[i855gm] Freeze shortly after X startup on Intel i855

[kalessin]

Binary package hint: xserver-xorg-video-intel

Summary: X server freezes shortly after startup. The problem is similar to several problems already reported with the intel driver, but opening a separate bug report (for the time being) since none of the existing entries quite matches my configuration. Feel free to mark it as duplicate if you think it is.

System: Kubuntu 'Karmic', updated yesterday (2009-10-09). Buffer dump is attached.

Description: The X server locks up shortly after it is started, no matter what I do. Usually this happens when the login procedure is just about finished, but I have also seen it after KDM waiting for some time for the login credentials. Mouse pointer remains functional, apart from that complete lock (esp. keyboard). Magic sys'req key still works, but when I try SReq-(R,E,I), KDM seems to try to restart X, resulting in a *really* complete lockup (even my ssh diagnostics session dies).

Notes: I had the same problem with Jaunty, but there it helped forcing the driver to use XAA instead of EXA. The newer driver does not support that ('Option "AccelMethod" is not used'), and cannot be forced to disable acceleration either ('Option "NoAccel" is not used'). And thanks to the new near-magic auto detection scheme, it is not even trivial to fall back to the VESA driver... so Karmic is completely and utterly non-usable on that machine.

[kalessin (robert-fendt)]

Oh, forgot to mention: disabling Compiz does not work either (not surprising since this does not seem to be related to 3D issues but rather 2D acceleration).

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Xorg.0.log from archive

[hrustov (hrustov)]

i also affected by this bug.
Disabling DRI has no effect, log contains 'Option "DRI" is not used'

[Peter Klotz (peter-klotz)]

I am having the same problem on an Acer TravelMate 662 (i855GM) running Karmic Release Candidate.

[Bill Farrow (ubuntu-arrowsreach)]

I have the same problem on my Asus M5200N laptop with 855GM graphics chipset after I upgraded from Ubuntu 9.04 to 9.10 RC last week.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Created an attachment (id=30807)
dri_debug-2009-10-10.tar.gz

Forwarding a bug report from ubuntu user kalessin:

[Problem]
X server freezes shortly after startup.

[Original bug report]
Summary: X server freezes shortly after startup. The problem is similar to several problems already reported with the intel driver, but opening a separate bug report (for the time being) since none of the existing entries quite matches my configuration. Feel free to mark it as duplicate if you think it is.

System: Kubuntu 'Karmic', updated yesterday (2009-10-09). Buffer dump is attached.

Description: The X server locks up shortly after it is started, no matter what I do. Usually this happens when the login procedure is just about finished, but I have also seen it after KDM waiting for some time for the login credentials. Mouse pointer remains functional, apart from that complete lock (esp. keyboard). Magic sys'req key still works, but when I try SReq-(R,E,I), KDM seems to try to restart X, resulting in a *really* complete lockup (even my ssh diagnostics session dies).

Driver version: 2.9.0
X.Org X Server: 1.6.3

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Created an attachment (id=30808)
Output of intel_gpu_dump

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Created an attachment (id=30809)
Output of dmesg

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Created an attachment (id=30810)
Xorg.0.log

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

I have reported this bug upstream at https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=24789.

kalessin, please subscribe to the upstream bug report by adding yourself to the CC: field, so that you may provide the intel developers with any additional information that they might need. I think they would be extra happy if you could test an updated Karmic with xorg-edgers (bleeding edge xorg-stuff, https://launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers/+archive/ppa) and possibly also the latest mainline kernel at (currently v2.6.32-rc5/, you only need to install the linux-image deb package for your platform), and provide fresh logs and batchbuffer dumps.

You other guys, it is impossible to say if you have the same bug or not, since there is a whole range of different underlying problems that may lead to a GPU hang. Feel free to follow this bug report and the upstream bug and test any proposed fixes. If your findings are different from kalessin's you are experiencing a different freeze bug and you should file a new bug report.

There are a few workarounds that you may try for the time being. One is testing a newer mainline kernel as mentioned above (low chance of working, but possible). Another is to disable kernel mode setting (KMS) by adding the option nomodeset to the kernel command line ('Esc' at boot to show the Grub boot menu, 'e' to edit the current choice, add 'nomodeset' after 'quiet' and 'splash'). In time there may also be alternative driver versions in the x-retro [1] and x-updates [2] PPAs. Currently, there isn't much there though.

[1]: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat/+archive/x-retro
[2]: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat/+archive/x-updates

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Sorry, forgot to provide the URL for the mainline kernels: http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Yes, get an account at bugs.freedesktop.org, and add yourself to the CC-field at https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=24789 .

I'm open to a better formulation. I previously only used "subscribe yourself to the upstream bug report" and that was sometimes misunderstood. Of course it would be nice if we could use the Launchpad OpenID at bugs.freedesktop.org, but I don't think that is possible, and it's not a big deal to get an account there.

If you are asked something that you don't understand, you may ask for help here. That way we keep the upstream bug report more to the point.

Btw, I forgot to mention that there is a similar bug report at bug 378147, but since its upstream seem to have several different freezes, I think it's best that we keep this separate for now.

[kalessin (robert-fendt)]

So, retried with updated Karmic (2009-10-31 13:00 CET), xorg.edgers, xserver-xorg-video-intel 2.9.0 (2:2.9.0-1ubuntu2), mainline kernel (2.6.32-020632rc5-generic). Still hanging, though now I get a complete system lockup when trying to read from /sys/kernel/debug/dri/0/i915_regs.

I have attached a complete archive, since I don't know what will be needed. If needed, I can also upload this at freedesktop.org.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Thank you for testing. Yes, please report this and upload the file upstream. The main activity for this bug will be there for now.

[kalessin (robert-fendt)]

Created an attachment (id=30873)
Current set of logs and buffer dumps

I have re-tested today with current mainline kernel and newest available X.org drivers (from 'xorg-edgers' PPA in Ubuntu). No apparent change, other than now I cannot read from /sys/kernel/debug/dri/0/i915_regs without causing the system to lock immediately.

Summary of current test configuration:
-distribution: Kubuntu 'Karmic', updated 2009-10-31
-graphics chipset i855GM
-architecture: i386, Pentium M
-Centrino chipset
-driver package: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.9.0-1ubuntu2
-kernel version: mainline, 2.6.32-020632rc5-generic

[Michael Langerhorst (m-langerhorst)]

I had the same shocking problem at my ASUS M2400 with intel 855 video card. I didn't see this bug at the release notes - otherwise I'd saved a day installing and restoring my old system. Thank god, I made a full backup of my partition.
I tried the following installing modes
- Upgrading from Jaunty (freeze shortly after login or at login)
- Installing from CD - same effect
- starting up Live-CD - same effect
Switch to save graphics mode had also no effect.
This bug is already very old - I hope it will be closed as soon as possible. For the time beeing I have to stay with jaunty (with the same bug - but it "only" freezes once or twice a day).

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Michael, there is no such thing as "the bug" that causes X to freeze, so you may or may not have the same bug as kalessin. An analogy would be bugs in a flight computer that cause a plane to fall down. As you probably understand such a bug could be in any number of places in the flight critical code. Bugs like this also typically only manifest itself on certain systems because of some particularities of the motherboard etc, so there probably was no way to predict that your system would freeze other than to test a LiveCD.

You may help to resolve this by filing a new bug report and providing the same information that kalassin has provided (see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Troubleshooting/Freeze). Or you may wait and see if the fix for this bug fixes your problem as well.

[kalessin (robert-fendt)]

I have uploaded the current set of logs and buffer dumps upstream, together with a short comment on my current test configuration.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

In Jaunty, we had 116_8xx_disable_dri.patch which turned off DRI for i8xx cards:
"because it fails to run without freezing on i810 and i865G chips. (See LP 304871)"

So that might explain why we now see some trouble on i8xx cards since DRI got reenabled.

As a stop-gap solution for those who have no other option, I have prepared a "retro" package of 2.7. It is currently in https://launchpad.net/~intel-gfx-testing/+archive/ppa and if it works out for you I will move it to the retro PPA.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Note that downgrading to 2.7 is a last resort and seldom very useful. With 2.7 (and Jaunty) DRI was disabled for i8xx cards, so you might as well run with latest 2.9 but disable DRI if you have trouble with your i8xx card. A minimal xorg.conf for this would be:
Section "Device"
 Identifier "my-old-i8xx"
 Driver "intel"
 Option "DRI" "off"
EndSection

[Jane Atkinson (irihapeti)]

I have an old Toshiba Satellite A10 which has been freezing in the manner described since installing Karmic. (It previously had Hardy on it.)

The relevant portion of the output of lshw reads:

 *-display:0
             description: VGA compatible controller
             product: 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
             version: 01
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list rom
             configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
             resources: irq:10 memory:d8000000-dfffffff(prefetchable) memory:d0000000-d007ffff ioport:eff8(size=8)

I've installed the xorg.conf from the message above and will see what happens.

[Jane Atkinson (irihapeti)]

No luck - it froze again.

[karin meyer (kmeyer)]

I have a similar problem on my Dell D600 laptop when booting with the 2.6.31-14 kernel which was part of the upgrade to 9.10;
basically I get one mouse-click & then the system freezes - ALt-CTRL-DEl doesn't work and I have to shut down by pulling the
powerplug & removing the battery.
if I boot with the previous kernel from jaunty - 2.6.28-16, this freeze does not occur; so that's what I am doing for now.

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

downstream issue at Arch Linux: http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/16974

[Albert Damen (albrt)]

The first gpu dump provided by kalessin shows a mix of 2D and 3D instructions without flushes in between. The latest -intel driver from xorg-edgers contains a new debugging option [1][2] that may help to fix this problem, but it has to be enabled by adding an option to xorg.conf.

Kalessin, it would be very interesting if you could test xserver-xorg-video-intel from xorg-edgers again, this time also adding the line:
 Option "DebugFlushCaches" "1"
to the driver section in xorg.conf (similar to the DRI option in comment 19).

[1] : http://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/driver/xf86-video-intel/commit/?id=86bc23ab5da34137c82250395c68aa92ecd88a24
[2] : http://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/driver/xf86-video-intel/commit/?id=3c0815abf28744e215bea286e71d935cd486955a

[Jane Atkinson (irihapeti)]

I tried the retro version of xserver-xorg-video-intel on my laptop. It lasted longer, but eventually locked up as before. I also noticed some distortion such as part of a line of text (in Firefox) totally disappearing, and white lines across some bold type.

I've decided to put Hardy back on for the moment, but I have done a complete archive of the 9.10 system, so if anyone needs the log files, they are available.

