Possible ubuntu video driver bug

Derek Trotter expat.arizonan at gmail.com
Sun Nov 13 22:52:31 MST 2011 

I briefly took this discussion with Michael offlist.  Anyway, the system 
seemed to behave itself better with kde minimal, but still locked up 
once.  I tried xfce again and fought with it to configure the menu like 
I wanted.

http://wiki.xfce.org/howto/customize-menu in case anyone's interested.

Thanks to this depression the politicians say is we're not in the middle 
of, I had to move to America's bug factory (Kentucky).  Since money is 
tight I'll have to make do with the card I have now for a bit longer.  
I'd like to thank all of you who have helped me figure out what the 
problem is.  I'll keep these emails so when I can get another card, I'll 
have some ideas about where to get one.  Try to imagine living in 
Lukeville and not being able to make a quick trip to Fry's or your 
neighborhood computer store on a whim.

It's two hours later here so I'm off to bed.

Derek

On 11/13/2011 08:10 PM, Michael Butash wrote:
> And let the list know you've defused what you could.  :)
>
> -mb
>
>
> On 11/13/2011 07:51 PM, Derek Trotter wrote:
>> I'll keep this in mind when I get some spare cash. I tried uninstalling
>> kde and installing xfce. This worked, but I couldn't find an easy way to
>> edit the menu in xfce. I looked around in synaptic and stumbled onto
>> kde-minimal. I tried that and so far it's not giving me any trouble.
>>
>> Thanks for your help and suggestions.
>>
>> Derek
>>
>> On 11/12/2011 02:50 PM, Michael Butash wrote:
>>> I'd stay with nvidia honestly, i have an ati currently and aside from
>>> the fact it supports 6 monitors, it rather sucks (drivers me thinks).
>>>
>>> Check out newegg, I had a friend buy a newer chipset in agp from there
>>> about 3 months ago for an old box - like a gt220 or something for 30
>>> bucks. Those should be ok.
>>>
>>> -mb
>>>
>>>
>>> On 11/12/2011 02:28 PM, Derek Trotter wrote:
>>>> I agree that getting rid of the card is the best solution. Money is
>>>> short right now, but getting rid of that card is something I'll do as
>>>> soon as possible. The motherboard has one agp slot and several pci
>>>> slots, but no pci-e slots. What video cards would you suggest?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks
>>>>
>>>> On 11/12/2011 01:20 PM, Michael Butash wrote:
>>>>> Ah, umm... I think "plasma" is their equivalent if i remember right -
>>>>> i'd see if kdm has a "classic" mode too to disable any direct
>>>>> rendering. Sorry, I haven't used kde in a good 5 years to know.
>>>>>
>>>>> Honestly, you might be money ahead to replace it. Honestly, those
>>>>> 8400's are a problem and a half from what I'd found.
>>>>>
>>>>> -mb
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 11/12/2011 01:03 PM, Derek Trotter wrote:
>>>>>> I don't have gnome installed. I've got Kubuntu, but I'll try and
>>>>>> figure it out. thanks
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 11/12/11, Derek Trotter<expat.arizonan at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> Thanks.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 11/12/2011 1:48, Michael Butash wrote:
>>>>>>>> If you run in "ubuntu classic" or more extreme, failsafe x 
>>>>>>>> mode, you
>>>>>>>> can avoid the gpu being enabled immediately. That's how I came to
>>>>>>>> figure out the gpu was wonky on my laptop, only after I enabled
>>>>>>>> compiz
>>>>>>>> did the display freak. When you go to login in gdm or lightdm,
>>>>>>>> select
>>>>>>>> it there. That'll cripple compiz from rendering the desktop 
>>>>>>>> against
>>>>>>>> the gpu.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> If you get that far, try running glgears and see if it crashes -
>>>>>>>> that'll invoke the gpu.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> -mb
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 11/11/2011 11:45 PM, Derek Trotter wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Is there any way to make linux not hit the gpu?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On 11/11/2011 21:54, Michael Butash wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> XP's desktop doesn't hit the gpu - this started in the redheaded
>>>>>>>>>> bastard known as vista. Most xp functions and codecs don't 
>>>>>>>>>> either.
>>>>>>>>>> Linux will by default now with compiz, video rendering, lots of
>>>>>>>>>> things.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> -mb
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On 11/11/2011 09:49 PM, Derek Trotter wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> This is something I hadn't heard before. Thanks for letting me
>>>>>>>>>>> know. If
>>>>>>>>>>> this is the problem, there's one thing I don't understand. Why
>>>>>>>>>>> do I
>>>>>>>>>>> not
>>>>>>>>>>> have any problems when the machine is running XP?
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> On 11/11/2011 21:28, Michael Butash wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> You might be dealing with hardware issues. I've not seen that
>>>>>>>>>>>> kind of
>>>>>>>>>>>> problem in my laptop with that chip under solid use for 4 
>>>>>>>>>>>> years
>>>>>>>>>>>> until
>>>>>>>>>>>> it gave up the ghost. I had an 8400 in my dell laptop, and
>>>>>>>>>>>> those had
>>>>>>>>>>>> serious and well known (read: class-action lawsuit) on that
>>>>>>>>>>>> chipset
>>>>>>>>>>>> for defective chips. BGA chip use began that generation for
>>>>>>>>>>>> nvidia
>>>>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>>> ati, and they're notorious horrible at popping off and losing
>>>>>>>>>>>> conductivity also into the 9600 series. Read about a like 
>>>>>>>>>>>> issue,
>>>>>>>>>>>> something called RRoD in xbox360 or YLoD in ps3's for the same
>>>>>>>>>>>> reason...
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> When my laptop began dying from this, 2d desktop would work
>>>>>>>>>>>> great
>>>>>>>>>>>> until something hit the gpu, and artifacting would begin
>>>>>>>>>>>> instantly
>>>>>>>>>>>> but
>>>>>>>>>>>> still *kinda* work. Sounds like playing a video is hitting 
>>>>>>>>>>>> vdpau
>>>>>>>>>>>> (most
>>>>>>>>>>>> video engines default to using this if available, thus
>>>>>>>>>>>> hitting gpu
>>>>>>>>>>>> shaders, and locking. Desktop compositing probably likewise
>>>>>>>>>>>> causes
>>>>>>>>>>>> this with complexity due to hitting gpu.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> That kind of hard lock could be driver related, but sketchy
>>>>>>>>>>>> hardware
>>>>>>>>>>>> is often the cause too, especially with that genre of gpu.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> -mb
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> On 11/11/2011 01:52 PM, Stephen wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you want to try an alternate Graphics card i do have some
>>>>>>>>>>>>> AGP
>>>>>>>>>>>>> cards
>>>>>>>>>>>>> floating about still.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 11:23 AM, Derek Trotter
>>>>>>>>>>>>> <expat.arizonan at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Good idea, but the motherboard does not have a video card
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> onboard.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The bios
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> does have a setting to set the primary video adapter as AGP
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> or PCI.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> It's
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> set to PCI.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks for taking the time to write your suggestion.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Derek
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 11/11/2011 07:44 AM, Stephen wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Something to consider in some CMOS you can have settings 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> choose a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> preferred video card, and sometimes on-board video is not
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> disabled
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> fully. some Intel boards are notorious for this.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Look in your settings and see what you can find. this may
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> help. I
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> had
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> one helluva time with PCI-e graphics and Ubuntu for a while
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> back in
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the 8.xx days with this.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 4:38 PM, Derek
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Trotter<expat.arizonan at gmail.com>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> It happens whether or not I'm playing a video. Most of the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> videos I
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> watch
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> are not flash videos. They're mostly avi files with xvid,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> but
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> some
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> were
