[r128 1002:5446] Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is completely unresponsive.

Could you attach your /var/log/messages, /var/log/syslog, /var/log/Xorg.0.log after the crash?

I can definitely confirm this bug. It freezes two different PCs, both running Ubuntu 6.10, i386 version.
It also stalls in the Macintosh version, but does not freeze the system. It never produces a screensaver,
but was responsive to mouse clicks and keyboard selections. Both PCs had to be hard reset.

I left one PC alone for over an hour, and when I moved the mouse the screen lit up and had a molecule
displayed on it, but the computer was otherwise completely unresponsive to all but a hard reset.

I think that if I could trash the usr/bin/gnome-screensaver-preferences file, it would remove the need
to re-install Ubuntu from the CD, but it belongs to root, and the system won't let me delete it.

you can use gconf-editor and go to /apps/gnome-screensaver to change the hack used, could you attach the requested logs to the bug though?

Hello,

I don't know whether you have anything to do with maintaining
Ubuntu, but I got copied on your note, so I'm sending you information.

This bug (106060) showed up with the updates that were installed on
or about 4/13/07. At the same time, several of the other screensaver
modules stopped working correctly. I know they worked correctly before
these last updates. I think this failure might very well be related to 106060.

Some of the Gnome-Screensaver modules that no longer display properly
are: AntInspect, AntSpotlight, Moebius, Pipes, Regular 4D Polytopes,
Polyhedra, Spheremonics, and Superquadratics. I didn't find any others.

This problem appears on both the 32-bit PC version and the 32-bit Mac
version, although Molecule does not freeze my G3 running OS X 10.2.8.
It stops the system clock while it's calculating molecules, but the system
is still responsive to mouse and keyboard input, unlike my PCs, which aren't.

I would really like to see this bug fixed ASAP, as I have a client's computer
ready to deliver, but if he chooses Molecule, his PC will freeze, and I will
get a support call, and he will blame me for the problem. This I don't want.

Jerry in Eugene, Oregon

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Sebastien Bacher <email address hidden>
> you can use gconf-editor and go to /apps/gnome-screensaver to change the
> hack used, could you attach the requested logs to the bug though?
>
> --
> Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is completely
> unresponsive.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/106060
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

Oops!

My G3 has three operating systems installed: OS 9, OS 10.2.8, and Ubuntu 6.10.
While it is CURRENTLY running OS X, it was obviously (I hope) running Ubuntu
at the time of the Screensaver tests I ran. Sorry if this caused any confusion.

Jerry

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Sebastien Bacher <email address hidden>
> you can use gconf-editor and go to /apps/gnome-screensaver to change the
> hack used, could you attach the requested logs to the bug though?
>
> --
> Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is completely
> unresponsive.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/106060
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

Feisty!

I just spent 13 hours installing the upgrade to 7.04, hoping it would fix
the Gnome-screensaver bug (106060). It didn't. My PC still froze as soon
as I opened the Screensaver window, since Molecule was still selected.

Is there a way to edit or trash the Gnome-screensaver-preferences file?
If I had known this bug would carry through the upgrade, I would have
re-installed 6.10 to clear the preferences file before doing the upgrade.

Jerry

>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: Sebastien Bacher <email address hidden>
> > you can use gconf-editor and go to /apps/gnome-screensaver to change the
> > hack used, could you attach the requested logs to the bug though?
> >
> > --
> > Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is completely
> > unresponsive.
> > https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/106060
> > You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> > of the bug.
>
> --
> Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is completely
> unresponsive.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/106060
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

I can confirm this one also. I'm running a Dell Dimension 4100 1Ghz, with an ATI Rage 128 Pro video card, Feisty 7.04.

System completely locks up required hard boot. If I go back into screensaver it locks up again because "Molecule" is selected.

I'll try another crash to see if I can get the logs, then gedit the gnome screensaver so I can choose another screensaver.

Rich
p.s. maybe it's a regional thing since I'm in Oregon also. ;)

requested crash log files attached

syslog

Xorg.0.log

Without doing anything except letting my computer go go to the "Molecule" screen saver and lockup, then hard restart, I was able to see the Molecule screen saver and change it to something else.

If you are still having this problem maybe try this by letting the machine activate the screen saver itself then hard restart. Then go to the screen saver and change it. Sounds kinda like M$ stuff but it worked for me. Of course it still doesn't solve why this happens in the first place.

Rich

Seeing this bug as well with the Molecule screensaver on my system with 7.04. Someone mentioned an ATI Rage 128 Pro before. That's what I'm running and it would be my first suspect.

