Comment 0 for bug 1009312

I've been running Ubuntu 12.04 for a few weeks now, I really like it, but from the beginning, I had the issue where the proprietary nvidia driver installs but fails to load (confirmed from the commandline, jockey, and the nvidia-dashboard). Over time, I've noticed that sometimes when I power on, the driver does load and I can enter a full unity session without problems, but other times, I fall back onto the VESA driver and a unity 2d session. On a whim, I finally copied logs from both successful and unsuccessful boots, cut out the times, ran a diff on them, and noticed a pattern in the kernel messages.

I'm filing this bug after a successful boot so I've also attached copies of dmesg, Xorg, & jockey logs from an unsuccessful boot. The first thing I saw in the logs was a timing discrepancy between the two boots, most of which is due to GPE storms. I've checked other logs and there's not a clear relation, I've had successful boots with them and unsuccessful ones without them. I do still wonder if they may be involved because it seems I'm a little luckier if I turn off and unplug any peripherals before booting.

But around line 325 in my dmesg logs, at the last step that mentions my GPU (pci device 0000:01:00.0), there is consistently at most a 6 ms delay for successful boots, but a 30 ms one for unsuccessful ones. Also, on all dmesg logs from successful boots, around line 610, the message "Boot video device" is recorded for the PCI number of my GPU, but for every fallback, the message never appears. That's why I'm thinking it's a kernel issue because the earliest mention of a specific driver module doesn't occur until later in the log. My computer also suspended fine last time I tried it under the nvidia module, but my monitor never turns back on if I suspend while using the VESA driver. I don't know if it's the 3D support or what, but not having the GPU seems to cause a lot of other issues.

If you need me to attach any more information, try anything else, or report something upstream, just let me know. The GPU is an on-board GeForce 8400M GT, and the processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo T7250. My setup's a little quirky because I'm using a 32-bit version of Ubuntu although I have a 64-bit processor, but I'm currently using fully updated versions of nvidia driver 295.49 and kernel 3.2.0-24.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: linux-image-3.2.0-24-generic-pae 3.2.0-24.39
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-24.39-generic-pae 3.2.16
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-24-generic-pae i686
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu8
Architecture: i386
ArecordDevices:
 **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog]
   Subdevices: 1/1
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: kyle 1790 F.... pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xfc400000 irq 48'
   Mixer name : 'SigmaTel STAC9872AK'
   Components : 'HDA:83847662,104d1c00,00100201 HDA:14f12c06,104d1700,00100000'
   Controls : 18
   Simple ctrls : 9
Date: Tue Jun 5 22:44:22 2012
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=1b676222-44c7-453c-a522-06b6fd5d66f4
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release i386 (20120423)
MachineType: Sony Corporation VGN-FZ260E
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 VESA VGA
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.2.0-24-generic-pae root=UUID=e330e46a-b426-439f-8037-c1069cc693ce ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.2.0-24-generic-pae N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.2.0-24-generic-pae N/A
 linux-firmware 1.79
RfKill:
 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 07/04/2007
dmi.bios.vendor: Phoenix Technologies LTD
dmi.bios.version: R1120J7
dmi.board.asset.tag: N/A
dmi.board.name: VAIO
dmi.board.vendor: Sony Corporation
dmi.board.version: N/A
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: N/A
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Sony Corporation
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnPhoenixTechnologiesLTD:bvrR1120J7:bd07/04/2007:svnSonyCorporation:pnVGN-FZ260E:pvrFC000001:rvnSonyCorporation:rnVAIO:rvrN/A:cvnSonyCorporation:ct10:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.name: VGN-FZ260E
dmi.product.version: FC000001
dmi.sys.vendor: Sony Corporation