Gutsy, Nvidia, KDE, Compiz => screen blanks to white when using XGL

Thank you for your bug report.

Bruce:
Can you indicate which version of Ubuntu you are running along with what the output of
dpkg -l \*xgl\* | grep ii
is?

Thank you for following up so quickly on this bug report.

I installed from a Kubuntu Gutsy Gibbon Tribe 4 CD. Besides KDE, I have added complete Gnome and Xubuntu desktops. During a cycle of active development, I do an "aptitude --with-recommends dist-upgrade" twice daily.

bruce@Herodotus:~$ uname -a
Linux Herodotus 2.6.22-11-generic #1 SMP Fri Sep 7 05:07:05 GMT 2007 i686 GNU/Linux
bruce@Herodotus:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu gutsy (development branch)
Release: 7.10
Codename: gutsy
bruce@Herodotus:~$ dpkg -l | grep glx
ii libgl1-mesa-glx 7.0.1-1ubuntu1 A free implementation of the OpenGL API -- G
ii libglitz-glx1 0.5.6-1 Glitz OpenGL library GLX backend
ii nvidia-glx-new 100.14.11+2.6.22.3-11.3 NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org 'new' driver
ii nvidia-glx-new-dev 100.14.11+2.6.22.3-11.3 NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org 'legacy' dri
ii rss-glx 0.8.1-6ubuntu4 Really Slick Screensavers GLX Port
bruce@Herodotus:~$ dpkg -l | grep nvidia
ii nvidia-glx-new 100.14.11+2.6.22.3-11.3 NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org 'new' driver
ii nvidia-glx-new-dev 100.14.11+2.6.22.3-11.3 NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org 'legacy' dri
ii nvidia-kernel-common 20051028+1ubuntu7 NVIDIA binary kernel module common files
ii nvidia-new-kernel-source 100.14.11+2.6.22.3-11.3 NVIDIA binary 'new' kernel module source
bruce@Herodotus:~$

Setting bug back to new. This sounds like a texture problem... It's hard to say but it could be a variant of Bug #96473 or an artefact of how compiz was started...

Bruce:
You never posted the output of
dpkg -l \*xgl\* | grep ii
...

Sorry, mixed up "xgl" and "glx"> Here is what you asked for:

bruce@Herodotus:~$ dpkg -l | grep xgl
ii xserver-xgl 1:1.1.99.1~git20070727-0ubuntu2 GL-based X server
bruce@Herodotus:~$

Bruce:
Since you have an NVIDIA try temporarily uninstalling xserver-xgl and restarting X/rebooting and see if there is any difference.

1. Uninstalled xserver-xgl and restarted X. KDE session appeared to open normally and worked in it for two or three hours. Tried changing several Compiz settings. But when I tried to log out of the KDE session, it hung hard, no keyboard, no mouse. The only thing that worked were the Alt-SysRq MagicKeys: R-E-I-S-U-B

2. After machine rebooted, tried loading KDE. Keyboard froze while automatically starting a Konsole session. (Thought I had shut down Konsole in previous session, but apparently not) Mouse cursor responded to movement but did nothing. Had to use Alt-SysRq MagicKeys again. Repeated this several times, The only variant was that KDE session froze at different points during its load. Could never restart the X server, nor drop to a VC. Restarted only with the Alt-SysRq MagicKeys.

3. After about fifth reboot, tried starting XFCE again. It started and died several times. Re-installed xserver-xgl and am now sending this message from an XFCE session.

Bruce:
I'm afraid you will have to find a more appropriate bug (or file a new bug report if none exists already) about the freezes when using the regular Xorg with the NVIDIA binary driver. However the "screen blanks to white with compiz" issue is almost certainly related to XGL.

Punting from Ubuntu -> xserver-xgl and setting back to New.

(Bruce filed a new bug report over in Bug #138800)

It *sounds* like a problem loading the mesa libGL, but then why would it work in Gnome & XFCE?

How are you starting compiz in KDE?

You may want to know that I have run into *exactly* the same problem reported in the original message, however running SUSE 10.3. It is indeed limited to KDE, as Gnome runs smoothly with Compiz and Compiz Fusion enabled. XFCE also running nicely. KDE produces a white screen after login although you know KDE has loaded because the mouse pointer is present and it changes and flashes according to keyboard commands.

