JFL92 and Ubuntu 8.04, huge problem out of the box.

I have been wracking my brain for a week now with a serious problem using the new Ubuntu 8.04, on my brand new JFL92 I got last week. Here is the issue.

When using it, after anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds of idle, the screen freezes. As in cursors that were blinking, stop blinking, and animations that were going, stop going. I move my mouse, and I get 2-3 seconds of huge mouse lag as the pointer jumps from one side of the screen to another, and then things are back to normal.

This happens when I am using wireless, wired, and completely disconnected. I have used various methods to test each scenario and found no coorelation.

It has a repeatable example test. On first boot after a default install, go right to a terminal in gnome and do:

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get dist-upgrade

Basically just getting yourself up to date. If you don't move the mouse or press any keys, you will see exactly what I described happen. If you are on wireless, you will at that point have to re-connect to your wireless as it will be in a defunct state. If you are on ethernet, you will resume where you left off, but only after you bring it out of the 'lag'. It will have been recieving no data while in the 'lag'.

This can also be tested by simpling 'ping google.com', after 100 or so replies it will freeze.

Offline this can be seen by just watching 'top' for a few minutes.

Ubuntuforums have not been able to provide me with any help. It is such a HUGE and OBVIOUS issue, and is apparent on first boot with the default install, that I cannot be the only one who is noticing it. My best bet is to find some JFL92 users who can help me out by testing this and seeing if I'm crazy.

JFL92 users who use linux, anyone using Ubuntu and run into this? I am about ready to chuck this JFL92 out the window.

Other notes : Everything works 100% in Vista and XP, I have run 5 memtest86 tests, prime95 on both cores simul, HD tests from OEM and GRC Spinrite, and GPU stress tests; all tests watching temps and volts. This laptop is mechanically perfect.

 

I have not heard of this issue yet. Hardy would not work on our test box; because of the chrome graphic chipset (although Feisty and Gutsy work fine.) Ubuntu 8.04.1 will be released in the next month or two, mabye these annoyances will be fixed.

 

That's very weird... might try a BIOS update if you can. Boot the kernel with the /noapic and /noacpi options, see if that helps.

I have a Thinkpad T61 that has all Intel stuff inside with the X3100GPU, and it runs wonderfully with 8.04 x86-64. The NVIDIA card should be well supported, so I'd rule that out. I haven't heard of problems with those cards in other machines. Basically, I'd be willing to bet that it's a BIOS issue, which is typically an ACPI issue, so try those two kernel switches (just add them to the end of the kernel boot line in grub when you boot by using the "e" key, google around for more info if you need it) and see if they fix things. If they do, submit a bug to ubuntu.launchpad.net and see what they can do to help you fix it.

 

I've tried noapic, that didnt help. And the installer causes a kernel panic when using acpi=no.

My bios is 116, is there newer? The place I look for bios upgrades (bizcom) shows that as the latest.

 

I installed Ubuntu 8.04 Beta from a cd on a new FL92 and after the upgrades I had no problems. Is it possible your copy of Ubuntu is corrupt? 116 is the newest BIOS that I know of.

 

I've verified the CD multiple times, via MD5 and the check for errors option on boot.

 

Sorry, I can't help you more, I'm new at working with linux. If you do chuck it, let me know what window to stand under.

 

Fix found. Kernel boot params needed noacpi and noapic both. acpi=no didnt seem to help. Odd.

 

Odd, I downloaded the Ubuntu 8.04 x64Bit version and installed it without any issues.
Left AHCI enabled and no other settings disabled in the BIOS just default settings with BIOS version 1.16, everything is running smooth.

 

You completely removed windows?

 

Yep clean HDD and the rest is default

 

I installed Ubuntu yesterday night in HDD2, I have XP in HDD2, this is not my IFL90, this is my clevo laptop based.

My issue now is how can I select the drive to boot from. Clevo's BIOS doesn't have the F8/F12 option whereas you get a menu and select the booting drive, so what I do is, I press F2, I change the booting position of the drives and boot again, very tedious task.

 

I've installed Kubuntu 8.04 on my wife's JFL92 yesterday and did not run into the problem described here. Her BIOS is 1.16.

I've updated my "Linux on the IFL90" page to cover the JFL92 too:

http://lddubeau.com/avaktavyam/linux-on-a-compal-ifl90/

 

Install grub.

 

LILO seems to be a better cut than GRUB.

 

Hi, I had the same problem, Compal FL92+Ubuntu 8.04 (first 64 and finally 32).
It seems to be caused by the video driver. Installing the restricted Nvidia driver causes the problem to disappear, except for that sometimes during the bootup (with progress bar in the screen) i need to touch a key or mouse.

 

Did you perform a full update after the initial installation? When my wife first logged into her computer the first few times, we encountered that problem. She would type the passphrase to unlock the encrypted filesystem but then we'd have to hit an additional key like "shift" to get the boot process going.

But the problem eventually went away. The only thing that came to my mind to explain why the problem went away was that we updated all packages to their latest version.

 

As I installed first time (AMD64 version) I noticed it, but was not sure when the problem disappeared. Second time (386 version) the problem was there again. I first updated all, but the problem persisted until i activated the Nvidia restricted drivers.
The fact that the problem still persist during the boot process I assume is due to the driver used in this process is still the one that causes the problem

 

Hi lemur,
i've been reading your page and the reference to bug #217849.
Just to complete a bit the info, I used both 32 & 64 bit of Alternate CD, final release of Ubuntu Hardy.

 

I loaded 32-bit Hardy after repartitioning my Vista install. I didn't have the screen freezing issues but one of the first things it did was prompt me to use the Nvidia driver. I do sometimes have that issue with the progress bar that Jordix has. Other than that, the only issue I have is that Grub hangs when I'm rebooting from Vista. I have to power off and power up again. I don't have that issue rebooting out of Ubuntu.

 

With AHCI disabled in Bios, it is no longer required to press a key during the boot.

 

Thanks faulken, that's good to know. I have AHCI disabled on my IFL90 but it is turned on on my wife's JFL92. I wonder if that's the reason why my IFL90 does not show the problem. Maybe if AHCI were turned on, it would behave just like the JFL92.