Stubborn Intel Graphics Bug Haunts Ubuntu 12.04

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Stubborn Intel Graphics Bug Haunts Ubuntu 12.04

Posted by timothy on Thursday September 20, 2012 @01:22AM from the stupid-ghosts dept.

jones_supa writes "The current long-term support version of Ubuntu (12.04) has been experiencing a remarkably tough-to-crack and widely affecting bug related to laptops using an Intel graphics solution. When the lid is closed, every now and then the desktop freezes and only the mouse cursor can be moved. Compiz is usually found hung in the process, switching to a VT afterwards works. The Freedesktop guys are also informed. Have Slashdotters been bitten by this bug and possibly could offer some detective work to help the OSS community find and apply the correct fix?"

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What they are actually reporting an Issue. by jellomizer · 2012-09-20 01:24 · Score: 4, Insightful

I have been reporting that problem for a while, but they just assume that I am an idiot who just doesn't know how to use a computer.

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1. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. by Funk_dat69 · 2012-09-20 01:28 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Yeah, this issue has been around long before 12.04. Glad its getting some attention. My workaround was to switch to a different distro. :)
  
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2. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. by muszek · 2012-09-20 01:31 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I have been reporting that problem for a while, but they just assume that I am an idiot who just doesn't know how to use a computer.
  Have you tried turning it off and on again?
3. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-20 01:36 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  but they just assume that I am an idiot who just doesn't know how to use a computer.
  
  And this is why Linux will never be more than just an "alternative" desktop OS. Because its user base is always assumed to just KNOW how everything works, and if you pose a question that some neckbeard thinks is "stupid", he'll let you know it, and you'll be the focal point of mockery and derision. Linux needs to stop being that exclusive club for the cool kids and know-it-alls and start being a more user-oriented (rather than developer-oriented) community.
  
  The Linux community needs a drastic culture-change before it's ready to compete on any meaningful level with Windows and OS X.
  
  Oh, and I WILL be modded down for this, and it WILL validate my point even more.
4. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-20 01:45 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Except this Intel driver IS open source.
5. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. by Robert+Zenz · 2012-09-20 01:52 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  As far as I know, you don't get hand-holding with a purchase of Windows. Not sure about OSX.
6. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. by riondluz · 2012-09-20 01:59 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Tho I prefer E17 to compiz I have CCM running on a toshiba that had this problem. The only fix (for me) that i found is to enable screen-locking.
  It brings up the login dialog and restores the desktop
  
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7. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. by Lumpy · 2012-09-20 02:17 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  So do the same with linux, you can call red hat and pay them. or any other linux support company... there are tons to choose from. Linuxcare, redhat, Emperor, etc...
  Just like Microsoft and OSX. because they dont give you tech support for free. MSFT requires a credit card, Apple does too if you dont pay for applecare...
  Oh wait, we cant compare that way, it would be fair and balanced... we cant have that....
  
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8. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. by Kelerei · 2012-09-20 02:18 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I have been reporting that problem for a while, but they just assume that I am an idiot who just doesn't know how to use a computer.
  I'm guessing that, in their eyes, you didn't ask your question in the proper form.
  (I don't necessarily agree with all of ESR's points myself, but his essay is kind of like a creed that the OSS Folks That Matter religiously follow -- so, like it or not, you have to follow it too.)
9. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-20 02:34 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Wow I didn't know GPUs were programmed in a manor ! How big are the grounds ? Do they have servants too ?
10. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. by Kjella · 2012-09-20 02:57 · Score: 3
  
  No, but all your fellow users will gladly blame Microsoft while Microsoft itself will politely ignore you - at least not rudely trash talk you in an "attack is the best defense" way. You may not get any help in either case, but it'll be a much more pleasant experience. There's a huge difference between not getting your way and not getting your way as well as being insulted. Don't get me wrong I'm sure the Microsoft developers don't hold their users in much higher regard than in open source projects, but if you want to stay employed in customer support you don't tell it to their face.
  
