version
>
> X.Org X Server 1.5.0
> [...]
> Build Date: 11 September 2008 06:25:01PM
>
>
> I vote for closing the bug,
> thanks a lot to developers and triagers.
>
> MarKus
>
>
> P.S.: sort of a follow-up: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-control-center/+bug/269595
>
> --
> [82G33/G31] Changing screen resolution results in a black screen
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/258584
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in "xserver-xorg-video-intel" source package in Ubuntu: Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> In Intrepid Ibex 8.10 AMD64 as of today, a few days after alpha4 and upgraded from Hardy, I can't change the screen resolution. Every attempt to do so with Gnome's Monitor Resolution Settings panel results in a black screen which never recovers (I've waited something like 20 minutes).
>
> Currently I'm running 1280x1024 pixels at 60 Hz. The graphics driver is set to "intel". Gnome's panel appears to detect the CRT monitor fine and the list of resolutions offered is plausible. Even if I switch to a resolution which I know to work fine in Hardy on the same hardware, the monitor goes black and turns off after some time. I always had to hard reboot the machine, a Dell Vostro 200 using onboard graphics (Intel GMA X3100). The failure survives a reboot, resulting in an unusable computer.
>
> Recovering isn't simple and reconfiguring xserver-xorg didn't help. So I digged around and found some graphics settings in $HOME/.config/monitors.xml. The values there are changed to what I've choosen in the panel, and re-setting them to what I had before opening the monitor resolution panel gives me back at least a useable machine.
>
> As I don't know what Gnome's panel does or how to change resolution from the command line (there's no "fbset" installed after the upgrade), I'm stuck with hunting down the culprit.
>

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Closing as per comment #12. Yes, with our recent X.org uploads a lot of issues seem to have vanished. :-)

[[e-mail] (henrialosoi)]

I have Asus EEE docked with an Acer AL2216W. I have faced two types of problems. Firstly, the screen has become black. One blackness is when I change freguency of Acer from 60Hz to 65Hz. Other type of blackness did not appear with Acer's message "Input not supported". It occured once with the resolution 1400*1050(4:3) and 60Hz. However, I was unable to replicate it. Secondly, the Acer become almost black lacking the navigation bar in configuring the settings. Many problems appear with the resolution 1600*1200 (4:3). Sometimes, the screen is totally black or partially black. The screen can even become splitted with this resolution: there were two black lines on the sides of Acer.

You can replicate these errors in this way:
1.) Set your docked screen to 1600*1200 (4:3). (Fine)
2,) Change this screen to 1600*1024. (Black or brownish)
3.) Change to 1280*960 (Fine)
4.) Change back to 1600*1024 (4:3). (Brownish or partially black. Black lines may occur. During partially blackness, navigation bar disappears.)

Intrestingly, I could not replicate the error every time when I switched the resolution from lower to 1600*1024. Perhaps, the error occurs if the screens are above one another or too far from one another. I changed resolution in "System> Preferences> Screen resolution". In all of these cases, Asus EEE's screen has no problem. Its resolution was constant 1024*600 (16:9) during debugging.

[[e-mail] (henrialosoi)]

I installed Ubuntu today so the Ubuntu version is the newest 8.10.

[[e-mail] (henrialosoi)]

There seems to be some other problems with the settings of resolution. Today, I changed the resolution to the maximum and one screen became black. Then I had to configure settings with "displayconfigure_gtk" in Shell. Then, my both screens became black. I restarted and both screens start to work again.

I suggest that there would be a time period in which you can decide about the settings. It is frustrating to restart the computer. Perhaps, some key combination would be enough.

[Nicolas Grilly (nicolas-grilly)]

I agree with the previous comment. My teammate had exactly the same problem today. He changed its screen resolution to a too high value and screen became black. We were forced to use a console to login and manually remove the file $HOME/.config/monitors.xml.

After each change to the display configuration, gnome-display-properties should wait 15 seconds for a user confirmation. Without any confirmation, gnome-display-properties should revert to the previous configuration.

Here is two related threads on Ubuntu Forums by people having the same issue:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=757018
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=969066

Thanks!

[Traumflug (mah-jump-ing)]

Nicolas, could you please file a new bug (against the gnome-control-center package)? The bug initially reported (crash of the driver) was fixed.

What you want is an enhancement in gnome-display-manager. But also see https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/297379 .

[Traumflug (mah-jump-ing)]

Setting to Fix Released, as the bug disappeared with an update from upstream.

Please close the bug.