Scanning the list of Gnome Screensaver bugs, I discovered that Bug #117482 is apparently a duplicate of this bug.
The users commenting on it are reporting exactly the same symptoms as this bug exhibits. They are also using
the ATI Rage 128 video card. So it's the same problem, with the same hardware, Ubuntu version, and software.

setting to confirmed

I can confirm this. Device Manager calls it ATI Rage 128 Pro Ultra TF with Bus Type: PCI (even though it's an AGP card?). Also, "Desktop effects cannot be enabled". Molecule screensaver causes total lockup. I started digging into this problem when Gwyddion (image processing program) caused lockup when trying to go into 3D view.

I am using 7.10 Gusty Gibbon on a Dell Dimension 4500 1gz, i had the same problem happen to me. It really irritated me, after 15 minutes i would have to unplug the computer and restart. I wasn't able to change the screensaver from the screensaver preferences-- my system would hang. I tried changing parts of the gnome-screensaver configuration file in my home folder, with no luck. I did a search of my system for "molecule" and found the screensaver program itself was located at /usr/lib/xscreensaver/molecule. I deleted the buggy screensaver and was able to select a better one from the preferences (the molecule screensaver, at this point, is gone forever). Here is a step-by-step of what i did:

1. open the Terminal, type "su" and press return
2. enter your root password (and press return, of course)
3. enter "rm /usr/lib/xscreensaver/molecule" and press return

The molecule screensaver is gone, you can now select a better screensaver.

I am guessing this would work with Feisty, but i am not completely sure, it does work for Gutsy Gibbon.

I hope this is helpful for anyone with this problem.

L confirm this freezing bug with another screensaver "Lattice" ; surprisingly it shows-up after a long while either on KDE testing feature or with automatic triggering ; no way no regain control of computer when this bug shows up.
Regards.

I got the same freeze with the "braid" screensaver. In my case, it looks like it updates about once every few minutes. I clicked a different screensaver and was finally able to get it to respond and deselect braid. System specs:

1 223-0533 XPS 410n, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6320 (1.86GHz,1066FSB) with 4MB cache
1 311-5121 2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
1 310-7963 Dell USB Keyboard
1 320-5338 19 in (19 in viewable)SP1908FPSilver, Flat Panel Display
1 320-4944 NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE
1 341-3257 250GB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM)
1 341-3865 No Floppy Drive Requested
1 420-7143 Ubuntu Desktop Edition version7.04
1 310-7966 Dell Optical USB Mouse
1 313-3607 No modem requested for Dell Dimension
1 313-4422 16X DVD+R/RW CD-RW Combination Drive
1 313-2758 Integrated Audio
1 313-4062 AS501 10W Flat Panel Stereo Speakers for 1704, 1905,2001FPFlat Panels

"dondad",

I don't mean to be argumentative, but the Molecule freeze appears to be
more thorough. The keyboard and mouse do not work. At all. The only
thing that works is a hard-reset with the power key, or unplugging the PC.

Molecule did not freeze up my Mac, but it took MANY minutes before a
molecule appeared on the screen - about 20 or 30. The 32-bit PC version
just locks up solid. This was reported in April, and nothing has been fixed.

You do have an impressive array of hardware, though. Mine is minimal.

Jerry

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: dondad <email address hidden>
> I got the same freeze with the "braid" screensaver. In my case, it looks
> like it updates about once every few minutes. I clicked a different
> screensaver and was finally able to get it to respond and deselect
> braid. System specs:
>
> 1 223-0533 XPS 410n, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6320
> (1.86GHz,1066FSB) with 4MB cache
> 1 311-5121 2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
> 1 310-7963 Dell USB Keyboard
> 1 320-5338 19 in (19 in viewable)SP1908FPSilver, Flat Panel Display
> 1 320-4944 NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE
> 1 341-3257 250GB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM)
> 1 341-3865 No Floppy Drive Requested
> 1 420-7143 Ubuntu Desktop Edition version7.04
> 1 310-7966 Dell Optical USB Mouse
> 1 313-3607 No modem requested for Dell Dimension
> 1 313-4422 16X DVD+R/RW CD-RW Combination Drive
> 1 313-2758 Integrated Audio
> 1 313-4062 AS501 10W Flat Panel Stereo Speakers for 1704,
> 1905,2001FPFlat Panels
>
> --
> Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is completely
> unresponsive.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/106060
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

X Screensaver is the source of all the hacks, and this seems to be hack specific.

Ted,

I'm sorry, but I did not understand your message. I'm a retired programmer
of over 20 years, but never worked with Unix or Linux, so some of your terms
are obscure to me. In particular, your use of the term "hack" is unclear to me.

