Today's update introduced a video regression

[GreyGeek]

Besides several cups libraries and files the following file was updated.
xsettings-kde (0.12.3-0ubuntu2, 0.12.3-0ubuntu2.1) Upgraded at 08:51 AM

Because it affected the video a reboot (or reset of the xserver) was required. After that reboot the DE appeared. Then, about every 2 or 3 seconds the screen would blank out to black. Moving the mouse kept the screen visible.

I opened a Konsole and issued

xset dpms 0 0 0

and the screen blanking ceased.

No settings in SystemSettings or PowerSettings would affect the problem.

Until the regression is rolled back I'll have to add the CLI command shown above to my ~/.bash_profile script, unless someone has a better idea.

[Demibeard]

Ah that explains why I've just spent 30 minutes alternating between the blasted grub menu and the failing KDM screen.

I too installed the patches, but I think they came from the backport repo, last night and after installation I shut down...

Started the machine this evening only to find myself with the oddest 'device not ready' error from grub before a hard lock on the KDE Gear logo with a completely stuck keyboard. Only a reset button push would re-boot me.

I'm using the fglx amd driver for my video card and despite not updating the Kernel in the patches (which I'm led to belive DKMS now re-patches on the first reboot anyway, that came as a shock 2 Kernels ago) I've had to re-instal the driver package. This was made more fun as the driver is stored in a folder on the drive that I think grub said wasn't ready. Namely my home drive.

Oh why does the recovery menu now only boot the system to a read-only state? I'm still quite new to the complexities of Linux / Kubuntu and having to edit the grub boot option to boot the system in rw state was a completely new thing for me.

Anyway, a sudo mount and a sudo sh ./amd*.run and I'm now back to me beloved Kubuntu desktop with a new bit of knowledge stuck in my head.

[GreyGeek]

What video card are you using?

This Acer 7739 has an Intel HD3000, which has been working faultlessly with the i915 intel driver on Precise since I installed the Alpha last January. The update to xsetting-kde occurred earlier today. It was put into the repository only 20 hours ago, according to appachelogger. Checking the bug reports it seems a lot of people started having this problem. It's a regression of a problem that has appeared a couple times before.

I also notice that sometimes, in apparently random ways, various video activites will nullify the "xset dpms 0 0 0" setting and blanking resumes. It can be playing a video (not all videos) or opening a PDF (but not all pdfs), etc....

I also experimented with other xset parameters
xset dpms force off
xset -dpms
xset s noblank
xset s off
but they don't work like "xset dpms 0 0 0".

[Fintan]

No issues here.

[vw72]

I am not having any issues, either, then again, my xsettings-kde didn't update. Do you have repository in use that maybe updated to a different version and is causing the problems? My version ends with ubuntu2 not ubuntu2.1

[pauly]

I have this issue after every update. The screen going black after about 30 seconds of inactivity. Moving the mouse wakes the screen. A reboot has up to this point solved the issue for me. I am using Intel graphics. No proprietary drivers needed.

[GreyGeek]

This fully updated Thinkpad W520 also has an HD3000 on board and I'm running it on the i915 driver right now and without issues.
So it seems there is more involved to trigger this error.

Or, it is hardware specific.

[pauly]

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09

[GreyGeek]

Here's mine:

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)

Setting the i915 powersave param did the trick. I haven't had a blanking episode since.

[GreyGeek]

I am not having any issues, either, then again, my xsettings-kde didn't update. Do you have repository in use that maybe updated to a different version and is causing the problems? My version ends with ubuntu2 not ubuntu2.1

Yes. I am using the KDE 4.8.3 from the launchpad ubuntu ppa.

[vw72]

Yes. I am using the KDE 4.8.3 from the launchpad ubuntu ppa.

I'm running 4.8.3, also, but I still don't have that version. I wonder what's up and if that is the cause of your problem?

[Snowhog]

Besides several cups libraries and files the following file was updated.
xsettings-kde (0.12.3-0ubuntu2, 0.12.3-0ubuntu2.1) Upgraded at 08:51 AM

Why do you have two versions of xsettings-kde? On my 12.04, 64-bit, KDE 4.8.3, I only have the one:

Package: xsettings-kde
Version: 0.12.3-0ubuntu2

[vw72]

GreyGeek,

Do you have the proposed repository enabled? It looks like that is where the xsettings-kde-0.12.3-0ubuntu2.1 is coming from. There have been some reports against it. You might try going back to xsettings-ked-0.12.3-0ubuntu2 and see if that fixes the problem.

[GreyGeek]

Why do you have two versions of xsettings-kde? On my 12.04, 64-bit, KDE 4.8.3, I only have the one:

Package: xsettings-kde
Version: 0.12.3-0ubuntu2

That line was captured from the History log of Muon. I think it means that the first one was updated to the second one. The only xsettings-kde package I have on my system is the upgrade:

xsettings-kde_0.12.3-0ubuntu2.1_amd64.deb

Snowhog, if you have the older deb package can you upload it to me (Teamview?) tomorrow. I can revert to it and see if that solves the problem.

BTW, setting the powersave parameter of i915 failed this evening. The blanking resumed. To prevent it I have to open a Konsole and run
xset dpms 0 0 0
xset -dpms

and then keep the Konsole open but minimized (to stay out of my way).

[Snowhog]

Snowhog, if you have the older deb package can you upload it to me (Teamview?) tomorrow. I can revert to it and see if that solves the problem.

Sure. I just redownloaded the .deb package (xsettings-kde_0.12.3-0ubuntu2_amd64.deb)