Hard freezes of ThinkPad T41p (ATI Mobility FireGL T2)

[Valentin Schwamberger]

Alex Deucher wrote on 31.01.2008 19:02:
> On Jan 30, 2008 10:59 AM, Valentin Schwamberger <v.schwamberger at gmx.de> wrote:
>> Alex Deucher wrote on 30.01.2008 15:39:
>>
>>> On Jan 30, 2008 6:22 AM, Valentin Schwamberger <v.schwamberger at gmx.de> wrote:
>>>> Alex Deucher wrote on 28.01.2008 00:34:
>>>>
>>>>> On Jan 26, 2008 8:48 PM, Valentin Schwamberger <v.schwamberger at gmx.de> wrote:
>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> whatever we have already tried yet, my T41p keeps to hard freeze (no
>>>>>> sysrqs, network, serial connection). So far we have tried an endless
>>>>>> number of xorg.conf options, several linux kernel versions, kernel
>>>>>> options, etc.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As you can see from the subject it's an T41p with an ATI Mobility FireGL
>>>>>> T2 video card. The special setup, however, is the usage of a port
>>>>>> replicator (IBM portreplicator II) and its DVI output. As far as I can
>>>>>> tell, the system seems to run stable when I only use the local flat
>>>>>> panel (not absolutely sure, though). I also don't use it much, but it
>>>>>> also seems to be stable in windows.
>>>>>> Now the funny part is it sometime works stable for hours (once the
>>>>>> desktop was properly started it runs forever). But very often after
>>>>>> system start up, either the display doesn't come up and stays black (I
>>>>>> then have to switch to console and back to X and then it suddenly
>>>>>> works). This problem does more often happen, when the LID is closed.
>>>>>> The worst problems are the hard freezes, X is already started, login to
>>>>>> gdm was successful and the desktop is started, mostly at the end of
>>>>>> gnome initialization the hard freeze occurs.
>>>>>> The hardfreezes also happen on switching outputs with xrandr between
>>>>>> LVDS and DVI or after suspend to ram or on switching to the console
>>>>>> (required due to the other problem above).
>>>>> Remove all of the options you've tried in your current config.  Do any
>>>>> of these options help?
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. Turn off dynamicclocks.  just remove the option.  It's off by
>>>>> default.  you'll have to reboot after changing this.
>>>>>
>>>>> 2. Option "BusType" "PCI"
>>>>>
>>>>> 3. Option "AGPMode" "4"
>>>>>
>>>>> 4. Option "DRI" "False"
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Alex
>>>> Thanks a lot for your answer! I have tested all the options (and
>>>> different combinations too), but none of them seem to solve the problem.
>>>> The freezes still persist, especially when changing from console to X
>>>> and vice versa, but also when Gnome's desktop comes up. I tested with
>>>> git version from late December and with current git. This happens on
>>>> ubuntu 7.10.
>>>>
>>>> Any more suggestions? How can we debug this further?
>>> Can you get a log from one of the locked up sessions?
>> Yes. It is on
>> http://www.pci.uni-heidelberg.de/tc/usr/bernd/downloads/xorg_t41p/Xorg_crash.0.log
>>
>> I created it by (cold) starting the ThinkPad. In BIOS, the primary
>> display was set to DVI (LVDS stays black, ttys are shown on the DVI).
>> Then the Xserver/gdm came up. It switched on LVDS and DVI. When I
>> changed to the console, back to X, back to the console, back to X, I got
>> a hard freeze. This was the easiest way to reproduce it.
>>
>> The freezes seem to happen more often with DVI set as primary display
>> (as stated in the reply to Jerome).
>>
>> Thanks for all your help!
> 
> This might be related to the bios vs. the driver and keeping each
> other up to date.  I' working on some patches not to hopefully fix
> that which may help in your case.  Is it just VT switches that cause
> the lock?

No. Also other output-related action can lead to freezes, e.g. xrandr
--output DVI-0 --off && xrandr --output LVDS --auto, DPMS off, and Standby.
And even when just starting up Gnome after a clean boot, it often
crashes when the gnome loading process is done after the icons finally
appeared. There are some output switches involved as well: gdm starts in
clone mode (LVDS and DVI), then Gnome switches just to the LVDS (Why? I
have to figure that out. It also ignores Option "Enable" "off" in
Monitor Sections of xorg.conf). But these freezes seem to be a little
bit late to be correlated with output switches, aren't they?

> if you use xrandr to adjust turn off LVDS before the VT
> switch does that help?

Yes, but the freezes just occur less frequently then (I can do more VT
switches till it freezes).

BTW, to clarify my setup: The LVDS is most often switched off. I only
work with the external DVI.

What causes me to switch outputs that often or to switch to VT are some
flickering problems. When the DVI comes up after having been switched
off (because of standby, DPMS off, xrandr, VT), sometimes every motion
on the screen (for example moving windows or reloading a website) makes
the TFT turn black. After one or two seconds, it shows again real,
non-black screen content. The only way to get back a usable screen is to
switch outputs (via xrandr, VT). Sometimes the first trial works,
sometimes I have to repeat the procedure again. Is there any way to get
rid of this behavior? Option "DisplayPriority" "HIGH" hasn't fixed it.

Can I provide you with more information? I would happily do that!

Thanks you very much again!

Valentin