10de:002d [Ubuntu 10.04.4 LTS 32-bit] Severe instability of VIA Technologies Apollo MVP3 chipset and NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64 graphics

[fpgahardwareengineer]

Hi,

I am barely able to send this report from ubuntu-bug software.
I have this system with FIC VA-503+ mainboard and NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64.
It is probably the most unreliable computer I have ever had with Ubuntu.
Here are the symptoms I have seen.

1. Frequent freeze (50% of the time) during boot up (Nouveau displays a message saying that GPU has crashed, and several seconds later the computer will freeze.)
2. Sudden freeze during use
3. Sudden reverting back to log in screen

For 1, note that the freeze during boot up is most severe with NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64 only.
It seems to not have too many boot up freeze problems with other NVIDIA graphics cards (i.e., GeForce 2 MX, GeForce 4 MX, and GeForce FX 5200).
Same with ATI Technologies graphics cards like Radeon 9250 and Radeon 9800 Pro.
For 2, sometimes when the computer freezes, I still see some access going on with the hard drive, but it will eventually stop.
Keyboard and mouse will completely freeze.
For 3, it happens "some times," not frequently, but I have observed it a few times.
I did clean AGP and PCI connectors several times (Frequent cause of system instability from my extensive experience of testing hardware with Linux.).
        A little off topic, but I have a similar generation VIA Technologies chipset-based mainboard (FIC KA-6011, VIA Technologies Apollo Pro133 chipset), and while this mainbord doesn't have the same instability with NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64, it has frozen the computer when I was applying updates via Update Manager.
As as result, that installation of Ubuntu (10.04.4 LTS 32-bit) seems to have gotten corrupted, and I can no longer automatically apply updates to that installation of Ubuntu.
Is there a bug in the of VIA Technologies device drivers when used with relatively older VIA Technologies hardware like Apollo MVP3 or Apollo Pro133?
Perhaps, VIA Technologies AGP GART device driver or PATA device driver can be the culprit here.

System Configuration:

- Ubuntu 10.04.4 LTS 32-bit
  * All patches issued in the last 2 weeks have been applied
  * Linux 2.6.32-43-generic
- FIC VA-503+ mainboard
  * BIOS Version JE439 (I believe this is the last release version.)
  * VIA Technologies Apollo MVP3 chipset
- AMD K6-2 (I know it's old.)
  * 450 MHz
  * 100 MHz FSB
- 512 MB PC100 DDR SDRAM
  * 256 MB PC100 SDRAM DIMM X 2
  * Passes Memtest86+ v4.00 test in flying colors
- NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64 graphics card
  * 32 MB SDRAM
  * Universal (1.5V/3.3V) AGP
- Intel 1000 Mbps Ethernet PCI card
- Maxtor 91360D8 13.6 GB PATA hard drive
- AT keyboard
- PS/2 mouse

Regards,

fpgahardwareengineer

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: xorg 1:7.5+5ubuntu1.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-43.97-generic 2.6.32.59+drm33.24
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-43-generic i586
Architecture: i386
Date: Wed Oct 10 13:58:41 2012
DkmsStatus: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04.4 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release i386 (20120214.2)
Lsusb: Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
MachineType: System Manufacturer Product Name
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-43-generic root=UUID=8a1633e0-89f7-4790-b492-89b92c8cea89 ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
Title: Xorg freeze
dmi.bios.date: 04/18/00
dmi.bios.vendor: Award Software International, Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 4.51 PG
dmi.board.name: VA-503+
dmi.board.vendor: First International Computer, Inc.
dmi.board.version: PCB 1.X
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Asset Tag Number xxxxxx
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Manufactory Name
dmi.chassis.version: Version XX
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAwardSoftwareInternational,Inc.:bvr4.51PG:bd04/18/00:svnSystemManufacturer:pnProductName:pvrSYS-xxxxxx:rvnFirstInternationalComputer,Inc.:rnVA-503+:rvrPCB1.X:cvnManufactoryName:ct3:cvrVersionXX:
dmi.product.name: Product Name
dmi.product.version: SYS-xxxxxx
dmi.sys.vendor: System Manufacturer
glxinfo: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
system:
 distro: Ubuntu
 codename: lucid
 architecture: i586
 kernel: 2.6.32-43-generic

[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://help.ubuntu.com/community/DebuggingSystemCrash ?

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

[bugbot (bugbot)]

We're closing this bug since there has not been a response from the original reporter. However, the issue still exists please feel free to reopen with the requested information. If you're not the original reporter, we'd prefer you file a new bug report.

Some tips:

  * Report X.org bugs via the command: `ubuntu-bug xorg`

  * Test against the latest development Ubuntu. http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/
    Bugs marked as affecting the development version tend to get priority attention.

  * The `xdiagnose` utility has functionality for enabling debugging and
    analyzing a few common X problems.

  * Tag your bugs with the Ubuntu versions you have reproduced the issue in.

  * See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Reporting for tips on writing good bug reports.