[Pierre Monlong (pierre-monlong)]

I encounter a problem very very close on my Fujistu-siemens Amilo M7400 with i855GM GPU just after upgarding from 9.04 to 9.10.

Is it useful that i post my Batchbuffer dump & logs ?
What can i do to help solve ?

Thank

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 2:29 PM, Pierre Monlong wrote:
> I encounter a problem  very very close on my Fujistu-siemens Amilo M7400
> with i855GM GPU just after upgarding from 9.04 to 9.10.
>
> Is it useful that i post my Batchbuffer dump & logs ?
> What can i do to help solve ?

Pierre, it could be useful if you post your bachbuffer dumps and logs,
but not at this bug report, since it makes it harder to keep track of
which files come from where. If you want to help, I suggest you do the
following:

1. Update to xorg-edgers and add the DebugFlushCaches option to
xorg.conf as described in Albert Damen's comment.
2. File a new bug report with `ubuntu-bug xserver-xorg-video-intel`.
This will upload many useful log files. Then add the bachbuffer dumps
to that bug report. Finally mark your new bug report as a duplicate of
this one.
3. Add a short comment here mentioning the bug number of your new bug
report (since there may be more duplicates in time and this gives us a
link to yours).

That way we have your files available with only a mouse click from
this bug report, but it is easy to keep track of which files come from
where.

[Jane Atkinson (irihapeti)]

I think that the problem I am dealing with on my laptop is not the same as this one, as it doesn't happen immediately on startup but sometimes takes many minutes to appear. I've run the batchbuffer dump routine (after restoring Karmic to the laptop). I've filed a new bug report: 477256

[Pierre Monlong (pierre-monlong)]

Geir Ove Myhr

i've created the new bug report with according traces (xorg-edgers and DebugFlushCaches)
see : https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/477972

Thank you

[kalessin (robert-fendt)]

Created an attachment (id=31101)
Updated set of logs and buffer dumps

Slightly updated test case (hopefully not too many changed unknowns, had to do an system update):

-mainline kernel 2.6.32-020632rc6-generic, rc5 is still on the machine if wanted
-current X.org drivers from 'xorg edgers' PPA: 2:2.9.0+git20091106.dbb68168-0ubuntu0tormod

I have also enabled the Option DebugFlushCaches in xorg.conf. Updated batchbuffer dumps and logs are attached.

I do not know if this is relevant, but the X freeze produces lots of repeated lines in dmesg like this:

--------------------snip!--------------------
[ 180.008194] [drm] DAC-6: set mode 640x480 0
[ 180.498662] [drm] DAC-6: set mode 640x480 0
[ 288.356030] [drm:i915_hangcheck_elapsed] *ERROR* Hangcheck timer elapsed... GPU hung
[ 288.356040] render error detected, EIR: 0x00000000
[ 288.356044] i915: Waking up sleeping processes
[ 288.356055] [drm:i915_wait_request] *ERROR* i915_wait_request returns -5 (awaiting 6680 at 6679)
[ 288.356381] [drm:i915_gem_execbuffer] *ERROR* Execbuf while wedged
[ 288.356574] [drm:i915_gem_execbuffer] *ERROR* Execbuf while wedged
[ 288.356618] [drm:i915_gem_execbuffer] *ERROR* Execbuf while wedged
[ 288.356656] [drm:i915_gem_execbuffer] *ERROR* Execbuf while wedged
...
--------------------snip!--------------------

[kalessin (robert-fendt)]

So, finally got round to creating updated logs (including DebugFlushCaches). Updated upstream information, duplicating here just in case.
-----

Slightly updated test case (hopefully not too many changed unknowns, had to do an system update):

-mainline kernel 2.6.32-020632rc6-generic, rc5 is still on the machine if wanted
-current X.org drivers from 'xorg edgers' PPA: 2:2.9.0+git20091106.dbb68168-0ubuntu0tormod

I have also enabled the Option DebugFlushCaches in xorg.conf. Updated batchbuffer dumps and logs are attached.

I do not know if this is relevant, but the X freeze produces lots of repeated lines in dmesg like this:

--------------------snip!--------------------
[ 180.008194] [drm] DAC-6: set mode 640x480 0
[ 180.498662] [drm] DAC-6: set mode 640x480 0
[ 288.356030] [drm:i915_hangcheck_elapsed] *ERROR* Hangcheck timer elapsed... GPU hung
[ 288.356040] render error detected, EIR: 0x00000000
[ 288.356044] i915: Waking up sleeping processes
[ 288.356055] [drm:i915_wait_request] *ERROR* i915_wait_request returns -5 (awaiting 6680 at 6679)
[ 288.356381] [drm:i915_gem_execbuffer] *ERROR* Execbuf while wedged
[ 288.356574] [drm:i915_gem_execbuffer] *ERROR* Execbuf while wedged
[ 288.356618] [drm:i915_gem_execbuffer] *ERROR* Execbuf while wedged
[ 288.356656] [drm:i915_gem_execbuffer] *ERROR* Execbuf while wedged
...
--------------------snip!--------------------

[Laszlo_Lebrun (lazlo-lebrun)]

Indeed, Intel I9xxGM graphic cards appear to be a permanent pain under KDE.

Fairly enough, Gnome or XFCE hasn't got any problem with them and runs like a charm on the widely spread notebooks withI9xx GM graphic cards.

For the time being, my favourite workaround is to use UBUNTU with a Gnome session, where I have retrofitted the KDE desktop from Synaptics without using the KDE session at all.

So I can use Dolphin and many other KDE applications with the most chances of having them running the same way they would under KDE.
Without the "sleeping" KDE package, you can experience some discrepancies especially in the font handling and I believe the QT applications to be less stable.

Of course, I would really appreciate to have KDE fully running...
regards.
Laszlo

[Bluetr@in (damien-babinet)]

Same problem but the Laptop (Toshiba S A10-521) freeze some time after hours of work and some time few minutes after logging. Integrated Graphics Chipset : Intel(R) 852GM. Fresh Ubuntu Karmic installed.

Regards

DamienB

[odi (odi-heise)]

Maybe I can add some information: Got the same problem as Michael Langerhorst on an Asus M2400 after an upgrade vom Jaunty to Karmic -- X freezes some seconds after having started the desktop after login. Ctrl-alt-del does not work, Alt-Fn1 etc. does not work, Sysrq-k kills X-Server, but the screen remains black and the machine is unusable (did not try to ssh it).

What I tried and what did _not_ help:

- kernel option nomodeset
- kernel options nomodeset and i915.modeset=0

What _did_ help however was using the latest kernel 2.6.29 from jaunty. Now X only crashes occasionally, and at least one occasion can be reproduced (klicking on a web site element in Firefox on a site not publicly accessible). There are some other pitfalls with using 2.6.29 in karmic, so this isn't a real solution -- it just gives you a machine somewhat usable. Have to go back to Jaunty.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

kalessin, at bug 476817 which is another freeze bug on 855GM, it is reported that adding acpi=off on the kernel command line makes the freezes go away. Could you check if this is the case for you as well?

You other guys, we know that you also have freeze problems, but please don't report your own findings here. It is already difficult to filter out what symptoms kalessin has, and it gets more difficult the more people posts here. Please only post here if you have suggestions for what kalessin may try or it is otherwise relevant for his case. If you are totally convinced that you have the exact same bug and want to report your findings, it is actually better if you file your own bug report and mark it as a duplicate of this.

There are several freeze bugs on 855GM and those that have been tagged with the chipset name (855gm) and symptom (freeze) show up in this report:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bugs?field.tag=855gm%20freeze&field.tags_combinator=ALL (see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Tagging for details on tags on xorg bugs).

[theducks (dragonsclaw)]

I had this problem with my Toshiba S1135.
 I use the acpi=off as a workaround.
I Boot only Gnome, not KDE

[ka9987 (ka9987)]

I do experience exactly the same probs, freezing shortly before or after login, mouse is still movable. My OpenSuse 11.2 runs on a Fujitsu-Siemens M7400 Laptop with the Intel 855GM graphics.
If info is needed from my side, please tell me which logs etc can be helpful.

I'm interested in a solution, too :-)

Best,
Daniel

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

@mitropaman: we have the same hardware (mine is a clone of yours), but there is no solution right now. I guess that these bugs will be fixed by intel developers sooner or later but it might be a few months, a year, or never, since this hardware is going to be unsupported because of age...

Yes, it's not nice, since our laptop has always ran smoothly, but that's reality :(

Also, I am not able to get a working Xorg development stack running because of other kernel KMS issues regarding the i915 implementation...so debugging is harder.

Only workaround for now is to use the old drivers and to boot a kernel without KMS

[kalessin (robert-fendt)]

Geir, I am sorry to report that without ACPI support my laptop won't initialize its hardware properly at all, resulting in a (non-functional) low-graphics-fallback. So I cannot check for this.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Is this still with the mainline kernel? If so, it may be worth trying acpi=off on the standard Karmic kernel.

[kalessin (robert-fendt)]

I've tried both kernels, and it does not seem to have any effect. The machine starts, then X starts into low graphics mode and a window opens, telling me that the Intel driver is complaining about no kernel modesetting support. I have not made further experiments if I can get it to initialise somehow, though I have no idea what to try anyway. And I have also no idea how kernel mode setting is connected to ACPI, although it seems to be the case, apparently.

Note: "run in low graphics mode for one session" does not seem to work as expected, either. If I select it, I get a window "stand by one minute while the display restarts...", and then exactly nothing happens, until I actively click that window away. Then X closes, and everything starts on square one, with the same error message I mentioned earlier.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Thank you for testing. I also have no idea why KMS and ACPI seem to be
related. Just thought it would be nice to know for the upstream
developers if turning off ACPI helped. If it doesn't work, it doesn't
work.

Actually, if you back out of xorg-edgers and back to standard Karmic,
you should be able to run without KMS, since UMS support was dropped
only after the driver in Karmic. You can use the ppa-purge script for
that (`sudo apt-get intall ppa-purge` will pull it from the
xorg-edgers PPA, and running `sudo ppa-purge xorg-edgers` will remove
everything from xorg-edgers exept ppa-purge itself). Now with standard
Karmic drivers (and both with Karmic kernel and mainline kernel)
- check if it still freezes with the kernel option "nomodeset" [*]
- check if it still freezes with the kernel option "acpi=off"
It may be that acpi=off turns off KMS and that is the reason it helps,
but if it freezes with nomodeset and not with acpi=off, that would be
interesting.

I think the "low graphics mode" problem you are having may be one of
the bugs mentioned in this post:
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-x/2009-November/000650.html
(the ones about gdm).