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> mpeg1 or mpeg2. I used vlc to play them.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 11/10/2011 16:32, Dazed_75 wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> All of your issues sound like they happen when playing
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> videos. Is
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> true
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> or are there other times as well?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> As far as what else it could be, there could be lots of
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> possibilities but
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> they might be hard to track down to elements that are
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> common to
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ubuntu,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Kubuntu, and Fedora. If it is localized to playing 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> videos, I
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> would
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> certainly be suspicious of the command line based
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> underpinnings the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> players
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> might use. Oh, and are the videos Flash based or not?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you are coming to the meeting tonight and can come 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> restaurant
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> after, someone there may be able to help.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 4:21 PM, Derek
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Trotter<expat.arizonan at gmail.com>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 11/10/2011 16:10, Dazed_75 wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Try looking to see if you are using the open source 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> generic
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> nvidia
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> driver
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> or the proprietary one. I am not sure where that is in 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Kubuntu
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> menus
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> but look for something in System, or Administration 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> with a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> name
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> that is
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> probably something about Hardware. It should run a 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> program
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> looks
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> see if there are proprietary drivers you might choose to
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> use.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> When I first installed the os I noticed the problem with
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> driver it
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> came with. I checked and found where it suggested a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> proprietary
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> driver
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> offered one other. I chose the one that was recommended.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The bug
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> showed
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> itself with the driver that came with the install and the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> one I
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> installed
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> later.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I AM curious though if you have some particular reason 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> suspecting it
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> is due to you having that video card since a screen 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> freeze
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> could be
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> something above the driver level.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I've had that card for about 2 years while the machine 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> was
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> running XP
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> didn't have this problem. It only showed itself after I
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> installed
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> latest Ubuntu and Kubuntu version as well as the other
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> latest
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> linux
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> flavors
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I mentioned earlier. Fedora 15 was the worst. It would
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> freeze
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> screen
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> as soon as I started playing a video. The others would
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> let me
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> watch at
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> least for a few minutes before the screen froze.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Also if it's not a driver problem, what else could it be?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 3:59 PM, Derek
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Trotter<expat.arizonan at gmail.com>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I have an NVIDIA Geforce 8400 GS card that plugs into a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> PCI
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> slot. I
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> have
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> no problems with it in XP, but when I installed Kubuntu
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 11.10 I
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> found a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> problem. Occasionally the screen freezes. I can't switch
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> console.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Also I can't kill the x server. I know the machine 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> has not
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> completely
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> locked up because when I have audio playing, it keeps
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> playing
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> even
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> though
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the screen has frozen. None of the usual means to shut
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> down a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> machine
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> work.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The only thing I can do is hit the reset button, 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> press the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> power
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> switch for
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> several seconds until the machine shuts off, or pull the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> plug.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I've
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> encountered this on Ubuntu 11.10, Kubuntu 11.10, 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Mepis 11
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Fedora
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 15. I
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> installed the LTS verson of Kubuntu 10 and haven't 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> had any
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> problems
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> with it.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Does anyone have any idea what's going on or how to fix
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> it?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> -- 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> certain
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - Thomas Jefferson
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> -- 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> certain
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> occasions,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> that I wish it always to be kept alive.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - Thomas Jefferson
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>

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