Sounds like 3d was simply turned off. The i855 driver is not well supported and presumably the combination of that plus an unusual system configuration was triggering this bug.
** Changed in: xserver-xorg-video-intel (Ubuntu) Status: Confirmed => Won't Fix -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/570144 Title: [855GME] 2:2.9.1-3ubuntu5 causes slow 3d -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs