3.7.2-18 kernel broken for nvidia FX5200 in latest Tumbleweed kernel ?

English Install/Boot/Login
1

I believe the 3.7.2-18 is broken for the nVidia FX5200 graphic hardware in the current Tumbleweed kernel/nouveau-driver.

When I boot to X window (LXDE desktop) with this driver, I obtain graphic corruption that makes the GUI not useable (although X does boot to a GUI with an unreadable kaleidoscope of colours). As noted there is a kaleidoscope of multiple colours with text difficult to discern and almost unreadable. I note booting with the ‘nomodeset’ boot code (to use the FBDEV graphic driver) still works and yields a proper LXDE GUI.

I tried the boot codes:


nouveau.nofbaccel=1

and


nouveau.noaccel=1

and neither makes any difference.

I have not (yet) tried the boot code “mem=2G” which some users note works for them when the nouveau driver is corrupted on older nVidia cards. My sandbox PC with the nVidia card only has 2G of RAM, so my initial view is that boot code is not relevant to the problem I have observed.

I also note that openSUSE-12.3 beta1 nouveau is ‘broken’ yielding the exact same corrupted GUI, ergo I believe this is an upstream problem with the kernel (or the nouveau driver or an associated library).

I just returned OFF of vacation and I’ve been sick, and I have not had the chance (strength) yet to raise a bug report on this.

I do note the nvidia FX5200 is very old graphic hardware and hence upstream support / fix for it may be difficult to obtain.

The Tumbleweed kernel version with the problem is the 3.7.2-18 default kernel (32-bit). Nouveau driver packages are:


libdrm_nouveau-2.4.33-2.3.2.i586
xorg-x11-driver-video-nouveau-0.0.16_20120321_ab7291d-3.5.1.i586

While an earlier 3.6.8-13-default kernel version worked with this hardware, I also note openSUSE-12.3 beta1 has a 3.6 kernel whose nouveau driver does not work. The Tumbleweed libdrm_nouveau-2.4.33-2.3.2.i586 and the xorg-x11-driver-video-nouveau-0.0.16_20120321_ab7291d-3.5.1.i586 worked with the older 3.6.8-13 kernel, so I am assuming the DRM library and nouveau rpm is not at fault (although that is a shaky skeptical assumption).

I don’t know enough about this technically to point the finger at the libdrm or the kernel. A search through /var/log/messages and /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old did not yield anything to me that pointed a finger to the problem.

Possibly next week, assuming I discover this has not already been reported, if I am better healthwise, I’ll write a bug report.

2

This is what the ‘broken’ GUI looks like for the nvidia FX5200 in Tumbleweed (and also in openSUSE-12.3 beta1)
http://thumbnails102.imagebam.com/23308/aaa1db233074551.jpg](http://www.imagebam.com/image/aaa1db233074551)

I checked the rpms that I have updated since the last time this worked. In addition to the kernel being updated, I also note that the application xorg-x11-server was updated … although it is not clear to me if that is relevant.

3

These are the apps that I installed which ‘broke’ not only the X desktop (with the kaleidoscope pattern) but as it turns out, I think it also broke the Internet access on the same Tumbleweed PC. I had to copy this list via USB stick to another PC so as to post them here.


nautilus-extension-tracker-tags-0.14.4-2.3    Sun Jan 20 08:22:22 2013
tracker-miner-firefox-0.14.4-2.3              Sun Jan 20 08:22:21 2013
tracker-miner-files-0.14.4-2.2                Sun Jan 20 08:22:20 2013
tracker-0.14.4-2.2                            Sun Jan 20 08:22:18 2013
**NetworkManager-0.9.6.4-2.3                    Sun Jan 20 08:22:16 2013**
libtracker-miner-0_14-0-0.14.4-2.2            Sun Jan 20 08:22:13 2013
libnm-glib4-0.9.6.4-2.3                       Sun Jan 20 08:22:13 2013
libgxps2-0.2.2-2.1.5                          Sun Jan 20 08:22:12 2013
gimp-help-browser-2.8.0-3.9.1                 Sun Jan 20 08:22:11 2013
gimp-plugins-python-2.8.0-3.9.1               Sun Jan 20 08:22:09 2013
gimp-lang-2.8.0-3.9.1                         Sun Jan 20 08:22:07 2013
gimp-2.8.0-3.9.1                              Sun Jan 20 08:21:22 2013
udisks2-1.97.0-2.9.1                          Sun Jan 20 08:20:59 2013
libgimpui-2_0-0-2.8.0-3.9.1                   Sun Jan 20 08:20:58 2013
gegl-0_2-lang-0.2.0-3.6.1                     Sun Jan 20 08:20:57 2013
MozillaFirefox-18.0-2.29.2                    Sun Jan 20 08:20:26 2013
libgegl-0_2-0-0.2.0-3.6.1                     Sun Jan 20 08:19:51 2013
libudisks2-0-1.97.0-2.9.1                     Sun Jan 20 08:19:49 2013
libgimp-2_0-0-2.8.0-3.9.1                     Sun Jan 20 08:19:48 2013
gegl-0_2-0.2.0-3.6.1                          Sun Jan 20 08:19:47 2013
libgudev-1_0-0-182-4.29.1                     Sun Jan 20 08:19:45 2013
libpoppler-glib8-0.20.0-2.9.1                 Sun Jan 20 08:19:44 2013
libreoffice-base-3.6.3.2.4-4.6                Sun Jan 20 08:19:43 2013
libreoffice-pyuno-3.6.3.2.4-4.6               Sun Jan 20 08:19:38 2013
libreoffice-mailmerge-3.6.3.2.4-4.6           Sun Jan 20 08:19:38 2013
gstreamer-plugins-base-lang-1.0.3-2.4         Sun Jan 20 08:19:36 2013
gnome-keyring-pam-3.6.2-2.2                   Sun Jan 20 08:19:35 2013
libreoffice-help-en-US-3.6.3.2.4-4.1          Sun Jan 20 08:19:33 2013
libgstriff-1_0-0-1.0.3-2.4                    Sun Jan 20 08:19:21 2013
gnome-keyring-3.6.2-2.2                       Sun Jan 20 08:19:20 2013
libreoffice-filters-optional-3.6.3.2.4-4.6    Sun Jan 20 08:19:17 2013
libgstapp-1_0-0-1.0.3-2.4                     Sun Jan 20 08:18:52 2013
libgck-modules-gnome-keyring-3.6.2-2.2        Sun Jan 20 08:18:51 2013
typelib-1_0-Gtk-3_0-3.6.4-3.1                 Sun Jan 20 08:18:49 2013
gtk3-branding-openSUSE-12.2-2.3               Sun Jan 20 08:18:48 2013
libreoffice-calc-3.6.3.2.4-4.6                Sun Jan 20 08:18:44 2013
libgstpbutils-1_0-0-1.0.3-2.4                 Sun Jan 20 08:18:30 2013
gtk3-immodule-vietnamese-3.6.4-3.1            Sun Jan 20 08:18:29 2013
libreoffice-draw-3.6.3.2.4-4.6                Sun Jan 20 08:18:28 2013
libgstvideo-1_0-0-1.0.3-2.4                   Sun Jan 20 08:18:28 2013
libreoffice-impress-3.6.3.2.4-4.6             Sun Jan 20 08:18:27 2013
gtk3-immodule-thai-3.6.4-3.1                  Sun Jan 20 08:18:27 2013
libgstaudio-1_0-0-1.0.3-2.4                   Sun Jan 20 08:18:25 2013
gtk3-immodule-inuktitut-3.6.4-3.1             Sun Jan 20 08:18:25 2013
libreoffice-math-3.6.3.2.4-4.6                Sun Jan 20 08:18:24 2013
libgsttag-1_0-0-1.0.3-2.4                     Sun Jan 20 08:18:22 2013
gtk3-immodule-amharic-3.6.4-3.1               Sun Jan 20 08:18:21 2013
libreoffice-writer-3.6.3.2.4-4.6              Sun Jan 20 08:18:20 2013
gstreamer-plugins-base-1.0.3-2.4              Sun Jan 20 08:18:13 2013
