XFree86 crash on Radeon 7500 (Thinkpad T41) after suspend (Fedora 1)
Ian Hutchinson
which has a Radeon mobility 7500 display (1024x768). But only after a
suspend and resume. I am using a fully updated Fedora Core 1 stock
kernel 2.4.22-1.2174.nptl, with APM. (Crash was present too on the
earlier kernel and XFree86 versions from Fedora). Suspension and resume
appear to work fine, but leave this instability.
The problem is subtle. Initially I just experienced a very occasional
crash, which brought down the whole machine (as well as keyboard and
mouse). Annoying. But I recently found certain graphics-intensive
applications that would routinely crash the machine within a few
minutes (but seemingly not always at exactly the same time). A crash
has never occurred unless the computer has been suspended and
resumed. After a suspend resume (or hibernate resume) it happens
within minutes for these (totally different) applications.
I have done extensive testing to prove that this is the core XFree86
code. It still occurs if all modules except type1 and truetype fonts
are turned off in the XF86Config, proving that it is not the
acceleration, DRI, and glx extensions. I have removed all sorts of
additional kernel modules from my system to eliminate their effect.
I have demonstrated that it does not happen if one restarts the X server
(by ctrl-alt-backspace) after a suspend resume.
Moreover, I have demonstrated that it only happens in depth 24
display, I have never seen it in depth 16. (But why would I want
always to run 16 depth on this display?)
I have tested my memory with the memtest86 program, in case the
problem was hardware. That test reveals no errors with my 256M
IBM-supplied memory.
QUESTION: has anyone got information on this bug, especially how it
can be fixed? I have spent a lot of time on it, and I expect it is not
unique to me, but I can't find any reports of this particular problem
on the net.
Insights and experience would be greatly appreciated.
Ian Hutchinson.
PS. I am posting my log and config files, for the cognoscenti at
http://silas.psfc.mit.edu/XFree86.0.log ,
http://silas.psfc.mit.edu/XF86Config
Volker Braun
> It still occurs if all modules except type1 and truetype fonts
> are turned off in the XF86Config, proving that it is not the
> acceleration, DRI, and glx extensions.
Did you try
Option "NoAccel" "true"
in the XF86Config Device section? This truely turns of acceleration.
Best,
Volker (Using ACPI, so cannot realy compare)
Ian Hutchinson
Good point, so I tried that. And the answer is that I can't crash it
with Option "NoAccel" "true". Therefore my previous statement covered
only acceleration modules like the DRI/GLX stuff, not the internal
acceleration. Of course, the driver pretty much stinks without
acceleration.
Ian Hutchinson
Volker Braun
you have some time to debug this then I'd suggest the following:
Try to isolate the error by manually diabling the individual acceleration
functions (see XF86Config manpage, the XaaNo* options). After you got it,
file a bug report :-)
Disabling only one of the Xaa options usually has no big performance
impact.
Best,
Volker
Ian Hutchinson
Thanks for your interest, but given that Fedora does not even support
XF86 version 4.4, I just can't see going that route. I've already spent
more time on this than I can afford. So I've just bought Xig's Summit X
server which is 3 times faster than XFree86 and does not crash.
If this bug is resolved, or someone has serious suggestions for how it
can be avoided, I'll be happy to hear about it, but I can't do more than
I already have.
Ian Hutchinson.