follow-up bottom-posted |----- Original Message ---- |From: Bruce Miller <subscribe [ at ] brmiller [ dot ] ca> |To: OCLUG Technical mailing List <linux [ at ] lists [ dot ] oclug [ dot ] on [ dot ] ca> |Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2009 2:47:42 PM |Subject: [OCLUG-Tech] Possible dying graphics adapter |Last week, I indulged my fondness for Debian (-based distributions) and good coffee with a wallpaper that combines the two: |http://www.wallpaperlinux.com/v/Debian|/Debian+Cofee+Wallpaper+Linux+Debian+Morning+Desktop.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1 |There are problems. The background is a (bright?) white. The area between the two horizontal frame bars always deteriorates |rapidly into colour splotches.I have previously understood this to be an early sign of the pending death of my graphics adapter. |I would be surprised if this image were over-taxing my graphics adapter, but perhaps I am not judging well the requirements of |modern DEs. This is the only image I have run recently which gives this kind of problem. |I am running Kubuntu Karmic (9.10) Alpha on a Core 2 Duo with 4 GB RAM. According to lshw, the graphics adapter is: |display | description: VGA compatible controller | product: G70 [GeForce 7600 GS] | vendor: nVidia Corporation | physical id: 0 | bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0 | version: a1 | width: 64 bits | clock: 33MHz | capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list | configuration: driver=nvidia latency=0 module=nvidia |Should I be talking to the vendor about the graphics card? The machine is still under warranty. |Thanks in advance |Bruce Thank you to everyone who has offered comments on questions about the possibly dying graphics adapter. My current working hypothesis is that the problem is somewhere in KDE 4.3Beta2, at least in the implementation by Kubuntu Karmic Alpha2. Yes, I know that when I use bleeding edge software, I am likely to get cut, but I can't always trace the source of the cuts. Here is where things stand: 1. viewed in qiv at original size, the image remains stable; 2. I have taken the KVM switch out of the path. The monitor, keyboard and mouse are now all directly connected to the computer; 3. I own two DVI cables, but they have not yet emerged from my last house move. Grrr! But I see no point in staging a valiant hunt or emitting a bleet to borrow one. See below; 4. I installed the open-source nv driver, restarted the system and confirmed that it was running the nv and not the nvidia driver. Degradation continued. Reverted to the closed driver. 5. To test software, I installed xubuntu-desktop. Xubuntu uses the term "backdrop" rather than "background." All the images that came in the default install were in .png format. So I used ImageMagick to convert the problematic .jpg into .png format. Even stretched from the 1024x768 original to my Dell 2405FPW's 1920x1200 default, the image remained stable as the backdrop/ground for the half hour or so that I left it version running in xubuntu. Within similar time, the Kubuntu version was always degraded; 6. The degradation continues to occur in Kubuntu with both the .jpg and .png versions. This process suggests to me that the problem is somewhere in KDE software. Can anyone offer an idea which package I should file a bug against? Thanks again to everyone for offering many useful suggestions. Bruce -- Bruce Miller, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada bruce [ at ] brmiller [ dot ] ca; (613) 745-1151 In the beginning... was the command line.