[RESOLVED] Houston, we have a problem with video drivers after the kernel upgrade to 2.22.13
Posted by Nanci Barthelmess on 5 October 2007
After getting a few rounds of upgrades to Ubuntu Gutsy with no problems, some of the upgrades in the latest batch brought the kernel to version 2.22.13. Since I accepted it I am unable to use my Nvidia graphics cards.
After trying to get the drivers working with both the Restricted Drivers Manager and Envy with the 2.22.13 kernel I went back to the 2.22.12 kernel, which had been working fine just this afternoon. Alas, I was unable to get the Nvidia drivers working with either the Restricted Drivers Manager or with Envy. Luckily I have an Intel graphics system on my motherboard so I’m able to use that.
A bug report has been filed in Lunchpad so I’m sure I’ll have an resolution to report before Ubuntu Gutsy comes out in two weeks. It’s the first problem I’ve had with Ubuntu Gutsy, and I’m not heading back to Feisty because of this issue.
UPDATE: I managed to work around the issue by uninstalling the updated kernel and finding the last working xorg.conf file and using it as a basis for running Envy. I’m back on my Nvidia card (which is good, because I can’t get into SecondLife without it and I have a sale in my online store that ends tomorrow) and I’ve backed up my xorg.conf as xorg_WORKS!.conf so I can find it more easily the next time I need it.
I think my first mistake was taking the upgrades before the list of changes made was available, something I usually don’t do. I’m going to leave the bug in Launchpad open to try to get it fixed rather than simply worked around. And I’ll probably hold off on kernel upgrades until either the next one comes out or Gusty is released, which ever comes first. I lost way too much time in the last 18 hours trying to get my video system working.
By the way, the Failsafe video mode in Gutsy didn’t give me much help at all. Not only could I not get a basic working video system and into my desktop (on either the Intel or Nvidia cards), I didn’t even get to see what had failed to know what needs to be fixed. Something tells me I’ll be looking to bypass it completely just so I can get to the standard error screens when something goes wrong in the future.
UPDATE (Mnn 8 October, 6:57 PM ET): As Kentoo posted in the comments, they have in fact come out with a new version of the 2.22.13 kernel which seems to have fixed things. Thanks for letting us know about the new kernel, Kentoo.
Kentoo said
same problem here.
.12 works fine; so I’m still waiting for new .13 kernel!
Nanci Barthelmess said
I was also having an issue that was causing the Ubuntu-restricted-extras to not get updated, but I found out that it was due to my using the SphereCrystal theme and it was causing a conflict. As soon as I picked another theme I was able to get it updated. Unfortunately I also lost the Nuvola theme, which is too bad because other than the SpherCrystal theme Nuvola is my other favorite them.
Kentoo said
new kernel. goodbye issues.
Nanci Barthelmess said
Cool. I’ll have to check it later. I just had to replace my monitor because my 4 year old NEC flat panel died yesterday so now I”m in the process of catching up on everything. I wish I could get the changes to the Nvidia drivers that my system wants to update.
Another Gutsy major update before the release, but this one was painless « I’m Just an Avatar said
[...] [RESOLVED] Houston, we have a problem with video drivers after the kernel upgrade to 2.22.13 [...]
Top Drivers Blog » Blog Archive » Houston, we have a problem with video drivers after the kernel … said
[...] bassmann710: [...]
Nanci Barthelmess said
Thanks for the link, bassman. Too bad you don’t give the proper attribution in your post. (I’d have posted that to the Top Drivers Blog, but I’m not a member so I can’t even post a comment. I never have liked sites that make me sign up just to post a comment. You almost got marked as SPAM because of it.)