Serious video problem post 12.04 Updates

[lmettler]

I have installed Kubuntu 12.04 a number of times with few problems. Actually, I did have a few problems but was able to resolve those issues.

However, I noticed that when I click on "Check for Updates" and then complete those updates, the system dives to a extremely slow crawl. Not at the time, of course. But, upon the next boot when the updates take affect. KDE does come up although very very slowly. And I have been able to run System Performance in an effort to diagnose the problem. However, the system is so boggy that the System Performance report fails to update on a periodic basis. I get one report and that is it. Everything else I try running is also extremely slow leaving the system completely unusable.

It appears that the problem is internal to KDE. Or perhaps with the video driver. I think one or two cores are pegged all out. And it appears the clog is in the video. Although it is a bit difficult to actually determine that when every display is either blocked or extremely slow. The System Performance report I do get suggests that one or two cores are not affected and pretty much idle the whole time. Based on that I assume the bottleneck is somewhere in the video. I believe the video is NVideo. But, I am not certain.

I have tried reinstalling a number of times. And I have no problem until I decide to install the updates. Then it is curtains. Everything seems to run fine with the base 12.04 install. It is almost certainly something in the updates that is causing the problem. I just do not know what.

I am using an ASUS M4N68T-M. Integrated video. Quad core AMD. 4 gigs RAM. And a SSD.

And, yes, I am running without any updates while I try to figure out this problem.

[vinnywright]

one thing that comes to mind would be that after a upgrade the system would have a large number of things to reconfigure and the file indexer will be re indexing a lot of files .....
try disabling file indexing Kickoff>system settings>desktop search and uncheck file and mail indexing ...............then do the upgrade from the terminal ....alt>F2 and type terminal in the run box that will pop down and press enter then copy and past this in the terminal and hit enter

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

when it completes checking for and listing what it's going to do press Y and hit enter again .....go have a cup of Coffey and wait for it to finish ....when it's done reboot log in and wait a wile for it to simmer down and run "top" in a terminal to see whats going on with system processes.

VINNY

[lmettler]

First, I should correct my original post. It is System Monitor rather than System Performance (as I reported).

I doubt the problem is with the normal reindexing on the next boot. It could be. But, I think I would be able to ride through that. And the reindexing should not bind up the reports in System Monitor. Whatever the problem is, it stops System Monitor from running. No updates after the first screen. With 4 cores and 4 gigs RAM there should not be anything that prevents the System Monitor from running and reporting any hang ups.

I intend to try TOP the next this comes up. But, I assume System Monitor is running TOP to get its raw data.

I kind of assume it is a video problem because System Monitor is jammed up completely.

Of the four or five times I have tried this it has never cleared up either. It took a while before I could even determine it occurred each time after the update.

[NoWorries]

I am wondering if you have separate partitions for root and home. If so, you have to make sure that you have sufficient free memory in root. You can always clear out the space taken up by downloaded files to make more free space by entering:

~sudo apt-get clean

[lmettler]

I am wondering if you have separate partitions for root and home. If so, you have to make sure that you have sufficient free memory in root. You can always clear out the space taken up by downloaded files to make more free space by entering:

~sudo apt-get clean

I do not have separate partitions for root and home. I used just one partition for /. The SSD is 64GB in size. I have allocated about 4G for the swap. But, the rest is just for the clean install. Plus the Updates, of course.

And, of course, the normal situations that may cause a system to bog down would not or should not cause the System Monitor to cease working. It normally updates every half second or so, right? Yet, it is jammed immediately after starting up. I get the first screen and it is completely jammed. And I seriously doubt the System Monitor has anything to do with the problem. During the boot up, the KDE screen that lights up the 4 or 5 icons as it initalizes is also extremely slow. So something is jamming the works even before KDE is fully up and ready.

I do not know that the problem is in the video. But, it seems that way. It is also unlikely that four cores, 4 gigs RAM and a 60gb partition could have problems like this. And it only occurs after the update. So I have assumed that some of the working code in the video is being replaced with non-working code. Or, something in the video is being added via the update. And it is not working. To say the least.

It would help to know what features and or capabilities are being added via the update. Or, what drivers if any are being replaced. I can read the file names of the updates. But, it is not always clear just what is being updated.