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11. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. by Qzukk · 2012-09-20 04:38 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  +5 informative.
  Everything here goes into git (etckeeper), since then nothing has mysteriously stopped working on a restart because we know exactly who and when "nobody" touched something and screwed it up and how to undo it.
  
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12. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. by Microlith · 2012-09-20 06:36 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Why are you not on their forums having a fucking shitfit?
  
  Cause we aren't all vulgar assholes?
  
  Why are you not telling the devs to stop acting like douchebags and quit fucking with the internals so shit isn't constantly fucking breaking like this?
  What internals, precisely, were broken? Oh, closed source drivers from an uncooperative company? You should blame the company rather than demanding others comply to the whims of lazy corporations that refuse to support their products.
Wow! Common bug reports get front-page stories! by CajunArson · 2012-09-20 01:32 · Score: 4, Funny

How about this one:
KDE 4 has issues with displaying changes made to files in Dolphin. Sometimes the changes show up fine, other times they don't and you have to refresh manually.
Oh and... "Ubuntu" because that magic word has to be inserted for Slashdots "editors" (and I use the term loosely) to care.
There! Now give me a front-page story!

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Re:Yep by TechMouse · 2012-09-20 01:34 · Score: 3, Funny

PATIENT: Doctor! Doctor! It hurts when I do this...
DOCTOR: Well stop doing that then.
Ah, the old ones...
And this is why... by ilsaloving · 2012-09-20 01:35 · Score: 4, Funny

And this is why I use a Mac. I don't have to worry about any of that unreliable unix-y stuff and shoddy quality from Intel!
12.10 better not be the fix by Concern · 2012-09-20 01:43 · Score: 5, Informative

It's an awful problem.
LTS release that can't reliably suspend (which means, it can't suspend) on Lenovo Thinkpads...
Ubuntu fixes this rapidly, in-stream or they cease to be credible.
Thank you Slashdot, for bringing attention to this.

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Re:Irony by Robert+Zenz · 2012-09-20 01:56 · Score: 3, Interesting

I have to defend the "Works For Me"-closing. It is *very* hard to track bugs which are not showing up on your machine (or any test machine). You never know exactly what that user has already done to the machine prior to the bug occurring and it's hard to get additional information. While it for sure sucks if you get that response, the immediate reaction should be "well, how can I help you find this" and not "I still have that problem" as it happens many times. Also many bug reports which are closed with "works for me" never received any attention from the reporter after reported.
sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop by tepples · 2012-09-20 03:12 · Score: 4, Informative

You didn't really need to switch to Fedora over that. What I did when Unity got on my nerves was sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop
1. Re:sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop by Immerman · 2012-09-20 07:31 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  It was a while ago, but offhand there were a couple of panel additions that I consider mandatory that I couldn't find - most importantly hierarchical menu-based file browsing. It actually sounded like one of the base XFCE modules probably provided what I wanted, but didn't appear to be included in Xubuntu or any of the available add-on packages, and I couldn't be bothered with finding a compatible source version and getting it to compile correctly just to see if it actually was suitable. Perhaps the problem was simply that I'm still running 10.04 because I'm unwilling to deal with Unity's idiot-friendly interface. I had actually been testing out the xubuntu desktop for a few days to see if it was minimally acceptable before upgrading to 12.x, sadly it didn't quite pass muster.
  I think another problem was a limitation to a single-level heirarchy on the program menu - I've got a couple categories that contain several hundred infrequently entries, without subcategories I'm stuck with either a ridiculously long scrolling menu, or cluttering up the top-level menu with several extra categories that I have to manage by hand.
  I tried KDE as well - I believe my problem there was that the screen corners are "numb", all panel buttons start one pixel away where they require attention to click, and the nuisance factor is too great to put up with on things I click dozens of times a day. I'll put up with that sort of idiocy on Windows because there's compatibility gains to be had, but not on a Linux desktop manager.
  
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