[*] I looked if you had already done this, but at least I couldn't
find it. It is in situations like this it is really not helpful to
have other people reporting what they have tried. Makes it harder to
find what you did.

[Andrea Vico (andreavico)]

In data mercoledì 18 novembre 2009 20:19:43, hai scritto:
> Thank you for testing. I also have no idea why KMS and ACPI seem to be
> related. Just thought it would be nice to know for the upstream
> developers if turning off ACPI helped. If it doesn't work, it doesn't
> work.
>
> Actually, if you back out of xorg-edgers and back to standard Karmic,
> you should be able to run without KMS, since UMS support was dropped
> only after the driver in Karmic. You can use the ppa-purge script for
> that (`sudo apt-get intall ppa-purge` will pull it from the
> xorg-edgers PPA, and running `sudo ppa-purge xorg-edgers` will remove
> everything from xorg-edgers exept ppa-purge itself). Now with standard
> Karmic drivers (and both with Karmic kernel and mainline kernel)
> - check if it still freezes with the kernel option "nomodeset" [*]
> - check if it still freezes with the kernel option "acpi=off"
> It may be that acpi=off turns off KMS and that is the reason it helps,
> but if it freezes with nomodeset and not with acpi=off, that would be
> interesting.
>
> I think the "low graphics mode" problem you are having may be one of
> the bugs mentioned in this post:
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-x/2009-November/000650.html
> (the ones about gdm).
>
> [*] I looked if you had already done this, but at least I couldn't
> find it. It is in situations like this it is really not helpful to
> have other people reporting what they have tried. Makes it harder to
> find what you did.
>

My experience is that I been able to install kubuntu 9.10 only with acpi=off
and nolapic kernel option at start up. The installation have been complete
without error but at the firt start up the screen freeze near after complete
log in. The laptop is an Asus M2400N with 1.4Ghz of first generation Centrino.
If I use option acpi=off the computer don't freeze but I can't use without ac
plugged in and the wireless dousen't work. Now I'm use 9.04 that did take me
some problem with the graphic card but after some new line in the xorg.conf
the problem seems to be solve. I'm very anhappy to see that free sotware don't
take forward step.
I'm sorry for my bad english and if I can help the comunity just say me what I
have to do.
Best regards.
 Andrea Vico

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Some updated information from downstream:
- The kernel parameter acpi=off stops the freezes. I don't know exactly what is turned off with this. At least it turns off KMS, so kalessin had to revert to the karmic -intel driver whick has UMS support to test this.
- The kernel parameter nomodeset still produces freezes, so the fact that it stops with acpi=off is not due to using UMS instead of KMS.

We have several 855GM freeze bug reports in Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bugs?field.tag=855gm%20freeze&field.tags_combinator=ALL) and many af them have batchbuffer dumps attached. A few of them have also been reported here already.

[kalessin (robert-fendt)]

Update: I backed out xorg-edgers from my machine. Non-edgers driver does indeed work without KMS, and acpi=off seems to stop the freezes. nomodeset has no apparent effect.

Summary:
-freezes with nomodeset
-does _not_ freeze with acpi=off

Problems with acpi=off:
-no sound
-no wifi
-no power management
-possible other irq-related problems (since acpi is used to configure the hardware interrupts nowadays)

I tested with current distribution kernel (2.6.31-15 I think), but mainline kernel seems to behave more or less the same in this regard.

Note: additional tests by Andrea could actually be of interest, since he runs the same hardware (Asus M2400N). My device has upgraded wifi (ipw2200), but that should not matter.

BTW I have to concur with Andreas opinion: the fact that the current Intel drivers have such severe problems on older hardware and no developer ever seemed to deem it necessary to maintain stable support for existing machines is quite upsetting. I have currently only two options: to either downgrade to Hardy (at least until support is dropped) or to throw away perfectly good hardware. Or is there a possibility to disable the HAL detection of the graphics hardware, thus forcing the machine to vesa graphics or something? That would be at least a little help (I don't exactly need hardware acceleration on that machine).

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

If you want to use the VESA driver, make an xorg.conf like this:
Section "Device"
 Identifier "my-old-i8xx"
 Driver "vesa"
EndSection

[kalessin (robert-fendt)]

> If you want to use the VESA driver, make an xorg.conf like this:
> Section "Device"
> Identifier "my-old-i8xx"
> Driver "vesa"
> EndSection

...which causes the machine to lock up instantly and completely. So I guess
I am out of options right now.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

> ...which causes the machine to lock up instantly and completely. So I guess
> I am out of options right now.

Vesa isn't working on my computer either (bug 401214), but I have
965GM so probably not the same problem. In my case in only breaks with
KMS, though, so the kernel option 'nomodeset' and driver "vesa" may
give you a computer in working order.

[kalessin (robert-fendt)]

So it did, you are right. 'vesa' seems to be working when I use
'nomodeset'. I see slight screen corruption on window borders, but nothing
serious. At least it works now, thanks.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Another thing that may work (and it is useful for us to know whether it does for you) is the 'nomodeset' option combined with the xorg.conf from comment #19. I think this is what acpi=off might be doing (in addition to turning off power management and other stuff). It seems that on some chipsets the DRI option in xorg.conf is ignored when KMS is used, (c.f. comment #6). Could you try the following two cases and upload the resulting Xorg.0.log here?
1. xorg.conf from comment #19 without nomodeset. (My hypothesis: You get a freeze, so you will have to get the Xorg.0.log via ssh)
2. xorg.conf from comment #19 with nomodeset. (My hypothesis: No freeze)

[kalessin (robert-fendt)]

Sorry to disappoint, but I just re-checked and indeed all test data I
submitted so far had set the "DRI=off" option (as can be seen from the Xorg
logs I posted). This stems from the very first tests I did, and in order
not to introduce to many variables, I left it at that setting. So I can
confirm at least that "nomodeset" and "DRI=off" has no apparent positive
effect on my hardware.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Thank you for testing. Actually, from your previous logs I now also see that my theory about the DRI option not being used with KMS is wrong.

Maybe you could upload Xorg.0.log and `dmesg` output with and without acpi=off (and otherwise identical settings, say, "DRI" "off" in xorg.conf still). Then it might be possible to see what is not loaded when acpi=off is used.

[hrustov (hrustov)]

At least you are find a workaround.
Confirm that vesa driver with "nomodeset" option allow to work normally.
thanks a lot.

[Stéphane (racoonator)]

Hello,

I've tried the Ubuntu 9.10 on my Asus A3N laptop which have a 855GM chipset inside.

Same problem for me, X freezes quickly, just the mouse stil move.

Can't find any messages in the log.

I've tried to pass all the possible parameters to the kernel at boot time, just acpi=off stop freezes, but in this case the Wifi doesn't works.

Regards,

Stéphane

[Rainblues (rainblues)]

Stéphane,
As workaround you may use vesa driver with "nomodeset" kernel option. this workaround works for me on such notebook

[ka9987 (ka9987)]

Dear Intel-Team,

just want to kindly ask what your assessment of this bug is and - if possible - if you can roughly roughly estimate how long it might take to solve it. I know the hardware is old, but there seem to be some more people
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/447892
having the same probs.

Thanks!
D.

[Stéphane (racoonator)]

Dear Intel-Team,

Like mitropaman said, this bugs seems to affect lot of people even if the hardware is a little old. I've found many bug reports about the freezes with 855gm.

My laptop is old, but I hope one day I'll be able to run recent browser like firefox 3.5 included in the most recent linux distribution.

I know it's the good time of year to have this dream, maybe an old man dressed in red will give us soon the solution. :-) It'll be so great !

More seriously, I know this is a hard task to debug this kind of program, so I'm always ready to help if needed.

Regards,

Stéphane

[pva (pva)]

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 01)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 01)

media-libs/mesa-7.5.2
x11-base/xorg-server-1.7.3
x11-drivers/xf86-video-intel-2.9.1
kernels from 2.6.29 to 2.6.32

System freeze and there is nothing I've managed to do: even sysrq with remote network console shows nothing. Some time ago it worked with acpi=off (or more exactly with pci=noacpi), but with updated software versions intel driver just freeze system completely (ssh hangs too).

Current workaround - use vesa driver.

[Vladimirs (vladimirs)]

Hello.

openSuse 11.2 on ASUS A3L with Intel 852GM

(--) PCI:*(0:0:2:0) 8086:3582:1043:1712 rev 2
(--) PCI: (0:0:2:1) 8086:3582:1043:1712 rev 2

X server freezes after 30s- 1 min startup.
Help only acpi=off

Driver version: 2.9.1
X.Org X Server: 1.6.5

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

I have compiled three Ubuntu Jaunty kernel packages based on Brian Rogers' findings upstream for bug 456902 (similar to this but for 845G chipset) and made them available at http://www.kvante.info/845Gfreeze/ . They may also work in Karmic, but I'm not sure. This may turn out to be the same problem as bug 456902, and if it is the freezetest1 kernel should not trigger the freezes, while the freezetest9 kernel should. I have also made freezetest8 which is the commit before freezetest9. If this works and freezetest9 doesn't, we know what the bad commit is and upstream can hopefully use that to fix this bug. If freezetest8 also freezes there is some more bisecting to do.

In order to test the kernels, it is enough to download the linux-image*.deb packages. (the linux-headers packages are not necessary for testing). They install side-by-side with the each other and the other packages on your system, so you can download all three to a folder and do an `dpkg -i linux-image*.deb`. You can then choose which kernel to test in the Grub boot menu. When you are done testing you may remove the test kernels with `dpkg -P linux-image-2.6.30-freezetest1 linux-image-2.6.30-freezetest8 linux-image-2.6.30-freezetest9`.

I may set up a wiki page for reporting test results, but for now feel free to report the results in a comment here.

[AKrone (armin-akrone)]

Hello Geir,

thank you for the freezetest kernels.
I tried them out with Karmic. My result is: no freezes happend with none of the kernels freezetest1, freezetest8 and freezetest9.
My graphic card is a Intel 855 and shows this values in lspci:
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
 Subsystem: Fujitsu Technology Solutions Device 1033
 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
 Memory at e8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
 Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
 I/O ports at 1800 [size=8]
 Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 1
 Kernel modules: intelfb

For the test I removed the xorg.conf file and had no 'nomodeset' command line for the kernels.
Logfiles Xorg.0.log from the three tests are included.

Regards
Armin

[Olie (a-launchpad-alkilde-dk)]

Thank you Geir for your work on this.

