Public bug reported:
Ubuntu 20.04.01, gnome-shell 3.36.4, nvidia-driver-450, nvidia-
driver-440. Both drivers expressly support the hardware. All varieties
of desktop environment (Xorg, Gnome Classic, Ubuntu)
Bug summary
Screen hangs randomly and iretrievably with the only possibility of recovery
being a a hard system reset. Sometimes this is triggered by activity
(launching or using gnome-settings; resizing a window; using Nautilus),
sometimes, not. No session lasts more than five minutes.
No combination of keystrokes will yield a terminal of any kind.
The hang also interrupts System Monitor output, so no information regarding use
of system resources is available.
Steps to reproduce
1. Install gnome-session.
2. Reboot.
3. Use graphical applications.
What happened]
The screen froze irretrievably.
Screen hangs randomly and iretrievably with the only possibility of
recovery being a a hard system reset. Sometimes this is triggered by
activity (launching or using gnome-settings; resizing a window; using
Nautilus), sometimes, not. No session lasts more than five minutes.
No combination of keystrokes will yield a terminal of any kind.
The hang also interrupts System Monitor output, so no information
regarding use of system resources is available.
A hard system reset and consequent reboot yields a variety of outcomes.
Sometimes, a normal gdm login. Sometimes, a black screen with an
inverted-black mouse cursor/pointer/arrow that moves. Sometimes an
entirely black screen. Sometimes, not even a hard system reset is
sufficient and the system has to be booted into recovery mode, the
existing driver removed, and another installed, before rebooting again.
With nvidia-driver-440, fewer hangs but the monitor resolution can't be set to
its capacity.
I don't get it. GNOME hangs have been extensively documented for ten years.
The drivers expressly support the hardware. This package is part of an Ubuntu
LTS release. Is gnome-session intended to be serious, functional, production
software subjected to rigorous and competent quality control? This is a
serious question because I have a business to run and can't be sucked down some
random technical rabbit hole just to do daily work.
Is GNOME just a cute code project intended as a resume line for people looking
for real work?
What kind of quality control processes are in place that allow ancient
failures, extensively reported, to persist?
Is anyone at GNOME able and willing to put on their big-boy pants to get
a reliable package suitable for production deployments, released?
The command
cat /var/log/syslog | grep gnome-session
reveals fundamental errors in implementing systemd syntax and
references/calls to nonexistent binaries. See the gnome-sesion units in
/usr/lib/systemd/user. Maybe getting this right would be a first step
to helping the developers understand the environment better. Please see
man systemd.
Source is, astonishingly, a hybrid of C and Javascript, which doubtless
presents a QC nightmare. Has anyone given this any thought?
What does it take to get this package to work today?
- What is the procedure? What commands must be run?
- Why doesn't GNOME simply include these commands in a script, just to make it
easier? Does anyone there know how?
- Why doesn't GNOME simply compile these commands into the package so it works
in the first place?
- Will a different graphics card matter?
- Which one?
- Why, if the drivers support the existing hardware, according to the
documentation if not the function?
Can this package be made to work today?
If not, will this package be ready for production use in the next Ubuntu
release (i.e., 20.04.02)?
If not, what alternatives exist for production use?
These are all serious questions. It is astonishing that this package has been
released to the public. It getting out the door poses an existential
reputational threat to the GNOME project.
Any help in getting this package to work would be most gratefully appreciated.
What did you expect to happen
I expected the screen not to freeze.
** Affects: gnome-shell (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
** Tags: 20.04 gnome-session gnome-shell nvidia xorg
** Information type changed from Private Security to Public
** Tags added: 20.04 gnome-session gnome-shell nvidia xorg
--
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Packages, which is subscribed to gnome-shell in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1892973
Title:
gnome-session fails, and fails, and fails yet again
Status in gnome-shell package in Ubuntu:
New
Bug description:
Ubuntu 20.04.01, gnome-shell 3.36.4, nvidia-driver-450, nvidia-
driver-440. Both drivers expressly support the hardware. All
varieties of desktop environment (Xorg, Gnome Classic, Ubuntu)
Bug summary
Screen hangs randomly and iretrievably with the only possibility of recovery
being a a hard system reset. Sometimes this is triggered by activity
(launching or using gnome-settings; resizing a window; using Nautilus),
sometimes, not. No session lasts more than five minutes.
No combination of keystrokes will yield a terminal of any kind.
The hang also interrupts System Monitor output, so no information regarding
use of system resources is available.
Steps to reproduce
1. Install gnome-session.
2. Reboot.
3. Use graphical applications.
What happened]
The screen froze irretrievably.
Screen hangs randomly and iretrievably with the only possibility of
recovery being a a hard system reset. Sometimes this is triggered by
activity (launching or using gnome-settings; resizing a window; using
Nautilus), sometimes, not. No session lasts more than five minutes.
No combination of keystrokes will yield a terminal of any kind.
The hang also interrupts System Monitor output, so no information
regarding use of system resources is available.
A hard system reset and consequent reboot yields a variety of
outcomes. Sometimes, a normal gdm login. Sometimes, a black screen
with an inverted-black mouse cursor/pointer/arrow that moves.
Sometimes an entirely black screen. Sometimes, not even a hard system
reset is sufficient and the system has to be booted into recovery
mode, the existing driver removed, and another installed, before
rebooting again.
With nvidia-driver-440, fewer hangs but the monitor resolution can't be set
to its capacity.
I don't get it. GNOME hangs have been extensively documented for ten years.
The drivers expressly support the hardware. This package is part of an Ubuntu
LTS release. Is gnome-session intended to be serious, functional, production
software subjected to rigorous and competent quality control? This is a
serious question because I have a business to run and can't be sucked down some
random technical rabbit hole just to do daily work.
Is GNOME just a cute code project intended as a resume line for people
looking for real work?
What kind of quality control processes are in place that allow ancient
failures, extensively reported, to persist?
Is anyone at GNOME able and willing to put on their big-boy pants to
get a reliable package suitable for production deployments, released?
The command
cat /var/log/syslog | grep gnome-session
reveals fundamental errors in implementing systemd syntax and
references/calls to nonexistent binaries. See the gnome-sesion units
in /usr/lib/systemd/user. Maybe getting this right would be a first
step to helping the developers understand the environment better.
Please see man systemd.
Source is, astonishingly, a hybrid of C and Javascript, which
doubtless presents a QC nightmare. Has anyone given this any thought?
What does it take to get this package to work today?
- What is the procedure? What commands must be run?
- Why doesn't GNOME simply include these commands in a script, just to make
it easier? Does anyone there know how?
- Why doesn't GNOME simply compile these commands into the package so it
works in the first place?
- Will a different graphics card matter?
- Which one?
- Why, if the drivers support the existing hardware, according to the
documentation if not the function?
Can this package be made to work today?
If not, will this package be ready for production use in the next
Ubuntu release (i.e., 20.04.02)?
If not, what alternatives exist for production use?
These are all serious questions. It is astonishing that this package has
been released to the public. It getting out the door poses an existential
reputational threat to the GNOME project.
Any help in getting this package to work would be most gratefully appreciated.
What did you expect to happen
I expected the screen not to freeze.
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