I understand your message to say you have changed the source package
name from gnome-screensaver to xscreensaver, and you have removed
yourself as the person assigned to work on it. Is this correct?

The fact that this bug, along with the difficulties in rendering several other
screensaver modules, showed up with the arrival of Feisty last April, and
given the severity of its effects, I would have thought it would have been
reasonably easy to identify and correct, but that was apparently not true.

This is only about the second communication I have received in almost a
year that is directly related to bug 106060. Apparently it was not deemed
serious enough to merit fixing right away, based on the severity alone.
That tells me the people who would work on it must have more important
things to work on, or to much to work on, or there are too few workers.

Anyway, if you could confirm my interpretation, or correct it, I'd appreciate it.

Jerry

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Ted Gould <email address hidden>
> X Screensaver is the source of all the hacks, and this seems to be hack
> specific.
>
> ** Changed in: xscreensaver (Ubuntu)
> Sourcepackagename: gnome-screensaver => xscreensaver
> Assignee: Ted Gould (ted-gould) => (unassigned)
>
> --
> Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is completely
> unresponsive.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/106060
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

"hack" = screensaver graphic/theme. This is slang used by the screensaver authors. The screensaver back-end (gnome-screensaver) just takes care of checking for keyboard activity etc and starts a program (the hack) that draws something on the screen. In fact, any program that just draws something on the screen can be used as a screensaver hack. The hack can be run standalone by running "/usr/lib/xscreensaver/molecule" but will then just run in a window. To test it fullscreen, add the option "-root". But since this will draw on the "root" window which often is hidden by desktop backgrounds etc, try this is in a "failsafe terminal session" from the login screen.

Most of the hacks used by gnome-screensaver come from the "xscreensaver" source package. Ted referred to him changing this bug's attributes, reassigning it to "xscreensaver" so that the relevant developers and bug triagers are noticed about your bug report.

If one particular hack makes the computer crash it is probably a bug in the graphic card driver, triggered by the hack. So usually these bugs end up in the collection of bug reports for the graphic driver in question. The hack makes drawing requests to the graphic subsystem (X11 and for 3D graphics in particular, using the "mesa" libraries) and, in principle, none of these requests (faulty or not) should hang the machine.

Fixing bugs in the card drivers is generally out of scope for the Ubuntu development (limited manpower and thus hard priority decisions), but we try to analyze and isolate the problems, and if we can collect enough details, we forward the bug "upstream", to the developers of the X11 graphic drivers on bugs.freedesktop.org

Can you all please run "lspci -nn | grep VGA" so that we can identify which cards have this exact problem? Can you reproduce it running molecule stand-alone? In window? Fullscreen?

You can force your AGP cards to run PCI instead with the "ForcePCIMode" device option in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Please try this, and verify in /var/log/Xorg.0.log that the option was correctly applied.

Tormod,

Thank you VERY much for your quick and very informative reply to my note.

As a retired programmer, I appreciate the difficulties in diagnosing the real
causes of bugs. I will try to perform as many of the steps you requested as
I know how to do. I did not report this bug, but only confirmed that I had
also encountered it. Several other modules began rendering incorrectly at
the same time that this one became fatal to PCs and also affected my Mac,
although it does not freeze it up. My 350 MHz Mac actually displayed some
kind of molecule, but it took about a half-hour for the first one to appear!

I will try to be thorough and meticulous when running the tests, in order to
provide you the most factual results possible. I should be able to report
them to you in a few days. Thank you again for your interest in solving this.

Jerry (64)

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Tormod Volden <email address hidden>
> "hack" = screensaver graphic/theme. This is slang used by the
> screensaver authors. The screensaver back-end (gnome-screensaver) just
> takes care of checking for keyboard activity etc and starts a program
> (the hack) that draws something on the screen. In fact, any program that
> just draws something on the screen can be used as a screensaver hack.
> The hack can be run standalone by running
> "/usr/lib/xscreensaver/molecule" but will then just run in a window. To
> test it fullscreen, add the option "-root". But since this will draw on
> the "root" window which often is hidden by desktop backgrounds etc, try
> this is in a "failsafe terminal session" from the login screen.
>
> Most of the hacks used by gnome-screensaver come from the "xscreensaver"
> source package. Ted referred to him changing this bug's attributes,
> reassigning it to "xscreensaver" so that the relevant developers and bug
> triagers are noticed about your bug report.
>
> If one particular hack makes the computer crash it is probably a bug in
> the graphic card driver, triggered by the hack. So usually these bugs
> end up in the collection of bug reports for the graphic driver in
> question. The hack makes drawing requests to the graphic subsystem (X11
> and for 3D graphics in particular, using the "mesa" libraries) and, in
> principle, none of these requests (faulty or not) should hang the
> machine.
>
> Fixing bugs in the card drivers is generally out of scope for the Ubuntu
> development (limited manpower and thus hard priority decisions), but we
> try to analyze and isolate the problems, and if we can collect enough
> details, we forward the bug "upstream", to the developers of the X11
> graphic drivers on bugs.freedesktop.org
>
> Can you all please run "lspci -nn | grep VGA" so that we can identify
> which cards have this exact problem? Can you reproduce it running
> molecule stand-alone? In window? Fullscreen?
>
> You can force your AGP cards to run PCI instead with the "ForcePCIMode"
> device option in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Please try this, and verify in
> /var/log/Xorg.0.log that the option was correctly applied.
>
> ** Changed in: xscreensaver (Ubuntu)
> Assignee: (unassigned) => Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)
> ...

