Arch Linux

Hafting

Member

Registered: 2014-05-03

Posts: 3

Failing to run X on Dell precision M6600 with amd radeon. crazy lines

I installed arch linux because I got display problems with funtoo. And was happy for a couple of days. Then I got exactly the same problems with arch too - and there seems to be no way out. (Arch kernels 3.14-1 and 3.14-2, x86_64)

When I start X using the open-source radeon driver, it might work if I'm lucky. Usually, I am not. The display has a number of white horizontal lines. Sometimes only inside some window, sometimes across the whole screen. The lines are usually white, but sometimes contain noise instead. More appear whenever drawing happens. This quickly get worse, degenerating into all sorts of drawing errors, scrambled fonts / missing letters and then a hard hang.

A hard hang means I need 5seconds of power button, there is usually no response from sysrq. (Sometimes sysrc+S works, but oddly enough, not sysrg+B)

Usually, dmseg will have messages about "UVD not responding, resetting the VCPU". (Before I start X and crash the machine)

I had this with funtoo linux too. Strangely enough, the machine ran kernel 3.14 fine for weeks. Then this started to happen, and there was no way of stopping it. Going back to earlier kernels (and an earlier xf86-video-ati) did not help. So I installed arch, was fine for a couple of days, and now this again.  :-(

Suspecting a broken open-source driver, I tried the catalyst one. It installed, the fglrx module loads. No radeon module in use, and I use the nomodeset kernel parameter. But X does not work at all with catalyst. Nothing special in Xorg.0.log, but I get a black screen and a hard hang from "startx". fglrxinfo merely says "unable to open display", I guess it is meant to run under X? Using aticonfig to drop acpi did not change anything.

I tried downgrading X from 1.15 to 1.14. No change, I still get a black screen and a hard hang.

So the machine is not useable with any driver. Catalyst always give me a hard hang immediately, the open source driver will start, accumulate drawing errors, and hang after a little while. Or work occationally. Linux used to work so well - never ever hanging, never any kind of trouble.

Is there anything else I can try? The machine seems stable without X, but I need X. I can live without 3D/opengl, but I cannot even use a word processor now.

The card, according to lspci: AMD/ATI Blackcomb Radeon HD 6970M/6990M. Also known as "AMD FirePro M8900 Mobility Pro".

Last edited by Hafting (2014-05-03 10:34:37)

berbae

Member

From: France

Registered: 2007-02-12

Posts: 1,302

Re: Failing to run X on Dell precision M6600 with amd radeon. crazy lines

Try to boot with a live CD/DVD system and see if you don't have a hardware issue.
If the machine worked for a couple of days and if it works sometimes, that seems a hardware problem to me.

Last edited by berbae (2014-05-03 08:40:22)

clfarron4

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From: London, UK

Registered: 2013-06-28

Posts: 2,163

Website

Re: Failing to run X on Dell precision M6600 with amd radeon. crazy lines

What card(s) are you using?

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Hafting

Member

Registered: 2014-05-03

Posts: 3

Re: Failing to run X on Dell precision M6600 with amd radeon. crazy lines

It was indeed a hardware fault. Testing showed faults in the video memory. So there is probably nothing wrong with the drivers. Thanks for the advice.