Screen blanks permanently on Toshiba Satellite 1800 during 7.10 Live CD bootup or full installation
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
gdm (Ubuntu) |
Confirmed
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
linux (Ubuntu) |
Triaged
|
Medium
|
Unassigned | ||
linux-source-2.6.22 (Ubuntu) |
Won't Fix
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
xorg (Ubuntu) |
Confirmed
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
xserver-xorg-video-trident (Ubuntu) |
Confirmed
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned |
Bug Description
Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.22
I've been attempting to install Xubuntu and Ubuntu 7.10 on my Toshiba Satellite 1800 (PIII 850MHz with 256MB RAM) laptop which has a Trident CyberBlade graphics controller with AGP bus and 8Mb memory.
The installation process stops after some time with just a blank screen and flashing cursor being displayed. It seems to me to be a graphic driver issue as I've seen mention on forums of this causing problems (especially on laptops) and the installation progress window, titled 'Select and Install Software' had been showing references to 'video' immediately prior to the failure so I assume it was selecting and installing a video driver.
I've had Ubuntu 7.04 successfully running on this laptop, and have attempted 7.10 installation many times and have removed all the HD partitions before most attempts. Things I've done include:
- Tried the 'alternate' versions of Xubuntu and Ubuntu and the problem occurs at the same stage for both.
- Run 7.04 as a live CD while 7.10 has been the installed OS and the 7.04 displays OK, but the 7.10 won't.
- Tried an 'upgrade' using the Xubuntu 7.10 alternate CD to update the installed Xubuntu 7.04, with no internet connected. The update process was completed with all new files installed and obsolete files removed and the display still OK, but once the obligatory restart was perform I again had no display.
- I did an md5sum on the Xubuntu 7.10 'alternate' downloaded file, and I've also run both CD's 'live' on other computers, so I'm happy that the CD's are OK.
- Attempted to 'upgrade' 7.04 using Synaptic and the process completes without error until the computer is restarted at the end, when the blank screen returns.
- Selecting 'Safe Graphics Mode' at the start of the install doesn't help.
- Since the failures of 7.10 I've reinstalled Ubuntu 7.04 and Xubuntu 7.04 and both still have a functioning display.
- Currently I've reverted to Xubuntu 7.04 and won't attempt 7.10 further unless there is a resolution to this problem
On one occasion I did a fresh install of the command line version of Xubuntu from the alternate CD, after which I installed and ran Lynx web browser (just to prove that something worked OK). I then entered the command 'sudo aptitude install xubuntu-desktop' (because I found it on a post somewhere and it looked like it might add the gui). I haven't a clue what 'aptitude' refers to but it ran for about 45 minutes and appeared to have finished OK. Then when I booted I got with the error message "Failed to start the X server (your graphical interface). It is likely it is not set up correctly." The X server output states
"/etc/gdm/
Warning: Could not retrieve EDID because get-edid is not installed"
and the o/s reverts to the command line format.
Why has 7.10 taken a backwards step in not supporting a display that it used to?
Changed in xorg: | |
status: | New → Confirmed |
Changed in xserver-xorg-video-trident: | |
status: | New → Confirmed |
Changed in gdm: | |
status: | New → Confirmed |
The Hardy Heron Alpha2 release will be coming out soon. It will have an updated version of the kernel. It would be great if you could test with this new release and verify if this issue still exists. I'll be sure to update this report when Alpha2 is available. Thanks!