gstreamer-libnice-0.1.3-2.1                   Sun Jan 20 08:18:12 2013
gstreamer-lang-1.0.3-2.2                      Sun Jan 20 08:18:12 2013
libtracker-extract-0_14-0-0.14.4-2.2          Sun Jan 20 08:18:10 2013
libgtk-3-0-3.6.4-3.1                          Sun Jan 20 08:18:09 2013
libreoffice-3.6.3.2.4-4.6                     Sun Jan 20 08:17:16 2013
libgstreamer-1_0-0-1.0.3-2.2                  Sun Jan 20 08:15:15 2013
typelib-1_0-GjsPrivate-1_0-1.34.0-2.2         Sun Jan 20 08:15:14 2013
libtracker-sparql-0_14-0-0.14.4-2.2           Sun Jan 20 08:15:12 2013
libreoffice-icon-theme-galaxy-3.6.3.2.4-4.1   Sun Jan 20 08:15:12 2013
gtk3-tools-3.6.4-3.1                          Sun Jan 20 08:15:12 2013
kernel-syms-3.7.2-18.1                        Sun Jan 20 08:15:09 2013
glib2-devel-2.34.2-2.2                        Sun Jan 20 08:15:08 2013
gstreamer-1.0.3-2.2                           Sun Jan 20 08:14:47 2013
libgjs0-1.34.0-2.2                            Sun Jan 20 08:14:45 2013
libtracker-common-0_14-0-0.14.4-2.2           Sun Jan 20 08:14:44 2013
gtk3-data-3.6.4-3.1                           Sun Jan 20 08:14:43 2013
libreoffice-icon-theme-hicontrast-3.6.3.2.4-4.1 Sun Jan 20 08:14:42 2013
kernel-xen-devel-3.7.2-18.1                   Sun Jan 20 08:14:29 2013
libqt4-qt3support-4.8.4-9.1                   Sun Jan 20 08:14:19 2013
gio-branding-openSUSE-12.2-2.1                Sun Jan 20 08:14:17 2013
kernel-source-3.7.2-18.1                      Sun Jan 20 08:13:48 2013
libqt4-x11-4.8.4-9.1                          Sun Jan 20 08:09:49 2013
libqt4-sql-mysql-4.8.4-9.1                    Sun Jan 20 08:09:31 2013
libatk-bridge-2_0-0-2.6.2-2.2                 Sun Jan 20 08:09:30 2013
glib2-tools-2.34.2-2.2                        Sun Jan 20 08:09:30 2013
libnm-glib-vpn1-0.9.6.4-2.3                   Sun Jan 20 08:09:29 2013
kernel-pae-devel-3.7.2-18.1                   Sun Jan 20 08:09:20 2013
libqt4-sql-4.8.4-9.1                          Sun Jan 20 08:09:15 2013
libpulse-mainloop-glib0-2.1-2.2               Sun Jan 20 08:09:15 2013
libgio-2_0-0-2.34.2-2.2                       Sun Jan 20 08:09:14 2013
libatspi0-2.6.2-2.3                           Sun Jan 20 08:09:13 2013
libnm-util2-0.9.6.4-2.3                       Sun Jan 20 08:09:12 2013
vim-data-7.3.762-8.1                          Sun Jan 20 08:09:09 2013
kernel-desktop-devel-3.7.2-18.1               Sun Jan 20 08:08:39 2013
pulseaudio-2.1-2.2                            Sun Jan 20 08:08:33 2013
libqt4-4.8.4-9.1                              Sun Jan 20 08:08:31 2013
libgobject-2_0-0-2.34.2-2.2                   Sun Jan 20 08:08:14 2013
libgmodule-2_0-0-2.34.2-2.2                   Sun Jan 20 08:08:14 2013
libgthread-2_0-0-2.34.2-2.2                   Sun Jan 20 08:08:13 2013
**kernel-default-3.7.2-18.1                     Sun Jan 20 08:07:10 2013**
vim-7.3.762-8.1                               Sun Jan 20 08:06:46 2013
kernel-default-devel-3.7.2-18.1               Sun Jan 20 08:06:43 2013
libpulse0-2.1-2.2                             Sun Jan 20 08:06:32 2013
libglib-2_0-0-2.34.2-2.2                      Sun Jan 20 08:06:31 2013
module-init-tools-3.15-4.1                    Sun Jan 20 08:06:30 2013
vim-base-7.3.762-8.1                          Sun Jan 20 08:06:28 2013
kernel-devel-3.7.2-18.1                       Sun Jan 20 08:06:23 2013
gptfdisk-0.8.2-3.1.2                          Sun Jan 20 08:06:05 2013