I have tested your freezetest kernels with good results as follows:

I am using an Asus M2400N laptop with the Intel 855GM, as reported by lspci -v:
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
 Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 1712
 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 5
 Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
 Memory at ffa80000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
 I/O ports at dc00 [size=8]
 Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 1
 Kernel modules: i915

Using the latest standard kernel (2.6.31-16-generic), I need to boot with nolapic and nomodeset and use the vesa driver (xorg.conf in /etc/X11 as described above) to prevent the system from freezing a few seconds after the desktop appears. The mouse pointer can still move, but everything else is frozen.

Test case: Booting without nolapic and nomodeset and removed /etc/X11/xorg.conf

freezetest1: In two out of three reboots, the mouse pointer froze, but the system kept on working (the opposite effect of the standard kernel!!!). The pointer was stuck in the middle of the screen, but I could navigate the system fine using keyboard shortcuts.

freezetest9: Works fine, no problems. Also works with maximum visual effects.

I tried to install the freezetest8 kernel, but dpkg gave me the following error (in Danish, hopefully you will be able to understand, I can see from your profile that you speak Norwegian):
me@my:~/Hentede filer$ sudo dpkg -i linux-image-2.6.30-freezetest8_git6fd4693~gomyhr_i386.deb
(Læser database... 210621 filer og mapper aktuelt installeret.)
Udpakker linux-image-2.6.30-freezetest8 (fra linux-image-2.6.30-freezetest8_git6fd4693~gomyhr_i386.deb)...
Done.
dpkg-deb (underproces): løb tør under læsning i buffer_copy (kunne ikke skrive til videreførsel i 'copy') ("short read")
dpkg-deb: underproces paste returnerede afslutningsstatus 2
dpkg: fejl under behandling af linux-image-2.6.30-freezetest8_git6fd4693~gomyhr_i386.deb (--install):
 løb tør under læsning i buffer_copy ('backend' dpkg-deb under './lib/modules/2.6.30-freezetest8/kernel/fs/ocfs2/ocfs2_stack_user.ko') ("short read")
Running postrm hook script /usr/sbin/update-grub.
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-16-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-16-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-15-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-15-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30-freezetest9
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.30-freezetest9
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30-freezetest1
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.30-freezetest1
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Found Debian GNU/Linux (squeeze/sid) on /dev/sda1
done
Der opstod fejl under behandlingen:
 linux-image-2.6.30-freezetest8_git6fd4693~gomyhr_i386.deb

[Jane Atkinson (irihapeti)]

I've posted the results of my test here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/477256

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Thank you guys for testing. It is clear from your results that this is a different freeze problem from the one that occurs on 845G. We don't need any more testing of the test kernels on 855GM.

Olie, I think the error messages indicate that the deb-file was not fully downloaded. It is possible to get English messages by prepending the command by LANG=, and this is very useful in bug reports. This is from a computer where the default locale is German:

gomyhr@kerr:~> echo $LANG
de_DE.ISO-8859-1
gomyhr@kerr:~> cat lkjlkj
cat: lkjlkj: Datei oder Verzeichnis nicht gefunden
gomyhr@kerr:~> LANG= cat lkjlkj
cat: lkjlkj: No such file or directory

Your tests seem to indicate that this bug does not occur on any of the kernels I compiled, so it must have been triggered by a later commit (some of you have different problems, but some of you have none). What would take this bug closer to a resolution would be if one or more who has this problem could bisect down to the kernel commit that introduce the freezes. The first step would be to try different kernels from the ubuntu mainline kernel repository [1,2]. Probably, all the 2.6.30 kernels will run without the freezes. The first 2.6.31 kernels available for i386 seems to be 2.6.31-rc1-fix1 and then 2.6.31-rc3. If those are good, keep trying newer kernels

[1]: http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/
[2]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/MainlineBuilds

[Zersaa (zersaa)]

Same problem on laptop HP Compaq nx9020
Display controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics
Device (rev 02)

OS: Arch Linux i686
kernel-2.6.32.2
xorg-server-1.7.3.902
xf86-video-intel-2.9.1
mesa-7.7
KMS is off

System freeze immediately after X startup. I didn't find Xorg.0.log. Apparently, he didn't have time to create.

[Olie (a-launchpad-alkilde-dk)]

Having tried a lot of the kernels from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/ i found that the freeze starts to occur at v2.6.31.2.

Specifically, this works fine: http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v2.6.31.1/linux-image-2.6.31-02063101-generic_2.6.31-02063101_i386.deb
This freezes: http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v2.6.31.2/linux-image-2.6.31-02063102-generic_2.6.31-02063102_i386.deb

Could someone else please confirm my observations?

I am not much of a kernel hacker, I will be happy to test anything, but I need help from someone to find the specific change from .1 to .2 that causes the problem.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

On Fri, Jan 1, 2010 at 9:43 AM, Olie <email address hidden> wrote:
> I am not much of a kernel hacker, I will be happy to test anything, but
> I need help from someone to find the specific change from .1 to .2 that
> causes the problem.

I can guide you through it. I did it for the first time last week, and
it wasn't too hard.

First, it is probably a good idea to compile 2.6.31.1 and 2.6.31.2
yourself and confirm your findings with the self-built kernels. To do
this, follow the instructions at
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/GitKernelBuild except that instead
of
git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git
you do
git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-2.6.31.y.git
in order to check out the 2.6.31 stable tree.
After step 3 (cd linux-2.6) you do
git checkout v2.6.31.1
in order to get the source to 2.6.31.1. Then you can follow the rest
of the recipe to build that kernel.
After you have done that and have the deb-files you do a
git checkout v2.6.31.2
and start again on step 5 (make oldconfig).

Once you have done this (or right away if you feel like skipping it),
instead of using git checkout, use
git bisect start v2.6.31.2 v2.6.31.1
(the man page for git-bisect is quite good, consult it if I mess up
something in the explanation)
This will check out a version in the middle between 2.6.31.1 and
2.6.31.2. Start on step 5 again. install the deb-files, test if the
kernel freezes and if it does, enter the linux-2.6 directory again and
write
git bisect bad
or if it does not freeze:
git bisect good
It will then check out another mid-point and you start on step 5 again.

I think this should be enough information to do it, but don't hesitate
if you have any more questions.

PS: The time consuming parts of the procedure is the git clone part
(has to download several hundred megabytes) and the make-kpkg
kernel_image kernel_headers part (step 8) which builds the kernel. The
kernel build takes about an hour on my dual-core laptop. It will
probably take a lot longer on yours.

PPS: You can the list of commits leading up to 2.6.31.2 at
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-2.6.31.y.git;a=shortlog;h=a2822cac80be9e7fc83eaf9b7d17f169eabd4c99
The v2.6.31.1 tag is on the second page.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Olie, to save you some compiling I have packaged three test kernels
that you may check. They are at http://www.kvante.info/855GMfreeze/ .
They are for the following commits:

855gmtest490-git50afc60: USB: sl811-hcd: Fix device disconnect:
855gmtest500-gitc10bea0: drm/i915: Check that the relocation points to within...
855gmtest800-git1934acb: drm/i915: Handle ERESTARTSYS during page fault

The first one is the last commit before a bunch of drm-related
commits. The second one is in the middle of those drm-related commits
and the last one is after all drm-related commits. There is a good
chance that the first does not freeze, the last freezes and the middle
one is completely open.

Again, all the commits are listed on
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-2.6.31.y.git;a=shortlog;h=a2822cac80be9e7fc83eaf9b7d17f169eabd4c99
.

If you find that the first one does not freeze, you use the command
git bisect good 50afc60
to tell the ongoing bisect about that. Similarly with the other ones.
This may narrow down the possible list of first bad commits.

Geir Ove

[Olie (a-launchpad-alkilde-dk)]

Thank you. ..490.. and ..500.. works and ..800.. freezes. That helps me a lot since compiling one version of the kernel takes more than 12 hours on this machine. I will start bisecting and compiling from here.

[Carl Englund (englundc)]

Also having problems with Karmic and i855GM freezing. Tested 500 (works) and 800 (freezes). ACPI=off works using standard Ubuntu kernel. Posted a bug here but I'm thinking now it's a duplicate:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/502193

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

I have packaged some more kernels and Olie has tested and found the bad commit. Turns out it is this one:
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-2.6.31.y.git;a=commit;h=7abf3aa8294d95e3f0be375f30e8d933f874ada0

On http://www.kvante.info/855GMfreeze/ there are several test kernels. The important ones are
      linux-image-2.6.31.1-855gmtest599-git522bb74_gomyhr1_i386.deb 02-Jan-2010 12:43 30M
      linux-image-2.6.31.1-855gmtest600-git7abf3aa_gomyhr1_i386.deb 02-Jan-2010 10:18 30M
The first (599) kernel is the last kernel without the identified commit and the second (600) is the first with the commit. If your problem is the same as Olie's, 599 will work without freeze and 600 will freeze.

It would be nice to get this confirmed by others, especially kalessin who is the original reporter of this bug. If you have submitted your own bug report, please add a comment with your results there. All (tagged) 855GM freeze bugs can be found at [1].

[1]: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bugs?field.tag=855gm%20freeze&field.tags_combinator=ALL

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

I have built some test kernels in order to bisect it down. I have had three people (not yet including the original reporter) verify that that the bad commit is

From: Eric Anholt <email address hidden>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:48:48 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] agp/intel: Fix the pre-9xx chipset flush.

commit e517a5e97080bbe52857bd0d7df9b66602d53c4d upstream.

http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-2.6.31.y.git;a=commit;h=7abf3aa8294d95e3f0be375f30e8d933f874ada0

The ubuntu kernel packages are available at http://www.kvante.info/855GMfreeze/. The two packages that are before and after the bad commit are
      linux-image-2.6.31.1-855gmtest599-git522bb74_gomyhr1_i386.deb
      linux-image-2.6.31.1-855gmtest600-git7abf3aa_gomyhr1_i386.deb

[Carl Englund (englundc)]

Tested kernels - 599 indeed causes the freeze while 600 does not!

[pva (pva)]

Hm, but I don't see Author of commit anywhere here... Eric, please, take a look on comment #17.

[Juho-mikko-pellinen-lut (juho-mikko-pellinen-lut)]

I'm having similar problems with a Asus M5N (Pentium 4M, 855GM) and tried to test the kernel packages from http://www.kvante.info/855GMfreeze/. But sadly those require CPU which supports PAE and Pentium4M does not support that.
If Geir Ove Myhr could produce the kernels 599 and 600 without PAE I could test those.

When starting in recovery-mode as "netroot" and then executing "startx", X will freeze after showing the desktop for ~5 seconds, but mouse keeps moving. I can then switch back to VT1 and kill the running X.
Booting normally causes a bad freeze before network interfaces come up.

I'm currently running up-to-date Lucid Lynx with the hope that this bug will be fixed soonish.

[Denis (denis-made)]

Hi, I'm affected by this problem too on a Asus M3000

lspci -v:

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
 Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 1742
 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
 Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
 Memory at feb00000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
 I/O ports at dc00 [size=8]
 Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 1
 Kernel modules: intelfb

00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
 Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 1742
 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
 Memory at e8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
 Memory at fea80000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
 Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 1

Ubuntu 8.04 was ok, in 9.4 I apparently solved adding - Option "AccelMethod" "XAA" - in xorg.conf (not tested very much)

Non I tested only linux-image-2.6.30-freezetest9_git02200d0~gomyhr_i386.deb and it works fine with graphic effects too. Is this kernel suitable for production enviroments?

I can make more tests or install kernel, please tell me how I can help you!

[Olie (a-launchpad-alkilde-dk)]

Hi Denis,

It would be helpful if you could test the two kernels from Geir in comment #59 above. If your problem is the same as mine, 599 will work without freeze and 600 will freeze.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

(In reply to comment #19)
> If Geir Ove Myhr could produce the kernels 599 and 600 without PAE I could test
> those.

I have packaged the kernels without PAE and put them at http://www.kvante.info/855GMfreeze/ too:
      linux-image-2.6.31.1-855gmtest599-git522bb74_gomyhr2nopae_i386.deb
      linux-image-2.6.31.1-855gmtest600-git7abf3aa_gomyhr2nopae_i386.deb

[Denis (denis-made)]

Hi Olie, 599 is ok and 600 freeze for me too!

Do you think I can use my pc with kernel 599/freezetest9 or they are not suitable for production?

P.S. I also tried ubuntu 10 alpha version and it freeze too

[Olie (a-launchpad-alkilde-dk)]

Thank you Denis, that confirms that you experience the bug as well.

As to your question, no I would not recommend to use any of the test kernels for daily use, you are missing a lot of bug fixes adn new features that are in the current official kernel.

Until this bug is fixed upstream, I am using the vesa driver and nolapic+nomodeset kernel options, that works fine for me. I have followed the following blog post to set it up: http://blog.cyril-ravat.fr/post/2009/10/25/Ubuntu-karmic-freeze-on-Asus-M2n

[Bill Farrow (ubuntu-arrowsreach)]

On my Asus M5200N, I can confirm that 599 kernel does not freeze, and I get visual desktop effects, full screen video, suspend and hibernation. The 600 kernel re-introduces the freeze.

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
 Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 1712
 Kernel modules: i915

[Sergi Sales (sergi-sales)]

Hi all,
I've an Acer TravelMate 380.
I had experienced the bug in karmic until the final release and solved with the "nomodeset" parameter in grub, but the intel driver in xorg.
Now, I'm in lucid lynx with kernel 2.6.32-9-generic and I'm experiencing the bug again and solving with the "nomodeset" parameter and the vesa driver in xorg.conf

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
 Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0037
 Kernel modules: i915

I'm not a developer and I don't have experience in kernel debugging, but If I can do anything let me know.. :)

Sergi

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

I have tried mainline 2.6.33 with "patch -p1 -R" of patch specified in comment 17 and it gets even worse, since it crashes when loading modules, possibly the one for the framebuffer console, so I can't even start Xorg

[Hpcharles (hpcharles)]

(In reply to comment #9)
> Some updated information from downstream:
> - The kernel parameter acpi=off stops the freezes. I don't know exactly what is
> turned off with this. At least it turns off KMS, so kalessin had to revert to
> the karmic -intel driver whick has UMS support to test this.
> - The kernel parameter nomodeset still produces freezes, so the fact that it
> stops with acpi=off is not due to using UMS instead of KMS.

I have similar problem on FreeBSD 8 with xf86-video-intel-2.7.1 on an atom based machine with "<Intel 82945G (945G GMCH) SVGA controller>"

Machine description (in french) http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00089880.html

Symptom : Freeze for 2/3 mn at
  - xdm start
  - session start
  - graphic output using shm

Tried :
  - use vesa mode : it works but I can't use the 1910x1080 resolution : unusable
  - downgrade xf86-video-intel to 2.6 branch : same symptom
  - disable shm with
 Section "Extensions"
      Option "MIT-SHM" "Disable"
 EndSection
 in /etc/X11/xorg.conf : same symptom
  - disable acpi (hint.acpi.0.disabled="1" in /boot/loader.conf) : it works but I can't use the multi thread capability of my Atom230 which is a pity on this machine.

[Juho-mikko-pellinen-lut (juho-mikko-pellinen-lut)]

I just tried the new nopae-kernels, but neither of those did improve anything.
I had updated my Lucid Lynx prior and I got new kernel (2.6.32-9) with which I
got my short time record of 9 minutes without crashing. (Recovery-mode,
netroot, startx as root).

After crash I were able to switch back to VT1 and I saw the error message
"Input/Output error" outputted by startx to the shell screen. I couldn't
reproduce the error yet.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

[This comment goes to freeze bugs on intel 855GM]

At bug 456902 (similar freezes on 845G) there is currently an effort to find where xserver-xorg-video-intel and/or libdrm changed and so that the freezes were triggered. Brian Rogers has a PPA that he is updating libdrm and -intel until they catch a version which freezes (they first found that a standard Karmic kernel with Jaunty libdrm and -intel did not freeze). It is possible that the same is true for 855GM and this is a chance to catch a free ride from the 845G testing effort. In order to test, use the standard Karmic kernel and add Brian's PPA: https://launchpad.net/~brian-rogers/+archive/graphics-testing . See the bug 456902 comment #29 and after for more details.

Apologies if someone already reported that Jaunty with Karmic kernel also freezes. In that case, testing older -intel and libdrm in Karmic is probably pointless. I'm loosing the overview as there are many similar bug reports on 845G, 855GM and 945G/945GM, and I forget exactly what is already tested for each chipset.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

From more testing downstream it seems that the story of this bug is already well documented at bug 21826. The freeze that most people experience today is triggered by the patch http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-2.6.31.y.git;a=commit;h=7abf3aa8294d95e3f0be375f30e8d933f874ada0 (already mentioned in comment #17). That this commit caused frequent freezes is clear from comments #26 and #27 in bug 21826.

Bug 21826 was originally about infrequent freezes that happened before that commit. It has also been observed downstream that reverting to a kernel before that commit stops the immediate freezes, but it will still freeze.

In ubuntu we currently have 8 open bug reports [1] for what seems to be this same problem on 855GM. In total they have 54 unique subscribers, which makes it one of the highest profile graphics issues in the ubuntu bug tracker.

So far we have identified the commit that started the freezes, we have batchbuffer dumps attached here and many more in the downstream bug reports. Some people have tried to downgrade the intel driver to see if it would stop the freezes, but the results have been negative so far. Is there anything more we can do without knowing the details about how this hardware works?

[1]: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bugs?field.tag=855gm%20freeze&field.tags_combinator=ALL

[Olie (a-launchpad-alkilde-dk)]

No such luck for me. Using the standard kernel (2.6.31-17-generic), I replaced xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.9.0-1ubuntu2 with 4:2.8.0.901+karmic from Brian Rogers PPA and booted with nolapic and nomodeset. My laptop froze within a minute.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Olie, did you also downgrade libdrm? phran tried that at bug 496187 and reports that the freezes stopped (or at least became much less frequent, probably another freeze bug which is currently masked by the frequent freezes).

[Brian Rogers (brian-rogers)]

Olie, try it with KMS enabled and any AccelMethod setting in xorg.conf deleted. It's possible it won't freeze with that setup.

If it still freezes, also try installing this version: https://launchpad.net/~brian-rogers/+archive/graphics-testing/+build/1437394/+files/xserver-xorg-video-intel_2.7.99.902+git20090720.bb300738-0ubuntu1+karmic_i386.deb

That build has had more confirmation of stability (with i845, at least) than the newer version did, so if i855 is still unstable with that, it's probably an independent bug.

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

I have tried reverting the patch of that commit but things do not improve, I currently cannot use any recent intel driver and I am stuck with version 2.3.2-3 (and the appropriate Xorg and other libraries). Also, framebuffer console + KMS creates a black screen (turned off); if inertia does his job, I'll probably end up using outdated intel drivers forever or change hardware.

[Olie (a-launchpad-alkilde-dk)]

Still no luck. I did the following tests:

A: Downgraded as follows (using Brians PPA):
libdrm-intel1 2.4.14-1ubuntu1 -> 1:2.4.11-2+karmic3
libdrm2 2.4.14-1ubuntu1 -> 1:2.4.11-2+karmic3
xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.9.0-1ubuntu2 -> 5:2.8.0-2-gb0aa94f
Result: Freeze

B: As A, plus enabling KMS by making a file in /etc/modprobe.d/i915-kms.conf with the following content:
options i915 modeset=1
Result: Freeze

C: As B, plus replacing xserver-xorg-video-intel with the version from comment #70
Result: Freeze

Doesn't look like we can use the same solutions as for bug 456902 and bug 496187.

[Juho-mikko-pellinen-lut (juho-mikko-pellinen-lut)]

I followed the instructions at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Troubleshooting/Freeze#How%20to%20Get%20a%20Batchbuffer%20Dump%20%28-intel%20only%29 and http://intellinuxgraphics.org/how_to_report_bug.html and I got the attached batchbuffer dumps.

In my case, the mouse cursor is also frozen when X freezes.

System environment:
-- chipset: 855GM
-- system architecture: 32-bit
-- xf86-video-intel: 2:2.9.1-1ubuntu1
-- xserver: 2:1.7.3.902-1ubuntu8
-- mesa: 7.7-0ubuntu6
-- libdrm: 2.4.17-0ubuntu1
-- kernel: 2.6.32-10-generic
-- Linux distribution: Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04 dev branch
-- Machine or mobo model: Asus M5000 (laptop)
-- Display connector: LVDS (VGA available, but not used)
     LVDS has the native resolution of 1024x768

Reproducing steps:
Log in to X. Either wait for variable time, browse the system menus or start some application.

SSH works until I try to copy the files from /sys/kernel/debug/dri/0/ .
At that time the system crashes so badly that even sysrq stops responding.
The SSH-sessions die at the same time.

Additional info:

Without logging in to X, the computer is fully stable.

[Juho-mikko-pellinen-lut (juho-mikko-pellinen-lut)]

Created an attachment (id=32696)
Batchbuffer dumps after X froze while playing Mah Jong.

[Juho-mikko-pellinen-lut (juho-mikko-pellinen-lut)]

Created an attachment (id=32745)
All the debug info I could gather.

My system info once again.

One more crash-report with all the files from /sys/kernel/debug/dri/0/ I could gather (i915_regs crashes the computer).

