tint2 taskbar boots irregularly with xserver-xorg-video-ati, boots fine with proprietary driver

[stijn]

I run a little taskbar app called tint2. I boot it at startup, but about 50% of the time it isn't visible after booting. The other 50% it is. So I can reboot or logout/login until it sticks. At first I thought it was a bug in tint2, but now I have found that I don't get this issues when I run the AMD proprietary driver (fglrx). So I think it might be a problem in the xserver-xorg-video-ati driver. I have a Radeon HD 8600M series in a Lenovo S540.

Additional note: when it does not display and I power off the computer, it is displayed for a brief moment before the computer shuts down. That makes me think that it is actually a display problem, not a problem of tint2 not booting at all.

If this is unlikely to be caused by the xserver-xorg-video-ati driver, I apologize for reporting it here. If you need additional information, please let me know, I will be happy to provide.

Required info:
1) Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS
2) xserver-xorg-video-ati Installed: 1:7.3.0-1ubuntu3.1
---
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.15
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,vpswitch,snap,mousepoll,resize,place,move,wall,grid,regex,imgpng,session,gnomecompat,animation,fade,staticswitcher,workarounds,scale,expo,ezoom,dbus]
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDesktop: Unity
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: trusty
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 vboxhost, 4.3.30, 3.13.0-61-generic, x86_64: installed
 vboxhost, 4.3.30, 3.13.0-62-generic, x86_64: installed
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes, if not too technical
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0a16] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:2216]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-02-10 (230 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2)
MachineType: LENOVO 20B30064MH
Package: xorg 1:7.7+1ubuntu8.1
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.13.0-62-generic root=/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-root ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-62.102-generic 3.13.11-ckt24
Tags: trusty ubuntu compiz-0.9
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-62-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 02/19/2014
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: GPET54WW (1.54 )
dmi.board.asset.tag: Not Available
dmi.board.name: 20B30064MH
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: 0B98401 Pro
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvrGPET54WW(1.54):bd02/19/2014:svnLENOVO:pn20B30064MH:pvrThinkPadS5-S540:rvnLENOVO:rn20B30064MH:rvr0B98401Pro:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 20B30064MH
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad S5-S540
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.11.3+14.04.20150313-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.60-2~ubuntu14.04.1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 10.1.3-0ubuntu0.4
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 10.1.3-0ubuntu0.4
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2.7
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.8.2-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.3.0-1ubuntu3.1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.910-0ubuntu1.6
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.10-1ubuntu2
xserver.bootTime: Tue Sep 29 07:11:18 2015
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors: RADEON(G0): [XvMC] Failed to initialize extension.
xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:
 product id 13549
 vendor AUO
xserver.version: 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2.7

[penalvch (penalvch)]

stijn, thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please execute the following command, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:
apport-collect -p xorg 1448939

Please ensure you have the package xdiagnose installed, and that you click the Yes button for attaching additional debugging information.

When reporting bugs in the future please use apport by using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

[stijn (stijncornelissen)]

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[o9000 (o9000)]

Can you reproduce this problem if you start tint2 from a terminal? If yes, it might be helpful to also see the output of tint2 when it does not appear on screen correctly.

[stijn (stijncornelissen)]

I've tried starting tint2 from a terminal about 10 times in a row and all were successfull. So it seems that it does not fail when started from a terminal.

[o9000 (o9000)]

I see. Most people add a sleep of a few seconds when starting it at startup (e.g. sleep 3 && tint2), because tint2 tries to use the compositor; however the startup applications might be executed before the compositor finishes initializing.

[stijn (stijncornelissen)]

Okay, that sounds plausible! I'll try that, thanks!

[penalvch (penalvch)]

stijn, as per http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-s-series-laptops/thinkpad-s540 an update to your computer's buggy and outdated BIOS is available (1.65). If you update to this following https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BIOSUpdate does it change anything?

If it doesn't, could you please both specify what happened, and provide the output of the following terminal command:
sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date

For more on BIOS updates and linux, please see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Bug_reporting_etiquette .

Please note your current BIOS is already in the Bug Description, so posting this on the old BIOS would not be helpful. As well, you don't have to create a new bug report.

Once the BIOS is updated, if the problem is still reproducible, and the information above is provided, then please mark this report Status New. Otherwise, please mark this as Invalid.

Thank you for your understanding.

[stijn (stijncornelissen)]

Hi Chris, thanks for your update and your suggestion for updating the bios. I have a few points:

1. I have unfortunately not succeeded updating the bios. I have read the three suggested modes of doing so on the wiki, but am unable to perform any of them. The first: I can't get the .iso on an USB drive. Not through Ubuntu (Startup Disk Creator) nor Windows (Rufus). In Windows it says the .iso is unbootable. The second: I can't run the Windows .exe, since I don't have a dual boot system. The third: further information on the ThinkVantage option is not available on the wiki page.

2. However, the sleep workaround suggested by o9000 works like a charm. I haven't had issues since. So I am satisfied as this issue is not bothering me anymore. So for me no further action is required on this one.

3. However, I do realize that this is more a workaround than a potential bug fix. So if from the bug fix angle it is still relevant for you to do further diagnostics, let me know, I am happy to try to provide.

[o9000 (o9000)]

Regarding 3, I tried to fix this problem in the latest version (I'm the current dev of tint2). However there is no package available for 14.04, nor a PPA, so if you would like to try it out the only way is to compile from source.

Normally I don't recommend this unless you know what you are doing, as it is sometimes difficult to remove from the system software installed from source and there are other things that can go wrong. In the case of tint2 it should not be so complicated.

If you want to do it, here is a page with instructions: https://gitlab.com/o9000/tint2/wikis/Install#install-from-source

You will have to configure tint2 in your startup applications to run from the new path (/usr/local/bin/tint2) and remove the sleep then relog. If it has problems please let me know.

If you don't want to try this it's perfectly fine. I am just curious if this solves the problem in your case, which is a bit strange -- normally tint2 should just draw itself without transparency if the compositor is not detected correctly at startup; it should not dissapear completely.

[stijn (stijncornelissen)]

I'll try it out tomorrow, but I am not completely sure I will be able to pull it off. :-) I'll let you know. I am very glad to hear that you are actively developing tint2, it is an awesome complement to the normal Ubuntu desktop, so I will do my best to help.

Would be very nice if the new tint2 versions would become available in a package too.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for xorg (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]