Ubuntu
linux package

Corrupt ttys, splash; Console colour dummy device

Bug #907446 reported by TJ on 2011-12-21

This bug affects 2 people

Affects		Status	Importance	Assigned to	Milestone
	grub-gfxpayload-lists (Ubuntu)	Confirmed	Undecided	Unassigned
	linux (Ubuntu)	Incomplete	Medium	Unassigned

Bug Description

A clean installation of 11.10 32-bit, wiping out the previously correctly working Xubuntu 10.04 installation. The boot splash screen is corrupted (appears to be text-mode but with the >128 ASCII-code box drawing characters). Once at the X/Unity log-in prompt switching to any of the the virtual consoles (tty1-6) the consoles are also corrupted and impossible to read. The best description of what is seen is that spaces are spaces, but characters are drawn outline-shadowed (like HTML inset/outset table borders) and drawn mirrored through the Y axis. E.g. a "b" looks like a "d". Making out the characters is extremely difficult unless you know what to expect, such as when typing username at the console log-in prompt. I noticed the kernel reports:
Console: colour dummy console 80x25

instead of what I'd expect:
Console: colour VGA+ 80x25

Also, it seems the efifb driver creates a framebuffer device later although I'm not sure if it is responsible for the corrupted display. More likely is that GRUB leaves the video chipset in an unexpected mode.

WORKAROUND: The bug can be fixed by adding in /etc/default/grub :
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=text

However, this is a local workaround. The blueprint refers to the file "/boot/grub/gfxblacklist" which is generated by a script in the package "grub-gfxpayload-lists". The file contains PCI IDs of video devices that GRUB should not leave in graphics mode. These are declared in /usr/share/grub-gfxpayload-lists/blacklist/ . The attached patch adds a new file "20_intel" to the blacklisted devices in the package.
If adding it manually to a system, place it in the /usr/share/grub-gfxpayload-lists/blacklist/ directory. To add the new device to /boot/grub/gfxblacklist.txt :
sudo update-grub-gfxpayload

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: linux-image-3.0.0-12-generic 3.0.0-12.20
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic i686
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.
AplayDevices:
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: I82801BAICH2 [Intel 82801BA-ICH2], device 0: Intel ICH [Intel 82801BA-ICH2]
   Subdevices: 1/1
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0: tj 1618 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
Card hw:0 'I82801BAICH2'/'Intel 82801BA-ICH2 with YMF753 at irq 9'
   Mixer name : 'Yamaha YMF753'
   Components : 'AC97a:594d4803'
   Controls : 41
   Simple ctrls : 28
Date: Wed Dec 21 17:02:46 2011
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=be8937e3-e911-452c-b8ce-353b831a7c2c
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release i386 (20111012)
Lsusb:
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 054c:0069 Sony Corp. Memorystick MSC-U03 Reader
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 044e:3002 Alps Electric Co., Ltd Bluetooth Device
MachineType: Sony Corporation PCG-SRX51P_B(GB)
PccardctlIdent:
Socket 0:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
Socket 0:
   no card
ProcEnviron:
LANGUAGE=en_GB:en
PATH=(custom, no user)
LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-12-generic root=UUID=ca308bfa-d389-4d9e-92a7-2dd4b55cba2e ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7 video=efifb:off
RelatedPackageVersions:
linux-restricted-modules-3.0.0-12-generic N/A
linux-backports-modules-3.0.0-12-generic N/A
linux-firmware 1.60
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 01/24/03
dmi.bios.vendor: Phoenix Technologies LTD
dmi.bios.version: R0232U2
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: 463M3A3471383200000000000000
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Sony Corporation
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnPhoenixTechnologiesLTD:bvrR0232U2:bd01/24/03:svnSonyCorporation:pnPCG-SRX51P_B(GB):pvr01:cvnSonyCorporation:ct10:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.name: PCG-SRX51P_B(GB)
dmi.product.version: 01
dmi.sys.vendor: Sony Corporation

See original description

Tags:

Revision history for this message

TJ (tj) wrote on 2011-12-21:

AcpiTables.txt Edit (76.4 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
AlsaDevices.txt Edit (412 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ArecordDevices.txt Edit (324 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
BootDmesg.txt Edit (44.1 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Card0.Amixer.values.txt Edit (5.7 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Card0.Codecs.codec97.0.ac97.0.0.txt Edit (585 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Card0.Codecs.codec97.0.ac97.0.0.regs.txt Edit (767 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
CurrentDmesg.txt Edit (1.4 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Dependencies.txt Edit (1.8 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
IwConfig.txt Edit (539 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Lspci.txt Edit (8.2 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
PciMultimedia.txt Edit (560 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcCpuinfo.txt Edit (501 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcInterrupts.txt Edit (1.2 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcModules.txt Edit (2.3 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
PulseSinks.txt Edit (2.2 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
PulseSources.txt Edit (3.7 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
RfKill.txt Edit (112 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
UdevDb.txt Edit (83.0 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
UdevLog.txt Edit (188.3 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
WifiSyslog.txt Edit (881.7 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")

