DRM for Via GPUs is missing

[jhansonxi]

17.04 Beta 2 (Zesty Zapus) amd64

Via PM800 chipset (S3 UniChrome Pro)

Xorg.0.log:
[ 25.194] (EE) CHROME(0): [drm] Failed to open DRM device for pci:0000:01:00.0: No such file or directory
…
[ 25.469] (EE) AIGLX: reverting to software rendering

ls /dev/dri/card0
ls: cannot access '/dev/dri/card0': No such file or directory

ls /lib/modules/4.10.0-15-generic/kernel/drivers/gpu/drm/via/via.ko
ls: cannot access '/lib/modules/4.10.0-15-generic/kernel/drivers/gpu/drm/via/via.ko': No such file or directory

No DRM so no acceleration with Openchrome. This will make me and other Ubuntu 17.04 users with Via hardware sad (I'm guessing there's at least five of us). Makes for an annoying Ubuntu experience when browsing the web at nearly slide-show speeds while trying to find the correct drivers for our Nvidia and AMD cards.

https://cgit.freedesktop.org/openchrome/drm-openchrome/

Not sure if it matters for the DRM module but Openchrome 0.6 has been released: https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/openchrome-devel/2017-March/003232.html

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 17.04
Package: linux-image-4.10.0-15-generic 4.10.0-15.17
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.10.0-15.17-generic 4.10.5
Uname: Linux 4.10.0-15-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.4-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: administrator 1313 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Wed Apr 5 19:02:03 2017
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=34091ce2-a8c1-4a9f-9003-e91bf39fc4ae
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-04-05 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 17.04 "Zesty Zapus" - Beta amd64 (20170321.1)
IwConfig:
 enp0s18 no wireless extensions.

 lo no wireless extensions.
Lsusb:
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
 Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
 Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
 Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
MachineType: VIA Technologies, Inc. PM800-8237
ProcFB: 0 VESA VGA
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-4.10.0-15-generic root=UUID=f8e980c3-f382-4ec2-82b1-0b7c00b69932 ro rootflags=subvol=@ quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.10.0-15-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.10.0-15-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.164
RfKill:

SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 09/21/2005
dmi.bios.vendor: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
dmi.bios.version: 6.00 PG
dmi.board.name: PM800-8237
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnPhoenixTechnologies,LTD:bvr6.00PG:bd09/21/2005:svnVIATechnologies,Inc.:pnPM800-8237:pvr:rvn:rnPM800-8237:rvr:cvn:ct3:cvr:
dmi.product.name: PM800-8237
dmi.sys.vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the latest v4.11 kernel[0].

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug as "Confirmed".

Thanks in advance.

[0] http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.11-rc5

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Also, is this a regression? Did this issue start happening after an update/upgrade? Was there a prior kernel version where you were not having this particular problem?

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

This and a handful of other DRM drivers got disabled because they present insecure APIs to userspace. The recommendation provided from upstream developers is "to use the safe modeset-only drivers instead, and perform 3D emulation in user-space." If that isn't practical for some reason we might be able to re-enable the drivers. However we probably need at minimum to exclude these from module signing, and perhaps even blacklist those modules by default.

[jhansonxi (jhansonxi)]

@sforshee: Is this something new to Zesty or was it done in previous releases? It's been years since I've tried a Via Chrome system so it's new to me at least.

Is there a list of DRM drivers or other modules affected by this policy somewhere? IIRC most FB video drivers are blacklisted due to instability but are there others?

[jhansonxi (jhansonxi)]

@jsalisbury: The via DRM is still missing with 4.11-rc5.

http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.11-rc5/linux-image-4.11.0-041100rc5-generic_4.11.0-041100rc5.201704022131_amd64.deb

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

The changes to disable the modules happened in zesty. These are the ones that are no longer enabled:

DRM_TDFX: 3dfx Banshee/Voodoo3+
DRM_R128: ATI Rage 128
DRM_I810: ATI Rage 128
DRM_MGA: Matrox g200/g400
DRM_SIS: SiS video cards
DRM_VIA: Via unichrome video cards
DRM_SAVAGE: Savage video cards

[Don Cady (doncady)]

@sforshee Something should be in release notes and/or a text box in the installer.