Hi Geir, Thanks a lot for your response, even if it doesn't fix the problem. I really appreciate your trying to help although I have a different distribution. This goes to show how great a community you all have at Ubuntu--which is more to than I can say right now about Mint.
By the way, do these various intel graphics cards problems effect all Debian-based distributions or does it start only at Ubuntu? Keep up the good work. Peace, Eddie agom...@gmail.com On Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 5:08 AM, Geir Ove Myhr <gom...@gmail.com> wrote: > > This bug has been around for a very long time now--it seems over a year > > and a half (not just from April because I have seen related posts dating > > to 2008). > > There are lots of different bugs that lead to the same problem - > namely that the system freezes. This particular bug report is for the > freezes that started occuring on April 3rd on many systems. This > problem has been found (the driver was reading ahead too far into > unallocated memory) and fixed. There are other bugs that can cause > this (and new bugs may be introduced), but it is not the same bug. > > > Why is it so hard to remedy? > > Because each bug has a different fix. They're working on a workaround > upstream that will automatically restart the GPU when it hangs, but > since that a significant chunk of new code it takes time to implement. > > If you're system is experiencing freezes, file it as new bug report > with `ubuntu-bug -p xserver-xorg-video-intel`, and also provide the > information described at > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Troubleshooting/Freeze (Batchbuffer stuff, > etc.) > > -- > [i965] X freezes starting on April 3rd > https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/359392 > You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber > of the bug. > > Status in X.org xf86-video-intel: Fix Released > Status in “compiz” package in Ubuntu: Fix Released > Status in “xserver-xorg-video-intel” package in Ubuntu: Fix Released > Status in compiz in Ubuntu Jaunty: Fix Released > Status in xserver-xorg-video-intel in Ubuntu Jaunty: Fix Released > Status in compiz in Ubuntu Karmic: Fix Released > Status in xserver-xorg-video-intel in Ubuntu Karmic: Fix Released > > Bug description: > [Problem] > Starting around 4/3, when mesa was upgraded from 7.3 to 7.4, several i965 > users started noticing X freeze after several hours of use, triggered by > application usage especially noticeable with (but not unique to) compiz > enabled. > > [Impact] > The freeze bug affects a subset of i965 based systems, most particularly > those using compiz. Exact numbers cannot be determined, but may be as high > as 25-50% based on rough estimates. > > The problem is severe: An unpredictable lockup of the system that requires > a power cycle to recover from. For some users it comes on within minutes, > while for others it comes after a few hours of use. > > [How Addressed in Development Version] > For now, the patch being proposed for Jaunty has been uploaded to Karmic. > > Longer term, we plan to move from EXA to UXA once the latter is stable > enough. It has been found that while UXA exhibits other kinds of freezes, > we've not yet been able to reproduce this particular freeze there. > > [Patch for Jaunty] > A low-risk workaround that has proven effective at eliminating freezes, or > at least greatly reducing their frequency, is to increase the Virtual > framebuffer size. Some users do this locally as a matter of course to gain > dual-head support, so this setting has received extremely widespread testing > already. > > The patch for Jaunty causes the Virtual size to be set to 2048x2048 if it > is not otherwise specified. Users can still override this with their own > settings, larger or smaller, as desired. > > A side effect of this patch is that it also mitigates bug 158415 to a > degree, which will make projector usage somewhat easier for this hardware > because it will enable X to recognize higher resolutions available from the > external monitor than were available on initial boot. > > [Test Case] > The best method found to reproduce the bug is: > a. Enable compiz > b. Set your desktop to a 6x1 workspace layout > c. Run http://launchpadlibrarian.net/25683477/repro.sh > d. System will freeze anywhere from 1-20 min typically > e. Power-button shutdown is required to reset the system > > [Regression Potential] > In general, Virtual has been widely and extensively tested, so we do not > expect this patch to trigger regressions. > > The patch is coded to only take effect on i965 systems, so the scope of any > regression that might conceivably be triggered will be limited to just that > hardware. > > [Suspects] > Omitting obviously trivial, unrelated changes, here are what changed in > several suspect packages in the timeframe in question: > > * intel driver: > 4/01: 118_drop_legacy3d.patch: Removed Legacy3D > 4/03: 114_fix_xv_with_non_gem.patch: Dropped since it caused regression > 4/06: 119_drm_bo_unreference_needs_null.patch: Fixes various nullptr > derefs > 4/08: 120_fix_vt_switch.patch: Fix nullptr deref in video playback > > * xserver: > 4/08: 177_animated_cursor_change_master.patch: fixes animated cursors > 4/06: 174_set_bg_pixmap_of_cow_to_none.patch: Sets bg pixmap of > composite overlay window to None > 3/30: 172_cwgetbackingpicture_nullptr_check.patch: fix race condition > when minimzing/maximizing firefox with flash video playing. > > * mesa: > 4/03: 7.4 released > * Added MESA_GLX_FORCE_DIRECT env var for Xlib/software driver > * GLSL version 1.20 is returnd by the GL_SHADING_LANGUAGE_VERSION query > * glGetActiveUniform() returned wrong size for some array types > * Fixed some error checking in glUniform() > * Fixed a potential glTexImage('proxy target') segfault > * Fixed bad reference counting for 1D/2D texture arrays > * Fixed VBO + glPush/PopClientAttrib() bug #19835 > * Assorted i965 driver bug fixes > * Fixed a Windows compilation failure in s_triangle.c > * Fixed a GLSL array indexing bug > * Fixes for building on Haiku > > * linux: > 4/04: 2.6.28-11.41: Revert MCHBAR patch > 4/02: 2.6.28-11.40: Add MCHBAR patch > > * libdrm: > 4/04: 02_libdrm_nouveau_update.patch: Only affects nouveau code > 3/29: libdrm-nouveau1.symbols: Probably innocuous > > [Workarounds] > Various people have found one or more of the following have helped to > reduce the frequency or eliminate the freezes: > > * Turn off compiz > * AccelMethod UXA > * Set NoAccel true > * Set Virtual to something high > * MigrationHeuristic greedy > * Revert to 2.4 -intel driver > > [Current Theory] > A 3D memory buffer accumulates data until something gets in there > incorrectly and leads to a freeze. This can happen either slowly over a > long period of light use, or fairly soon if using the system heavily. It is > not simply a matter of filling the memory up, so the trigger often seems to > be random, but usually follows some sort of graphics transition (such as the > 3D effect from alt-tab, or closing a firefox window). > > It is fairly certain that there are multiple freeze bugs present in X.org > with the -intel driver. This causes significant confusion when people > having different bugs think they might have the same one, and find the > symptoms and workarounds don't match. It is also suspected that the same > root bug may have multiple different ways of triggering it. > > Increasing the Virtual settings seems to either eliminate or greatly reduce > the frequency of these freezes. Presumably this allocates larger memory > buffers so the chances of something hitting a wrong thing are greatly > lessened. However, none of this is well understood. > > [Original Report] > I am using kubuntu jaunty beta. My system is freezing randomly. I have the > latest updates. > After freezing the mouse pointer still works. And sometimes the power off > button works. On powering off , when the stage for kubuntu logo comes its > showing a distorted image. > > This happens with or without desktop effects. These freezes are very > randomly, but mostly when I run some new applications. > I am using intel graphics. > > [lspci] > 00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 > Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a00] (rev 0c) > Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:30be] > 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile > GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a02] (rev 0c) > Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:30be] > > > -- [i965] X freezes starting on April 3rd https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/359392 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu-X, which is the registrant for xf86-video-intel. _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat Post to : ubuntu-x-swat@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
