[SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

noahsark1126 · 2008-12-01 06:28:46

I upgraded to xserver 1.5 today, and since then X has been so unstable that it is virtually unusable. It usually crashes within a minute of starting an X session. I'm using KDEmod 4.1 and Catalyst 8.11, which was upgraded along with the xserver.

Among the things that seem to cause a crash:

- clicking a menu item in the menubar, or a drop-down menu (sometimes)
- some random actions in firefox
- starting multiple programs at once (usually 3 or more, but it isn't consistent)
- starting X, switching to a VT, and then back to X (in fact, this doesn't just crash X, it causes a hard system freeze, and all I can do is hit the power button)
- a variety of other seemingly unrelated actions

Also, one of the many crashes seems to have destroyed part (not all) of my home folder.

For the time being, I've downgraded back to xserver 1.4 and catalyst 8.8, and retrieved my files from my backup drive, but obviously this is not a permanent solution. I've checked my Xorg.0.log, but there was nothing outstanding. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Here is my xorg.conf:

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Xorg Configured"
    Screen         "Screen 0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Keyboard 0"
    InputDevice    "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad 0"
    InputDevice    "Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000 1"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load  "extmod"
    Load  "dbe"
    Load  "xtrap"
    Load  "record"
    Load  "dri"
    Load  "glx"
    Load  "GLcore"
    Load  "freetype"
    Load  "drm"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
    Option        "AllowMouseOpenFail" "true"
    Option        "AutoAddDevices" "false"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier  "Keyboard 0"
    Driver      "kbd"
    Option        "CoreKeyboard"
    Option        "XkbRules" "xorg"
    Option        "XkbModel" "pc105"
    #Option        "XkbLayout" "us,ca"
    Option        "XkbLayout" "dvorak"
    Option        "XkbOptions" "altwin:super_win"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier  "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad 0"
    Driver      "synaptics"
    Option        "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option        "Protocol" "auto-dev"
#    Option        "LeftEdge" "1700"
#    Option        "RightEdge" "5300"
#    Option        "TopEdge" "1700"
#    Option        "BottomEdge" "4200"
    Option        "FingerLow" "5"
    Option        "FingerHigh" "15"
#    Option        "MaxTapTime" "180"
#    Option        "MaxTapMove" "220"
    Option        "VertEdgeScroll" "on"
    Option        "VertScrollDelta" "200"
    Option        "HorizEdgeScroll" "on"
    Option        "HorizScrollDelta" "200"
    Option        "CornerCoasting" "true"
    Option        "MinSpeed" "0.05"
    Option        "MaxSpeed" "0.60"
    Option        "AccelFactor" "0.0021"
    Option        "TapButton1" "0"
    Option        "TapButton2" "2"
    Option        "TapButton3" "0"
    Option        "FastTaps" "true"
#    Option        "LBCornerButton" "8"
#    Option        "RBCornerButton" "9"
#    Option        "SHMConfig" "on"
    Option        "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier  "Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000 1"
    Driver      "mouse"
    Option        "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option        "Protocol" "Auto"
    Option        "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
    Option        "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
#    HorizSync     30.0 - 130.0 # Safe for LCD's
#    VertRefresh   50.0 - 100.0 # Safe for LCD's and most CRT's.
    Identifier   "Monitor 0"
    ModelName    "Default Monitor"
    DisplaySize  444 277  # 96 DPI @ 1680x1050
    Option       "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"

#    Option        "UseInternalAGPGART" "no"
    Identifier  "Device 0"
    Driver      "fglrx"
    VendorName  "ATI Technologies Inc"
    BoardName   "Radeon Mobility X1400"
    Option        "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "on"
    Option        "TexturedVideo" "on"
    Option        "VideoOverlay" "off"
    Option        "OpenGLOverlay" "off"
    Option        "Textured2D" "on"
    Option        "TexturedXrender" "on"
    Option        "UseFastTLS" "1"
    Option        "BackingStore" "on"
    Option        "TexturedVideoSync" "off"
    Option        "Capabilities" "0x00000000"
    BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen 0"
    Device     "Device 0"
    Monitor    "Monitor 0"
    DefaultDepth     24
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     8
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     15
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     16
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport  0 0
        Depth     24
        Modes     "1680x1050"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
    Mode         0666
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
    Option        "Composite" "Enable"
#    Option      "Composite"    "Disable"
    Option        "RENDER" "Enable"
    Option        "DAMAGE" "Enable"
EndSection

Last edited by noahsark1126 (2008-12-01 17:28:45)

shazeal · 2008-12-01 07:37:35

I dont have an ATI, but you could try upgrading only xorg and see if the problems persist with the 8.8 catalyst? And vice vera for the 8.11 drivers xorg 1.4.

You could also try running with all the optional options removed from the xorg.conf in the video device section.

Sorry dont think I can help much more than that, I would say it is the 8.11 drivers causing the problem however as it sounds like something is causing the kernel to dump.

ras0ir · 2008-12-01 08:02:31

well, i had a similar issue (very poor 2d performance), so i've disabled Composite.
now it works fine.

noahsark1126 · 2008-12-01 16:38:17

shazeal wrote:

I dont have an ATI, but you could try upgrading only xorg and see if the problems persist with the 8.8 catalyst? And vice vera for the 8.11 drivers xorg 1.4.
You could also try running with all the optional options removed from the xorg.conf in the video device section.
Sorry dont think I can help much more than that, I would say it is the 8.11 drivers causing the problem however as it sounds like something is causing the kernel to dump.

I do agree that the drivers are causing the problem. Unfortunately, the 8.8 drivers are only compatible xserver 1.4, and 8.11 only with 1.5, so I can't test them separately. But I'll try commenting out my extra options in Xorg to see if that helps. Those are there from a while ago when I was trying to tweak for some extra performance, so they are definitely not necessary.

ras0ir wrote:

well, i had a similar issue (very poor 2d performance), so i've disabled Composite.
now it works fine.

That's another thing I didn't think of. I'll try that if removing the optional settings doesn't work. If that does work, I'll consider this solved. Maybe a future catalyst release (or the open-source radeonhd driver) will allow me to reenable compositing.

noahsark1126 · 2008-12-01 17:28:04

Commenting out my extra options in xorg did seem to fix the problem, except that 3D performance was notably decreased (~1750 fps in glxgears, down from ~2300 in xserver 1.4, and KDE 4 desktop effects were choppy). So I disabled compositing, and now everything is fine. Hopefully a future release will fix this issue.

Marking this as solved.

Verge · 2008-12-01 18:51:08

I got to deal with just similar problems today after an upgrade to Xserver 1.5. Xorg crashed immediately when I opened a listbox (dunno what they're called), like Firefox's or Konqueror's address bar's history list. I don't know what else might've crashed it, I managed to "fix" this by resetting my xorg.conf back to the nvidia-xconfig's defaults. I first tried disabling Composite, which didn't help, but instead X started to crash immediately on login after a reboot, that's when I did the xorg.conf reset.

The Xserver update did, though, screw up my keyboard layout again (I had these same problems back when trying out Xserver 1.5 from Testing some months ago), and I just can't fix it. My arrow keys are dead, also keypad's Enter is missing and Alt Gr is bound to Enter (while the Return button does still work) and the Page Up key works as a slash /. In KDM I am missing the Finnish keyboard layout, having to use the default US instead, although I did reconfigure the keymap in xorg.conf after reverting to defaults.

Gonna go back to 1.4...

Last edited by Verge (2008-12-01 18:58:22)

m0rph · 2008-12-01 21:12:45

I have NVIDIA 9600GT card (177.82-1) and the same problem here. X-server sometimes crashes, when I clicking a menu item in the menubar.

mutlu_inek · 2008-12-02 00:10:26

I am running X on an Intel GMA 950 and my computer sometimes freezes completely when I change the keyboard layout in KDE's system settings (when I click in "apply"). I have to do a hard reboot. Very strange and discomforting.

wulax · 2008-12-02 03:54:45

I also had this random crashing problem, using Nvidia 8800GT.

Setting:

Section "Device"
Option "BackingStore" "False"
EndSection

in xorg.conf solved it.

Last edited by wulax (2008-12-02 04:04:56)

noahsark1126 · 2008-12-02 04:45:08

wulax wrote:

I also had this random crashing problem, using Nvidia 8800GT.
Setting:
Section "Device"
Option "BackingStore" "False"
EndSection
in xorg.conf solved it.

Thanks for the tip...I'll try that as an alternative to disabling compositing.

zeb · 2008-12-02 12:43:36

wulax wrote:

I also had this random crashing problem, using Nvidia 8800GT.
Setting:
Section "Device"
Option "BackingStore" "False"
EndSection
in xorg.conf solved it.

Yes, the same solution fixed the crashes for me (Nvidia 8800 GTS). Actually I just commented out the backingstore option from my config file, it appears to be disabled by default.

noahsark1126 · 2008-12-03 05:33:48

Disabling BackingStore fixed it. Thanks, wulax!

Arch Linux

#1 2008-12-01 06:28:46

[SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

#2 2008-12-01 07:37:35

Re: [SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

#3 2008-12-01 08:02:31

Re: [SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

#4 2008-12-01 16:38:17

Re: [SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

#5 2008-12-01 17:28:04

Re: [SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

#6 2008-12-01 18:51:08

Re: [SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

#7 2008-12-01 21:12:45

Re: [SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

#8 2008-12-02 00:10:26

Re: [SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

#9 2008-12-02 03:54:45

Re: [SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

#10 2008-12-02 04:45:08

Re: [SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

#11 2008-12-02 12:43:36

Re: [SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

#12 2008-12-03 05:33:48

Re: [SOLVED] X is EXTREMELY unstable after upgrade to 1.5

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