libboost_date_time1_49_0-1.49.0-6.1.2         Sun Jan 20 08:06:04 2013
libwebrtc_audio_processing0-0.1-2.1.2         Sun Jan 20 08:06:03 2013
cups-1.5.3-2.4.1                              Sun Jan 20 08:06:00 2013
cups-client-1.5.3-2.4.1                       Sun Jan 20 08:05:56 2013
SuSEfirewall2-3.6.295-1.10.1                  Sun Jan 20 08:05:55 2013
at-3.1.8-1110.4.1                             Sun Jan 20 08:05:53 2013
cups-libs-1.5.3-2.4.1                         Sun Jan 20 08:05:52 2013
smartmontools-6.0-8.4.1                       Sun Jan 20 08:05:50 2013
systemd-sysvinit-44-10.8.1                    Sun Jan 20 08:05:49 2013
xf86-input-evdev-2.7.3-2.8.1                  Sun Jan 20 08:05:48 2013
xf86-input-synaptics-1.6.2-2.6.1              Sun Jan 20 08:05:46 2013
mozilla-nss-3.14.1-2.11.2                     Sun Jan 20 08:05:45 2013
sysconfig-0.76.4-1.4.1                        Sun Jan 20 08:05:43 2013
bind-utils-9.9.2P1-1.12.1                     Sun Jan 20 08:05:40 2013
systemd-44-10.8.1                             Sun Jan 20 08:05:38 2013
**xorg-x11-server-7.6_1.12.3-1.21.1             Sun Jan 20 08:05:36 2013**
libsoftokn3-3.14.1-2.11.2                     Sun Jan 20 08:05:35 2013
poppler-tools-0.20.0-2.9.1                    Sun Jan 20 08:05:34 2013
**iptables-1.4.16.3-2.8.1                       Sun Jan 20 08:05:33 2013
iproute2-3.4.0-2.2.1                          Sun Jan 20 08:05:32 2013**
bind-libs-9.9.2P1-1.12.1                      Sun Jan 20 08:05:31 2013
python-libxml2-2.7.8+git20120223-8.9.1        Sun Jan 20 08:05:30 2013
libxml2-tools-2.7.8+git20120223-8.9.1         Sun Jan 20 08:05:30 2013
mozilla-nss-certs-3.14.1-2.11.2               Sun Jan 20 08:05:29 2013
libudev0-182-4.29.1                           Sun Jan 20 08:05:29 2013
libpoppler25-0.20.0-2.9.1                     Sun Jan 20 08:05:28 2013
findutils-4.5.10-5.8.1                        Sun Jan 20 08:05:27 2013
grub2-2.00-1.23.1                             Sun Jan 20 08:05:16 2013
libfreebl3-3.14.1-2.11.2                      Sun Jan 20 08:05:13 2013
rsyslog-5.10.1-2.12.1                         Sun Jan 20 08:05:11 2013
libxtables9-1.4.16.3-2.8.1                    Sun Jan 20 08:05:09 2013
libxml2-2-2.7.8+git20120223-8.9.1             Sun Jan 20 08:05:09 2013
libiptc0-1.4.16.3-2.8.1                       Sun Jan 20 08:05:09 2013
udev-182-4.29.1                               Sun Jan 20 08:03:44 2013
subversion-1.7.8-4.8.1                        Sun Jan 20 08:03:41 2013
glibc-extra-2.15-22.17.1                      Sun Jan 20 08:03:40 2013
glibc-locale-2.15-22.17.1                     Sun Jan 20 08:03:37 2013
libmysqlclient18-5.5.28-1.4.1                 Sun Jan 20 08:03:25 2013
mozilla-nspr-4.9.4-1.8.1                      Sun Jan 20 08:03:24 2013
xorg-x11-Xvnc-7.6_1.12.3-1.21.1               Sun Jan 20 08:03:23 2013
libtiff5-4.0.2-1.12.1                         Sun Jan 20 08:03:22 2013
glibc-devel-2.15-22.17.1                      Sun Jan 20 08:03:21 2013
glibc-2.15-22.17.1                            Sun Jan 20 08:03:14 2013
ca-certificates-mozilla-1.85-8.8.1            Sun Jan 20 08:02:59 2013
yast2-kerberos-client-2.22.4-2.8.1            Sun Jan 20 08:02:57 2013
glibc-info-2.15-22.17.1                       Sun Jan 20 08:02:57 2013
suse-module-tools-12.3-2.1                    Sun Jan 20 08:02:55 2013
boost-license1_49_0-1.49.0-6.1.2              Sun Jan 20 08:02:55 2013
gnome-control-center-user-faces-3.6.3-2.2     Sun Jan 20 08:02:54 2013
4

