intel graphics - X freezing frequently

Message

Gh0str1d3r · Post by **Gh0str1d3r** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:55 am

Hi,

I have a new computer with integrated intel graphics. I experience frequent system full freezes when running X, while working without X is stable (independent of memory usage). I am running ~amd64 and already downgraded to the latest stable intel driver x11-drivers/xf86-video-intel-2.9.1.

There are no error messages in the logs. So how can I find out what may be the cause for the freezes?

Rexilion · Post by **Rexilion** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 12:12 pm

hmm, these problems are often hard to debug. It could also be a X problem.

But first: Does switching to xf86-video-intel-2.10.0-r1 fix your problem?

Gh0str1d3r · Post by **Gh0str1d3r** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:53 pm

no, I think its even worse. I started with the 2.10.0-r1 version and downgraded because of the problems described. But still X freezes.

What do you recommend? Downgrading X?

Rexilion · Post by **Rexilion** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:56 pm

Yeah try that. If that solves it, try to file a bug report.

Gh0str1d3r · Post by **Gh0str1d3r** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:14 pm

i have another idea:

my laptop has an intel pentium SU4100 CPU. I couldn't find a gcc march flag for this cpu, so I chose

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CFLAGS="-O2 -pipe -march=native"

Is it possible that this causes problems (because gcc uses the wrong march)? If it could be a reason for the crashes, I will try to recompile everything without any march flag.

Gh0str1d3r · Post by **Gh0str1d3r** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 4:19 pm

I now did a number of tests to locate the problem. These are:

- Magic kernel keys: While it is possible to reboot the system using sysrq - alt - b, it is not possible anymore in the frozen state.

- Hardware problems: I took the hard disc and used another laptop of the same kind to check if the freezing is a hardware problem, maybe due to too hot graphic chips. This computer ran with ubuntu linux without any problems. My gentoo freezes here as well.

- Kernel bugs: I changed from zen-2.6.33 to gentoo-2.6.33-r1 without any effect. I used syslog-ng to see if any kernel failures are reported just before the crash: none.

- xorg / driver up / downgrade: I tried the xf86-video-intel drivers in the versions 2.9.1, 2.10.0, 2.10.0-r1 and 2.11.0 and the xorg-server in the versions 1.7.6 and 1.8.0. No improvement could be observed.

Is there anything more I can test?

cryptosteve · Post by **cryptosteve** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 4:57 pm

Hi,
same problem here. Several freezes with 2.6.33-gentoo-r1 with KMS enabled. I found some bug reports via google with similar results. Now I try a kernel with KMS disabled. Maybe to be continued ...

Post by **asturm** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 5:18 pm

I've noticed the same with 2.6.33 since I'm using it every time my notebook rests on its docking station (2.6.34 doesn't get the EDID info right, 2.6.33 on the other hand has broken cpufreq which makes it a pain on mobile use). On 2.6.34 I can't remember any freezes.

emc · Post by **emc** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:08 am

I got maybe similar problem, when I login (slim) to X then it freeze and screen get fuzzy, only power switch helps

But it happed not so often, maybe once a 10-15 boots.

Yamakuzure · Post by **Yamakuzure** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:10 am

Absolutely no problem here with the following on KDE-4.4.2:

sed-notebook sed # lspci | grep Graphics
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GME965/GLE960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0c)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GME965/GLE960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0c)

sed-notebook sed # uname -pr
2.6.33-gentoo-r1 Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T5670 @ 1.80GHz

sed-notebook sed # eix -I -c "(libdrm|mesa|video-intel|xorg-server|dri2proto|xf86driproto|glproto)"
[ I ] media-libs/mesa (7.8.1@13.04.2010): OpenGL-like graphic library for Linux
[ I ] x11-apps/mesa-progs (7.7@13.04.2010): Mesa's OpenGL utility and demo programs (glxgears and glxinfo)
[ I ] x11-base/xorg-server (1.8.0@13.04.2010): X.Org X servers
[ I ] x11-drivers/xf86-video-intel (2.11.0@13.04.2010): X.Org driver for Intel cards
[ I ] x11-libs/libdrm (2.4.20@14.04.2010): X.Org libdrm library
[ I ] x11-proto/dri2proto (2.3@14.04.2010): X.Org DRI2 protocol headers
[ I ] x11-proto/glproto (1.4.11@14.04.2010): X.Org GL protocol headers
[ I ] x11-proto/xf86driproto (2.1.0@14.04.2010): X.Org XF86DRI protocol headers

And no graphics device, screen or monitor listed in xorg.conf.

dE_logics · Post by **dE_logics** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:47 am

Might be a bad memory block in the ram or swap. X requires memory, after utilizing that memory, the system freezes.

