[Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS 32-bit] Unity GUI will hang during bootup with ATI Technologies Radeon X600 (RV380) and VIA Technologies PT880 Ultra chipset

[fpgahardwareengineer]

The problem is, booting will stop after displaying Unity GUI default background wallpaper image under Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS 32-bit.
It won't get to displaying launch bar with icons on the left side of the screen or a title bar on the top part of the screen.

This is a Ubuntu version regression going from Lucid to Natty.

Note that because I cannot boot Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS 32-bit, the files attached is from Ubuntu 10.04.4 LTS 32-bit.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: xorg 1:7.5+5ubuntu1.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-38.83-generic 2.6.32.52+drm33.21
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-38-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Mon Oct 8 09:02:25 2012
DkmsStatus: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
GdmLog1: Error: command ['gksu', '-D', 'Apport', '--', 'cat', '/var/log/gdm/:0.log.1'] failed with exit code 1: cat: /var/log/gdm/:0.log.1: No such file or directory
GdmLog2: Error: command ['gksu', '-D', 'Apport', '--', 'cat', '/var/log/gdm/:0.log.2'] failed with exit code 1: cat: /var/log/gdm/:0.log.2: No such file or directory
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 10.04.4 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release i386 (20120214.2)
Lsusb:
 Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
 Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
 Bus 003 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 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
MachineType: System manufacturer System Product Name
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/hostname.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash --
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
Title: Xorg freeze
dmi.bios.date: 11/16/2006
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 0704
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: P5VD1-X
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev 1.xx
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Asset-1234567890
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Chassis Manufacture
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr0704:bd11/16/2006:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rnP5VD1-X:rvrRev1.xx:cvnChassisManufacture:ct3:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.name: System Product Name
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer
glxinfo: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
system:
 distro: Ubuntu
 codename: lucid
 architecture: i686
 kernel: 2.6.32-38-generic

[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

Hi,

Okay, I corrected the typo in the bug report description.

Regards,

fpgahardwareengineer

[penalvch (penalvch)]

fpgahardwareengineer, 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 provide the information following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingKernelBoot ?

As well, could you please test for this with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD 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>

Also, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Please do not test the kernel in the daily folder, but the one all the way at the bottom. 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-v3.7-rc1-quantal

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

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, please comment as to why specifically you were unable to test it and add the following tags:
kernel-unable-to-test-upstream
kernel-unable-to-test-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful Bug Reporting Tips:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs

[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

Hi,

Because I speculated that a bug in x.org ATI Technologies/AMD display device driver was causing issues on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 32-bit, most of my analysis of the issue is at freedesktop.org's Bugzilla.

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=55784

Anyway, for now I changed the graphics card to XFX Radeon HD 5450 512 MB PCIe graphics card since several ATI Technologies/AMD PCIe graphics cards exhibit the same bug behavior with ASUS P5VD1-X mainboard on Ubuntu 12.04.
I installed the latest v3.7-rc7-raring version of the Linux kernel for regression testing purposes from this URL.

http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.7-rc7-raring/

I still see the exact same bug behavior with v3.7-rc7-raring.
I made sure the Linux kernel version is 3.7-rc7 from Terminal the following way.

$ uname -r
3.7.0-030700rc7-generic

I found a temporary workaround of the bug and I will discuss it shortly.
In the meantime, I will add,

kernel-bug-exists-upstream-3.7-rc7

And remove,

needs-upstream-testing

From the Tags section.

Regards,

fpgahardwareengineer

[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

Hi,

First of all, note that I used XFX Radeon HD 5450 512 MB PCIe graphics card for the analysis, and not the original ATI Technologies Radeon X600 PCIe graphics card for no particular reason.
I will redo the testing with ATI Technologies Radeon X600 PCI graphics card later.
Here is what I found so far.

1) Everything works fine on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS 32-bit (more precisely Ubuntu 10.04.4 LTS 32-bit with all the updates via Update Manager), including ACPI S3 State resume.

2) Something broke in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 32-bit, and hangs up after displaying Ubuntu desktop's reddish wallpaper (i.e., Mouse is alive, keyboard is alive, but goes nowhere from there.).