I found the solution to the Molecule screensaver freeze problem!
1. go into the Terminal application (under Accessories)
2. enter:
gedit .gconf/apps/gnome-screensaver/%gconf.xml
3. in the box that pops up you'll see:
screensavers-molecule
4. change "molecule" to one of the working screensavers, such as:
screensavers-sonar
5. restart
The message from Xan 2007-12-03 up above suggests a way to remove molecule, but I haven't tried it.
Good luck!

Hi,

Thanks for the info you sent. But as it doesn't actually correct
whatever is wrong with the Molecule screensaver module, I
would not call it a "fix", but only a workaround. My own "fix"
is to make darn sure I never select that module from the list.

Apparently the problem was not widespread, but specific to
only a few (although quite common) video cards, so it didn't
negatively impact a large enough user base to warrant devoting
a large-scale effort to diagnose and treat it, and that's fine.

Jerry

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Nietzsche Keen <email address hidden>
> I found the solution to the Molecule screensaver freeze problem!
> 1. go into the Terminal application (under Accessories)
> 2. enter:
> gedit .gconf/apps/gnome-screensaver/%gconf.xml
> 3. in the box that pops up you'll see:
> screensavers-molecule
> 4. change "molecule" to one of the working screensavers, such as:
> screensavers-sonar
> 5. restart
> The message from Xan 2007-12-03 up above suggests a way to remove molecule, but
> I haven't tried it.
> Good luck!
>
> --
> Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is completely
> unresponsive.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/106060
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

We are closing this bug report because it lacks the information we need to investigate the problem, as described in the previous comments. Please reopen it if you can give us the missing information, and don't hesitate to submit bug reports in the future. To reopen the bug report you can click on the current status, under the Status column, and change the Status back to "New". Thanks again!

I can confirm the following additional information regarding this problem:
- The problem is still present in Hard Heron (8.04)
- The problem also affects molecules when run standalone and -root
- The problem still occurs when run with option "ForcePCIMode " "true" in X configuration.
- the X log file contains the following confirming (?) the ForcePCIMode option:

- My lspci -nn output is:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc Rage 128 Pro Ultra TF [1002:5446]
- There are other duplicate reports of this bug, some recent, (#231949, #190580, #72672, #72942)
- I attach my xorg.conf
This problem is pretty ripe by now, will somebody please fix it?
If any further information is still required, please let me know and I _will_ supply

Sorry, here's the log line:

(**) R128(0): Option "ForcePCIMode" "true"

Thanks, Stephen. Can everybody else having freezes with molecule please provide their "lspci -nn | grep VGA" output?

(I got this from Phillip in private mail)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc Rage 128 Pro Ultra TF [1002:5446]

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Tormod Volden <email address hidden>
> (I got this from Phillip in private mail)
> 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc Rage 128 Pro
> Ultra TF [1002:5446]
>
> --
> Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is completely
> unresponsive.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/106060
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

Glad to see someone is finally looking into this bug, which I encountered
way back in April of 07. My PC also had an ATI Rage Pro video card. At the
time I commented on the reported bug (106060), I reported that I'd discovered
that about 6 other modules started displaying incorrectly at the same time
this bug appeared, which I thought would help someone find and fix it. The
ATI cards are very common in older PCs, which are the ones most likely to
need operating systems when acquired, and Ubuntu is better than Win 98,
IMHO, being current, which allows a modern browser to be used. And free.
When a person buys or builds a PC for $100 or so, they aren't anxious to
shell out another $100 or so for Windoze. Ubuntu is a great alternative!