You can try a test to check out if this is true for just X or the whole system. Set a schedule to shutdown your system after 1 hour (or after a time which will ensure that X will hang). If the system shutdowns well when it got hanged, no hardware problems.

Gh0str1d3r · Post by **Gh0str1d3r** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 11:46 am

there is no time that ensures that X will freeze. And I forgot to mention: I did a memory test using memtest86+. With 4GB of RAM, swap is never used..

And isnt it very unlikely that the memory is damaged in both my laptops?

goken42 · Post by **goken42** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 12:19 pm

Hi,

I've encountered the same problem since I upgraded to xorg-server-1.8.0, using the latest intel driver. The system freezes totally randomly with non-functionning magic system keys, I can only hard reboot. Downgrading to xorg-server-1.7.2 seems to solve the problem. If I encounter freezes again, I will let you know.

emc · Post by **emc** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 12:20 pm

i have problem with xorg 1.7 and intel-2.9.1

Gh0str1d3r · Post by **Gh0str1d3r** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 12:27 pm

goken42 wrote:Hi,

I've encountered the same problem since I upgraded to xorg-server-1.8.0, using the latest intel driver. The system freezes totally randomly with non-functionning magic system keys, I can only hard reboot. Downgrading to xorg-server-1.7.2 seems to solve the problem. If I encounter freezes again, I will let you know.

do you mean xorg-server-1.7.6? 1.7.2 is not in portage afaik. With 1.7.6 I had freezes as well.

goken42 · Post by **goken42** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 12:52 pm

Gh0str1d3r wrote:
goken42 wrote:Hi,

I've encountered the same problem since I upgraded to xorg-server-1.8.0, using the latest intel driver. The system freezes totally randomly with non-functionning magic system keys, I can only hard reboot. Downgrading to xorg-server-1.7.2 seems to solve the problem. If I encounter freezes again, I will let you know.
do you mean xorg-server-1.7.6? 1.7.2 is not in portage afaik. With 1.7.6 I had freezes as well.

Yes, sorry, I meant the xorg-server-1.7.6 which I don't encounter any freeze since this morning with. My graphic adapter is an i915GAV and I configured the kernel to use KMS from the boot. What is your configuration ?

dE_logics · Post by **dE_logics** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:46 pm

How about trying to disable the KMS.

Can I see your cat /proc/cpuinfo and cat /etc/make.conf?

Gh0str1d3r · Post by **Gh0str1d3r** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:47 pm

I think the recent intel driver needs kms, doesnt it?

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cat /proc/cpuinfo 
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 23
model name      : Genuine Intel(R) CPU           U4100  @ 1.30GHz
stepping        : 10
cpu MHz         : 1200.000
cache size      : 2048 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 2
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 0
initial apicid  : 0
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 13
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm xsave lahf_lm
bogomips        : 2594.24
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor       : 1
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 23
model name      : Genuine Intel(R) CPU           U4100  @ 1.30GHz
stepping        : 10
cpu MHz         : 1200.000
cache size      : 2048 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 2
core id         : 1
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 1
initial apicid  : 1
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 13
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm xsave lahf_lm
bogomips        : 2593.57
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

Code: Select all

cat /etc/make.conf
# These settings were set by the catalyst build script that automatically built this stage
# Please consult /etc/make.conf.example for a more detailed example
CFLAGS="-O2 -pipe -march=native"
CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS}"
MAKEOPTS="-j3"

LINGUAS="de en"

