NVIDIA drivers + screen lock-up bug

[guyforget]

This bug is well documented over at the nvidia support forums. There is no clear fix, though some people have been successful with any number of random combinations of "fixes." Reading the threads at the nvidia support forums has given me the best support so far in stablizing my system.

The easiest fix for me was to simply go back to the standard vesa drivers by specifying them in my xorg.conf. I never had any screen lockous using these drivers but I didnt have any of the nice **** that my video card was purchased to do. Actually, I dont even have a nice video card as I dont do anything specifically video intensive; but theres principals involved here, and my hardware should friggin work.

My situation:

Mobo: Abit IS7-V2 / Intel 848P/ICH5 Chipsets
GFX: GeForce MX 4000
NVIDIA Driver: 7174
Kernel: 2.6.10-5-686-smp
CPU: P4 3.0 HT
OS: Ubuntu 5.04 Hoary

X just locks. Hard. Mouse pointer still moves around the screen but all running apps are locked. Keyboard is locked. System is still functioning though. If I am moving large files from one drive to another (the crash happens most often when moving large files around different hdds) the files will continue to move. If audio is playing through BMP it will continue to play. I can ssh to the box and see that X is taking up 100% cpu and I can kill it from there. I can then restart X but it will usually lock the system up completely within a half hour. Its best to reset after the first crash it seems. There are mysterious lines in syslog:

kernel: NVRM: Xid: 1, Channel 00000000 Method 00000000 Data 00005500

This bug seems to be due to the nvidia drivers specifically, but is also reported using the "nv" drivers. It is not Ubuntu specific, but is xorg + nvidia drivers specific.

Has anyone else had any luck resolving this issue on their system?

[jery_wang2002]

Easy, you can still use nvidia drivers
you just need to disable
#RenderAccel "true"

Mine works this way, but slow with antialiasing on.

Ubuntu rocks. But the problem is somewhere else. And it may not be nvidia since it also happens to ATI card too according to some in nvforums.

Originally Posted by guyforget This bug is well documented over at the nvidia support forums. There is no clear fix, though some people have been successful with any number of random combinations of "fixes." Reading the threads at the nvidia support forums has given me the best support so far in stablizing my system. The easiest fix for me was to simply go back to the standard vesa drivers by specifying them in my xorg.conf. I never had any screen lockous using these drivers but I didnt have any of the nice **** that my video card was purchased to do. Actually, I dont even have a nice video card as I dont do anything specifically video intensive; but theres principals involved here, and my hardware should friggin work. My situation: Mobo: Abit IS7-V2 / Intel 848P/ICH5 Chipsets GFX: GeForce MX 4000 NVIDIA Driver: 7174 Kernel: 2.6.10-5-686-smp CPU: P4 3.0 HT OS: Ubuntu 5.04 Hoary X just locks. Hard. Mouse pointer still moves around the screen but all running apps are locked. Keyboard is locked. System is still functioning though. If I am moving large files from one drive to another (the crash happens most often when moving large files around different hdds) the files will continue to move. If audio is playing through BMP it will continue to play. I can ssh to the box and see that X is taking up 100% cpu and I can kill it from there. I can then restart X but it will usually lock the system up completely within a half hour. Its best to reset after the first crash it seems. There are mysterious lines in syslog: kernel: NVRM: Xid: 1, Channel 00000000 Method 00000000 Data 00005500 This bug seems to be due to the nvidia drivers specifically, but is also reported using the "nv" drivers. It is not Ubuntu specific, but is xorg + nvidia drivers specific. Has anyone else had any luck resolving this issue on their system?

[wolovids]

Originally Posted by jery_wang2002 Easy, you can still use nvidia drivers you just need to disable #RenderAccel "true" Mine works this way, but slow with antialiasing on. Ubuntu rocks. But the problem is somewhere else. And it may not be nvidia since it also happens to ATI card too according to some in nvforums.

I disabled RenderAccel in my xorg.conf file and I haven't experienced a lock up since. Here's the
bug in Ubuntu's bug tracking system relating to this.

Turning off RenderAccel isn't the best fix because window resizing is ssssllllooowww. Hopefully Nvidia will fix this soon and there will be an update for Hoary near.

[jery_wang2002]

Originally Posted by wolovids I disabled RenderAccel in my xorg.conf file and I haven't experienced a lock up since. Here's the bug in Ubuntu's bug tracking system relating to this. Turning off RenderAccel isn't the best fix because window resizing is ssssllllooowww. Hopefully Nvidia will fix this soon and there will be an update for Hoary near.

Yeah, ssssslllllooooooooooooooooooooowwwww when I use 1600x1200 res, esp with anti-aliasing on. There is no way I turn off anti-aliasing, after looking this nice smooth clear fonts, going back to non-antialiased is no option.

[kuleali]

I have the same problem hear with x freezing. I hate that.

Is it possible to use xfree86 in hoary insted of xorg ?

[Mindstab]

what would be better is if they let us downgrade the nvidia kernel package to one that worked :/

[capper308]

Hi there. I am VERY new to Ubuntu. This is my first post. Can someone tell me how to downgrade my nvidia video drivers. I currently have 7xxx installed and I want 6111 installed. The reason is that I am tring to play doom3 and mohaa and I keep getting and error that opengl cannot start. I am using Ubunty Hoary 5.04 Thanks in advance

[rosslaird]

There are at least two bugs: one involves the mouse still working while the rest of the screen freezes. Disabling RenderAccel seems to work pretty well for most people in this situation (but by no means everyone).

The second bug (which I have) involves the entire x session crashing to a black screen. The only way to fix this is to downgrade the nvidia drivers to the 6 series (both bugs are with the 7 series only). Or by going back to "nv" in xorg.conf. Ouch! And it might not work for everyone.

There seems to be no permanent resolution at the moment, but a host of folks have complained to nvidia, so I suppose they will respond eventually.

Ross

[nocturn]

Originally Posted by rosslaird There are at least two bugs: one involves the mouse still working while the rest of the screen freezes. Disabling RenderAccel seems to work pretty well for most people in this situation (but by no means everyone). The second bug (which I have) involves the entire x session crashing to a black screen. The only way to fix this is to downgrade the nvidia drivers to the 6 series (both bugs are with the 7 series only). Or by going back to "nv" in xorg.conf. Ouch! And it might not work for everyone. There seems to be no permanent resolution at the moment, but a host of folks have complained to nvidia, so I suppose they will respond eventually. Ross

Actually, I mailed Nvidia and got a response the same day. I'm hit with the 'screen freeze but mouse still moves' thingie. I disabled RenderAccel as they suggested and so far it's going well.

I do hope they get arround to fixing it though (renderaccell really helped performance).

The strange thing is that I never had any problems with renderaccel on until Xorg and Nvidia 7174 (in Hoary). So something must have changed to cause this.

[Jvaldezjr]

I'm having the same problem, and its only produced when I have the nvidia-glx package installed. So I removed it. Problem solved right? No, cause now I cant play certain games that rely on glx to run.

I'll try to reinstall the drivers, and change that option in the Xorg file and see where that goes.