[radeon] Hardware cursor causes glitches under top edge of screen

[Rahul Jain]

This happens most of the time (I can reproduce it 50% of the time) that, for example, I take the mouse cursor to the absolute top-edge of the screen above the Unity top bar, and move the cursor from left to right, or right to left, there will be white dash like (---), or dot like artifacts, ALWAYS in proximity to the cursor. Where I take the cursor, the artifact goes with it and flickers.

1) The release of Ubuntu you are using, via 'lsb_release -rd' or System -> About Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Release: 12.04

2) The version of the package you are using, via 'apt-cache policy pkgname' or by checking in Software Center
I don't know what package to mark this as. The problem affects the Unity top bar.

3) What you expected to happen
No artifacts or glitches

4) What happened instead
Artifacts.
---
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu11
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,vpswitch,snap,mousepoll,resize,place,move,wall,grid,regex,imgpng,session,gnomecompat,animation,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,workarounds,scale,expo,ezoom,unityshell]
CompositorRunning: compiz
CurrentDmesg:
 [ 132.167417] ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3
 [ 132.170285] ISO 9660 Extensions: RRIP_1991A
 [ 322.379435] audit_printk_skb: 45 callbacks suppressed
 [ 322.379445] type=1400 audit(1344407858.854:27): apparmor="DENIED" operation="capable" parent=1 profile="/usr/sbin/cupsd" pid=1018 comm="cupsd" pid=1018 comm="cupsd" capability=36 capname="block_suspend"
 [ 435.251440] type=1400 audit(1344407972.046:28): apparmor="DENIED" operation="capable" parent=1 profile="/usr/sbin/cupsd" pid=1018 comm="cupsd" pid=1018 comm="cupsd" capability=36 capname="block_suspend"
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: precise
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 virtualbox, 4.1.12, 3.2.0-23-generic, x86_64: installed
 virtualbox, 4.1.12, 3.2.0-27-generic, x86_64: installed
GraphicsCard:
 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS880 [Radeon HD 4250] [1002:9715] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Device [1458:d000]
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120425)
MachineType: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-880GM-D2H
Package: unity 5.12-0ubuntu1.1
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_IN:en
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_IN
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-8-generic root=UUID=f401a899-af2e-4b39-b802-03475e9f7f92 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.5.0-8.8-generic 3.5.0
Tags: precise running-unity precise running-unity precise running-unity ubuntu compiz-0.9
Uname: Linux 3.5.0-8-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
dmi.bios.date: 05/17/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: Award Software International, Inc.
dmi.bios.version: FC
dmi.board.name: GA-880GM-D2H
dmi.board.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.board.version: x.x
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAwardSoftwareInternational,Inc.:bvrFC:bd05/17/2011:svnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:pnGA-880GM-D2H:pvr:rvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:rnGA-880GM-D2H:rvrx.x:cvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:ct3:cvr:
dmi.product.name: GA-880GM-D2H
dmi.sys.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.7.8-0ubuntu1.2
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.32-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 8.0.2-0ubuntu3
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 8.0.2-0ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.11.4-0ubuntu10
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.7.0-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.99~git20111219.aacbd629-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.17.0-1ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20111201+b5534a1-1build2

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1034160/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Aditya V (kroq-gar78)]

Hello,
Can you please take a video and upload it? It will greatly help in seeing a visual representation of the problem you're experiencing.

I suggest using GTK RecordMyDesktop.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Please also run this command to automatically upload information about your system to this bug report:
    apport-collect 1034160

[Rahul Jain (equites-vero)]

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[Rahul Jain (equites-vero)]

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[Rahul Jain (equites-vero)]

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[Rahul Jain (equites-vero)]

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[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Sounds like the hardware cursor. Please try adding this to /etc/X11/xorg.conf and restart:

Section "Device"
    Identifier "My Radeon"
    Driver "radeon"
    Option "SWcursor" "on"
EndSection

And for more info, run: man radeon

[Rahul Jain (equites-vero)]

kroq-gar78: I'm perfectly able to see the artifact issue on my screen, but when recorded with RecordMyDesktop, the artifacts did not show up in the video. I'm unsure what to do.

I'll try to explain the problem better. When I take my cursor to the top edge of the screen, there will appear an artifact like a white dotted line (or a white dash) near the cursor at the top edge. And if I move the cursor to the left or right, the artifacts will move with the cursor.

Please let me know if anything else is required.

[Rahul Jain (equites-vero)]

Daniel van Vugt: I've been using the system with the xorg.conf you suggested and the problem does seem to have gone away with software cursor. I've been using it since you posted and haven't had the problem SO FAR.

Although, using software cursor seems to have problems of it's own. The cursor flickers on and off, becomes invisible on clicking the desktop, and menus aren't rendered properly, often missing a tiny portion. So it's not a reliable fix. I hope the bug is fixed soon.

[Rahul Jain (equites-vero)]

Hi, I would like to say that this bug also affects Linux Mint 13 KDE, same thing happens when taking the cursor to top edge of the screen, although I can't reliably reproduce it, the bug is there.

[Rahul Jain (equites-vero)]

Still a problem in Quantal Beta 1

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Rahul Jain (equites-vero)]

Come on, devs, let's have this bug assigned to someone so we can have a patch before Quantal is released!

[Rahul Jain (equites-vero)]

Sometimes the artifact appears white and sometimes it appears as black.

[Rahul Jain (equites-vero)]

The line artifact that appears is about 64 pixels wide and 2 or 3 pixels height (not sure on the height one though). Please fix it soooooooooon. Quantal is only 9 days away.

[Rahul Jain (equites-vero)]

If this helps, I've found that it occurs only on the first 70% of the top edge (from left to right) of the screen. Hoping to see the issue fixed. I can try out any patches if necessary. Thanks

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Rahul Jain, 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 test for this with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO 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 xserver-xorg-video-ati REPLACE-WITH-BUG-NUMBER

Please note, given that the information from the prior release is already available, doing this on a release prior to the development one would not be helpful.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs