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Fabrinux

Member

Registered: 2010-03-05

Posts: 7

Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

Hi people!

I have an HP Pavilion dv1000, which has an Intel graphic chipset

lspci | grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)

Since the last Kernel upgrade, Intel uses KMS, then I had to add "intel_agp" and "i915" among the modules in mkinitcpio.conf

With KMS on, the console resolution resizes after UDEV scans the system.

Now, my problem is:
When I boot up the laptop, the screen gets blank once arrived to that point, and there is no way to show anything.
The funny thing is that it looks like it has to "warm up", in fact, after rebooting 4 or 5 times, it works well, also rebooting again and again.
Even now, I could reboot it and it would work (probably).

Just to be sure, I tried other distributions, and they work fine, so I can say it is not an hardware problem.

I tried setting KMS off by adding "i915.modeset=0" in the kernel line in grub. This lets me complete the startup process, but Xorg doesn't work because it doesn't find any screen. Looks like Xorg needs KMS now.

I really don't understand: problems are usually "on - off", it works OR it doesn't, not both of them randomly...

Any ideas?

Rigoldi

Member

Registered: 2010-04-16

Posts: 1

Re: Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

Hello!
I also have the same problem.

hokasch

Member

Registered: 2007-09-23

Posts: 1,461

Re: Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

The warm-up thing sounds weird, indeed. Xorg doesn't start because xf86-video-intel requires KMS since 2.10.
Have a look at this thread. Also, what hardware are you running? I had a similar problem during some broken eeid (?) stuff with the internal display on a specific laptop model.

Zauron

Member

Registered: 2009-05-04

Posts: 2

Re: Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

Same issue,

You have to build a new kernel with this patch to fix it. It should be fixed quickly in mainline.

--- linux-2.6.33/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c.orig    2010-04-17 19:44:59.174833228 +0200
+++ linux-2.6.33/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c    2010-04-17 19:45:30.710240455 +0200
@@ -992,7 +992,7 @@
 intel_wait_for_vblank(struct drm_device *dev)
 {
     /* Wait for 20ms, i.e. one cycle at 50hz. */
-    msleep(20);
+    mdelay(20);
 }
 
 /* Parameters have changed, update FBC info */

Last edited by Zauron (2010-04-17 15:50:14)

Fabrinux

Member

Registered: 2010-03-05

Posts: 7

Re: Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

Thanks for replying.

I found a way to make it work, but it's not so good.
I uninstalled the intel drivers and disabled modesetting.
This way, Xorg uses the vesa drivers. They are not so good, and i can't find a way to set the resolution to 1280x768. I tried configuring xorg.conf, but it had no effect, it is stuck to 1024x768, which is no good on a wide screen.

I don't understand what you mean with "some broken eeid". (Sorry)

My hardware... what should I exactly search?

Thanks

Fabrinux

Member

Registered: 2010-03-05

Posts: 7

Re: Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

oh, I hadn't seen Zauron's post.

...rebuild the kernel... I'll try.

Thank you very much!

TheCycoONE

Member

From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Registered: 2009-12-21

Posts: 31

Re: Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

Zauron where did you come across that patch; I'm interested in following this issue upstream.

davidgurvich

Member

Registered: 2010-02-11

Posts: 118

Re: Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

Try downgrading the xorg intel driver to 2.9.1, that still allows UMS and will work with KMS disabled. I've blocked xf86-video-intel from being upgraded with pacman.

Fabrinux

Member

Registered: 2010-03-05

Posts: 7

Re: Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

Downgrading worked!
Sorry Zauron, I had no time for learning how to recompile a kernel.
Thank you all for your ideas!

bosh

Member

Registered: 2009-09-17

Posts: 4

Re: Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

Zauron: I got the same problem (display goes off during boot and stays off), I've tried your patch, but it doesn't do anything (in solving my problem).

In my case, I tried running Xorg blindly (with black screen) after start with i915.modeset=1, and it seems that Xorg thinks all my video outputs are disconnected. Strange.

bosh

Member

Registered: 2009-09-17

Posts: 4

Re: Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

I tried the latest kernel: 2.6.34-rc5 and it looks like my problem is solved. I did, however, choose to compile i915 and intel_agp in the kernel (not as a module), so I don't know if that might have done it. Anyway, it's a solution worth a try for those who don't want to downgrade to an older kernel and have time and will to compile their own kernel.

My problem seems a bit different form the original poster, though. Fabrinus reported that his screen doesn't go black every time, which in my case it does. I do have, however, the same hardware (Intel 945GM).

Fabrinux

Member

Registered: 2010-03-05

Posts: 7

Re: Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

I did not downgrade the kernel, I downgraded the xf86-video-intel packet, as davidgurvich suggested, and I boot with i915.modeset=0 in the kernel line of the grub menu.

I think the problem were the same, because, as a matter of fact, it blanked every time. Only the first day it got working... really strange ^^

Now, you are saying me that the next kernel makes the work... wonderful!

thanks you all.

Bye!

bosh

Member

Registered: 2009-09-17

Posts: 4

Re: Intel KMS enabled - Screen starts only if I'm lucky

Sorry I forgot about this thread and didn't update it. A few corrections to my situation - kernel 2.6.34 does correct the problem, but introduces another one - full screen apps using OpenGL cause weird and relatively fatal problems (I didn't test latest rc, so I don't know if it still applies, but is probably fixable by disabling acceleration).

Current 2.6.33 kernel is functional, but not out of the box, as it has a tendency to treat netbook internal LCD as disconnected (vga-out is OK, connected monitor is detected and works) - I believe this was the issue from the start for me. This, however, can be rectified by adding "video=LVDS-1:e" as a parameter to the kernel. So, try to enable KMS and use this parameter if it solves your problem. More about this parameter is here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/KernelModeSetting

On a side note, it's a shame, though. I bought a netbook with HW that is or should be supported by Linux and Xorg out of the box, no need for any proprietary drivers, and expected mellow, but so far it seems as a bumpy ride. That leads me to conclude that Linux is not an operating system, it's an adventure! :-D

Edit: 2.6.33 kernel is functional, but LCD now stays off after waking up from sleep (can be repaired by cycling power to LCD using xrandr). It's a bumpy ride... :-)

Last edited by bosh (2010-05-13 19:11:23)