Jerry (65, retired, real-time programmer/systems analyst, 1970-1993)

this has happen to me and is still present in my system upgraded to 8.04 still there...ATI Rage 128 AGP card also clean install

Can somebody please check whether the bug is still present in Intrepid (release candidate will be out in a few days)? I also asked people for lspci information, and there was only one response. Open Accessories -> Terminal and type in the command:
 lspci -nn | grep VGA
then copy and paste the output (ctrl-shift-C in Terminal) here.

Please don't add comments to this bug report unless you have provided the lspci output.

Hi

I am running Intrepid rc i386 and the bug is still present when selecting the Molecule Screensaver.

lspci output:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc Rage 128 Pro Ultra TF [1002:5446]

regards,
grone

I am running Intrepid also and the bug is still there. i have an ATI Technologies Inc Rage 128 Pro Ultra TF

I am new to Linux and Ubuntu and have the apparently troublesome Rage 128. I was surprised (disappointed) to encounter the Molecules bug 10 minutes after my first install of Ubuntu 8.10. I can't change it because entering the screensaver menu freezes the system. I must reinstall Ubuntu (or remove the Molecule file) if I want to avoid rebooting the system using the power cord. Not a very encouraging intro to Linux and Ubuntu. It crashed almost as many times in one evening as with the other OS over 5 years.
I used my older computer system and at the time the Rage 128 cards were very popular for home and business. There are likely many more users that will encounter this problem. I'm now concerned other applications that may have similar problems with this card. Hopefully this bug will get some needed attention.
Also helpful is to disable the preview as the default when entering the screensaver menu. That would allow bypassing the bug. Thanks.

Hi,

I, too, am disappointed that this bug has not been fixed in over 1.5 years.
I encountered it in mid-April of 2007, right after upgrading to Ubuntu 7.04.

I also have the "offending" Rage 128, as I'm sure many hundreds do. This
bug was not present prior to the 7.04 upgrade, so I would think it would be
relatively easy to find, assuming anyone has looked at the offending code.
At least 8 other Screensaver modules stopped displaying properly, as well.

When I complained, someone provided me with a set of 2 or 3 commands
to enter, after opening the ( Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal ) window.
The commands are fairly short and straightforward, but I don't remember the
exact commands, so maybe someone will be kind enough to supply them.

If you don't hear from anyone in a day or two, email me, and I will try to find
where I wrote them down, and email them back to you. I know this is very
frustrating, but there are quite a few of us living with it, so welcome aboard!

Jerry, 65, retired programmer in Eugene, Oregon, USA

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: opto <email address hidden>
> I am new to Linux and Ubuntu and have the apparently troublesome Rage 128. I
> was surprised (disappointed) to encounter the Molecules bug 10 minutes after my
> first install of Ubuntu 8.10. I can't change it because entering the
> screensaver menu freezes the system. I must reinstall Ubuntu (or remove the
> Molecule file) if I want to avoid rebooting the system using the power cord.
> Not a very encouraging intro to Linux and Ubuntu. It crashed almost as many
> times in one evening as with the other OS over 5 years.
> I used my older computer system and at the time the Rage 128 cards were very
> popular for home and business. There are likely many more users that will
> encounter this problem. I'm now concerned other applications that may have
> similar problems with this card. Hopefully this bug will get some needed
> attention.
> Also helpful is to disable the preview as the default when entering the
> screensaver menu. That would allow bypassing the bug. Thanks.
>
> --
> [r128 1002:5446] Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is
> completely unresponsive.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/106060
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

If somebody can try (in Intrepid) the xserver-xorg-core and xserver-xorg-core-dbg 2:1.5.3~git-1ubuntu0tormod4 from https://launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers/+archive and attach the log after the crash (would be /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old if X has been restarted afterwards), we can file it upstream.

Also some info from https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Backtracing can be useful.

I also experience this bug, but I'm glad I can contribute! I tried your packages. After installing them, I did System > Preferences > Screensaver > Molecule. Outcome was the same as reported above. Mouse is moveable and num-lock is changeable, but that's it. Xorg.2.log of this session is attached.

I was going to do another run and get a backtrace with gdm, but the screensaver started to work the second time (after a hard kill of Xorg). So I re-booted from the Live-CD, and went for the gdb-backtrace the first time the screensaver would run. This time, I enabled NoTrapSignals. Corresponding log is Xorg.1.log and the gdb backtrace is in gdb_backtrace_2:1.5.2-2ubuntu3.txt. Yes, I forgot to upgrade to your packages, so this backtrace is for 2:1.5.2-2ubuntu3.