System environment:

-- chipset: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
-- system architecture: i686
-- xf86-video-intel: 2:2.9.1-1ubuntu1
-- xserver:2:1.7.3.902-1ubuntu9
-- mesa: 7.7-0ubuntu7
-- libdrm: 2.4.17-0ubuntu1
-- kernel: 2.6.32-10-generic
-- Linux distribution: Ubuntu 10.04 development branch
-- Machine or mobo model: Asus M5000 (P4M-based)
-- Display connector: LVDS (VGA available, not used)

Reproducing steps:

Just browse the system-menus of Gnome.

[Alberto Cerpa (acerpa+launchpad)]

New subscriber.

I am using the same chipset (855GM), but reported my test results in:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/456902/comments/72

[Louis-Xavier Brusset (lxbrusset)]

I come from BUG 370292 ( https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/370292 )

I made the test trying to install

linux-image-2.6.31.1-855gmtest599-git522bb74_gomyhr2nopae_i386.deb 04-Jan-2010 18:21 30M

(I got an error with the PAE version)

But my computer does not boot with this image.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

For anyone on Lucid, I have uploaded a version of Lucid's libdrm to my PPA which has this patch: http://cgit.freedesktop.org/mesa/drm/commit/?id=4f0f871730b76730ca58209181d16725b0c40184 .

This patch is supposed to fix many of the freeze problems that has occurred lately. The PPA is at https://launchpad.net/~gomyhr/+archive/standard .

[Tomasz Rozynek (kleofas)]

I've installed that release of libdrm from source and I'll see whether my system hangs or not. Will give feedback in some time.

[Tomasz Rozynek (kleofas)]

All evening, pretty heavy loaded with work, without any hangs. Seems quite ok. I may be wrong, as hangs sometimes occur extreamly rarely.

[Tomasz Rozynek (kleofas)]

Still stable, but there is another issue - after install of that libdrm I get hangs immediately after lid close. The mouse cursor stops moving and the computer is not responding to anything.

[Andrea Vico (andreavico)]

For me nothing is changed: X freeze after some second past the log-in. I use kernel 2.6.31-20.

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Andrea, 2.6.31 is the Karmic kernel. The libdrm package could hopefully fix (some of) the remaining freeze bugs in Lucid, but I don't have much hope for Karmic.

Actually, I would recommend people who experience frequent freezes on Karmic to upgrade to Lucid now. Yes, it is a development version and as such may break suddenly, but it may freeze less and it may help us to know which freeze problems still remain there.

[Andrea Vico (andreavico)]

I have upgraded to Kubuntu Lucid and update the packge with the ppa packages but I can see only a black screen with no kernel option and intel driver.

[Michal Nowak (newman)]

Just to let anyone know that I have been pointed out to workaround yesterday.

I filed bug http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15248 that KMS is breaking booting shortly after start. I was suggested to try a one-liner patch in comment #5 (http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15248#c5) which I believe works around the issue - tested with 2.6.33-rc6.

Boot running OK and even X starts fine (xorg intel drive 2.9.1), with 2.10.1 I verified Xv works (my former experience with this version + 2.6.31.x was that the combination is rather unstable - X crashing every 5 minutes).

Considering update to kernel 2.6.{32,33} is doable sooner or later, is there anything to be fixed in intel xorg driver regarding this issue?

[souplin (klage)]

@Andrea Vico
same here seems to be the frame buffer doesn't work correctly. I boot only by setting the kernel options "nomodeset nosplash" then switch via alt+ctrl+F7 to a terminal where I can put my crypto passphrase. To get to the grub menu press ESC fast when starting the laptop.
Intel Driver still seems to freeze so I stick to use vesa instead. Hopefully lucid will be usable in the future

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

sorry but the bug is not fixed for me, and we have the exact same hardware; I have added proper information on the kernel bug you specified ([1])

[1] http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15248

[Olie (a-launchpad-alkilde-dk)]

I tried updating libdrm from Geirs PPA without any luck, I still get freezes.

I also have Debian testing installed (using XFCE) on a separate partition. Here I also need to use the vesa driver to prevent freezing. I tried to update this to the latest libdrm and libdrm-intel1 (version 2.4.17.1), but that also freezes for me when I try to use the Intel driver instead of vesa.

I will try to replace my Debian with Ubuntu Lucid to see if that is any better.

[Michal Nowak (newman)]

(In reply to comment #30)
> sorry but the bug is not fixed for me, and we have the exact same hardware; I
> have added proper information on the kernel bug you specified ([1])
>
> [1] http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15248
>

Did you tried it *without* 'nomodeset' and *with* latest intel xorg driver?

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

(In reply to comment #31)
> (In reply to comment #30)
> > sorry but the bug is not fixed for me, and we have the exact same hardware; I
> > have added proper information on the kernel bug you specified ([1])
> >
> > [1] http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15248
> >
>
> Did you tried it *without* 'nomodeset' and *with* latest intel xorg driver?
>

Sure, I am not *that* bad

[Michal Nowak (newman)]

OK, just asking because you originally wrote otherwise: "System is booted with 'nomodeset nofb'...", if I understand it correctly. I am pretty surprised the patch does not work for your box since they are equal... Hmm.

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

(In reply to comment #33)
> OK, just asking because you originally wrote otherwise: "System is booted with
> 'nomodeset nofb'...", if I understand it correctly. I am pretty surprised the
> patch does not work for your box since they are equal... Hmm.
>

Yes it was my mistake, I ought to say *without* 'nomodeset nofb'.

I currently can't understand if this is a kernel or Xorg issue, looks more like a kernel issue. I have provided relevant information in:

http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15248 Associated kernel bug
http://bugzilla.kernel.org/attachment.cgi?id=25021 My 'lspci -v'
http://bugzilla.kernel.org/attachment.cgi?id=25049 My kernel .config
http://bugzilla.kernel.org/attachment.cgi?id=25047 dmesg
http://bugzilla.kernel.org/attachment.cgi?id=25048 Xorg output

Please note in last attachment, Xorg output, that Xorg.0.log is not produced because of a hard kernel crash, so on Xorg's side it would be interesting to know how Xorg is causing this hard kernel crash (perhaps by activating DRM code sections?) I have ran Xorg with '-verbose -verbose -verbose -keeptty' but did not get more output on stdout/stderr (since Xorg.0.log generation is not working at all)

Any help is welcome - thanks

[Michal Nowak (newman)]

The only possibility how to strip down the issue looks to me if you install the same software as I did, perhaps Fedora includes additional patch? I have Fedora 12 with most recent xorg-x11-drv-intel [1], Fedora 13 kernel [2] (patch it yourself) and libdrm-2.4.17-1.fc12.

[1] http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/packageinfo?packageID=7794
[2] http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/packageinfo?packageID=8
[3] http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=149580

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

(In reply to comment #35)
> The only possibility how to strip down the issue looks to me if you install the
> same software as I did, perhaps Fedora includes additional patch? I have Fedora
> 12 with most recent xorg-x11-drv-intel [1], Fedora 13 kernel [2] (patch it
> yourself) and libdrm-2.4.17-1.fc12.
>
> [1] http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/packageinfo?packageID=7794
> [2] http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/packageinfo?packageID=8
> [3] http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=149580
>

I am gonna give FC12 a try, since it most probably isn't due simply to different kernel .config

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

1) the stock FC12/FC13 kernels already have some patch which fixes the kernel for this hardware, since I can boot successfully with 'nomodeset' and start Xorg, while on my vanilla 2.6.32/2.6.33 I can't boot at all without 'nomodeset'

2) the FC13 kernel (2.6.33-rc8) + 855nolid.patch (J.Barnes small patch about LID on 855GM) can boot but Xorg crashes before the loading screen finishes loading, so I never reach the login manager

So now I think it is necessary to identify which Red Hat patches are fixing kernel's DRM so that recent Xorg can work, perhaps I'll need another bug tracker

Anyone?

[Tomasz Rozynek (kleofas)]

Yeah... I also got a freeze today (first one in a week). Must be something else.

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

bug is fixed for me when using these patches with latest linus tree (2.6.33-rc8):

- http://bugzilla.kernel.org/attachment.cgi?id=25019 - 855nolid.patch by jbarnes
- http://bugzilla.kernel.org/attachment.cgi?id=25084 - drm-intel-big-hammer.patch from FC13 kernel patches

Now only a garbled fonts issue remains, but no more crashes up to now (had 2 hours of uptime already)

[Michal Nowak (newman)]

I'd appreciate if others with 855GM tests patches and kernel (with AGP driver compiled-in) Daniele suggested because we have slightly different results (Daniele has problem with font rendering, while I don't have).

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

(In reply to comment #39)
> I'd appreciate if others with 855GM tests patches and kernel (with AGP driver
> compiled-in) Daniele suggested because we have slightly different results
> (Daniele has problem with font rendering, while I don't have).
>

This is not correct, because you are testing by using a modified Fedora Core, please test with the vanilla kernel soup I suggested in previous comment; by making the same tests we can say if there is a difference in our findings.

When I tested your FC12 mix I got a Xorg crash before desktop display, and this is currently the only discrepancy in our single common experience (same hardware+same software, but different results). I will try again with your suggested mix next weekend (I can't before because I don't have the hard disk where fedora is).

There have been also other people using the vanilla kernel and reporting the font rendering glitch after applying the 855nolid.patch; I think that by trying with the vanilla kernel mix that I am using you will confirm this findings, e.g. a font garbled display. Perhaps FC13 kernel has another patch which fixes also this, and we yet have to identify it, so that is why you are not getting this rendering issue.

Thanks

[Tomasz Rozynek (kleofas)]

After upgrading to Xorg 1.7.5-1-i686 (Arch Linux) my system freezes in a different way. I can move only mouse cursor, but... I can switch to a terminal and kill Xorg :-) . And I don't get freeze after lid close anymore. After a freeze in logs I see many (I mean really a lot!) lines like:

Feb 21 14:51:00 d500-kleofas kernel: [drm:i915_gem_execbuffer] *ERROR* Execbuf while wedged

and

Feb 21 14:49:41 d500-kleofas kernel: [drm:i915_gem_execbuffer] *ERROR* Execbuf while wedged
Feb 21 14:49:41 d500-kleofas kernel: [drm:i915_hangcheck_elapsed] *ERROR* Hangcheck timer elapsed... GPU hung
Feb 21 14:49:41 d500-kleofas kernel: render error detected, EIR: 0x00000000

and also after a freeze when I try to restart KDM in logs I get a lot of:
(EE) intel(0): Failed to submit batch buffer, expect rendering corruption or even a frozen display: Input/output error.

kernel: Linux 2.6.32-ARCH
Xorg 1.7.5-1-i686
intel driver 2.10.0-1-i686
libdrm: compiled from sources from Geir Ove Myhr's post.

