Bug 25307 (Creric)

Summary:

radeon [9600AGP] screen temporarily fades to black (blinks / flickers) when rendering occurs

Product:

xorg

Reporter:

evilcleric

Component:

Driver/Radeon

Assignee:

xf86-video-ati maintainers <xorg-driver-ati>

Status:

RESOLVED INVALID

QA Contact:

Xorg Project Team <xorg-team>

Severity:

major

Priority:

medium

CC:

eich, mat

Version:

7.4 (2008.09)

Hardware:

x86 (IA32)

OS:

Linux (All)

URL:

https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=555657

Whiteboard:

i915 platform:

i915 features:

Attachments:

Description	Flags
radeon [9600AGP] Xorg.0.log	none
radeon [9600AGP] output of hwinfo --gfx	none
xorg.conf with "agpmode" "7"	none
xorg.conf with "agpmode" "8"	none
output of lspci -vnn	none

Description evilcleric 2009-11-26 12:52:40 UTC

Created attachment 31490 [details] [review]
radeon [9600AGP] Xorg.0.log

I'm using the default KDE installation of OpenSUSE 11.2 (kernel 2.6.31.5-0.1; Xorg 7.4-35.3, KDE 4.3.1), Radeon 9600 AGP, DVI, Samsung 2493hm monitor.  Kwin effects are disabled. The default installation does not create xorg.conf.

Sometimes, after the system boots, X becomes unstable and starts to fade to
black (blink / flicker) as soon as I actually start doing something: moving a mouse cursor, open a window, etc.  When experiencing the bug, the screen flickers *every* time any rendering occurs. The first sign the above mentioned bug is about to occur is the initial "blink" of the KDE splash screen during boot.  The bug occurs about 15%-20% of the times my system boots.

The described "blinking" condition can be cured by restarting X or starting a new user session. There is a small chance, however, to initiate the bug if a new session is started in addition to the original "unbuggy" one.  


The bug was originally reported to Novell: https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=555657

Comment 1 evilcleric 2009-11-26 12:54:36 UTC

Created attachment 31492 [details]
 radeon [9600AGP] output of hwinfo --gfx

Comment 2 Alex Deucher 2009-11-27 08:43:05 UTC

I suspect it's an AGP mode problem.  Does changing the AGP mode help?  Try the following option in the device section of your xorg.conf:
Option "AGPMode" "X"
where X = 1 or 2 or 4 or 8
Let me know which mode(s) work and the output of lspci -vnn and I'll add a quirk for your card.

Comment 3 evilcleric 2009-12-05 15:57:34 UTC

(In reply to comment #2)
> I suspect it's an AGP mode problem.  Does changing the AGP mode help?  Try the
> following option in the device section of your xorg.conf:
> Option "AGPMode" "X"
> where X = 1 or 2 or 4 or 8
> Let me know which mode(s) work and the output of lspci -vnn and I'll add a
> quirk for your card.
> 
Alex,

I've conducted 40 reboots using the 4 "AGPMode" options: 1, 2, 4, 8 (10 attempts for each one).  The results are as follows.  

Option "AGPMode" "1"
results: 5 normal boots, 5 buggy ones

Option "AGPMode" "2"
results: 8 normal boots, 2 buggy ones

Option "AGPMode" "4"
results: 8 normal boots, 2 buggy ones

Option "AGPMode" "8"
results: 8 normal boots, 2 buggy ones

I've even conducted couple of unbuggy boots with an "AGPMode" "7" (which seems to be strange to me)

Below I've attached my xorg.conf (just in case) and the output of lspci -vnn you've requested.

Comment 4 evilcleric 2009-12-05 16:00:36 UTC

Created attachment 31772 [details]
xorg.conf with "agpmode" "7"

Comment 5 evilcleric 2009-12-05 16:00:49 UTC

Created attachment 31773 [details]
xorg.conf with "agpmode" "8"

Comment 6 evilcleric 2009-12-05 16:03:44 UTC

Created attachment 31774 [details]
output of lspci -vnn

Comment 7 Alex Deucher 2009-12-06 21:55:01 UTC

Does:
Option "DisplayPriority" "HIGH"
in the device section of your config help?

Comment 8 evilcleric 2009-12-07 12:40:57 UTC

(In reply to comment #7)
> Does:
> Option "DisplayPriority" "HIGH"
> in the device section of your config help?
> 

Conducted 10 boots with 2 options (simultaneously) in place in the ati section: 

Option "AGPMode" "8"
Option "DisplayPriority" "HIGH"

The statistics were the same: 20% failure.

Comment 9 evilcleric 2009-12-09 12:02:39 UTC

The bug is also initiated with AFAIK 20% success rate after the monitor exits power saving mode.

Comment 10 Adam Jackson 2018-06-12 19:09:22 UTC

Mass closure: This bug has been untouched for more than six years, and is not
obviously still valid. Please reopen this bug or file a new report if you continue to experience issues with current releases.

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