X server crashes with "Saw signal 11. Server aborting"

[Bruce Edge]

Binary package hint: xserver-xorg

More that a few times within the last month I've seen this. There I was walking along minding my own business and BLAM! black screen, .... GDM login again. Aarrgh WTF?

Only info is in Xorg.0.log.old: (full file attached)

Backtrace:
0: /usr/bin/X(xorg_backtrace+0x3b) [0x8133d6b]
1: /usr/bin/X(xf86SigHandler+0x55) [0x80c7d35]
2: [0xb7878400]
Saw signal 11. Server aborting.

xorg version stuff:

ii dontzap 0.1.2 Command line tool to set the DontZap option in xorg.con
ii python-xkit 0.4.2 library for the manipulation of the xorg.conf
ii xorg 1:7.4+3ubuntu10 X.Org X Window System
ii xorg-docs-core 1:1.4-5 Core documentation for the X.org X Window System
ii xorg-options-editor-gtk 0.2ubuntu2 Editor for xorg.conf files
ii xserver-xorg 1:7.4+3ubuntu10 the X.Org X server
ii xserver-xorg-core 2:1.6.4-2ubuntu4.1 Xorg X server - core server
ii xserver-xorg-input-all 1:7.4+3ubuntu10 the X.Org X server -- input driver metapackage
ii xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.2.5-1ubuntu6 X.Org X server -- evdev input driver
ii xserver-xorg-input-kbd 1:1.3.2-3 X.Org X server -- keyboard input driver
ii xserver-xorg-input-mouse 1:1.4.0-2 X.Org X server -- mouse input driver
ii xserver-xorg-input-synaptics 1.1.2-1ubuntu7 Synaptics TouchPad driver for X.Org server
ii xserver-xorg-input-vmmouse 1:12.6.4-1ubuntu3 X.Org X server -- VMMouse input driver to use with VMWa
ii xserver-xorg-input-wacom 1:0.8.4.1-0ubuntu4 X.Org X server -- Wacom input driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-all 1:7.4+3ubuntu10 the X.Org X server -- output driver metapackage
ii xserver-xorg-video-apm 1:1.2.1-2 X.Org X server -- APM display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-ark 1:0.7.1-2 X.Org X server -- ark display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.12.99+git20090929.7968e1fb-0ubuntu1 X.Org X server -- ATI display driver wrapper
ii xserver-xorg-video-chips 1:1.2.1-3 X.Org X server -- Chips display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-cirrus 1:1.3.1-1ubuntu2 X.Org X server -- Cirrus display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-fbdev 1:0.4.0-4 X.Org X server -- fbdev display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-geode 2.11.6-1 X.Org server -- Geode GX2/LX display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-i128 1:1.3.2-1 X.Org X server -- i128 display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-i740 1:1.3.0-1 X.Org X server -- i740 display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.9.0-1ubuntu2.1 X.Org X server -- Intel i8xx, i9xx display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-mach64 6.8.2-1 X.Org X server -- ATI Mach64 display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-mga 1:1.4.11.dfsg-1 X.Org X server -- MGA display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-neomagic 1:1.2.3-1 X.Org X server -- Neomagic display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-nv 1:2.1.14-2ubuntu3 X.Org X server -- NV display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-openchrome 1:0.2.903+svn758-0ubuntu1 X.Org X server -- VIA display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-r128 6.8.1-1 X.Org X server -- ATI r128 display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-radeon 1:6.12.99+git20090929.7968e1fb-0ubuntu1 X.Org X server -- ATI Radeon display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-rendition 1:4.2.1-1 X.Org X server -- Rendition display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-s3 1:0.6.2-1 X.Org X server -- legacy S3 display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-s3virge 1:1.10.2-2 X.Org X server -- S3 ViRGE display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-savage 1:2.3.0-1ubuntu1 X.Org X server -- Savage display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion 1:1.7.2-1 X.Org X server -- SiliconMotion display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-sis 1:0.10.1-2 X.Org X server -- SiS display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-sisusb 1:0.9.1-1build1 X.Org X server -- SiS USB display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-tdfx 1:1.4.1-1 X.Org X server -- tdfx display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-trident 1:1.3.1-1 X.Org X server -- Trident display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-tseng 1:1.2.1-1 X.Org X server -- Tseng display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-v4l 1:0.2.0-3ubuntu1 X.Org X server -- Video 4 Linux display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-vesa 1:2.2.1-1 X.Org X server -- VESA display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-vmware 1:10.16.7-1 X.Org X server -- VMware display driver
ii xserver-xorg-video-voodoo 1:1.2.2-1 X.Org X server -- Voodoo display driver