[gmud (gmud)]

legolas558,

>bug is fixed for me when using these patches with latest linus tree (2.6.33-rc8):

I tested the patches, too. Now I don't have freezes right at the login screen (gdm), but after a while using my system. The freeze is somehow different, the GPU hangs but I can still switch to another console now (that wasn't possible before I tested 2.6.33-rc8 with patches).

Is your system still stable with the patches? Would you mind telling us which version of the mesa etc you are using?

[ka9987 (ka9987)]

I'am just trying to install the new libdrm 2.4.18
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.freedesktop.xorg.announce/1000
from the tar archive on my ubuntu karmic - maybe that helps.
Since I'm a newbie, I dont really know how to proceed: the files were installed (configure.. make.. make install) in /usr/local/lib but i dont know how to include them in the system - who could help?
THX D.

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

(In reply to comment #41)
> legolas558,
>
> >bug is fixed for me when using these patches with latest linus tree (2.6.33-rc8):
>
I later discovered that system is stable until you make a CPU/GPU-intensive usage; watching a video always causes crash.

> I tested the patches, too. Now I don't have freezes right at the login screen
> (gdm), but after a while using my system. The freeze is somehow different, the
> GPU hangs but I can still switch to another console now (that wasn't possible
> before I tested 2.6.33-rc8 with patches).
>
> Is your system still stable with the patches? Would you mind telling us which
> version of the mesa etc you are using?
>

When it crashes I can switch to VTs but it is no more possible to start Xorg, the GPU seems left in an inconsistent status.

I am using mesa 7.7, I can switch to the git Xorg development stack if necessary.

I still believe that mnowak's test would make the difference, and possibly RedHat might know which patch does the fix

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

Now using:

linus git kernel + 855nolid.patch + drm-intel + drm-intel-big-hammer.patch
xorg-server 1.7.5
xf86-video-intel 2.10.0
intel-dri 7.7
libdrm-git 20100217

System seems much more stable, the font glitches are minimal and disappear after moving/changing windows (to cause a refresh)

I will report if any crash happens

[Chris Wilson (ickle)]

The drm-intel-big-hammer.patch from FC13 is insufficient to fix these CPU/GPU coherency issues. In short this is a dup of bug 26345.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 26345 ***

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

(In reply to comment #44)
> The drm-intel-big-hammer.patch from FC13 is insufficient to fix these CPU/GPU
> coherency issues. In short this is a dup of bug 26345.
>
> *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 26345 ***
>

False. Your patch does not fix the bug for me, instead I need to continue using drm-intel-big-hammer.patch coupled with 855nolid.patch; I have the 855GM rev 02 chipset.

[Chris Wilson (ickle)]

(In reply to comment #45)
> False. Your patch does not fix the bug for me, instead I need to continue using
> drm-intel-big-hammer.patch coupled with 855nolid.patch; I have the 855GM rev 02
> chipset.

The font glitches are evidence alone that the wbinvd() is insufficient. It is even more apparent when using a reliable test case for the incoherency issue.

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

(In reply to comment #46)
> (In reply to comment #45)
> > False. Your patch does not fix the bug for me, instead I need to continue using
> > drm-intel-big-hammer.patch coupled with 855nolid.patch; I have the 855GM rev 02
> > chipset.
>
> The font glitches are evidence alone that the wbinvd() is insufficient. It is
> even more apparent when using a reliable test case for the incoherency issue.
>

There is no reliable testcase since it cannot be even run! With your patch alone Xorg will live 1-2 seconds at max, crashing without running anything but itself. This is the same result without your patch. I can run with both patches if you want, but the "necessity" flag stays on drm-intel-big-hammer.patch and 855nolid.patch for now

[Chris Wilson (ickle)]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 26345 ***

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

it is not a duplicate, I have tested it on i855GM hardware as per previous comments

[Carl Worth (cworth)]

Chris has been looking into similar bugs, so re-assigning to him.

-Carl

[Scott (firecat53)]

I have:
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE Chipset Integrated Graphics Device (rev 01)

I've also experienced the failure for X to start with the most recent intel driver and kernel 2.6.32 (Archlinux).
i686, intel driver 2.10.0, xorg-server 1.7.5, libgl 7.7, mesa 7.7. KMS enabled.

I get the following errors in Xorg.log when it freezes:
(EE) intel(0): Failed to submit batch buffer, expect rendering corruption or even a frozen display: Input/output error.

I compiled the vanilla git kernel 2.6.33 with the two patches listed below (lid patch and big-hammer) and while I at least got X to start successfully, it still freezes after awhile or as soon as I start switching between virtual terminals or using graphic-intensive applications. DWM runs for much longer than XFCE!!

I can help troubleshoot on my hardware, if it's needed.

Let me know if I can provide any further info.

Scott

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

(In reply to comment #51)
> I compiled the vanilla git kernel 2.6.33 with the two patches listed below (lid
> patch and big-hammer)

Scott, there is a patch at bug 26345. It would probably be useful if you could test on top of drm-intel-next kernel that and if it is still a problem, get i915_error_state. See details at that bug report.

[dentaku65 (dentaku65)]

I can confirm this with Lucid Alpha 3
No chances to use/test Lucid on my box with Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
Starting with burned iso of Xubuntu:
1) With KMS freeze after the kernel starts
2) Without KMS (nomedeset) short time with garbage screen of Plymouth (coloured bottom bar), then freeze

[Daniel-ffwll (daniel-ffwll)]

I've created a preliminary patch that fixes gtt related cache coherency problems at least for my i855GM. Look here for instructions:

http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=26345#c61

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

(In reply to comment #53)
> I've created a preliminary patch that fixes gtt related cache coherency
> problems at least for my i855GM. Look here for instructions:
>
> http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=26345#c61
>

With your patch I get the above mentioned crash:

[drm:i915_hangcheck_elapsed] *ERROR* Hangcheck timer elapsed... GPU hung

after playing a video.

If no video is played, Xorg seems quite stable (this is the most stable driver/Xorg combination since introduction of KMS in kernels).

[dentaku65 (dentaku65)]

Intel i855gm still unusable in Lucid Beta 1; tried Lubuntu iso
With KMS and without (nomodesetting) both failing after choose the option "Try Lubuntu without install"
Tried Safe Graphics Mode and it works; Lubuntu loads.
I don't know what Safe Graphics Mode means, but I quite sure that do not use intel driver.

[Tony W (tonywhite100)]

Hi all,
Confirming the same 855GM revision 2 woes here too.

If comment #17 is true then commit e517a5e97080bbe52857bd0d7df9b66602d53c4d should be reverted upstream and marked REGRESSION.

Six months and no fix even after I said it didn't work before it was merged :
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=23919#c9
Code that worked perfectly well has been dropped so that i915 works better.
855GM users don't care if your i915 card works much better. The old version worked just fine for us. Why break it and provide absolutely no working fix at our expense.

I tried the drm-intel-big-hammer.patch in this :

http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=163170

kernel
(* Mon Jan 11 2010 Kyle McMartin <email address hidden>
- drm-intel-big-hammer: fix IS_I855 macro.)

And while it prevents x freezing immediately after starting, x will only stay up for about an hour before crashing in exactly the same original way.

Is the patch in comment #53 designed to further improve the chances of 855GM actually working again when coupled with the big-hammer patch or is that new patch to be used without the big-hammer patch?

Just to so it's clear, Intel 855 owners have not been able to run current kernel versions with desktop Linux distributions for over six months now.

[Daniel-ffwll (daniel-ffwll)]

> --- Comment #55 from Tony White <email address hidden> 2010-03-24 21:40:03 PST ---
> Six months and no fix even after I said it didn't work before it was merged :
> https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=23919#c9
> Code that worked perfectly well has been dropped so that i915 works better.
> 855GM users don't care if your i915 card works much better. The old version
> worked just fine for us. Why break it and provide absolutely no working fix at
> our expense.

Please stop complaining. Chris Wilson and lately I have been beating our
heads against this problem for _weeks_. So yes, your problem _is_ being
looked at, it's just one of these _very_ hard things. And simply reverting
this commit is not an option, because it breaks stability for other
people.

I understand your frustration, after all I almost threw my i855 out the
window many times already ;) So if you want to help out (testing stuff is
always appreciated), I've opened a bz entry to track my latest trials at
fixing this:

http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=27187

Patch should apply against drm-intel-next (see the bug report for latest
details). You also need the very latest git version of xf86-video-intel,
Chris has fixed some unrelated hangs recently.

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

@Tony White: I am also an i855GM rev02 user and I have experienced that kind of frustration. The workaround for me was to use Xorg 1.6 and its compatible drivers, and if it was hard for me I can barely guess how hard it must have been for less experienced users than us.

Having tried most of the patches around, I can confirm that D.Vetter's patch is much better than the DRM intel big hammer patch; actually the "big hammer" produced a barely usable system (5 minutes at most), while I am now using Xorg 1.7 and the new intel drivers for more than a week with D.Vetter's patch.

I haven't yet tried the latest version of his patch (will do ASAP), but even the first version never crashes unless you play a video, and that might be the separate bug 26723

So thanks to Daniel, and let's help them to make this out! Yes it's a shame that a patch which broke older hardware in favor of new hardware was accepted without a glitch, but I wouldn't blame the people which is now working to fix this :)

I have personally been admitting to newbie linux users that linux was broken for their hardware, and that there was no short-term solution for them (and neither for me) - so perhaps this is changing right now.

[fraujansen (daniel-schiller)]

Hi!
is there any need for another "driver-tester"? I would like to help because I am also affected by this problem.
If needed, how could I help?
Thanks

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

(In reply to comment #58)
> is there any need for another "driver-tester"? I would like to help because I
> am also affected by this problem.
> If needed, how could I help?

Daniel, if you head over to bug 27187, there is one DDX driver patch and one kernel patch you can test and provide feedback from.

[AKrone (armin-akrone)]

same thing with ubuntu ubuntu-10.04-beta1-desktop-i386.iso :
without any additive kernel parameters hung at boot with black screen,
with nomodeset went a bit further but froze at the end of the boot without showing the desktop.

[Tony W (tonywhite100)]

@All
My comment was aimed only at whoever merged what was merged after I had posted that the very first patch would make this issue worse and whoever made the decision to remove ums support from the i915 gpu driver when 855 support was broken. I was angry at them. No one else. I'm sorry if my shouting was annoying but it appears I am being ignored when I report that something is not working here.
If I stop reporting, I won't get ignored. I can just go ahead and ignore myself instead.