xorg-x11-server could be relevant. Installing the NVIDIA driver creates some symlinks, installing xorg-x11-server replaces these symlinks by real files.

5

Possibly - but I note I was using the ‘nouveau’ driver before the update, and not the ‘nvidia’ driver. I have not tried the ‘nvidia’ driver with this (nor the previous) Tumbleweed update.

6

Shouldn’t play any role in using the nouveau driver, you’re right. Am I wrong in thinking that the NVIDIA card is an old AGP card? Could that be the culprit? Mind, just trying to come up with things that cross my mind.

7

Its possible something in the driver or X software struggles with an AGP card. … I do have a separate openSUSE-12.1 boot partition on this PC (in addition to Tumbleweed) and 12.1 boots ok with a good LXDE GUI. So at least I know the hardware is still good.

8

Let me say that I had some strange problems using kernel 3.7.0 and the nouveau open source driver. I had kernel opps occur and on one occasion, the lockup corrupted my root / partition on a SSD drive. You can compile kernel 3.6.11 ( http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.0/linux-3.6.11.tar.bz2) and then load it to see if it works using SAKC (https://forums.opensuse.org/blogs/jdmcdaniel3/s-k-c-suse-automated-kernel-compiler-version-2-50-34/). This does not remove the newer kernel 3.7.2, but to use 3.6, you must select it from the Grub 2 Advanced menu as the newest kernel takes over the top spot in the Grub 2 menu. I also see kernel 3.7.3 has been released, which SAKC can compile for you as well, but not sure it fixes this issue with 3.7.2. I am not sure how fast the PC in question runs which determines the length of the kernel compile time.

Thank You,

9

Your script for a kernel build is absolutely fabulous. It brings a functionality within reach of an average user that was not attainable before.

wrt my PC with the FX5200, its an old slow PC. 32-bit Athlon-1100 with 2GB RAM. Hard drives are old and slow. I think I ran your script once before on this PC and it took > 12 hrs to build the kernel.

Its an interesting idea to test, and possibly something for me to try later in the week if my head is clear of this mild flu and I get my energy/strength back. Thanks for the suggestion.

10

This quote with your idea to try a different kernel version also has me thinking I could try rolling back to the basic openSUSE-12.2 kernel. … I would need to copy the appropriate apps to the PC via USB stick (or from another functioning boot partition) as Ethernet is not currently functioning on this PC’s tumbleweed. … The idea being if rolling back to an older kernel fixes the problems, then I can be a bit more positive as to where to point the finger, as opposed to the vagary of my current speculation.

11

oldcpu, I seem to remember you saying it took a very long time on a PC to compile the kernel. But, that is what sleeping time is for. Fire up the compile, go to bed, and see what you get in the morning. The script does play a sound when a compile is complete, so I would mute the speakers before you went to bed. I would put the terminal screen in the foreground, disable all screen savers and such and have no other foreground tasks running.

I would say that like a lot of stuff going on, older hardware is not being tested that well with the newer kernels. If a kernel developer has your card, you may be good, but the older the video, the more you will be left out in the cold. As for open source video drivers, its not normally on purpose to cut you out or leave a bug in place, but due to the lack of testing for your (older) hardware device, it does happen. Some hardware drivers do get pulled out on purpose, but they are usually beyond being old then.

Thank You,

12

I am suffering from the same problem as described by oldcpu in the opening post. The card is a GeForce 6 series, so I must rely on the open source nouveau driver for modern support. I cannot use the proprietary Nvidia drivers due to the issue with kernel 3.7.x. At this point, I must forcefully use the fbdev driver, which is sluggish and pathetic. This is the latest among many issues I’ve had using Tumbleweed. It’s really not that fun nor practical. Just like with Arch Linux, I have to “cross my fingers” every time I update the system…

13

So you must use the nomodeset kernel command to get your video to work flansuse?

Thank You,

14

[HR][/HR]I solved my problem Nvodia 8600GT and kernel 3.7+ with https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=795837, comment 5.

15

Glad to read you solved the problem you had with the 3.7.1 kernel.

Unfortunately the problem I encountered with my nvidia FX5200 is a different problem, and adding that symbolic link has no effect.

My PC’s failure symptoms are the same even with that symbolic link - my PC boots X (with LXDE) to a desktop that is mostly unuseable due to the corrupted graphics (see the pix I posted), unless I apply ‘nomodeset’ as a boot code but for an old PC such as this, it makes the old PC signficantly slower than what is already a slow PC.

