Compiz crashes after latest update. Desktop environment completely inaccessible

[Konstantin Gizdov]

Running latest Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS x64 and since the latest round of update this week I am left without a desktop environment. Compiz(ver 1:0.9.11.2+14.04.20140714-0ubuntu1) crashes every time and Unity cannot load.

Weirdly enough, if I disable NVidia's drivers, it works. But my GPU runs extremely hot, 100% fan speed and the visual environment is very unresponsive - constant tearing and artifacts, everything is slow to refresh, etc.

It was all running perfectly before with NVidia's drivers, but now essentially I can't do anything outside of a terminal.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: compiz 1:0.9.11.2+14.04.20140714-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-34.60-generic 3.13.11.4
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-34-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
.proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0'
.proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
.proc.driver.nvidia.version:
 NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 331.38 Wed Jan 8 19:32:30 PST 2014
 GCC version: gcc version 4.8.2 (Ubuntu 4.8.2-19ubuntu1)
.tmp.unity.support.test.1:

ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.3
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: None
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Fri Aug 22 01:57:34 2014
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: trusty
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 bbswitch, 0.7, 3.13.0-34-generic, x86_64: installed
 nvidia-331, 331.38, 3.13.0-34-generic, x86_64: installed
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0412] (rev 06) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device [1458:d000]
 NVIDIA Corporation GK104 [GeForce GTX 770] [10de:1184] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device [1458:3606]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-04-18 (125 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140417)
MachineType: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. Z87X-UD4H
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-34-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=204cd357-b38b-4f3a-9cef-b79b94658d29 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: compiz
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 03/18/2014
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: F9
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: Z87X-UD4H-CF
dmi.board.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.board.version: x.x
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrF9:bd03/18/2014:svnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:pnZ87X-UD4H:pvrTobefilledbyO.E.M.:rvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:rnZ87X-UD4H-CF:rvrx.x:cvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.name: Z87X-UD4H
dmi.product.version: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.sys.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.11.2+14.04.20140714-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.54-1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 10.2.2-0intel1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 10.2.2-0intel1
version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers N/A
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.8.2-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.3.0-1ubuntu3.1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.911-0intel1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.10-1ubuntu2
xserver.bootTime: Fri Aug 22 01:53:31 2014
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors:

xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:

xserver.version: 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Christopher Townsend (townsend)]

Seems to be a recent issue caused by the Nvidia drivers. A crash is occurring in libGL.so which will cause Compiz to not run.

From CurrentDmsg.txt:
[ 16.486256] compiz[2361]: segfault at 18 ip 00007f1be7185350 sp 00007fff286a8f10 error 4 in libGL.so.1.2.0[7f1be7148000+63000]

Not much we can do about this since libGL.so is in the Nvidia binary.

[Christopher Townsend (townsend)]

Setting the Compiz task as triaged for now even though we can't do anything.

[Konstantin Gizdov (kgizdov-deactivatedaccount)]

Well, this is peculiar.

I can now see my login screen, enter my password and I get the proper background going. Compiz and Unity however still crash.

I have Guake Terminal as an auto-start app and so I am able to get access to a terminal as well. CTRL+T does not work. The curious thing is, I am able to start apps from the terminal and they open. Their windows however do not have their title bars and can only be closed by terminating the terminal command.

Also, my NVidia card seems to do its job. It does not make any weird sounds and the fans are quite. All the animations are smooth as well. This implies that the driver is performing well. There are no errors or anything like that.

The only error log that pops up as soon as the UI(by which I mean my background) loads is the compiz crash. It lists the main reason for the crash as - .proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0'

...Compiz seems to think my GPU is a folder :D but everything else seems to be working fine.

So, I do not think it is an NVidia driver issue. The driver seems to be working fine for everything else I have installed, except for when compiz needs it.

Could compiz be sending some request that is no longer supported by the driver? Or maybe some implementation have changed in the latest driver version?

Is there a way to further investigate this problem?

Thanks

[Konstantin Gizdov (kgizdov-deactivatedaccount)]

EDIT #5: I meant CTRL+ALT+T does not work.