3) On Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 32-bit, if I booted it in recovery mode via Grub, and then select 'resume' when prompted, everything will work fine like it did in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS 32-bit.

4) I installed Linux kernel 3.7-rc7 (v3.7-rc7-raring), but it has the same bug as in Linux kernel 3.2.0-34.

5) I was able to install Ubuntu 12.04 with the above configuration, but cannot run Ubuntu from a hard drive or DVD non-installation boot (i.e., Run Ubuntu without installing option). Weird bug.

6) I suspect this is a bug related to Ubuntu desktop or Unity, not x.org ATI Technologies/AMD display device driver because the recovery mode workaround works fine.

7) Again, everything works fine as long as recover mode method already discussed is used, including ACPI S3 State resume I make a lot of noise about all the time.

8) This bug probably didn't get caught during beta testing of Ubuntu 12.04 because very few people own VIA Technologies chipset-based mainboard with PCI Express. I doubt this is a bug of their chipset as everybody likes to blame them all the time as a buggy chipset vendor.

So for those that need a workaround, use recovery mode and select 'resume.'
That's the only workaround I know right now.
Someone, please fix this weird bug specific to Ubuntu 12.04.

Regards,

fpgahardwareengineer

[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

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[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

Hi,

Sorry, I may have ran apport-collect twice by mistake.
I was having issues running it with 3.7-rc7 so I went back to 3.2.0-34 for the purpose of running apport-collect.

Regards,

fpgahardwareengineer

[penalvch (penalvch)]

fpgahardwareengineer, thank you for testing the mainline kernel. One thing that is helpful to do, is only provide testing results with the same hardware setup as originally reported. Swapping out hardware, and then performing an apport-collect or providing other information, potentially creates a mess of a bug report. While one would want to make this report as easy and clear as possible for a developer to analyze and fix.

Hence, could you please return your hardware back to that originally reported with, test the mainline kernel, and provide the results?

As well, please do not run apport-collect further in Precise or earlier releases, or while booted into the mainline kernel. For more on this, please see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs .

Thank you for your understanding.

[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

(In reply to Comment #44)

Hi Christopher,

I put ATI Technologies Radeon X600 PCI Express graphics card back into the original system.
I got results identical to XFX Radeon HD 5450 512 MB PCIe graphics card.
If I used recovery mode, everything is fine including graphics rendering and ACPI S3 State resume, but as long as I try to boot the normal way whether it is Linux 3.2.34 or 3.7-rc7 it will get hung up after rendering the reddish wallpaper (Again, mouse and keyboard are alive, but nothing I can do from that point other than to hard reset the system.).
I attached lspci output under 3.7-rc7 to prove that I went back to Radeon X600.
Someone involved in the Unity GUI needs to take a look at this bug.

Regards,

fpgahardwareengineer

[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

Hi Christopher,

Several more things.

1) Can you change the status of this bug so that developers are aware of the bug, especially people who deal with Unity GUI?

2) Can you add a workaround description to this bug that recovery mode can allow users to workaround this bug until the bug is fixed?

3) I believe I have seen this bug on SiS 761GX chipset-based mainboard (ECS 761GX-M754) with XFX Radeon HD 5450 512 MB PCIe graphics card. I will post a report on it in the next couple of days after I reproduce and analyze the bug.

4) I will perform tests on 2 more AMD PCIe graphics cards that are likely impacted by this bug. I will post the results in the next couple of days.

Regards,

fpgahardwareengineer

[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

Hi,

I removed lucid Tag because this bug does not impact Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.

Regards,

fpgahardwareengineer

[penalvch (penalvch)]

fpgahardwareengineer, thank you for testing the mainline kernel with the hardware originally reported with. Regarding your comments https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1063656/comments/46 :

>"1) Can you change the status of this bug so that developers are aware of the bug, especially people who deal with Unity GUI?"

Once enough information is gathered, sure.

>"2) Can you add a workaround description to this bug that recovery mode can allow users to workaround this bug until the bug is fixed?"

