Re: A long, strange FC3 problem

From: Robert L Cochran (cochranb_at_speakeasy.net)
Date: 12/05/04

  • Next message: Iraj Medifar: "Re: latest version of udev breaks dvd and cd-audio" 
    Date: Sat, 04 Dec 2004 22:00:50 -0500
To: For users of Fedora Core releases <fedora-list@redhat.com>

    This advice is taken from the Release Notes for the x86_64 arch. I don't
    know if it is also in the Release Notes for x86. But it looks to me like
    your system qualifies here:

          Installation-Related Issues

        *

          Certain hardware configurations (particularly those with LCD
          displays) may experience problems while starting the Fedora Core
          installation program. In these instances, restart the
          installation, and add the "*nofb*" option to the boot command line.

          NOTE: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean graphical installations
          started using the "*nofb*" option will start in English, and then
          switch to the appropriate language once the graphical phase of the
          installation process begins.

        *

          Serial mice are known to be inoperative during installation.
          However, there are indications that serial mice work properly in X
          after the installation has completed. Refer to bug 119474 for more
          information:

          http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=119474

    Summer Brooks wrote:

    >Bear with me... this is a long explanation of a strange problem
    >with my home machine.
    >
    >I have an issue with FC3 with my monitor locking up. Actually,
    >there are two separate issues, but while the first is one I can
    >work around, the other one isn't.
    >
    >System: generic Intel P4 2.4GHz
    >Monitor: Viewsonic VX900-2 19" LCD
    >Graphics card: nVidia GeForce 440 MX
    >using the SVGA interface on the monitor, since this card doesn't
    >have DVI output
    >
    >First issue is my monitor locks up when switching from text
    >mode to graphical mode during boot up. Locks up to the point
    >where none of the buttons work, not even the power button...
    >I have to unplug it to reset it. It happens once when switching
    >from text to the graphical startup screen, then again when it
    >switches from that screen to the login panel. Once it's plugged
    >back in, the login panel is there, waiting for me, and I can login
    >just like normal.
    >
    >This never happened during the year-plus it was running RH9...
    >has anyone else seen behavior like this?
    >
    >The other problem is harder to pin down, but similar in symptoms.
    >Initially, I'd just done an upgrade from RH9 to FC3, and afterwards,
    >applied all the updates available at the time. Within about 30
    >minutes of setting up my desktop, firing up a browser or 3 and
    >my favorite email client, exmh, my desktop locked up.
    >
    >The mouse could still move across the screen, but I couldn't select
    >a terminal window or application and work in it. At first, I thought
    >it was a problem with Firefox, since I'd been playing on a WordPress
    >data entry screen for a blog I help out with, so I switched back to
    >Mozilla after a hard reboot.
    >
    >The problem didn't happen within that first half-hour, but I also
    >hadn't fired up exmh that session. Nothing happened for a while,
    >and I chalked it up to being a Firefox glitch.
    >
    >The next morning, when I turned the monitor on to continue working,
    >it was locked up in the middle of a screensaver design, and I started
    >the process all over again, with the lock-ups happening so frequently
    >while actually working that I did a fresh install of FC3 and waited
    >to see what would happen. I even changed xscreensaver to do a single
    >non-3D, non-GL pattern, just to be on the safe side.
    >
    >To make a long debugging story short, for two days, the system didn't
    >lock up while I used Firefox or Mozilla. I added a RH9 rpm of
    >nmh-1.0.4-20 and used the terminal commands to do email for a day,
    >and that was fine.
    >
    >Tuesday, I added exmh-2.7.0 from it's tarball, and used it in
    >conjunction with Firefox, and had no problems over the course of a
    >few hours, including repeating things I'd been doing in Firefox before
    >when I'd experienced a lockup. I thought "problem solved"...
    >
    >On Wednesday, I added the RH9 rpms sharutils-4.2.1-14 and metamail-2.7-28
    >(only after failing to get an FC3 rpm built from metamail-2.7-28.src.rpm
    >or metamail-2.7-29.src.rpm), to get the full MIME related functionality
    >in exmh. Within an hour of adding those rpms, I started to experience
    >the desktop lockups again, even when not running exmh.
    >
    >What makes things worse is that I did the exact same procedure -- an
    >upgrade from RH9 to FC3 -- on my system at work, and everything still
    >worked fine, the exmh and everything. The system at work is a 2.8GHz
    >Dell Precision, with 17" LCD, but it's using the DVI connector from
    >whatever video card is in there (I think it's a newer nVidia, but I'm
    >not 100% sure right now).
    >
    >So color me stumped. Right now, I've removed the metamail rpm from
    >my home machine to see if that resolves the lockups, but if it does,
    >that makes exmh crippled, which makes me an irked camper.
    >
    >I'm open to suggestions here. I'd be happy to get metamail built
    >from source and see if it locks things up again even with a native
    >build, but the source rpm build vomits, and I haven't been able to
    >find sourcecode source for the current version.
    >
    >
    >-------------------------------------------------------------------------
    >Summer Brooks, WildHorse.com Staff I will choose a Path that's clear
    >brooksj at wildhorse dot com I will choose Free Will
    >
    >
    > 

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