[radeon] screen cannot be turned back on after some time of inactivity

[Hark]

When using my AMD Radeon X1300 card, if the screen turns off due to inactivity, it cannot be woken up by moving the mouse or by hitting a key.

If you type in a terminal:
xset -display :0.0 dpms force off
you can wake the screen normally.

Typing the following in a terminal turns my screen off, and after typing this line, the screen can be woken up by moving the mouse or by hitting a key:
gnome-screensaver-command -a

When I restart the display manager via ssh with another computer, the screen then comes to life again and I can log back in.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+13ubuntu3.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-143.169-generic 4.4.170
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-143-generic x86_64
.tmp.unity_support_test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.18
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Sun Mar 24 11:11:17 2019
DistUpgraded: 2019-03-20 18:17:04,395 DEBUG icon theme changed, re-reading
DistroCodename: xenial
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes, if not too technical
GraphicsCard:
 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV516 [Radeon X1300/X1550 Series] [1002:7187] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd RV516 [Radeon X1300/X1550 Series] [1458:215c]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2010-05-13 (3236 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100427)
MachineType: FUJITSU SIEMENS ESPRIMO E5720
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-4.4.0-143-generic root=/dev/mapper/orao-root ro rootfstype=ext4 quiet
SourcePackage: xorg
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to xenial on 2019-03-20 (3 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 02/05/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: FUJITSU SIEMENS // Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
dmi.bios.version: 6.00 R1.18.2594.A1
dmi.board.name: D2594-A1
dmi.board.vendor: FUJITSU SIEMENS
dmi.board.version: S26361-D2594-A1
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: FUJITSU SIEMENS
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnFUJITSUSIEMENS//PhoenixTechnologiesLtd.:bvr6.00R1.18.2594.A1:bd02/05/2009:svnFUJITSUSIEMENS:pnESPRIMOE5720:pvr:rvnFUJITSUSIEMENS:rnD2594-A1:rvrS26361-D2594-A1:cvnFUJITSUSIEMENS:ct3:cvr:
dmi.product.name: ESPRIMO E5720
dmi.sys.vendor: FUJITSU SIEMENS
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.12.3+16.04.20180221-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.91-2~16.04.1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 18.0.5-0ubuntu0~16.04.1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 18.0.5-0ubuntu0~16.04.1
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.18.4-0ubuntu0.8
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.10.1-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.7.0-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20160325-1ubuntu1.2
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.12-1build2
xserver.bootTime: Sun Mar 24 11:06:06 2019
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.devices:
 input Power Button KEYBOARD, id 6
 input Power Button KEYBOARD, id 7
 input Logitech USB Receiver KEYBOARD, id 8
 input Logitech USB Receiver KEYBOARD, id 9
xserver.errors:

xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.version: 2:1.18.4-0ubuntu0.8
xserver.video_driver: radeon

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Hark, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better.

1) To confirm a regression, has this always been an issue since you installed "Ubuntu-Server 10.04 LTS" or is this something that started to happen after an update?

2) To clarify, did you personally test the WORKAROUNDs noted in the Bug Description, and confirm this works for your hardware?

2) To see if this is already resolved in Ubuntu, could you please test http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ and advise to the results?

[Hark (cab902)]

1) This has never been an issue, until upgrade to 16.04 LTS.
2)
 a) These are not workarounds, this are just ways of manually starting the screen blank, without triggering the bug. If you let the screen blank automatically, bug will still trigger. And once the bug is triggered, only restart of the desktop manager helps.
 b) Yes, I have tested these scenarios personally.
3) I've tested the daily build and the issue is not present there.

[Hark (cab902)]

Here is the workaround for the problem:

The bug is in the package xserver-xorg-video-radeon 7.7.0, it is fixed in the later versions.
Until it is fixed in 16.04 LTS, take the package from the newer releases.

In this example, we'll pull it from 16.10 (Yakkety Yak):
a) add the line at the end of the /etc/apt/sources.list file:
deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety main
b) add file "yakkety.pref" to the /etc/apt/preferences.d
c) sudo apt-get update - this will load new repostiory and refresh the preferences
d) sudo apt-get upgrade - this will pull xserver-xorg-video-radeon package v7.7.1, with fixed bug.
e) log out from X

That's it. After login, wait for the screen blank and wake it with key press or mouse action.

[Hark (cab902)]

I believe this is a bug of higher importance as it makes 16.04 LTS in standard configuration (with enabled screen blanking) unusable on the ATI Radeon cards.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Hark:

1) For one who is using 16.04, an upgrade for the X stack is available following instructions from https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack . Could you please advise to the results?

2) Regarding the package xserver-xorg-video-ati, this is fixed as per https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-ati/+bug/1821505/comments/4 .

[Hark (cab902)]

1) I believe it will work, but am currently unwilling to upgrade from the working X stack.
2) Yes, underlying bug seems to be fixed in the 7.7.1 package version.