Ubuntu
xserver-xorg-video-ati package

login screen crashes

Bug #42157 reported by ozonehole
14
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
xserver-xorg-video-ati (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
Medium
Ubuntu-X

Bug Description

On an IBM ThinkPad X31 (laptop), whenever I log out (and thus reach the gdm-based login screen), if I move the mouse cursor the screen will crash. The screen becomes garbled, the mouse cursor disappears, and I can't log back in. Only way out of this is to hard reset, though since the laptop lacks a reset button, that means pulling the plug and removing the battery (the power button is frozen too).
Note that this is not a problem at the initial login screen. I must first log in, then log out, and then I'll experience the crash. If I don't touch the mouse, I can log back in again as the same or another user. It's only if I touch the mouse at this point will I experience the crash.

I tried to reproduce this problem on my desktop machine, an AMD64-based computer with an ATI Radeon card. There was no problem. It seems to be limited to the laptop.

Let me know if you need any log files for more hardware info.
I've considered that possibility that it's the xorg package and not gdm, but I never experience this issue after I'm logged in. It's only at the login screen that I encounter this. I have updated to the latest xorg package.

cheers,

 Robert (ozonehole)

Tags: thinkpad xorg
Revision history for this message
ozonehole (taibei) wrote :

Sorry, I forgot to mention that this problem only affects Dapper (beta1). I did not experience this problem with Breezy.

cheers,
Robert (ozonehole)

Revision history for this message
Sebastien Bacher (seb128) wrote :

Thanks for your bug. What videocard do you have on that laptop? What videodriver do you use for xorg with it?

Changed in gdm:
assignee: nobody → desktop-bugs
status: Unconfirmed → Needs Info
Revision history for this message
ozonehole (taibei) wrote :

I checked my xorg.conf and this is what it says:

Section "Device"
        Identifier "ATI Technologies, Inc. Radeon Mobility M6 LY [Radeon Mobility 9000]"
        Driver "ati"

Please let me know if you need any more info.

Thanks,
Robert (ozonehole)

Revision history for this message
Sebastien Bacher (seb128) wrote :

Reassigning to xserver-xorg-driver-ati, that's not likely to be a gdm issue but rather a videodriver one

Changed in gdm:
assignee: desktop-bugs → ubuntu-x-swat
status: Needs Info → Unconfirmed
Revision history for this message
ozonehole (taibei) wrote :

Dear Sebastien,

I just downloaded and installed Dapper RC1. I was hoping that this would solve the problem, but actually it's gotten slightly worse. I still get the crash at the login screen if I move the mouse cursor (but not on the first login) - so no change there. The change is that in certain applications (Firefox, Gimp) I'm seeing "snow" in the radio buttons (those buttons like "OK" and "Cancel".

I'm thinking that maybe it would help if I could send you screenshots so you can see what this looks like. There does not appear to be any way to send a file attachment to this bug report, so if you don't mind I'll email the image files to you.

I'll send you three files, as follows:

1) loginscreen.jpg - this image was taken with a digital camera since there is no way to get a screenshot on a crashed machine.

2) firefox.png - look at the "Connection Settings" radio button

3) gimp.png - look at the "Previous tip", "Next tip" and "Close" buttons.

best regards,
Robert (ozonehole)

Revision history for this message
ozonehole (taibei) wrote :

I have since "solved" the problem by switching to the vesa driver. Of course, that's not a great solution, but anyway, it proves that something is really wrong with the ati driver. It is most definitely a driver issue, of that I'm certain.

Revision history for this message
Sebastien Bacher (seb128) wrote :

the "snow" issue is bug #38198

Revision history for this message
tn (tmn) wrote :

I have the same problem. Now I'm using Edgy but the problem existed also in Dapper. Graphics card is Radeon 9000 pro:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon RV250 If [Radeon 9000] (rev 01)
01:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon RV250 [Radeon 9000] (Secondary) (rev 01)

The problem appears, when I log out and move mouse cursor to bottom or right edge of the (login) screen. Restarting X-server (ctrl+alt+backspace) "fixes" the problem. Sometimes also switching to text console (ctrl+alt+f1) and back helps.

Revision history for this message
tn (tmn) wrote :

^ Addition: I'm using normal desktop PC.

Revision history for this message
ozonehole (taibei) wrote :

I can say that the problem seems to be solved for me when I upgraded to Edgy. I never did solve the problem with Dapper.

But to judge from the comments of others, the problem still exists for some video cards.

Revision history for this message
Timo Jyrinki (timo-jyrinki) wrote :

At least the original bug has been reported to being fixed. There are other bugs open about other configurations.

Changed in xserver-xorg-video-ati:
status: Unconfirmed → Fix Released
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