recurring problem, booting git-built to black screen with intel GPU

[Shreyansh Jain]

Hi Robert,

I have a tiny comment - inline -

On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 4:18 PM, Robert P. J. Day <rpjday at crashcourse.ca> wrote:
>
>  this is a copy of something i forwarded to the linux kernel mailing
> list, and i'd be interested if anyone else would test this and
> reproduce the problem:
>
> ===== start =====
>
>  on my ubuntu laptop (gateway NV79), a 2.6.37-rc7+ kernel i just
> built now boots to a black screen.  no text mode, no virtual consoles,
> nothing.
>
>  this is probably the best explanation:
>
> http://www.oblurb.com/ubuntu-dell-latitude-e6510-intel-gpu-blank-screen.html
>
> annoyingly, i'm currently running a 2.6.37-rc5+ hand-rolled kernel
> that works fine, but this more recent kernel doesn't, and a kernel
> *earlier* also doesn't work, so this issue seems to come and go.
>
>  here's another extended conversation on the same topic:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/600453
>
> here's the relevant output from lspci:
>
> 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor
> Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 12) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
>        Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 031c
>        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 41
>        Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
>        Memory at c0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
>        I/O ports at 3050 [size=8]
>        Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
>        Capabilities: <access denied>
>        Kernel driver in use: i915
>        Kernel modules: i915
>
> if i use "nomodeset", i can boot to the command line and no further.
> i'm open to suggestions.
>
> ===== end =====
>
>  in short, a while back, building a kernel from the git repo failed
> to give me a working kernel.  suddenly, as of 2.6.37-rc5, it worked
> fine and it's the kernel i'm running under right now:
>
> $ uname -r
> 2.6.37-rc5+
> $
>
>  and now, as of 2.6.37-rc7, it's back to being borked.  i'd love to
> have piles of free time to track this down but, before i do that, i'd
> be interested in having someone else try this and let me know if
> exactly the same thing happens for them.
>
>  this is a a gateway NV79 laptop, intel core i3-330m, with intel
> integrated graphics controller.  thoughts?
>
> rday
>
> p.s.  it seems clear that the system doesn't simply hang.  even after
> the screen goes black very early in the boot process, there is ample
> disk activity showing that the boot is continuing, and i eventually
> hear the little ubuntu "drum roll" that indicates i'm at the login
> screen.  so it's just the video that's died.

What parameters are being passed to the new kernel via Grub? I had the
same issue (don't remember, but I think it was with one of the rc
build of 2.6.34) and it could drill it down to a 'vga' parameter on
the Grub command line. I removed everything (including any standard
'quiet' parameter which Ubuntu distro kernel has) and managed to boot
with some vga value I can't recall (will search and post in case I can
find it).

I understand that you priority could be to find the solution to this
bug - what I state here is just a stop gap solution in case you have
not already figured that out. Apologies in case this is obvious to
you.

>
> --
>
> ========================================================================
> Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA
>                        http://crashcourse.ca
>
> Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
> LinkedIn:                               http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
> ========================================================================
>
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-
Shreyansh