Latest Kernel Update (3.5.0-26) Freezes Intel GPU

[phillipblake]

Wow, super frustrated. I love Linux, especially Ubuntu, but the latest kernel update (3.5.0-26) has cause an apport error to keep popping up. At its worst, it locks up my machine requiring me to do a hard reboot.

There error report shows this as the primary cause: /usr/share/apport/apport-gpu-error-intel.py

I'm running Ubuntu 12.10 on a Toshiba Satellite C850. It's been running perfectly for months until I applied the update earlier this week. Now it's rendered my machine almost unusable. After some review, I do see that this issue is deemed fixed in the upcoming Raring Ringtail release. That's fine... but what am I supposed to do for 4 weeks until it's officially available for download? This is a work laptop which I use to code websites. When it locks up, and I do a hard reboot, it destroys my Aptana Workspaces. They then go through a rebuild which means I lose valuable development time.

Whilst super impressed with open source, yes I'm exploiting its benefits, leaving a gaping whole like this in current GPU support is a little concerning. I'd say recent adopters, moving from Windows, might opt to go back. I have to say, reluctantly, I did consider it myself just for hardware compatibility. One compromise I accept using Linux is that GPU drivers are not truly optimised for the hardware they run on. In other words you get a good performance but not really as good as it would normally be on an Intel specific driver. Perhaps someone can correct me on this... I'm still only 12 months into using Linux but understand frame rates are lower - not withstanding Steams latest efforts.

Any advice would be really appreciated. I've spent a considerable amount of time learning the GIMP, APTANA, INKSCAPE and other awesome Linux software. I'd hate to have to roll back my decision because I can't find a suitable solution. Gosh, the thought of going to Windows 8 is simply jarring... I hate the UI, it's just revolting. And once upon a time you'd have had to saw off my arm to prise Windows away from me.

Cheers in advance for any help.

Phillip

Addendum: I have just read that apport itself can be the problem, particularly with the error message I'm receiving. It's recommended to temporarily switch it off. I've done this, I'll report back how I go.

[vanadium]

You better revert to the older kernel that worked for you. I did the same. The last two kernel updates resulted in some slugishness in my otherwise quite fast system. What is a lot worse: I had random system freezes every now and then (keyboard dead, mous pointer moving but click not working). Clearly due to the kernel upgrade, because things are back to normal with the 3.5.0-24-generic kernel.

[phillipblake]

You better revert to the older kernel that worked for you. I did the same. The last two kernel updates resulted in some slugishness in my otherwise quite fast system. What is a lot worse: I had random system freezes every now and then (keyboard dead, mous pointer moving but click not working). Clearly due to the kernel upgrade, because things are back to normal with the 3.5.0-24-generic kernel.

As I'm still a relative newbie, what's the easiest way to rollback to the previous kernel ?

[agurk]

what's the easiest way to rollback to the previous kernel ?

Unless you have purged them from your system already, you should be able to launch older kernels from your GRUB boot menu -> Advanced options for Ubuntu.
You may have to hold down <Shift> to see the boot menu.

[phillipblake]

Unless you have purged them from your system already, you should be able to launch older kernels from your GRUB boot menu -> Advanced options for Ubuntu.
You may have to hold down <Shift> to see the boot menu.

Ok, I see the older kernels in my GRUB boot menu. Each kernel is represented twice, one with just its name and the other with (Recovery Mode) next to it. Do I need to select the recovery one ? And what about any updates that came with and post the offending kernel update - will they be impacted in anyway by rolling back? FYI. I'll be rolling back to (3.5.0-25), this was working fine for me.

I really appreciate your help. Thanks for this

[phillipblake]

I went to the GRUB boot menu, selected 3.5.0-25, and then finished the boot sequence. To my surprise, the error popped up again. So now I'm thinking it's either the hardware failing or another update that came around the same time as the 3.5.0-26 kernel? Just not sure now. I selected the kernel without (Recovery Mode) written next to it. Not sure whether I should have selected the recovery mode one?

[agurk]

Same here. Unsurprisingly, disabling Apport itself didn't solve it. Have reverted to 3.5.0-25 for now.
Syslog snippet from 3.5.0-26:

kernel: [ 5674.691315] [drm:i915_hangcheck_hung] *ERROR* Hangcheck timer elapsed... GPU hung
kernel: [ 5674.691320] [drm] capturing error event; look for more information in /debug/dri/0/i915_error_state
kernel: [ 5674.701157] [drm] Enabling RC6 states: RC6 on, RC6p off, RC6pp off

Edit: seems to be this one: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...x/+bug/1140716

[agurk]

phillipblake, it sounds like you selected the correct kernel. Apart from seeing error reports, do you still experience the freezes with 3.5.0-25?

[phillipblake]

phillipblake, it sounds like you selected the correct kernel. Apart from seeing error reports, do you still experience the freezes with 3.5.0-25?

Actually I switched back to the latest Kernel after the first error message popped up. I'd assumed that changing back hadn't actually resolved the issue. Perhaps I should run the older kernel for a few hours to see if indeed there is an improvement, minus any error messages. Obviously the OS freezing is my biggest concern; I'll test against that scenario to see if 3.5.0-25 offers better stability. Beyond that, it might be time to look at whether the GPU itself is starting to falter. I do note that the GPU fan has always ran a lot more often under Linux than Windows, for which the hardware was originally optimised. Perhaps over time it's caused overheating or some kind of degradation, you never know.

Thanks 'agurk' for sticking with this thread

Phil

[agurk]

phillipblake: You're welcome. Now, should you indeed find that 3.5.0-25 works just as well for you as it does for me (i.e., no GPU hangs), you can get rid of the annoying error messages by disabling error reporting:

sudo apt-get install xdiagnose
sudo xdiagnose