I’ve been getting over a cold/flu, recovering from Jet Lag (flying from Asia to Europe) and work has been busy … plus a reasonable share of household chores to do. So I have not had the opportunity yet to try a kernel role back in Tumbleweed.

Maybe this weekend I’ll find the time.

16

I should add, that fix you (vta_128) applied with a symbolic link is so that the proprietary nVidia driver will work with different graphic hardware than what I have. And the problem I encountered is with the nouveau driver and I did not try a legacy nvidia driver (I’m not sure there is such a legacy driver for an FX5200 with the 3.7.1 kernel).

17

I rolled back from the Tumbleweed 3.7.2-18 kernel to the 3.4.6-2.10.1-default openSUSE-12.2 kernel. It worked and both the nouveau driver and the networking now works on this Tumbleweed install (with the older 3.4.6 kernel).

Since networking was broken in addition to graphics, I had to download the rpms from a boot partition that was not broken, and copy them over to the broken Tumbleweed with the 3.7.2-18 kernel. In fact I downloaded the various kernel rpms on a different pc, and copied them to a USB stick, and copied them over that way.

I took a look at the /var/log/messages, and I note prior to updating to the 3.7.2-18 kernel (which broke the graphics and networking) I had a 3.6.8-13 kernel installed which did work. So that tells me somewhere between the 3.6.8-13 kernel and the 3.7.2-18 kernel, both networking and FX5200 graphics were broken by some change. When I look at the kernel-source change history (below) its not clear to me where the problem came from:


* Fri Jan 11 2013 jslaby@suse.cz
- Linux 3.7.2.
- commit d62551b

* Mon Jan 07 2013 ohering@suse.de
- hyperv: force ws2008 during vmbus negotiation.
- commit b93e5a2

* Thu Dec 27 2012 jslaby@suse.cz
- drm/i915: TLB invalidation with MI_FLUSH_DW requires a post-sync
  op v3 (bnc#795963).
- commit db55aa9

* Tue Dec 18 2012 jbeulich@suse.com
- Update Xen patches to 3.7.1 and c/s 1213.
- commit 756a7d4

* Mon Dec 17 2012 jslaby@suse.cz
- Linux 3.7.1.
- Delete patches.rpmify/ezusb-add-dependency-to-usb.
- commit 7c5f8a6

* Wed Dec 12 2012 jeffm@suse.com
- ezusb: add dependency to USB.
  This prevents build failures by making it depend on the value of CONFIG_USB.
  Commit 36e0f0bd did this for architectures other than ARM manually.
- commit b89db5d

* Tue Dec 11 2012 ohering@suse.de
- Drivers: hv: balloon: Fix a memory leak.
- commit 26cdad5

* Tue Dec 11 2012 jeffm@suse.com
- Update to 3.7-final.
- commit 1771a73

* Tue Dec 11 2012 ohering@suse.de
- Update patch headers for fate314663 and fate314665 changes
- commit 44044f1

* Tue Dec 11 2012 jack@suse.cz
- Disable ext3 driver in all kernels and use ext4 driver instead. Eventually
  ext3 will be removed upstream so let's do the transition.
- commit dadc8ea

* Mon Dec 10 2012 jslaby@suse.cz
- Linux 3.6.10.
- Refresh patches.xen/xen3-patch-3.4.
- commit cfa7c19

* Fri Dec 07 2012 guillaume.gardet@oliseo.fr
- Update omap2plus (armv7) config: Enable TWL* USB drivers
- commit 28c09f5

* Fri Dec 07 2012 jbeulich@suse.com
- rpm/kernel-binary.spec.in: Conditionalize the use of vmlinuz instead
  of bzImage for Xen flavors.
- commit 713a73c

* Fri Dec 07 2012 jbeulich@suse.com
- Update Xen config files (enable XEN_BZIMAGE and EFI_STUB).
- commit d1ec1be

* Fri Dec 07 2012 jbeulich@suse.com
- Update Xen patches to 3.7-rc7 and c/s 1211.
- allow non-pv-ops kernel to be built as bzImage.
- commit 2a7feb8