[NoWorries]

one thing that comes to mind would be that after a upgrade the system would have a large number of things to reconfigure and the file indexer will be re indexing a lot of files .....
try disabling file indexing Kickoff>system settings>desktop search and uncheck file and mail indexing ...............then do the upgrade from the terminal ....alt>F2 and type terminal in the run box that will pop down and press enter then copy and past this in the terminal and hit enter

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

when it completes checking for and listing what it's going to do press Y and hit enter again .....go have a cup of Coffey and wait for it to finish ....when it's done reboot log in and wait a wile for it to simmer down and run "top" in a terminal to see whats going on with system processes.

VINNY

I would then suggets that you take the approach suggested by vinnywright for doing your updates. With this approach you get to see if there are any problems in the dist-upgrade step.

Another approach to check on the status of what you have done so far would be to get a console terminal and see the results of the following commands.

sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get install -f

If this does not work, I hope there is some else who can provide a solution to your problem.

[lmettler]

I have a second system (same as first, ASUS M4N68T-M, quad core, 4gb, integrated graphics, SSD drive 64GBs). I tried a fresh install of Kubuntu 12.04 and then used a terminal to conduct the update as instructed above. The update seemed to proceed normally with only one error reported. 'Module usblp does not exist in /proc/modules'. That was reported right among the CUPS update process. That may be a problem but I do not think it is related to this issue.

After the update using apt-get, I rebooted the system. Before doing so I fired up the System Monitor so that it would come up immediately upon the fresh boot. And it did. However, as reported above all it was able to do was paint an initial report. It would not run and it would not update every second or so as it normally does by default. Of note on the page was a total CPU usage of 31% which never changed (i.e. no updates at all). I assume since this is a quad core CPU it means that one core was looping badly and a second was able to do some work. But, that is all she wrote. Also of note was the top process, kwin using 25% CPU. That maybe normal since KDE was just getting fired up. Also python was at 1%. All other processes were not indicating any CPU usage. (Before closing out the system immediately after the update I set System Monitor to list current processes by CPU consumption. That is how it came up. Or, tried.)

So now I have two essentally indentical systems presenting the same problem. Completely unusable after the 12.04 update.

During the time it has taken to tap out this report I waited on the jammed system. I had tried to bring up the Start menu. That worked although very slow. I clicked on "Recently Used" hoping to see a Terminal app on that list so I could open a terminal window. All this time now the "Recently Used" menu has failed to appear. The disc access LED does flash about once per second. But, other than that, I have a dead dog. Actually two dead dogs. This is the second system that has presented in this indentical fashion. I also have two Thinkpads both of which installed 12.04 without any problems including the updates.

I have to return to my suspicion that Kubuntu 12.04 updates do not like the ASUS M4N68T-M integrated video. The base install appears to work just fine. But, the updates turn the system into a dead dog. The mouse moves around. So I guess it is just really sick. If you can get by with a mouse and an LED disc access light, you are peaches. Oh, and you got your System Monitor page which does not update.

[lmettler]

might be onto something

Working on the problem here:

Using the Moun Package Manager I clicked on Check for Updates. Then I keyed in the word nvidia in the search bar above. That brings up a selection of packages. A total of seven of them appear to have been installed. nvidia-settings, nvidia-current, nvidia-common, libkwinnvidiahack4, jockey-common, jockey-kde and xserver-xorg-video-nouveau. Selecting each of these in term and then using a right-click and then checking 'Lock at current version' seems to have solved the problem. At least in part.

Then clicking on Full Upgrade and then apply changes does upgrade almost all of the 12.04 upgrade as it now stands. And when I reboot, everything seems fine with one exception. The top bar for all windows is gone. I may hate windows anyway, but I find the control buttons on the top bar to be useful. Not to mention needing that bar to move the window around on the desktop. But, at least the major problem reported here is not present.

This seems to confirm that the problem is related to the video and the nvidia drivers updated. I am still testing. Next is to 'Lock at current version' only the first 3 listed above. Maybe that choice will not destroy the top window bar. Unless someone can identify just which of the above files globbered the top bar.

If anyone knows what the above 7 files actually do or could be the source of the problem, your expertise is more than welcome. Testing each combination takes a fresh install plus a full update minus the tested exclusions.

[lmettler]

more details but no cigar

Following up on the list of 7 files above that if excluded from the update process does result in a usable system even if the top bar on windows is missing.

I conducted 4 separate tests. Each test included a fresh install of the base 12.04. Following that fresh install I locked the current version of those files. See the collection of files below as well as the result on update and reboot.