I have the EXACT same problem. Same everything, running Kubuntu/Ubuntu 7.10 with nVidia 6200 card.
jordan@THOR:~$ dpkg -l | grep nvidia
ii nvidia-cg-toolkit 1.5.0.0019-1 NVIDIA Cg Toolkit installer
rc nvidia-glx 1:1.0.9639+2.6.22.4-14.9 NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org driver
ii nvidia-glx-new 1:100.14.19+2.6.22-14 NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org 'new' driver
ii nvidia-glx-new-dev 1:100.14.19+2.6.22-14 NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org 'legacy' driver developm
ii nvidia-kernel-2.6.20-15-generic 1:1.0.9756+2.6.20-15.27 NVIDIA binary kernel module for Linux 2.6.20-15-generic
ii nvidia-kernel-2.6.22-14-rt 100.14.19-0ubuntu3+2.6.22-14.46 NVIDIA binary kernel module for Linux 2.6.22-14-rt
ii nvidia-kernel-common 20051028+1ubuntu7 NVIDIA binary kernel module common files
ii nvidia-new-kernel-source 1:100.14.19+2.6.22-14 NVIDIA binary 'new' kernel module source
jordan@THOR:~$ dpkg -l | grep xgl
ii python-wxglade 0.5-1ubuntu2 GUI designer written in Python with wxPython
ii xserver-xgl
jordan@THOR:~$ dpkg -l | grep glx
ii libgl1-mesa-glx 7.0.1-1ubuntu3 A free implementation of the OpenGL API -- GLX runtime
ii libglitz-glx1 0.5.6-1 Glitz OpenGL library GLX backend
rc nvidia-glx 1:1.0.9639+2.6.22.4-14.9 NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org driver
ii nvidia-glx-new 1:100.14.19+2.6.22-14 NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org 'new' driver
ii nvidia-glx-new-dev 1:100.14.19+2.6.22-14 NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org 'legacy' driver developm
ii rss-glx 0.8.1-6ubuntu5 Really Slick Screensavers GLX Port
jordan@THOR:~$ uname -a
Linux THOR 2.6.22-14-rt #1 SMP PREEMPT RT Mon Oct 15 01:05:51 GMT 2007 i686 GNU/Linux
jordan@THOR:~$ lspci | grep nVidia
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVi

same problems here, except I used the NVIDIA drivers from their website and I run GNOME. Come to think of it, it did start when I added xserver-xgl, I don't remember why I did it in the first place though...

This reminds me of an old bug in Beryl. This is Gentoo's solution:
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_XGL/Troubleshooting#White_screen_bug_on_loading_beryl

I have the same problem with xserver-xgl in gutsy, white screen any time xserver-xgl is installed.

Allegedly xserver-xgl disables DRI. Is this true?

Er, sorry, forget to say I am also using nvidia (doesn't seem to matter if I use the Ubuntu driver, the current driver, or the beta driver) with Quadro FX1500 and GNOME (Ubuntu.)

It's a problem with the latest nvidia drivers AFAIK. 169.12 worked fine for me. I use xserver-xgl because the performance without is terrible (12fps for many things, as reported by compiz benchmark). I'm either going to revert the nvidia drivers or just put up with the speed and hope they can fix it. Not happy with nvidia/compiz right now.
I have a QuadroFX 360M under hardy gnome running compiz

169.12 did not work for me on gutsy, I had the white screen. I now have
169.12 on hardy (ships with it) and haven't tried xserver-xgl... but it
definitely didn't help with my Quadro FX1500 on gutsy. I'm willing to
believe that it's a driver issue, but I tried at least three versions
including whatever comes with gutsy, 169.12 on gutsy, and 173.08 on gutsy
and none of them worked. I'll install xserver-xgl and restart gdm here
presently, and report my results.

looks like it works fine on hardy with 169.12.

xserver-xgl has been deprecated upstream, and removed from Intrepid. Closing the bug as won't fix.

Does this mean that Egl is coming? Last I looked it worked only on
R200 and maybe R300.

Maybe a link to the announcement of the upstream deprecation would be nice?

On Mon, 2008-09-08 at 16:12 +0000, drink wrote:
> Does this mean that Egl is coming? Last I looked it worked only on
> R200 and maybe R300.
>
No. This means that the various infrastructure developments
(particularly DRI2) make Xgl superfluous. It never really gained much
traction with mainline Xorg, the code in Xorg master has been removed,
and the xgl-0-0-1 branch has seen about 6 commits in the last 12 months,
mostly to fix the build.