So, in yet another live session (the screensaver is running fine the second time Xorg is run with 2:1.5.2-2ubuntu3 too (I tried to unload the kernel modules drm and r128 but I could not do that, something was still using it)), also with NoTrapSignals, the gdb backtrace was done with 2:1.5.3~git-1ubuntu0tormod4. Log attached als Xorg.0.log and the gdb backtrace as gdb_backtrace_2:1.5.3~git-1ubuntu0tormod4.txt

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ lspci -nn | grep VGA
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc Rage 128 PF/PRO AGP 4x TMDS [1002:5046]

Hope this helps upstream find the bug!

Oh, by the way,

Nov 20 20:57:13 ubuntu kernel: [ 1092.980529] [drm:drm_lock_take] *ERROR* 3 holds heavyweight lock

was in /var/log/syslog the last session. Just as in the already attached syslog.

Thanks Ronald, Tormod and others for your comments. Thought I'd provide a brief update: I took a shortcut approach to fixing the Rage 128 problem...I swapped the card for another brand and I am able to get past the screensaver problem. Best part about Linux is the community support. Thanks.

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: opto <email address hidden>
> Thanks Ronald, Tormod and others for your comments. Thought I'd provide
> a brief update: I took a shortcut approach to fixing the Rage 128
> problem...I swapped the card for another brand and I am able to get past
> the screensaver problem. Best part about Linux is the community
> support. Thanks.
>
> --
> [r128 1002:5446] Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is
> completely unresponsive.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/106060
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

Wow!

A resourceful user. I'm impressed, but I can't ignore the feeling that you've
been a Microsoft customer. "Our new OS version doesn't work on your
computer? Well, sounds like you need to get a new one, so it will." :-)

The screensaver for gnome shipped with Ubuntu 6.10 worked fine with
the Rage 128, which is as common as dirt. Lots of users turn to Linux
because they can't afford a PC that will run XP or Vista. Maybe it's just me,
but I don't think it's okay to ship software with Ubuntu 7.04 that no longer
works on what I believe is very common hardware, then leave it in the
package when delivering 7.10, 8.04 and 8.10. That just doesn't seem right.

At least eight other modules no longer display correctly - it's been so long
since I ran the tests that I've forgotten exactly how many became broken.
I listed them all in my comments at the time - over a year and a half ago.
I did that in the hope that it would help identify where the code broke.

Code that used to work is easier to fix than code that never worked,
and this code used to work. I'm not saying I could fix it, but *someone*
should be able to. If not, some kind of statement should be issued to
the user community, saying "Yes, it used to work, and now it doesn't,
but we don't have the resources to fix it, so we suggest you replace
your Rage 128 video card with one of these:" and then list a few that
the software does support. Even that would be better than releasing
four new versions without fixing the bug, and not giving us closure.

I sincerely hope I don't get blasted for this note, as I am a huge *fan*
of Ubuntu. I have talked it up to people ever since I started using it.
I just think that the present situation makes the whole organization
and Ubuntu look bad, and I care too much about both to ignore that.

I'm a retired programmer of mission-critical industrial applications,
where software bugs could injure or kill people. We had to make
sure it all worked before we deployed it. One of my programs ran
in simulation mode every four seconds for a month before being
accepted for release. QA was everything. (Of course, we were all
getting paid, but price does not equate to quality, does it? No.)

Jerry

Ubuntu definitely needs and welcomes people working on QA. Please consider joining the QA team https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam or participate in their activities.

This bug has been dragging, not been visible to the right persons (filed on wrong package, lack of bug triaging), waiting for required additional information from the bug reporter, etc. And the r128 3D driver doesn't get much attention because not so many people use it, and there's not so much feedback to the developers. Good hardware support is depending on user involvement, since there's not an army of developers having all the necessary time and test hardware available.

However, this is a bug report and not a forum, so please let us take discussions somewhere else, so the actual technical information needed to sort out the bug does not get lost.

Hi,

I've just installed xubuntu 8.10 for a freind and fell foul of this bug.

My lspci output is

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 [Brookdale] Chipset Host Bridge (rev 04)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 [Brookdale] Chipset AGP Bridge (rev 04)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 05)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801BA ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 05)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801BA IDE U100 Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM USB Controller #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM SMBus Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.4 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM USB Controller #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 05)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Rage 128 PF/PRO AGP 4x TMDS

It's that ATI problem still.

:D

I am having freeze problems using ATI Rage 128 Pro Ubuntu 8.10

lspci -nn | grep VGA

lspci: Duplicate entry at /usr/share/misc/pci.ids, line 4545

gksudo nautilus

Opened pci.ids all I saw was gibberish ? I'll try to open it from another distro.

I also have other problems, like the openoffice wordprocessor don't open .doc files. Printer will not print .pdf files - it prints, but blank, color ink is empty, but I have it set to print grayscale only.
This is a fresh install with /home I used for some time - years. I upgraded from 7.04 to 8.04 then to 8.10 all was fine. Now after a new install these problems.