Karmic, a few funny repos:

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic restricted
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic multiverse
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/justinbogner/ppa/ubuntu karmic main # disabled on upgrade to karmic
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/micahg/mozilla-beta/ubuntu karmic main
deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main restricted
deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted
deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe multiverse
deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe multiverse
deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-proposed restricted main multiverse universe
deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu karmic partner
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security main restricted universe multiverse

Here's my xorg.conf:

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Default Screen"
        Monitor "Configured Monitor"
        Device "Configured Video Device"
        DefaultDepth 24
        # enable twinview
        Option "TwinView" "1"
EndSection

Section "Module"
        Load "glx"
# Disable "dri2"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier "Default Device"
        Driver "nvidia"
        Option "NoLogo" "True"
        Option "AddARGBVisuals" "True"
        Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"

        # Twinview display order
        Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0, DFP-1"
        Option "UseDisplayDevice" "DFP-0, DFP-1"
        Option "TwinViewOrientation" "DFP-0 RightOf DFP-1"

EndSection

[Bruce Edge (bruce-edge)]

Happened again. This time after choosing "save as" from firefox. Grr, this is a real PITA.

Same sig:

Backtrace:
0: /usr/bin/X(xorg_backtrace+0x3b) [0x8133d6b]
1: /usr/bin/X(xf86SigHandler+0x55) [0x80c7d35]
2: [0xb7737400]
Saw signal 11. Server aborting.

Absolutely nothing in kern.log

Saw this in daemon.log, but there's a few of them, the rest had no ill effects.
Jan 11 16:43:11 ice NetworkManager: <info> Unmanaged Device found; state CONNECTED forced. (see http://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/191889)

[Bruce Edge (bruce-edge)]

Here's one thing that I do a lot that's a bit non-standard, perhaps it has some effect.

I create a mongo eclipse window that spans 2 twinview screens. I can say that every time that it's happened, that eclipse window has been there. (As well as a lot of other stuff...)

[Bruce Edge (bruce-edge)]

Aargh. twice in this morning alone. This is ridiculous.
Again:

(II) Dell Premium USB Optical Mouse: initialized for relative axes.
(II) Open ACPI successful (/var/run/acpid.socket)
(II) NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "nvidia-auto-select"
(II) Power Button: Device reopened after 1 attempts.
(II) Power Button: Device reopened after 1 attempts.
(II) Microsoft Natural® Ergonomic Keyboard 4000: Device reopened after 1 attempts.
(II) Microsoft Natural® Ergonomic Keyboard 4000: Device reopened after 1 attempts.
(II) Macintosh mouse button emulation: Device reopened after 1 attempts.
(II) Dell Premium USB Optical Mouse: Device reopened after 1 attempts.

Backtrace:
0: /usr/bin/X(xorg_backtrace+0x3b) [0x8133d6b]
1: /usr/bin/X(xf86SigHandler+0x55) [0x80c7d35]
2: [0xb780a400]
Saw signal 11. Server aborting.
(II) Power Button: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
(II) Power Button: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
(II) Microsoft Natural® Ergonomic Keyboard 4000: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
(II) Microsoft Natural® Ergonomic Keyboard 4000: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
(II) Macintosh mouse button emulation: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
(II) Dell Premium USB Optical Mouse: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
 ddxSigGiveUp: Closing log

Should I try a new nvidia driver, kernel, X server ?

_any_ comments, suggestions, appreciated.

Didn't mention before but it's a PAE kernel.

Other wierd things I keep seeing are: (don't know if related)

(eclipse:8879): GLib-WARNING **: g_set_prgname() called multiple times

and t-bird 3 segfaults:

0 %> thunderbird-3.0
Segmentation fault
0 11:58:22 bedge@ice /home/bedge/Documents

139 %> thunderbird-3.0 -v
 Thunderbird-3.0 3.0.1pre, Copyright (c) 1998-2009 mozilla.org
0 11:58:26 bedge@ice /home/bedge/Documents

deleting the t-bird config didn't help either.

