Ubuntu
grub2 package

Corrupted grub screen in Precise alpha1

Bug #897921 reported by Jane Atkinson
8
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
grub2 (Ubuntu)
Expired
Medium
Unassigned

Bug Description

I found this during ISO testing. It is somewhat similar to bug #701111 (marked "fix released"), except that I'm using different hardware.

Hardware is
VGA compatible controller [0300]: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN896/VN896/P4M900 [Chrome 9 HC] [1106:3371] (rev 01)
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:81ce]

Output of lspci -vn is attached.

When I boot, the grub screen will appear to flash between appearing in the normal position and showing the left edge in the middle of the screen. Sometimes, it flashes backwards and forwards between the two. I've also attached a photo of the screen.

Grub itself behaves normally; it's just the display that's unstable.

Uncommenting the line

GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

in /etc/default/grub and running "update-grub" fixes the problem, but of course renders the screen in a larger font.

Tags: iso-testing
Revision history for this message
Jane Atkinson (irihapeti) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Jane Atkinson (irihapeti) wrote :
Ubuntu QA Website (ubuntuqa)
tags: added: iso-testing
Revision history for this message
Brian Murray (brian-murray) wrote :

Have you noticed this in any other releases of Ubuntu?

Changed in grub2 (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Medium
Revision history for this message
Jane Atkinson (irihapeti) wrote :

Brian:

I had the same thing happen with Natty. See my comments (#8 and 9) on bug #701111

Revision history for this message
Ubuntu QA Website (ubuntuqa) wrote : ISO tracker notification

This bug has been reported on the Ubuntu ISO testing tracker.

A list of all reports related to this bug can be found here:
http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/897921

Revision history for this message
Jane Atkinson (irihapeti) wrote :

This bug is still present in Precise alpha2

Brian Murray (brian-murray)
Changed in grub2 (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Jane Atkinson (irihapeti) wrote :

This bug is still present in Precise Beta1 iso candidate.

Revision history for this message
Colin Watson (cjwatson) wrote :

Could you run 'videoinfo' from the GRUB command line and take a photo of that? I'd like to see what mode it's selected by default.

Revision history for this message
Jane Atkinson (irihapeti) wrote :

Colin:

Photo "videoinfo.jpg" is attached.

However, I think that this may have been fixed in the latest grub update.

I had to run "grub-install /dev/sda" from Precise, because I have been using the Lucid grub for everyday purposes.
The screen on bootup was normal. I've attached a photo of that as well.

I'm not sure why the margin is missing on the right-hand side. I think it may have to do with a slight misalignment in my screen, which doesn't show when the OS is loaded.

Revision history for this message
Jane Atkinson (irihapeti) wrote :
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Jane Atkinson (irihapeti) wrote :

Aaahrgh! The problem is back again as of about 40 minutes ago. Some update may have been the culprit.

Revision history for this message
Colin Watson (cjwatson) wrote :

Hm, are you sure you didn't run that 'videoinfo' command with some workaround or other in place? Ideally, it would actually be most helpful to get that output when GRUB has started with the screen in this corrupted state.

Revision history for this message
Jane Atkinson (irihapeti) wrote :

Colin:
I don't know what happened the last time. Any "workaround" would have been accidental.

Anyway, I've taken another shot which I've attached as videoinfo2.jpg

I'm finding it difficult to get a shot in which the numbers are really readable, so if any of them need to be written down and posted, I can do that.

Revision history for this message
Jane Atkinson (irihapeti) wrote :

This bug is still happening in raring beta2, ubuntu-gnome.

Revision history for this message
Jane Atkinson (irihapeti) wrote :

And still happening in Trusty alpha-1, xubuntu desktop i386

Revision history for this message
Marcus Tomlinson (marcustomlinson) wrote :

This release of Ubuntu is no longer receiving maintenance updates. If this is still an issue on a maintained version of Ubuntu please let us know.

Changed in grub2 (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

[Expired for grub2 (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

Changed in grub2 (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Expired
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