I couldn't open /usr/share/misc/pci.ids in ubuntu 8.10 root (it was gebberish), so I copied the file from mint6 install, will reboot and post results here, well for curious I renamed the file to /usr/share/misc/pci.ids.old and am including it here.

response is now as previous user

~$ lspci -nn | grep VGA
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc Rage 128 PF/PRO AGP 4x TMDS [1002:5046]

next, I'll try to invoke the screensaver(s) molekule ets.. also I noticed that even when I selected 'only one screensaver' option - GLSlideshow, all screen savers where being invoked. I'll post results after

lspci -nn | grep VGA

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc Rage 128 PF/PRO AGP 4x TMDS [1002:5046]

It freezes on Moulecules module, also in mint6 distro, so i is not the install. I will also try another distro Mepis and Live Ubuntu and post results.

Mepis doesn't have Molecules module installed
Ubuntu LiveCD after sudo apt-get install xscreensaver, selected Molecules and locked up, only mouse cursor worked, had to do hard reset

Now everytime I go into the xscreensaver configure it locks up because the Molecules is highlited

so I did gedit .gconf/apps/gnome-screensaver/%gconf.xml

and changed
screensavers-molecule
4. change "molecule" to one of the working screensavers, such as:
screensavers-sonar
as suggested in above post
I'll post the results, see if I can run GLSlideshow with My Pictures without lockup

No, it locks up everytime I invoke xscreeensaver setup.

So I went into /usr/share/applications/screensavers and deleted Molecules file. I'll see if that works. otherwise I'll have to kill xscreensaver or gnome-screensaver in terminal before I run xscreeensaver setup.

sudo kill xscreensaver didn't work
I didn't know how to stop xscreensaver
sudo apt-get remove xcreensaver
didn't work

opened Synaptic Package Manager found xcreensaver entries and associated data and selected for reinstallation

xcreensaver
xcreensaver-gl
xcreensaver-data
xcreensaver-default-images

I'll post results

That didn't change anything; btw since I have 0 minutes to lock the screen it is activated as soon as I start xscreensaver setup and gives me no time to change it to anything else.
I tried removing xscreensaver and it says it would remove ubuntu-desktop, I had to install xscreensaver, it wasn't part of the default install?

So I removed xscreensaver by itself with Synaptic manager, now it doesn't appear in Applications>System Tools, so I'll try to reinstall it and also select xscreensaver-gl-extra and xscreensaver-data-extra in an attempt to have xscreensaver and be able to deselect Molecules module

No that didn't work the preferences are still same Molecules module highlited and Only One Screensaver selected. I need to access the preferences and be able to change that maybe gedit .gconf/apps/gnome-screensaver/%gconf.xml ? and look for something else, but I don't think that is the preferences file

running nautilus in root mode gksudo nautilus

and browsing to /usr/share/applications/
clicking xscreensaver setup

seemed to anable me to start from default settings Random screensaver and I was able to uncheck Molecules

Wao

not quite, something didn't start properly because I was running as root..??

aaaargh, I'm just going to download x86_64 Ubuntu 8.10 and reinstall again.. I've been wanting to have the 64 bit version for long time but it wasn't as ready as i386, some things were not ready to run on 64.

The problems with "molecule" seems to continue in Ubuntu 9.04 (alfa). But I followed the direrctions above and got rid of the problem.

Just ran into this issue on my old dell gx240 with an install of Intrepid Ibex 8.10, deleted the molecule app (before I found the "change config" note)

Looks like its definitely an issue with the ATI driver by the sound of the reporting history here.

This is a pretty common video card as far as Dell systems, and since many large companies are retiring these systems there will be more of them in the home user base.

~$ lspci -nn | grep VGA
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc Rage 128 Pro Ultra TF [1002:5446]

I have also had this issue as well. One thing I have noticed is that I can remote in (using ssh) to the box and reboot or shutdown the system. I have not noticed any crashes or pukes in my logs though when this happens. This seems to start happening with every new ubuntu distribution, then goes away (until the next ubuntu release) after a few updates.

Dell E1705 - Ubuntu 9.04, ATI video card.

I'm still seeing this bug.

administrator@im-developer-3:~$ lsb_release -c
Codename: jaunty

administrator@im-developer-3:~$ lspci | grep VGA
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV370 5B60 [Radeon X300 (PCIE)]

For anyone still not sure how to work around this bug, run gconf-editor from a terminal window, expand apps, click on gnome-screensaver, right click on themes, and click on edit key. Click ont the value, then remove it, click ok, then exit out of the editor.

