LinHES Forums
http://forum.linhes.org/

Screen garble font corruption problem w/nVidia drivers
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15937		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  cgSteve [ Sat Jul 21, 2007 7:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Screen garble font corruption problem w/nVidia drivers
Hello,

I am having some problems with fonts (and sometimes graphics) being garbled (corrupt display at least) in the MythTV front-end. Otherwise, the box seems to be working really well. I can watch/record live TV, watch video files (even full 1080p stuff), etc.

Here is a link to some screen-shots of the problem:
http://www.cgwerks.com//misc/myth01/myth01.html

One of the screen shots is a Harry Potter trailer in full 1080p just to show my video seems to be working pretty well outside of the frontend interface screens. :wink:

Anyway, here are some other various notes about the behavior...

1) This happens every time to me, even after multiple fresh installs on various versions of KnoppMyth (I think somewhere in the R5E50s to R5F1)

2) I have had this problem on two different sets of hardware. My old box was an ASUS Vintage-AE1 w/ AMD Sempron 2600+ based system with nVidia 5200 card (Oops, after chatting with my friend, I think this was actually on some borrowed hardware we were testing with a 6600GT...)... my new system is an Foxconn MB with AMD Athlon 64 3400+ and integrated nVidia 6150 video via DVI. I had assumed my install had become corrupt on the 'old' hardware or my 5200 had gone bad (I had done a LOT of upgrades since my start with R5A26, and had many issues with this MB). However, after moving to the new hardware, the problem is still here, even after fresh installs.

3) I followed these instructions to get my nVidia drivers working:
http://knoppmythwiki.org/index.php?page=UpdateNvidiaDrivers
I was not able to get nVidia working through the normal install, as I had been able to in the past.

4) I've installed this, it seems zillions of times... and I'm *pretty sure* that I don't see the corruption when just running the default (non-nVidia) drivers. I can get the initial install and setup done. However, once I install the nVidia drivers, then my menus, setting screens, etc. are all messed up. Even if I quite front-end and go back to mythtv-setup, it is often corrupt in a similar way (see screen shots).

5) With the 'default' (non-nVidia) drivers, my system seems to run at 1280x1024 no matter what I try (I have a 1920x1080 Westinghouse LCD)... but worse than that, HD stuff maxes out my CPU, and even live TV takes nearly 40% CPU. When I get the nVidia drivers loaded, HD drops to about 32% CPU, and live TV drops to about 11% (Much better). But, then the corruption is there, making using the interface really horrible (and just about impossible to change settings).

6) The corruption is still there when I try to control it via VNC. I'm not sure at what level VNC info is taken out.. but that probably rules out at least a few more final level display issues... ie: its not my LCD, cables, or DVI connection, etc.

I'm not a newbie to mythTV, but my unix skills are pretty basic. However I've spent several days worth of time searching the forums and trying installs, patches, etc.... nothing seems to fix this. Any tips / help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, here is the link to info on my MB if that helps anyone:
http://www.foxconnchannel.com/EN-US/Product/motherboard_detail.aspx?id=en-gb0000202

Thanks much,

-Steve
Author:  Human [ Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:48 pm ]
Post subject: 
Assuming you have done a fresh install and did not import an xorg.conf that was tweaked in some nonstandard way, here are some things to try.

The first thing I do when trying to diagnose things like this is aim a huge fan at the open case to make sure overheating is not an issue. It is not sufficient to just turn the case fans on, but really just blast the interior with as much cool air as you can. The only time I've ever seen anything like what you are seeing, it was heat-related.

Assuming that doesn't prevent the problem, try a different display and/or a different Mode. I know it seems strange, but you may be encountering an edge case of the nVidia drivers - perhaps the right combination of resolution, refresh rate, etc. can cause what you're seeing. If you change something (like resolution) and the problem ceases, then you're closer to at least being able to file a bug report.
Author:  cgSteve [ Sun Sep 16, 2007 4:04 pm ]
Post subject: 
Thanks for the tips. I tried adding a fan to blow on the on-board nVidia 6150, but this didn't seem to do anything. I then decided maybe it was just bad, and picked up a nVidia 6200LE.

After installing, I found I had the same problem.... hmm.

Then I decided to to try a couple other distros (Mythbuntu and MythDora), just to see if different unix builds or video driver installs, etc. might do anything. Problem was still there.

Almost by accident, I noticed the Memory Test on the Mythbuntu CD, and ran it.... and found a RAM problem. Basically, both the 6150 and the 6200 use onboard RAM... and I guess it just so happens that this bad ram was being used by video. At least that is my theory.

I pulled the bad DIMM (I had 2 for a GB or RAM)... and problem is gone. For some reason, the system still acts kind of flaky with the onboard video, so I'm just sticking with the 6200 card.

After some loading difficulties, I'm up and running now on R5F27. Everything seems to work OK, but I did get some weird decompression errors during install, so I might try loading again soon (as I have no clue what might be corrupted). My RAM now tests fine, my hard drive 'SMART' status shows OK, CD tests out fine. Not sure why I keep having install issues. But, as I said, for now, it seems to be working.

Thanks,

-Steve
Author:  cgSteve [ Sun Oct 07, 2007 3:25 pm ]
Post subject: 
Just wanted to add another note of follow-up. The problems loading appear to be related to my hard drive. Looks like I've been dealing with multiple problems overlaid. I put in a different hard drive, and then was able to load KnoppMyth with no problems. (though SMART still sees no problems with the 'bad' drive... but since it cleared up the loading problems.... must be it. It took me about 20 install attempts before I got a good load, and then corrupted itself within a few days).

The only problem I am having now, is that I keep having a SQL table (usually Programs) go bad. It seems to happen overnight, so I'm wondering if the schedule updates are doing something. But, this is probably for another thread.

Anyway... main point of this thread.... bad RAM can act like a video problem if you have onboard video or a video card that utilizes RAM.

-Steve
Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC - 6 hours
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/