Ubuntu
xserver-xorg-video-nouveau package

A7N266VM does not boot under 2.6.35

Asked by Willem Dreyer

Anything newer than 2.6.32-23-generic-pae (lucid-10.04) does not start on this computer. I know there's a problem with nouveau on my board's igpu (geforce2), but still not sure if that's the issue I'm dealing with here.

I tried the following boot parameters: noacpi, noapic, nolapic, nosplash, xforcevesa and nomodeset (and various combinations of these parameters).

Tried those options in the following kernels: 2.6.35-1-generic-pae, 2.6.35-2-generic-pae 2.6.35-7-generic-pae on lucid from the kernel-ppa repos, maverick alpha2 and maverick "12 July daily image" (not sure what kernel was used).

In lucid I cannot see where this crash occurs as there is either splash (even if I set nosplash in grub boot entry) or I just get a blank screen, computer locks up completely (num/scroll/caps lock doesn't even work anymore). In maverick the lockup occurs right after cupsd service is started (needless to say: provided that I remove the quiet boot parameter). Like I said I'm using the xforcevesa parameter so nouveau should not have anything to do with this. Is there any other kernel I can test before someone looks into this, mainstream kernel perhaps?

Additional info:
CPU: AMD Athlon(TM) XP 2000+
BIOS Information
 Vendor: Award Software, Inc.
 Version: ASUS A7N266-VM ACPI BIOS Rev 1005
 Release Date: 11/19/2002
Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation nForce AC'97 Audio Controller (rev c2)
Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone] (rev 24)
VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NVCrush11 [GeForce2 MX Integrated Graphics] (rev b1)
HDD: WDC WD2000JB-00K
MEM: 1024MB DDR (x2 512MB)

Current installed software:
Lucid i386 with xorg-edgers and kernel-ppa repos using xorg 1:7.5+6ubuntu1~xorgedgers3~lucid with default lucid kernel (2.6.32-23). I had to install that to test the lastest nouveau DDX rendering, but now I can't since I need to use 2.6.35 with nouveua.

PS: tested maverick daily on my computer at home, wouldn't say it works 100% but at lest X started up :-)

Thanks for you time
Willem
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marcobra (Marco Braida) (marcobra) said : 		#1

Try disable nouveau driver from loading

please pass this kernel parameter at ubuntu boot to disable nouveau

nouveau.blacklist=true

This will disable the nouveau driver from getting loaded.
Nouveau driver when booting into ubuntu corrupts display and the session becomes unusable with a hang.
This option will force ubuntu to avoid loading nouveau driver

Then if it works you have to add it to grub parameters please tell if it works... then we can add this param to grub

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Willem Dreyer (willemdreyer) said : 		#2

No luck. Nouveau doesn't seem to recognize the command (using maverick daily 10-07-12). I removed "quiet" and "splash", added "nouveau.blacklist=true". This was the output:

Begin: Running /scripts/init-bottom ... done.
init: ureadahead-other main process (1017) terminated with status 4
init: ureadahead-other main process (1018) terminated with status 4
[ 55.451876] nouveau: Unknown parameter 'blacklist'
* Setting sensors limits [OK]
* Starting Kernel Oops catching service kerneloops [OK]
* Speech-dispatcher configured for user sessions
* Starting Common Unix Printing System: cupsd

After loading cupsd the system locked up.

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marcobra (Marco Braida) (marcobra) said : 		#3

Please try http://duopetalflower.blogspot.com/2010/04/installing-and-running-nvidia-inside.html

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Willem Dreyer (willemdreyer) said : 		#4

Still crashes after loading cupsd. Additionally I tried the parameters "nogdm apci=off vga=ask", at the ask menu I chose 640x480 16bit this also resulted in a crash after loading the cupsd service. I tried creating a custom iso with uck with openssh-server so I can tail Xorg.0.log or more importantly kern.log, but the latest uck (2.2) doesn't support maverick. According to this wishlist https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gdm/+bug/256125 the parameter nogdm should work and if my computer still locks up with that kernel parameter I'm starting to think that It's not nouveau related. I will try to get my hands on a alternate iso to test this theory.

Regards,
Willem

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Willem Dreyer (willemdreyer) said : 		#5

Scratch that. I tested the nogdm parameter in virtualbox, it did not work. I still want to test the alternate release as 2.6.35.x doesn't even boot in recovery mode, using lucid with kernel-ppa.

I'll have to get some cds first though, computer doesn't support usb boot and I'm at work so no pxe-boot for me. I'm off for now thanks for the help so far, really appreciate it ! :-)

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Willem Dreyer (willemdreyer) said : 		#6

Tested maverick-alternate-i386.iso - 14 July 2010's daily image. Took really long to get a writable CD, also could not install the image since this is the work's machine. I did however go through few of the installation steps and play around in BusyBox. It seemed to be working. Kernel used in BusyBox is 2.6.35-7-generic, I assume it's very basic/stripped version without (much) kernel modules.

Any other kernel parameters that I can try to stop nouveau or even the whole x-server from starting up on the livecd?

Regards,
WIllem

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Launchpad Janitor (janitor) said : 		#7

This question was expired because it remained in the 'Open' state without activity for the last 15 days.