USE="-old-hd-rules udev extras -ldap fbcondecor djvu -symlink bluetooth secure-delete policykit semantic-desktop lensfun mjpeg geolocation redeyes assistant fontconfig xpm lcms wmf embedded mng cern icotools winetools java5 mysql skype oscar sql webkit faad kipi dvdr virtualbox gtk -gnome -qt3 qt4 kde dvd alsa cdr imlib pdf tiff gif jpeg history latex aac xvid a52 ogg vorbis flac mad theora asf matroska amr mikmod mp3 mplayer dvdread xine musicbrainz jack -arts -oss encode X opengl flash java xprint png quicktime samba wmp divx additions live modplug mpeg optimisememory stream win32codecs xv wxwindows cdda vcd mp4 cdio rar spell rdesktop vnc server jadetex caps svga gnutls vlm httpd vcd svg cairo kpathsea dbus hal nls dvd ffmpeg mpeg mad wxwindows aac dts a52 ogg flac theora oggvorbis matroska freetype bidi xv svga gnutls stream vlm httpd cdda vcd cdio live win32codecs cddb svga truetype vl4 vcdinfo xml vcdx v4l2 v4l skins x264 speex"

# latex useflags
USE="$USE context detex dvipdfm extra graphics latex3 luatex omega pstricks publishers science tex4ht xetex"

# power management
USE="$USE acpi apm lm_sensors pmu"

VIDEO_CARDS="intel"

INPUT_DEVICES="evdev synaptics"

SYNC="rsync://rsync.europe.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"

EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS = "--with-bdeps=y"

PORTAGE_NICENESS=15

#PORTDIR_OVERLAY="/usr/local/portage"

ACCEPT_LICENSE="*"

ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~amd64"

PORTAGE_IONICE_COMMAND = "ionice -c 3 -p \${PID}"

#source /var/lib/layman/make.conf

graphic card: Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD

cryptosteve · Post by **cryptosteve** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:49 pm

Still freezing here with KMS disabled and kernel 2.6.33-gentoo-r1. No more freezes with my old kernel 2.6.31-gentoo-r10 and i915.modeset=1 in grub.conf.

Gh0str1d3r · Post by **Gh0str1d3r** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:08 pm

I am now trying kernel 2.6.34-rc4, I will report when it crashes.

Gh0str1d3r · Post by **Gh0str1d3r** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:31 pm

I just experienced another freeze with kernel 2.6.34-rc4, so it seems the problem is still there.

dE_logics · Post by **dE_logics** » Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:13 am

So this's supposed to be a kernel issue.

Why not just report a bug?

@Gh0str1d3r

You have a solo CPU?

Gh0str1d3r · Post by **Gh0str1d3r** » Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:37 am

no its a dual core (Intel SU4100)

before reporting a bug, I need to know which component causes the freeze. Are you sure that this is the kernel? I dont have any logs confirming this...

dE_logics · Post by **dE_logics** » Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:08 pm

To figure that out you need to have a look at the output of dmesg.

There are 2 ways, one that I specified before -

You can try a test to check out if this is true for just X or the whole system. Set a schedule to shutdown your system after 1 hour (or after a time which will ensure that X will hang). If the system shutdowns well when it got hanged, no hardware problems.

In addition it will also specify if the kernel got hanged or not.

Set a timer (on your watch or something) for 1hours (or more, depending on within how much time did you set the system to shutdown), initiate the shutdown after n hours and just do your normal stuff and wait for the system to hang.

If the system hangs but it shutdowns after n hours, it means it's either an X or gnome issue.

To initiate a shutdown -

shutdown -h m

Where m is the time in minutes

Alternatively, do a hard shutdown after your system hangs, boot from a live CD and post the contents of /var/log/dmesg, /var/log/xorg.0.log from your Gentoo partitions.

Gh0str1d3r · Post by **Gh0str1d3r** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 10:54 pm

I now downgraded the video driver to xf86-video-intel-2.9.1, using it without KMS. Lets see if its stable now.

@dE_logics: I tried to boot to a usb stick system after a system freeze, but no messages in dmesg or Xorg.0.log from directly before the crash. The shutdown option I may try if it freezes again without kms. But this will take some time since the freeze is not at all reproducible, so catching a freeze before the shutdown will be luck.

If anyone has found out the reason for the system freeze, or even better a solution, please post here!