[NVIDIA GeForce 7100] OS freeze after clicking certain things in GNOME / Unity

[Ads20000]

Frequently, when clicking any of the following:
* GNOME > GNOME Control Center
* Unity > Activities
* Unity > Activities > Maps application
* Unity > Unity Control Center
* Unity > Amazon link in the Launcher
* Unity > System Settings link the Launcher

the computer will freeze and I can't even switch to a login terminal and have to hard shutdown. I can usually avoid the bug if I don't click these things. Occasionally when this bug occurs the screen shows a terminal-like display with something like 'GPU lockup' written on it.

This reproducible in:
* Unity 16.10
* GNOME 15.10
* Unity 14.04
* GNOME 14.04

This doesn't happen in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS or Windows 8.

This may be a regression from Linux 3.7 as per:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=156690

In 16.10, I tested 304.131 via https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-graphics-drivers-304-updates but when I logged in, it would immediately show a black screen, and then go back to the login screen (with the login sound being played).

WORKAROUND: It doesn't happen with GNOME Flashback.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.10
Package: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.11-1ubuntu3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.2.0-19.23-generic 4.2.6
Uname: Linux 4.2.0-19-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.19.1-0ubuntu5
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: None
CurrentDesktop: GNOME
Date: Fri Dec 4 21:25:58 2015
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: wily
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 NVIDIA Corporation C73 [GeForce 7100 / nForce 620i] [10de:07e5] (rev a2) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:027c]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-12-04 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-GNOME 15.10 "Wily Werewolf" - Release amd64 (20151021)
MachineType: Packard Bell imedia S1710
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.2.0-19-generic root=UUID=877aeafe-1b23-4d43-8a2c-f245bfd9fb79 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
UdevLog: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/var/log/udev'
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 06/06/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: AMI
dmi.bios.version: P01-A3
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: MCP73T-AD
dmi.board.vendor: Packard Bell
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Packard Bell
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAMI:bvrP01-A3:bd06/06/2009:svnPackardBell:pnimediaS1710:pvr:rvnPackardBell:rnMCP73T-AD:rvr:cvnPackardBell:ct3:cvr:
dmi.product.name: imedia S1710
dmi.sys.vendor: Packard Bell
version.compiz: compiz N/A
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.64-1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 11.0.2-1ubuntu4
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 11.0.2-1ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.17.2-1ubuntu9.1
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.9.2-1ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.5.0+git20150819-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20150808-0ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.11-1ubuntu3
xserver.bootTime: Fri Dec 4 21:24:50 2015
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors:
 Failed to load module "nvidia" (module does not exist, 0)
 Failed to load module "nvidia" (module does not exist, 0)
xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.version: 2:1.17.2-1ubuntu9.1
xserver.video_driver: nouveau

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Ads20000, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better.

Could you please provide the full computer model (ex. iMedia xx.U8L) as noted on the sticker of the computer itself (not from the Bug Description)?

[Ads20000 (ads20000)]

I can only see 'imedia s1710' on the sticker.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Ads20000, to see if this is already resolved, could you please test http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ and advise to the results?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Pierre Chanussot (p-chanussot)]

Hello, i have the same freeze problem with ubuntu 16.04 and 15.10 with packard bell : imedia s1710.

For the moment, no freeze with xubuntu 16.04.

[Ads20000 (ads20000)]

Oh good, it's not just me then! Yeah it seems to be fine with non-graphically-intensive things but '3D' desktop environments cause the GPU to lockup. Which is odd because it wasn't a problem with 12.04 (or Windows 8, for that matter). Could you press the button at the top to say that the bug affects you? Thanks!

[Ads20000 (ads20000)]

Still applies in Ubuntu Yakkety (with the Proposed repository enabled). If I click on the Amazon link in the Launcher, or the System Settings link the Launcher, the computer completely freezes, I have to hard shutdown.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Pierre Chanussot, it will help immensely if you filed a new report with Ubuntu by ensuring you have the package xdiagnose installed, and that you click the Yes button for attaching additional debugging information running the following from a terminal:
ubuntu-bug xorg

Also, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

For more on why this is helpful, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Ads20000, to confirm a potential WORKAROUND, could you please test the proprietary nvidia drivers as per https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-graphics-drivers-304-updates and advise to the results?

[Ads20000 (ads20000)]

I tested nvidia-304 (nvidia-304-updates and nvidia-304 are currently the same version for me (and Yakkety hasn't hit Feature Freeze anyway so they shouldn't be different) - 304.131). When I logged in, I would get a black screen before it would go back to the login screen (with the login sound being played). So it's impossible to log in with the proprietary Nvidia drivers.

Btw, thanks Christopher for telling me what to do to improve this bug report :)
My current to-do list is:
- Attempt to SSH into the computer whilst it is frozen and grab some logs (dmesg.txt and /var/log/Xorg.0.log)
- Bisect Ubuntu versions and Linux kernel versions (or should I test xserver-xorg-video-nouveau versions and stick with the bundled Linux kernal for each Ubuntu version?) [LONG-TERM]
- Report the bug upstream

Is there anything else that you'd recommend doing or what do I need to do to get this bug marked as Triaged?

[Ads20000 (ads20000)]

Ah, should I also report the bug with the proprietary driver to Nvidia?

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Ads20000, the logs from your TOOD list would need to be provided first in order to root cause.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Ads20000 (ads20000)]

SSH'ing into the computer whilst it was frozen didn't work because the whole machine was locked up - so the terminal in the locked up machine didn't respond even when accessing it via SSH. Is there a way to make those logs persistent?

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Ads20000:
1) When the freeze happens, you mentioned in your Bug Description "Occasionally when this bug occurs the screen shows a terminal-like display with something like 'GPU lockup' written on it." Could you please post a camera picture of this and attach the picture to this report?
2) Given this is correlated to a Xorg/kernel issue, to see if this is already resolved in Ubuntu, could you please test the latest release of via http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/? A live environment is fine if the issue was previously reproducible in one.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Ubuntu QA Website (ubuntuqa)]

This bug has been reported on the Ubuntu ISO testing tracker.

A list of all reports related to this bug can be found here:
http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/1522976