With all the 855 threads on this bugzilla, I had read though a few of them before making that comment and couldn't see anything reassuring me that the problem was even fixable. Because it is an old card, I was guessing that the problem was being ignored and maybe because kms wasn't possible at all on the 855GM or no one with the ability to write code in C for the kernel had an 855GM machine. I guessed wrong, obviously but it wasn't until after I posted here, I found the separate thread Chris, Daniel and legolas are working on.

That's cool guys. You are actually trying to fix this problem and I and every other desktop Linux user with an 855 are in debt to you guys for trying so hard.
Thank You!
I had been patient for six months, I didn't see any chance of anything happening and thought the worst.

So, sorry about the complaining, It wasn't obvious to me that you guys were working on it and I won't post anything more until I can confirm that the latest patch works.
Thanks for all the effort gone into to try to fix this. I do, as I'm sure many others, appreciate it greatly.

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

@Tony: I think the bug was crushed with latest patch modification in bug 27187. The kernel patch is sufficient.

Also I no more verify all the other bugs so it is highly probable that it fixed also this one; I hope the original reporter and other people can confirm this.

[Olie (a-launchpad-alkilde-dk)]

I managed to install Lucid RC, using one additional workaround: You need to disable the i915 kernel module as well as the other fixes above. Here is a step-by-step procedure, which worked for me:

1: Download and boot the alternate install CD. At the boot prompt, press F6 and select "ACPI=off" (ESC exits the menu). Install as normal.

2: After installing, boot the system in "recovery mode", and go to "root shell prompt".

3: Create the file "/etc/modprobe.d/i915.conf" containing one line: "blacklist i915" (without the quotes).

4: Run the commands "depmod -a" and "update-initramfs -u".

5: Edit /etc/default/grub. Replace the line:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi=off"
with
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nolapic nomodeset"
Then run "update-grub"

6: Finally, create the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf containing the text between the two lines below:
----begin xorg.conf (do not include this line) -----------
Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
 Driver "vesa"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
 Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
 Identifier "Default Screen"
 Monitor "Configured Monitor"
 Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection
----end xorg.conf (do not include this line) -----------

7: That's it. Reboot with "shutdown -r now" and enjoy a working system.

This works on my Asus M2400N laptop with i855GM. I would appreciate if someone else could verify this procedure.

[AraKs (aracnew)]

The workaround proposed by Olie works (verified on MAXDATA Pro 5000X).

Blacklisting intel i915 driver is the only way to go, until a newer and working version gets released.
This should be the default behavior of ubuntu 10.04.

I've read somewhere that this approach was already adopted in earlier ubuntu releases, but as far as i know, this never applied to my laptop (the last ubuntu i know to work is 7.10).

[Andreas Schildbach (schildbach)]

I can confirm that the workaround in comment #89 mostly works on an ASUS M2400N. I could not boot with "acpi=off" as described in step 1, it locked up with a black screen. I had to do a text-mode install instead. After that, I continued from step 2 and everything went as described.

[Andrej Podzimek (andrej-podzimek)]

2.6.34 freezes exactly the same way as reported above. (CPU hung error in dmesg and a big bunch of I/O errors in Xorg.0.log.)

Moving large objects on the screen (scrolling a folder view, dragging a window) triggers the freeze almost immediately.

Is there a patch that can be applied to a 2.6.34 vanilla kernel and is supposed to fix this? AFAIK, the solution suggested here (https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=27187) still does not work properly.

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

(In reply to comment #62)
> 2.6.34 freezes exactly the same way as reported above. (CPU hung error in dmesg
> and a big bunch of I/O errors in Xorg.0.log.)
>
> Moving large objects on the screen (scrolling a folder view, dragging a window)
> triggers the freeze almost immediately.
>
> Is there a patch that can be applied to a 2.6.34 vanilla kernel and is supposed
> to fix this? AFAIK, the solution suggested here
> (https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=27187) still does not work
> properly.

This bug is perfectly fixed for me with patch in bug 27187

[legolas558 (legolas558)]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 27187 ***

[Chris Halse Rogers (raof)]

Ok! Ladies and Gentlemen! Chris Wilson of upstream fame has done some work to re-integrate a legacy driver for the Intel cards that have been hard done by in the GEM transition.

The xserver-xorg-video-intel packages in https://edge.launchpad.net/~raof/+archive/aubergine have a GEM-less legacy driver re-integrated which is activated when KMS is disabled - which it is by default on your card for Lucid.

It would be useful if you could remove any work-arounds you've used to get your system more stable and test the drivers from this PPA. They should hopefully end up slightly more stable than the drivers in Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty), which were the last set of drivers to not use the GEM memory manager, and so significantly more stable than the drivers in Ubuntu 9.10 and Ubuntu 10.04 (Karmic and Maverick).

Could you please test the drivers from this PPA and report your experiences with them?

[Jane Atkinson (irihapeti)]

Still freezing on Toshiba Satellite A10, unfortunately. I've had to restart in safe graphics mode. The system boots as far as "checking battery state", and then locks up entirely.

[Sergi Sales (sergi-sales)]

Hi all,
in my Acer Travelmate 380 with a "VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)" the gdm process didn't even start..
Ubuntu 10.04 and the "vesa" driver is the only workaround that worked for me..

[Olie (a-launchpad-alkilde-dk)]

Thank you for still working on this.
Unfortunately, it does not work for me either. I upgraded libdrm2 and xserver-xorg-video-intel from raof ppa, removed all GRUB options, removed i915 blacklist and removed the xorg.conf file. My laptop froze with a black screen before i reached the boot prompt, and I could not even reboot by REISUB magic keys.

This is on an ASUS M2400N running Ubuntu 10.04, xfce desktop.

[Olie (a-launchpad-alkilde-dk)]

Sorry, I meant that the laptop froze before the login screen, not the boot screen.

[Ben Straton (fanum)]

I have not tested this PPA, since I have already found a working solution for this issue, and have updated the official Ubuntu wiki documentation page:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Bugs/Lucidi8xxFreezes

[Jane Atkinson (irihapeti)]

I've removed the raof PPA using ppa-purge and installed glasen's PPA instead. I've run the laptop for several hours, including with desktop effects (though only some of the time). So far, I've had no problems.

[Olie (a-launchpad-alkilde-dk)]

I have also removed the raof packages, and I am now using the glasen PPA using the "potential solution" and "workaround A" from the wiki link in comment #97. This seems to be working without problems.

[Chris Halse Rogers (raof)]

I've got another version of the xserver-xorg-video-intel packages in https://edge.launchpad.net/~raof/+archive/aubergine .

This fixes a crash on startup that I didn't notice, so should work rather better than the previous one.

[Jane Atkinson (irihapeti)]

@Chris Halse Rogers:

I ran ppa-purge on both of the glasen PPAs and re-enabled the raof one, upgraded and rebooted. Toshiba A10 is running. I'm typing this message from it.

Just one thing I'm not sure about: the glasen ppa compiled some kernel module, and it may still be enabled. How would I check that and remove if necessary?

[Chris Halse Rogers (raof)]

On Thu, 2010-07-22 at 07:41 +0000, Irihapeti wrote:
> @Chris Halse Rogers:
>
> I ran ppa-purge on both of the glasen PPAs and re-enabled the raof one,
> upgraded and rebooted. Toshiba A10 is running. I'm typing this message
> from it.
>
> Just one thing I'm not sure about: the glasen ppa compiled some kernel
> module, and it may still be enabled. How would I check that and remove
> if necessary?

I believe that the glassen ppa uses dkms to build the kernel module. In
that case, running “dkms status” should give you a list of what modules
have been built and installed.

[Jane Atkinson (irihapeti)]

I've removed the kernel module and reinstalled the kernel and headers. Now I'm getting some weird text artifacts that I haven't seen for a long time. I've attached a couple of screen shots.

[Jane Atkinson (irihapeti)]

I notice also that the laptop is running very hot at times. I had to shut down when the temp. got to 68C and showed no signs of dropping.

[ilanrab (ilanrab)]

On Dell Latitude D400 laptop, with 1GB RAM.
Initiated an upgrade, from 8.04lts to 10.04.1lts, a few days ago.
Uses the Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME graphics controller.

After the upgrade was completed:
At the end of the boot process, while the X-server is started, I get a blank screen and everything freezes.
To alleviate the problem I switched from using the Intel driver to the vesa driver (8-bit depth) by modifying the xorg.conf file and rebooting. That allows me to boot fine, but the graphics experience isn't pretty.

To alleviate the graphics problem I reinstalled the Intel drivers from the PPA. I used the following overview page: https://edge.launchpad.net/~raof/+archive/aubergine
The reinstallation of the Intel driver made NO difference to the situation.

[Chris Halse Rogers (raof)]

I'm unassigning myself from this bug; I've got the needed feedback for Maverick, and we've gone with the safe option of fbdev.

I'll leave this bug open; there's still a reasonable chance we can get a proper fix, and apparently some i8xx documentation has just been released.

[Novastorm (novastorm87)]

Is some sort of fix for this ever going to make it into Lucid? Or are we expected to just pick and choose our own solutions?

[Mike Rose (mr79)]

I get the feeling we're expected to buy new hardware.

On Mon, 2010-10-18 at 10:56 +0000, Novastorm wrote:
> Is some sort of fix for this ever going to make it into Lucid? Or are we
> expected to just pick and choose our own solutions?
>

[Ben Straton (fanum)]

A fix is in the works, once the new intel drivers have been tested and
are stable they will be included. In the meantime, use the Glassen
PPA, that is where they are being tested.

Ben Straton

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 18, 2010, at 5:33 AM, Mike Rose <email address hidden>
wrote:

> I get the feeling we're expected to buy new hardware.
>
>
> On Mon, 2010-10-18 at 10:56 +0000, Novastorm wrote:
>> Is some sort of fix for this ever going to make it into Lucid? Or
>> are we
>> expected to just pick and choose our own solutions?
>>
>
> --
> [i855gm] Freeze shortly after X startup on Intel i855
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/447892
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

[Jane Atkinson (irihapeti)]

@Ben Straton:

I'm pleased to hear that. I've been using that PPA for the last couple of months with no problems.

Irihapeti

[maep (piconna)]

I had frequent short freezes on Xubuntu 10.10. The patch from the Glasen PPA (note: only one 's') fixed my problems . There is a howto here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Bugs/Lucidi8xxFreezes (I know it's posted somewhere above but it took me a while to find it, so I might as well save others some time.)

[Chris Halse Rogers (raof)]

Bug cleanup: duping this to the master i855 freeze bug.