Brad Figg (brad-figg) on 2011-12-21

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status:	New → Confirmed

Revision history for this message

TJ (tj) wrote on 2011-12-21:

dmesg showing efifb reports Edit (44.3 KiB, text/plain)

The original report was made whilst booting the affected system with "video=efifb:off" which meant the efifb reports were missing from dmesg. This attachment rectifies that omission.

Revision history for this message

TJ (tj) wrote on 2011-12-21:

tty1 corrupted at log-in prompt Edit (705.0 KiB, image/jpeg)

I'm attaching a couple of JPEG images captured on camera of the tty:

1. At the tty log-in prompt (IMG_20111221_174124.jpg)
2. After a blind user log-in (IMG_20111221_174156.jpg)

Revision history for this message

TJ (tj) wrote on 2011-12-21:

tty1 corrupted after blind log-in Edit (774.4 KiB, image/jpeg)

Revision history for this message

Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury) wrote on 2011-12-21:

Do you have this issue if you try other versions of Ubuntu, such as 10.10 or 11.04?

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
importance:	Undecided → Medium

Revision history for this message

TJ (tj) wrote on 2011-12-23:

Blacklist Intel 815 devices from GRUB GFX handover Edit (544 bytes, text/plain)

I've been analysing the kernel's start-up code that sets the console.

The selection of the dummy console occurs in drivers/video/console/vgacon.c::vgacon_startup()

There is a code label "novga" which results in the VGA console driver not being used:

if (screen_info.orig_video_isVGA == VIDEO_TYPE_VLFB ||
     screen_info.orig_video_isVGA == VIDEO_TYPE_EFI) {
       no_vga:
#ifdef CONFIG_DUMMY_CONSOLE
  conswitchp = &dummy_con;
  return conswitchp->con_startup();
#else
  return NULL;
#endif

The "novga" label is also reached from later code that checks boot_params.screen_info has been initialized, and then whether the screen is in a VGA16 mode not handled by VGACON.

/* boot_params.screen_info initialized? */
if ((screen_info.orig_video_mode == 0) &&
     (screen_info.orig_video_lines == 0) &&
     (screen_info.orig_video_cols == 0))
  goto no_vga;

/* VGA16 modes are not handled by VGACON */
if ((screen_info.orig_video_mode == 0x0D) || /* 320x200/4 */
     (screen_info.orig_video_mode == 0x0E) || /* 640x200/4 */
     (screen_info.orig_video_mode == 0x10) || /* 640x350/4 */
     (screen_info.orig_video_mode == 0x12) || /* 640x480/4 */
     (screen_info.orig_video_mode == 0x6A)) /* 800x600/4 (VESA) */
  goto no_vga;

For a while I was chasing a presumption that arch/x86/kernel/setup.c::setup_arch() was enabling EFI support with

efi_enabled=1;

After a lot of analysis of boot_params.efi_info I arrived at the "novga" code and realised it can also be triggered by the boot-loader leaving the display in a graphic mode.

I then investigated the GRUB configuration and discovered the GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX option, described in the blueprint

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/packageselection-foundations-n-grub2-boot-framebuffer

The bug can be fixed in "/etc/default/grub" by adding

GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=text

The attached patch adds a new file "20_intel" to the blacklisted devices in the package.

If adding it manually to a system, place it in the "/usr/share/grub-gfxpayload-lists/blacklist/" directory.

To add the new device to "/boot/grub/gfxblacklist.txt" run:

sudo update-grub-gfxpayload

I've been analysing the kernel's start-up code that sets the console.

The selection of the dummy console occurs in drivers/video/console/vgacon.c::vgacon_startup()

There is a code label "novga" which results in the VGA console driver not being used:

if (screen_info.orig_video_isVGA == VIDEO_TYPE_VLFB ||
	    screen_info.orig_video_isVGA == VIDEO_TYPE_EFI) {
	      no_vga:
#ifdef CONFIG_DUMMY_CONSOLE
		conswitchp = &dummy_con;
		return conswitchp->con_startup();
#else
		return NULL;
#endif

The "novga" label is also reached from later code that checks boot_params.screen_info has been initialized, and then whether the screen is in a VGA16 mode not handled by VGACON.

