Epia-M6000 display problems & hang

[DAP]

1) Version 9.04 beta of Ubuntu i386 (though this problem appears with any version of Linux I've tried)
3) I expect linux to install and run properly on an Epia-M6000 motherboard. (The windows 7 beta worked fine)
4) I successfully installed the 9.04 beta of Ubuntu on the machine, but for any window that is supposed to scroll, only a small portion of the window will scroll Moving the mouse over the unscrolled area sometimes causes it to update. Also if I try to run Aisle Riot, and play 3 deck spider, the computer will hang before the completion of the first game. This behavior is absolutely repeatable on every version of Linux I have successfully installed on this motherboard (some versions error out with some error message about cmov, others just hang during the install. I've successfully installed at least 4 versions of Linux).

My wild guess as to what is going on: This motherboard has an oddball processor (Samuel II ?) I have read that it is almost a i686 but is missing an instruction or two (cmov?). My guess is that the linux installer is assuming this is a i686 and attempting to install an improper version of the code. I know the motherboard is good since Windows 7 will run without issues on it.

[Mark Tyndall (ubuntulaunch)]

I'm also seeing these window repainting problems. See screenshot for example. The terminal window was dragged down and right from its original position, but see also the un-repainted pixels between my login name and the date/time bit (top right).

This is with a Via Epia M6000; I'll attach the Xorg.0.log (xorg.conf is 0 bytes)

This issue didn't occur in the last LTS release (8.04), at least around the beginning of April.

[DAP (akadap)]

10.04 has only made the situation worse.
10.04 will install, but after the install, when you attempt to log in, the system locks up before displaying the desktop.

[David Tombs (dgtombs)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This bug did not have a package associated with it, which is important for ensuring that it gets looked at by the proper developers. You can learn more about finding the right package at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. I have classified this bug as a bug in xorg.

When reporting bugs in the future please use apport, either via the appropriate application's "Help -> Report a Problem" menu or using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

[DAP (akadap)]

I am not sure that xorg is correct. My guess is that the installer is misidentifying the processor on this board.
This computer uses a via processor (Samuel 2) that is one instruction (cmov) short of a 686 processor. It appears that every linux I have installed fails because the installer identifies this processor as a 686 and installs code that uses cmov.
Of course it is quite possible I'm completely wrong about this.

[David Tombs (dgtombs)]

Well, if you hadn't said anything about cmov I would have thought this was definitely an xorg bug. It's slightly possible it could be a processor issue, but I think it's very unlikely that your computer would get as far as the desktop at all in that case. Anyway, if it really is a cmov issue, then unfortunately this bug is invalid since you're using unsupported hardware. So we'll let the xorg guys decide what to do with this.

[DAP (akadap)]

If it is a processor issue, all that would have to be done is reclassify the processor as a lower level processor. The install image is called i386, not i686, so one gets the impression that any intel like processor, i386 or above should work.
If there is a way to force the installer to use a different processor model, I'd be happy to try it to prove this one way or the other.

[David Tombs (dgtombs)]

Oh, sorry about that, I'm running AMD64 so the -386 kernel wasn't listed on my box. Since I now see it is available for the x86 installs, could you try installing a 386 kernel and see if the problem goes away? Thanks.

[David Tombs (dgtombs)]

OK, I just realized that you probably _are_ running a 386 kernel already, is that correct? Sorry, when you said "Ubuntu i386" I thought you were making a mistake and meant "Ubuntu x86".

[DAP (akadap)]

I installed using the i386 disk. I did not see any option to select a different processor model, or I would have tried it.
The messages that flash by when booting imply that the i686 stuff got installed.
I would be happy to re-install on this machine if you can tell me how to force a different processor model to be used.

[David Tombs (dgtombs)]

OK, I'm sorry for all the confusion. Please execute the following command, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:

apport-collect 357900

This will help us to find and resolve the problem. Bear in mind that you may need to install the python-launchpadlib package from the universe repository. Additionally, when prompted to give apport-collect permissions for Launchpad you will need to give it at least the ability to "Change Non-Private" data as it will be adding information to your bug report. Thanks in advance.

[DAP (akadap)]

The only way I can execute that command on that computer is if I login to a text only window. Remember, the problem with this system is that it will reboot if I attempt to login to the GUI.

When I did that and ran that command, some of the stuff that went buy implied that it expects a GUI interface. Anyway, it got to a screen that implied it wanted me to enter my Launchpad login credentials. I moved the cursor to the e-mail address entry point, started typing and the screen immediately jumped to something completely different. In any case it left me completely confused as to what I should be doing. After some confused button pushing, at one point it claimed it was starting the browser (not possible on a text only login), it dumped me back at the command line. I was never able to enter my login credentials.

[DAP (akadap)]

I verified that python-launchpadlib was already installed.

I tried again. Apparently, this is some form of text only browser. I was able to enter my e-mail address, and password, but the continue link remains inactive, my only choice is to cancel. What should I do?

[David Tombs (dgtombs)]

Hm. I would recommend filing a bug with the instructions at <https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Filing%20bugs%20when%20off-line> so you can send the report on a stable computer. Use "xorg" for the package name. Then just make this bug a duplicate of the new one. Thanks!

[DAP (akadap)]

new bug is 581571