-Bruce

[Bruce Edge (bruce-edge)]

As this is flagged as an nvidia x server bug, here's the nvidia packages I have:

ii nvidia-180-modaliases 185.18.36-0ubuntu9 Transitional package for nvidia-185-modaliases
ii nvidia-185-kernel-source 185.18.36-0ubuntu9 NVIDIA binary kernel module source
ii nvidia-185-libvdpau 185.18.36-0ubuntu9 Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix
ii nvidia-185-modaliases 185.18.36-0ubuntu9 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org driver
ii nvidia-96-modaliases 96.43.13-0ubuntu6 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org driver
rc nvidia-glx-173 173.14.12-1-0ubuntu5.1 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver
rc nvidia-glx-177 177.82-0ubuntu0.1 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver
rc nvidia-glx-180 180.44-0ubuntu1 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver
rc nvidia-glx-180-dev 180.44-0ubuntu1 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver development files
ii nvidia-glx-185 185.18.36-0ubuntu9 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver
rc nvidia-glx-96 96.43.13-0ubuntu6 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver
ii nvidia-kernel-common 20080825+1ubuntu2 NVIDIA binary kernel module common files
ii nvidia-settings 180.25-0ubuntu1 Tool of configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver

[Bruce Edge (bruce-edge)]

Upgraded to nvidia-*-195 yesterday.
No problems since. Work pattern unchanged, same workload, no issues.
Unless I see it again, I'm blaming this on the nvidia-*-185 driver.

[Bruce Edge (bruce-edge)]

Just a followup. Still no problems since switching to nvidia-*-195 5 days ago.
This went from multiple times a day to zero in 5 days.

I hesitate to close it as the -180 is still the current ubuntu released version.

[KlausHoller (kholler)]

I see the same annoying behaviour, using kubuntu 9.10 nvidia-glx-185 and corresponding packages; it occurs irregularly, but more than once per week, whenever I left-click (on anything; e.g. on the configure button of the notes plasma widget - ref. backtrace below).

The first two lines of the backtrace are identical, so I suppose it's the same bug.

Backtrace:
0: /usr/bin/X(xorg_backtrace+0x3b) [0x8133d6b]
1: /usr/bin/X(xf86SigHandler+0x55) [0x80c7d35]
2: [0xf49400]
3: /usr/bin/X(FindGlyphByHash+0x3c) [0x816e71c]
4: /usr/bin/X [0x817b13c]
5: /usr/bin/X [0x81742e5]
6: /usr/bin/X(Dispatch+0x35f) [0x808d17f]
7: /usr/bin/X(main+0x395) [0x8072515]
8: /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe6) [0x808b56]
9: /usr/bin/X [0x80719c1]
Saw signal 11. Server aborting.

[Ralf (ralfwin)]

I just found the same error message in my Xorg.0.log.
It only occures on my notebook with an Intel GMA 950 graphic chipset. It never happened with 9.04, it started with 9.10.

At first the error seemed to occur randomly, but the last two times it happened when I was copying text with Ctrl-c. Right after pressing the keys, the log-off occurred.

Xorg.0.log ends with these lines:

Backtrace:
0: /usr/bin/X(xorg_backtrace+0x3b) [0x8133d6b]
1: /usr/bin/X(xf86SigHandler+0x55) [0x80c7d35]
2: [0xaf3400]
3: /usr/bin/X(xf86AccResFromOS+0x45) [0x80b8c55]
4: /usr/bin/X(xf86ResourceBrokerInit+0x2f) [0x80be7bf]
5: /usr/bin/X(InitOutput+0x19a) [0x80b026a]
6: /usr/bin/X(main+0x1cb) [0x807234b]
7: /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe6) [0x249b56]
8: /usr/bin/X [0x80719c1]
Saw signal 11. Server aborting.
 ddxSigGiveUp: Closing log

A similar bug seems to be this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gdm/+bug/511095

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Same problem here. Now-regular black screens, then returns me to the login screen. Has happened when working in Firefox, KMail etc.

Latest crash was 15 minutes ago.

Distro Version - Ubuntu Karmic 9.10, 32-bit, default fresh install with latest updates
Desktop Environment - GNOME 2.28.1 (Ubuntu 2009-11-03)
Kernel - Linux 2.6.31-19-generic
System - Athlon 64 3400 2.2GHz processor, NVidia 6800LE graphics, 1.5MB RAM

My Xorg.0.log.old file ends with:

Backtrace:
0: /usr/bin/X(xorg_backtrace+0x3b) [0x8133d6b]
1: /usr/bin/X(xf86SigHandler+0x55) [0x80c7d35]
2: [0xa25400]
Saw signal 11. Server aborting.
(II) Power Button: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
(II) AT Translated Set 2 keyboard: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
(II) Power Button: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
(II) Macintosh mouse button emulation: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
(II) USB Optical Mouse USB Optical Mouse: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
 ddxSigGiveUp: Closing log

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Oh, and for what its worth, my graphics driver is NVidia 185.18.36.