Test #1

Files excluded from update: First 3 on the list. Each have nvidia in the name: nvidia-settings, nvidia-current and nvidia-common. All other updates permitted. Results: The system was very slow on reboot. But, it did boot up. The System Monitor report jammed as above.

Test #2

Again, a fresh install of 12.04. Files excluded from update: libkwinnvidiahack4 only. All other updates permitted. Results: On reboot the KDE spash screen with the icons that come into focus could not complete. No start. No $100. No joy.

Test #3

Again, a fresh install of 12.04. Files excluded from update: The two 'jockey" files: jockey-common and jockey-kde. All other updates permitted. Results: Would not start up KDE. First icon came into focus. That is it. No joy. No $100. Nothing. Dead dog.

Test #4

Again, a fresh install of 12.04. Files excluded from update: The last one only: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau All other updates permitted. Results: Boot up slowly. Plus same System Monitor report as described in detail above.

As a result, the only way I can get a usable system after the update is to exclude all 7 of the above listed files from the update. But, as described above, that leaves all windows without the top bar and any controls that may be provided by that bar.

I can only conclude that there are serious problems with the files provided via the update. I further assume that the problems does in fact relate to the nvidia drivers/supporting code, etc. And it may only exist for the ASUS MB indentified above.

Keep in mind that two separate systems with the ASUS MB have presented with identical results. Plus two Thinkpads have had no problems with the base install (12.04) and the updates. But, there does seem to be a serious problem with nvidia support.

It appears the choice at this point is to do without the updates. Or, perhaps exclude those 7 files from the update process and do without the top bar on all application windows.

Thanks for all the help in this issue. But, it appears that the only solutions may have to come from those knowledgable about the nvidia drivers and supporting code. Or, by avoiding nvidia video.

[SteveRiley]

A couple other things to try...

The X-Swat PPA contains a newer version of the nVidia drivers: 301.17. Perhaps this will help.

The Xorg-Edgers PPA is even more bleeding edge. Its nVidia driver is the same as X-Swat, but its X Server is newer. I run this PPA on all my machines without problem (all are Intel graphics, however).

[Fintan]

I don't want to hijack this but I do have a quick question.

I decided to activate the edgers PPA again (after a while of not using it) and found upon update the it wants to update my kernel from 3.2.x to 3.5.0.3.3.

Which kernel version is this? Is it RC 5?

http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/

gives 3.5 RC5 Quantal as the latest 3,5 kernel.

[HalationEffect]

I may hate windows anyway, but I find the control buttons on the top bar to be useful. Not to mention needing that bar to move the window around on the desktop.

Until you get the underlying problem fixed, there are a couple of workarounds that can reduce your pain a little with the above problems:

1) You can access almost all of the functionality you get from the buttons on the window decorations by right-clicking on the panel (taskbar) button for the window in question.

2) Move windows that lack title-bars by holding down ALT and then left click (and hold down the left mouse button) anywhere within the window to drag the window to the desired position.

[SteveRiley]

I decided to activate the edgers PPA again (after a while of not using it) and found upon update the it wants to update my kernel from 3.2.x to 3.5.0.3.3.

Which kernel version is this? Is it RC 5?

Xorg-Edgers has included newer kernels for a while. Recently they added the -image and -headers metapackages, which does result in an automatic upgrade to their kernel.

Unlike the mainline kernel, the Edgers kernel is compiled with the additional Ubuntu drivers and configration options. This would make it a better kernel for *buntu systems, I suspect.

[tek_heretik]

Support for the GeForce 7025 / NVIDIA nForce 630a integrated video goes far back as 2007 ( http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_d...100.14.11.html ). That link is for information only. The first thing I do after a fresh install is install the video driver/update the distro. Try installing the video driver BEFORE updating.

[NoWorries]

Great Suggestion Steve - You deserve an extra G&T!!!!

Xorg-Edgers has included newer kernels for a while. Recently they added the -image and -headers metapackages, which does result in an automatic upgrade to their kernel.

Unlike the mainline kernel, the Edgers kernel is compiled with the additional Ubuntu drivers and configration options. This would make it a better kernel for *buntu systems, I suspect.

Thanks very much Steve for reminding me of Xorg_Edgers. I was very pleased to see Kernel 3.5.0-3 coming down the pipe with over 80 updates and I am very pleased with the performance of my sytem. I have not been able to find any problems with the new Kernel. My impression is that it is slighly faster and the CPU temperature is not so high. In my opinion, Xorg-Edgers have done a superb job.