There is no need to do a complete reinstall to change your screensaver setting.

This bug is still present in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic alpha2

Please keep the importance of this bug to High because we get a frozen pc if we have a Ati card and:
- we preview the screensaver
- we select random screensaver and the molecule startup
Thank you

yes i reported this so long ago  nearly two years ago  from the reports  i turned the screen saver off   problem solved  the bug is in the screen saver  all the best mate !

--- On Tue, 25/8/09, Tormod Volden <email address hidden> wrote:

From: Tormod Volden <email address hidden>
Subject: [Bug 106060] Re: [r128 1002:5446] Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is completely unresponsive.
To: <email address hidden>
Received: Tuesday, 25 August, 2009, 8:17 PM

** Description changed:

  Binary package hint: gnome-panel

  Selecting the Molecule screensaver freezes my PC completely. It says
  Creating molecule or something like that, but it stays there, fully
  unresponsive to any keyboard input, and I can't click the Force Quit
  button either. Happens every time I try to select it, requires me to
  hard reset.

  I think it might be a compatibility problem with my graphics card. It's
  an ATI Rage 128 AGP card. This is a clean install of Ubuntu.

+ The bug also affects the 1002:5046 cards.
+
  ProblemType: Bug
  Architecture: i386
  Date: Thu Apr 12 21:49:16 2007
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 7.04
  ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/gnome-panel
  Package: gnome-panel 1:2.18.1-0ubuntu1
  PackageArchitecture: i386
  ProcCmdline: gnome-panel --sm-client-id default1
  ProcCwd: /home/sergei
  ProcEnviron:
-  PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
-  LANG=en_US.UTF-8
-  SHELL=/bin/bash
+  PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
+  LANG=en_US.UTF-8
+  SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: gnome-panel
  Uname: Linux GP33-1 2.6.20-14-generic #2 SMP Mon Apr 2 20:37:49 UTC 2007 i686 GNU/Linux

--
[r128 1002:5446] Selecting the Molecule screensaver makes the PC freeze. It is completely unresponsive.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/106060
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
of a duplicate bug.

Status in X.org xf86-video-r128: Confirmed
Status in “gnome-screensaver” package in Ubuntu: Confirmed
Status in “xserver-xorg-video-r128” package in Ubuntu: Confirmed

Bug description:
Binary package hint: gnome-panel

Selecting the Molecule screensaver freezes my PC completely. It says Creating molecule or something like that, but it stays there, fully unresponsive to any keyboard input, and I can't click the Force Quit button either. Happens every time I try to select it, requires me to hard reset.

I think it might be a compatibility problem with my graphics card. It's an ATI Rage 128 AGP card. This is a clean install of Ubuntu.

The bug also affects the 1002:5046 cards.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Thu Apr 12 21:49:16 2007
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 7.04
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/gnome-panel
Package: gnome-panel 1:2.18.1-0ubuntu1
PackageArchitecture: i386
ProcCmdline: gnome-panel --sm-client-id default1
ProcCwd: /home/sergei
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnome-panel
Uname: Linux GP33-1 2.6.20-14-generic #2 SMP Mon Apr 2 20:37:49 UTC 2007 i686 GNU/Linux

      ____________________________________________________________...

Screensaver Molecule freezes computer. I found my solution. Go into root by $ sudo -i, give password, and then at root# rm /usr/lib/xscreensaver/molecule, and then root# rm /usr/share/xscreensaver/config/molecule.xml, and then remove from the gnome-screensaver # rm /usr/lib/gnome-screensaver/molecule. I went and uninstalled the entire package gnome-screensaver and this removed the settings at menu System | Preferences | Screensaver. So had to install the gnome-screensaver package again, and the download did not have those screensavers listed. I used the Synaptic Package Manager listed in menu System, and also did a backup. Here's my references URL http://www.debianadmin.com/simple-package-management-with-synaptic-package-manager-in-ubuntu.html , and the for sbackup URL http://www.ubuntugeek.com/backup-and-restore-your-ubuntu-system-using-sbackup.html . Mine is fine now, and using another image for screensaver with settings. Thanks to everyone for your help. Karen

My computer running Lucid -- and before the upgrade -- Karmic -- on a 64-bit AMD platform has locked up twice with the screensaver under Lucid. It only does it once in a while. Another time it almost locked up but I was able to get it back after repeated slaps at the Esc key. Unfortunately, I did not look to see what the screensaver is named. It was the one where columns of green text-like figures slide vertically down the screen on a black background.

Is this still a problem in Ubuntu 10.10 or Natty?

No response from submitter, closing.