Unable to unblank screen, cursor still present

[Ellen Arnold]

Binary package hint: xserver-xorg-video-intel

This is ~ev filing this bug on behalf of Ellen. When her laptop blanked the screen, she tried to unlock it; however, it did not return from this state and only the mouse cursor was ever visible. Switching to a VT showed that all the desktop processes were still running. Killing gnome-screensaver did not fix the issue, nor did running unity --reset. This issue occurs sporadically.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.14.0-4ubuntu7.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
DRM.card0.DP.1:
 status: disconnected
 enabled: disabled
 dpms: Off
 modes:
 edid-base64:
DRM.card0.DP.2:
 status: disconnected
 enabled: disabled
 dpms: Off
 modes:
 edid-base64:
DRM.card0.HDMI.A.1:
 status: disconnected
 enabled: disabled
 dpms: Off
 modes:
 edid-base64:
DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
 status: connected
 enabled: enabled
 dpms: On
 modes: 1366x768
 edid-base64: AP///////wBMo0FUAAAAAAATAQOQIhN4CsiVnldUkiYPUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBQRxWoFAAFjAwICUAWMIQAAAaQRxWoFAAFjAwICUAWMIQAAAaAAAA/gBTQU1TVU5HCiAgICAgAAAA/gBMVE4xNTZBVDAyUDA2AMQ=
DRM.card0.VGA.1:
 status: disconnected
 enabled: disabled
 dpms: Off
 modes:
 edid-base64:
Date: Fri May 20 11:20:14 2011
DistUpgraded: Log time: 2011-05-03 09:09:17.573737
DistroCodename: natty
DistroVariant: ubuntu
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1862]
   Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1862]
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release amd64 (20101007)
MachineType: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. P50IJ
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=59f9e85c-7640-46a4-9844-626f6dd584e9 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
Renderer: Unknown
SourcePackage: xserver-xorg-video-intel
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to natty on 2011-05-03 (17 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 12/04/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 203
dmi.board.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.board.name: P50IJ
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr203:bd12/04/2009:svnASUSTeKComputerInc.:pnP50IJ:pvr1.0:rvnASUSTeKComputerInc.:rnP50IJ:rvr1.0:cvnASUSTeKComputerInc.:ct10:cvr1.0:
dmi.product.name: P50IJ
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.4+bzr20110415-0ubuntu2
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs 20090808ubuntu13
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.23-1ubuntu6
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 7.10.2-0ubuntu2
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 7.10.2-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg: xserver-xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.0-0ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.14.0-4ubuntu7.1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20110107+b795ca6e-0ubuntu7

[Evan (ev)]

Apologies for not including the GPU dumps. I had assumed that apport would grab those automatically. :/

[agent 8131 (agent-8131)]

This bug report looks like what I have experienced on my system. I want to distinguish this from other bug reports about blank screens or blank screens. With this bug the entire screen is black but the cursor is still visible and the desktop still works. I have only had this happen after leaving the computer for an extended period though it doesn't happen every time I leave the computer for an extended period. The screensaver has activated and the desktop has locked. When this happened this morning I was able to verify that despite no login box being visible I was able to log in and my mouse cursor reflected my desktop contents (namely that the cursor changed to reflect the google map that had been on my desktop the night before). This is using "gnome classic with effects" and I believe it to be a bug with the Intel video driver. This bug may be misdiagnosed as people may not realize their desktop is still responsive.

This is not the same as bugs 780653 or 762918 as they have been reported though some people commenting to those bugs may actually have this issue. This issue may also be related to those issues.

I mean to try the following suggestions next time:

sudo pkill X

or

sudo killall -w -s KILL compiz
DISPLAY=:0.0 compiz --replace

[penalvch (penalvch)]

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

As per https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases, Ubuntu 11.04 reached EOL on October 28, 2012.

Is this reproducible on a supported release?

[Sergio Callegari (callegar)]

I see the same with:

kubuntu 17.10
Nvidia graphics (G84GL [Quadro FX 570])
Nouveau driver

When power management kicks in to switch off the screen via dpms, then it is impossible to resume operation. As you move the mouse, there is no screenlock screen to enter the password, just a black screen with the mouse cursor.

All the relevant KDE/plasma processes are active, and so is the screenlocker process.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Sergio Callegari, while the original reporter wasn't using either Kubuntu, or a nvidia graphics card, given how old this report is, it is likely you are experiencing a completely different problem with a different root cause.

Hence, it will help immensely if you use the computer the problem is reproducible with, file a new report with Ubuntu by first ensuring the package xdiagnose is installed, click the Yes button for attaching additional debugging information after running the following from a terminal:
ubuntu-bug xorg

Also, please feel free to subscribe me to it.