* Thu Dec 06 2012 ohering@suse.de
- fate#314663 hyper-v memory ballooning support
- mm: Export a function to get vm committed memory.
- Drivers: hv: Add Hyper-V balloon driver.
- Drivers: hv: balloon: Fix a bug in the definition of struct
  dm_info_msg.
- Update config files.
  fate#314665 hyper-v: Update the Vmbus protocol
- Drivers: hv: Implement routines for read side signaling
  optimization.
- Drivers: hv: Add state to manage batched reading.
- Drivers: hv: Turn off batched reading for util drivers.
- Drivers: hv: Optimize signaling in the read path.
- Drivers: hv: Optimize the signaling on the write path.
- Drivers: hv: Get rid of hv_get_ringbuffer_interrupt_mask().
- Drivers: hv: Support handling multiple VMBUS versions.
- Drivers: hv: Update the ring buffer structure to match win8
  functionality.
- Drivers: hv: Extend/modify vmbus_channel_offer_channel for
  win7 and beyond.
- Drivers: hv: Save and export negotiated vmbus version.
- Drivers: hv: Change the signature for hv_signal_event().
- Drivers: hv: Change the signature of vmbus_set_event().
- Drivers: hv: Move vmbus version definitions to hyperv.h.
- Drivers: hv: Manage signaling state on a per-connection basis.
- Drivers: hv: Cleanup vmbus_set_event() to support win7 and
  beyond.
- Drivers: hv: Setup a mapping for Hyper-V's notion cpu ID.
- Drivers: hv: Add state to manage incoming channel interrupt
  load.
- Drivers: hv: Modify the interrupt handling code to support
  win8 and beyond.
- Drivers: hv: Add code to distribute channel interrupt load.
- Drivers: hv: Get rid of the unused global signaling state.
- Drivers: hv: Get rid of unnecessary request for offers.
- Drivers: hv: Manage event tasklets on per-cpu basis.
- Drivers: hv: Handle vmbus interrupts concurrently on all cpus.
- Drivers: hv: Add a check to deal with spurious interrupts.
- Drivers: hv: Enable protocol negotiation with win8 hosts.
- Drivers: hv: Implement flow management on the send side.
- Drivers: hv: Capture the host build information.
- Drivers: hv: Cleanup and consolidate reporting of build/version
  info.
- commit 4fccd03

* Wed Dec 05 2012 jeffm@suse.com
- Update to 3.7-rc8.
- Delete patches.rpmify/net-fix-build-failure-in-xilinx.
- commit 76b3d92

* Tue Dec 04 2012 ohering@suse.de
- add splash=black option to bootsplash code,
  to keep a black background, useful for remote access to VMs
  (bnc#773487)
- commit c060ae1

* Mon Dec 03 2012 jslaby@suse.cz
- Linux 3.6.9.
- commit 9966a2e

* Mon Nov 26 2012 jslaby@suse.cz
- Linux 3.6.8.
- commit 6fb821e

One would need to examine the many commit details to figure this out. …

Its unfortunate it was back in Nov-2012 before my last Tumbleweed update, but Nov/Dec was incredibly busy in my paid job, and then the remainder of Dec/Jan was a large/far-away vacation for me.

I’ve also never been very good at diging / flushing out the details as to where things break.

I think the best course of action for me now is to burn an openSUSE-12.3 liveCD, boot to the liveCD from my PC with the FX5200 graphics, and confirm 12.3 has the same problem as Tumbleweed wrt graphics/networking being broken. And then write a bug report on openSUSE-12.3.

Given 12.3 is in beta1, its unlikely there will be a fix there, … but maybe sometime in Tumbleweed future or a future 12.3 update this breakage ‘might’ be looked at. But it will only be looked at if I write a bug report.

18

I note an old bug report on the kernel / nouveau driver wrt NV34 (FX5200) that dates back to the 3.5 kernel. https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=50121

I suspect there may be some hints in that thread, but I am currently finding it it a bit heavy reading to see what might be applicable.

19

I note post#52 in the quoted freedesktop bug report has this:

What puzzles me is if " drm/nv17-50: restore fence buffer on resume " is a fix for FX5200 (NV34) problems, why did this work for me before in the 3.6.8-13 kernel on Tumbleweed. Ergo I am thinking that while that “drm/nv17-50: restore fence buffer on resume” patch may help some users a bit with their FX5200 graphics, it is possibly not the entire story on this for openSUSE.

20

After further reading, post#44 (by an openSUSE user ) and post #47 suggest to me that what I have encountered is a different bug.