[asdlkf (asdlkf)]

.....

This is more than just nvidia.

I have no way to get you the logs from this...

but i'm having the exact same issue:
0: /usr/bin/X11/X(xorg_backtrace+0x3b) [0x8133d6b]
1: /usr/bin/X11/X(xf86SigHandler+0x55) [0x80c7d35]

... This is on an IBM xSeries x345 server with a radeon card... hardware ID [1002:4752] rev 27.

[asdlkf (asdlkf)]

oh, by the way, using the latest live CD.

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Several users reporting same problem on this thread on the official Ubuntu Forum:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1387438

[Ralf (ralfwin)]

Adding this PPA seems to have helped me:
https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat/+archive/x-updates

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

@Ralf - alas, those updates made no difference to me. Still getting the same crashes.

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

The original poster has nvidia, so it's an nvidia bug. The rest of you just think yours is the same bug.

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

@Timo - Thats fine. But - does that mean that the other people with Intel and ATI graphics should now log new/separate bugs for this problem?

[AaronSherman (ajs-ajs)]

Also seeing this. My setup:

I'm loading dbe, extmod, "type 1", freetype and glx.

Ximerama 0 is set.

Monitors are "DELL 2007FP" H30.0 - 83.0 V56.0 - 76.0 with DPMS

Loading the "nvidia" driver with board name "Quadro NVS 285"

And here's the screen section:

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device "Device0"
    Monitor "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth 24
    Option "TwinView" "1"
    Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-0"
    Option "metamodes" "CRT-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0, CRT-1: nvidia-auto-select +1600+0"
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Crashes about every other day. Similar backtrace to original report:

Backtrace:
0: /usr/bin/X(xorg_backtrace+0x26) [0x4f00c6]
1: /usr/bin/X(xf86SigHandler+0x41) [0x4852c1]
2: /lib/libc.so.6 [0x7f1dfeb05530]
3: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//nvidia_drv.so(_nv001646X+0x26) [0x7f1dfbd4c856]
...
18: /usr/bin/X [0x433509]
Saw signal 11. Server aborting.

Installed versions:

nvidia-glx-185 185.18.36-0ubuntu9
nvidia-185-kernel-source 185.18.36-0ubuntu9
nvidia-185-libvdpau 185.18.36-0ubuntu9
nvidia-settings 180.25-0ubuntu1
nvidia-common 0.2.15.1
xorg 1:7.4+3ubuntu10
xserver-xorg 1:7.4+3ubuntu10
xserver-xorg-core 2:1.6.4-2ubuntu4.1

My installation is fairly vanilla. I don't have any extra repos other than the Google Chrome one. I have a large background spread across both displays and I use the desktop effects settings in the Gnome window manager to enable transparent windows based on stack depth.

[gm (mesenich)]

Same here on two different setups with different nvidia cards. On one machine I had a full crash after upgrade from 9.04 to 9.10.
A fresh setup then worked, but then required again editing xorg.conf. My screen resolution is 1600x1200.

After the fresh setup it got totally screwed again when I tried to change the screen resolution in the startup-manager from 640x480 to 800x600 during boot. The problem is grub video mode related.

Solution:

On one machine I had the old grub with menu.lst control. Removing every
 vga=xxx
(xxx=video mode)
in /boot/grub/menu.lst solved the problem here.

In the setup with the new grub I changed the vga modes by editing
/boot/grub/grub.cfg

and setting gfxmode back to
gfxmode=640x480

Here I also removed all other vga=xxx video mode references. There is also another setting file intended for editing grub, but I don't remember the file name anymore. Just removing the video mode references should be sufficient for a quick fix.

A final word to the developers ;-)

Ubuntu has given me video problems on every single upgrade up to now. The reason was always the inability to set the proper video mode (1600x1200). I strongly suggest an installation menue with *all* possible screen resolutions, so that the xserver can be initialized with the proper resolution right from the start.

This would solve the most serious installation problem that many people have had.