Help - distorted text and graphics in Ubuntu 9.04

aurora72 · 07-20-2009, 08:22 AM

Hello
I 've been using Ubuntu 8.x for several months and lately I've
installed 9.04 from scratch.

In this version of Ubuntu I started to get distorted text and graphics.
See this link for an example screenshot. (Note: Some items are printed in turkish language)

I've configured xorg.conf so as to include the SubSection "Display" with the correct values just as I did in Ubuntu 8.x. The machine is the same in both 8.x and 9.04 (IBM TP R31)

Sometimes I just cannot read and write on my machine because of these distortions. I wait for your suggestions on this problem. Thanks!

jdkaye · 07-20-2009, 10:00 AM

What graphics card do you have? And what driver have you installed for it?
jdk

aurora72 · 07-20-2009, 05:09 PM

lspci gives (only those items related to graphics are pasted)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82830 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller] (rev 04)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82830 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller]

I don't know how to determine which driver I'm using, which command do you use for that?

jdkaye · 07-21-2009, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aurora72

lspci gives (only those items related to graphics are pasted)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82830 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller] (rev 04)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82830 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller]

I don't know how to determine which driver I'm using, which command do you use for that?

Try this:

Code:

lsmod |grep i810

cheers,
jdk

aurora72 · 07-21-2009, 02:30 AM

lsmod with grep810 returns nothing, so I tried it without grep810,
and here is the output. There are lines containing i915; they might be the ones you asked, I guess...

Code:

Module                  Size  Used by
binfmt_misc            16776  1 
i915                   65540  2 
drm                    96296  3 i915
bridge                 56340  0 
stp                    10500  1 bridge
bnep                   20224  2 
input_polldev          11912  0 
video                  25360  0 
output                 11008  1 video
lp                     17156  0 
pcmcia                 44748  0 
ppdev                  15620  0 
snd_intel8x0           37532  3 
snd_ac97_codec        112292  1 snd_intel8x0
ac97_bus                9856  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm_oss            46336  0 
snd_mixer_oss          22656  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                82948  3 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy          10756  0 
snd_seq_oss            37760  0 
snd_seq_midi           14336  0 
snd_rawmidi            29696  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event     15104  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
thinkpad_acpi          66560  0 
snd_seq                56880  6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
led_class              12036  1 thinkpad_acpi
snd_timer              29704  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device         14988  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
nvram                  16396  1 thinkpad_acpi
yenta_socket           32396  1 
rsrc_nonstatic         19328  1 yenta_socket
snd                    62628  16 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
pcmcia_core            43540  3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
soundcore              15200  1 snd
iTCO_wdt               19108  0 
iTCO_vendor_support    11652  1 iTCO_wdt
pcspkr                 10496  0 
psmouse                61972  0 
serio_raw              13316  0 
snd_page_alloc         16904  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
shpchp                 40212  0 
nsc_ircc               29328  0 
parport_pc             40100  1 
parport                42220  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
irda                  197180  1 nsc_ircc
intel_agp              34108  1 
crc_ccitt              10112  1 irda
agpgart                42696  3 drm,intel_agp
e100                   41740  0 
mii                    13312  1 e100
floppy                 64324  0 
fbcon                  46112  0 
tileblit               10752  1 fbcon
font                   16384  1 fbcon
bitblit                13824  1 fbcon
softcursor              9984  1 bitblit

jdkaye · 07-22-2009, 02:25 AM

Somebody with similar hardware seems to have had the same problem as you.
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=61433
Look at their screen shot - just like yours. I'm guessing their solution will work for you.
Have fun,
jdk

aurora72 · 07-24-2009, 07:24 AM

the second configuration in the link has worked; adding these to device section if /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

Code:

Option      "AccelMethod"   "exa"
Option      "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"

The first config ("AccelMethod" "XAA") has also eliminated the distorted text, but it also made the screen unnormally slow, e.g. when I scrolled web pages,only the top and bottom of the page was being scrolled and the middle section was remaining unchanged

Now it's ok, thanks a lot!