/* boot_params.screen_info initialized? */
	if ((screen_info.orig_video_mode  == 0) &&
	    (screen_info.orig_video_lines == 0) &&
	    (screen_info.orig_video_cols  == 0))
		goto no_vga;

/* VGA16 modes are not handled by VGACON */
	if ((screen_info.orig_video_mode == 0x0D) ||	/* 320x200/4 */
	    (screen_info.orig_video_mode == 0x0E) ||	/* 640x200/4 */
	    (screen_info.orig_video_mode == 0x10) ||	/* 640x350/4 */
	    (screen_info.orig_video_mode == 0x12) ||	/* 640x480/4 */
	    (screen_info.orig_video_mode == 0x6A))	/* 800x600/4 (VESA) */
		goto no_vga;

For a while I was chasing a presumption that arch/x86/kernel/setup.c::setup_arch() was enabling EFI support with

efi_enabled=1;

After a lot of analysis of  boot_params.efi_info I arrived at the "novga" code and realised it can also be triggered by the boot-loader leaving the display in a graphic mode.

I then investigated the GRUB configuration and discovered the GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX option, described in the blueprint

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/packageselection-foundations-n-grub2-boot-framebuffer

The bug can be fixed in "/etc/default/grub" by adding

GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=text

The attached patch adds a new file "20_intel" to the blacklisted devices in the package.

If adding it manually to a system, place it in the "/usr/share/grub-gfxpayload-lists/blacklist/" directory.

To add the new device to "/boot/grub/gfxblacklist.txt" run:

sudo update-grub-gfxpayload

Changed in grub-gfxpayload-lists (Ubuntu):
status:	New → Confirmed

Revision history for this message

TJ (tj) wrote on 2011-12-23:

dmesg showing VGA+ console in use after GRUB GFX blacklisting Edit (44.0 KiB, text/plain)

The attached log shows confirmation that the VGA+ console driver (vgacon) is being used, and the efifb is not loaded.

Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton) on 2011-12-24

tags:

added: patch

Revision history for this message

penalvch (penalvch) wrote on 2013-12-26:

TJ, 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 linux <replace-with-bug-number>

If reproducible, could you also please test the latest upstream kernel available (not the daily folder) following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested. For example:
kernel-fixed-upstream-v3.13-rc5

This can be done by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon next to the word Tags located at the bottom of the bug description. As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug's Status as Confirmed. Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

tags:	added: latest-bios-r0232u2 needs-upstream-testing
description:	updated
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status:	Confirmed → Incomplete

Revision history for this message

Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton) wrote on 2013-12-27:

The attachment "Blacklist Intel 815 devices from GRUB GFX handover" seems to be a patch. If it isn't, please remove the "patch" flag from the attachment, remove the "patch" tag, and if you are a member of the ~ubuntu-reviewers, unsubscribe the team.

[This is an automated message performed by a Launchpad user owned by ~brian-murray, for any issues please contact him.]

Revision history for this message

Tim Bartlett (tim-bartletts) wrote on 2014-01-16:

#10

I have experienced the same bug with the Intel 815 graphics chipset on Ubuntu 12.04 running 3.2.0-57-generic-pae i686.

I have tested with 3.13.0-031300rc8-generic i686 from the mainline archive, and the bug still exists. TJ's GRUB blacklist patch fixes the issue for me with both kernels.

I don't think I can change tags, but this per Christopher's post above this bug should have the following tags changed:
+ kernel-bug-exists-upstream
+ kernel-bug-exists-upstream-v3.13-rc8
- needs-upstream-testing

I was not able to boot the development release or collect the apport information, as I couldn't get the machine to boot from USB, and the machine in question has a CD (not DVD) drive but the latest development build images are oversize for a CD. Let me know if you would like me to run the apport command on my installed OS (and whether the LTS or mainline kernel).

Cheers,
Tim

Revision history for this message

penalvch (penalvch) wrote on 2014-01-16:

#11

Tim Bartlett, thank you for your comment. So your hardware and problem may be tracked, could you please file a new report with Ubuntu by executing the following in a terminal while booted into a Ubuntu repository kernel (not a mainline one) via:
ubuntu-bug linux

For more on this, please read the official Ubuntu documentation:
Ubuntu Bug Control and Ubuntu Bug Squad: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/BestPractices#X.2BAC8-Reporting.Focus_on_One_Issue
Ubuntu Kernel Team: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/KernelTeamBugPolicies#Filing_Kernel_Bug_reports
Ubuntu Community: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Bug_reporting_etiquette