You are welcome to do this by clicking the yellow circle, with a black pencil to the right of the words "Bug Description".

>"3) I believe I have seen this bug on SiS 761GX chipset-based mainboard (ECS 761GX-M754) with XFX Radeon HD 5450 512 MB PCIe graphics card. I will post a report on it in the next couple of days after I reproduce and analyze the bug.
4) I will perform tests on 2 more AMD PCIe graphics cards that are likely impacted by this bug. I will post the results in the next couple of days."

Please do not post details about other hardware in this report. Again, we want to remain focused on the hardware originally reported with.

Just to clarify, this issue does not happen in Lucid, but does in Precise. Do you know if this happened in a release prior to Precise, but after Lucid?

[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

(In reply to Comment #48)

Hi Christopher,

I tried Ubuntu 11.10, and it has the exact same bug as in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.
I just tried "Try Ubuntu without Installing" option.
Let me know if you have further instructions on things for me to test or provide.

Regards,

fpgahardwareengineer

[penalvch (penalvch)]

fpgahardwareengineer, could you please test for this problem in a Natty live environment via http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/releases/natty/ ?

[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

(In reply to Comment #50)

Hi Christopher,

I tried Ubuntu 11.04 32-bit.
Ubuntu will hang right after it resizes the screen.
When booting, Ubuntu logo will be on the center of the screen, but right before the hang, it will resize the screen, and Ubuntu logo will still be there without the flashing dots.
Keyboard and mouse still work so it is not a freeze, but this symptom is fairly similar to what I have been reporting.
The difference is that there is no wallpaper on the screen (The background is blank.).
I suspect this bug to be related to the GUI change (GNOME to Unity) that happened in Ubuntu 11.04.

Regards,

fpgahardwareenegineer

[penalvch (penalvch)]

fpgahardwareengineer, thank you for testing this in Natty. In your Precise install, could you please provide the information following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingKernelBoot ?

[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

(In reply to Comment #52)

Hi Christopher,

I attached log files that I think are relevant.
Regarding kern.org, Dec 19 00:08:07 boot is a regular boot, and Dec 19 00:10:56 boot is a recovery mode boot.
Note that regular boot results in a hang, but recovery mode boot is fine.

Regards,

fpgahardwareengineer

[penalvch (penalvch)]

fpgahardwareengineer, regarding your providing the results of https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingKernelBoot :
1. Boot the machine. 2. During the BIOS screen, press the shift key and hold it down. You should see the GRUB menu after the BIOS loads. 3. Navigate to the kernel entry you want to boot, and press 'e'. 4. Then remove the quiet and splash keywords (found in the line starting with linux) 5. Starting with Natty (Ubuntu 11.04), also remove the parameter vt.handoff=7, and on the line that reads set gfxpayload=$linux_gfx_mode, replace with set gfxpayload=text
Press 'Ctrl+x' to boot."

Did anything show on the computer screen that you could take a picture of with a camera, or perhaps a video via smartphone and attach to this report?

[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

(In reply to Comment #59)

Hi Christopher,

I don't have access to this computer for 2 more weeks.
I will perform the testing you want me to do when I get back.

Regards,

fpgahardwareengineer

[fpgahardwareengineer (mypersonalmailbox1)]

((In reply to Comment #57)

I currently don't have a working digital camera, so I cannot take a screen shot of the screen.
If I remember the bug correctly, the recovery mode boot is fine (2D graphics mode), but not the regular boot (3D graphics mode).
Personally, the procedure I am being asked to perform, I believe, is too much.
What I don't like here is, after I do task 1, then I am asked to do task 2, and then task 3 . . .
Where does it end?
What will satisfy the developers to take a look at the bug?
I believe there will have to be a better system in the future of collecting relevant bug information than the way stuff is being done currently.
Isn't the observation that Ubuntu 12.04 boot fine in recovery mode (2D graphics mode), but not with regular boot (3D graphics mode) adequate?

Regards,

fpgahardwareengineer

[dino99 (9d9)]

That version is no more supported