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[Alexander Lindo <alindo.fm@xxxxxxxxx>]

I installed Ubuntu 14.10. After about 5 minutes of browsing the web, I
noticed the garbled graphics. This proved that the situation with the
integrated Intel x4500 graphics has worsened. As I was aware of what
caused the issue in 14.04, I disabled the swap partition by adding
“swapoff -a” to the “/etc/rc.local”  configuration file. I rebooted, and
tried the process again. It worked for a while but as the RAM began to
deplete I was still faced with the same issue of garbled graphics.

I went back to the “/etc/rc.local” configuration file and removed the
“swapoff -a” option. I remembered in 14.04 that editing the
“/etc/default/grub” configuration file to reserve RAM for the graphics
card helped tremendously while I was on 14.04. As I stated previously,
the Intel x4500 graphics chip is said to steal up to 384 MB of the
systems RAM (Source: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Graphics-Media-
Accelerator-4500MHD-GMA-X4500MHD.9883.0.html). Before I had alloted this
amount, which did help a great amount. However, occasionally when the
RAM began to deplete and the SWAP was used, I was still faced with the
issue of garbled graphics.

I decided to ignore the spec sheets written for the mobile x4500
graphics chip and went with the one present in the desktop version
(http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5G41CM_LX/specifications/). I edited
the grub configuration file to reserve 1GB of RAM (See comment #4 for
more details on how to configure GRUB). This RAM would be invisible to
Ubuntu while running and thus would not be disturbed when memory
available to the OS becomes depleted. For my test, I ran the computer
for over 3 hours, opened many Firefox tabs, visited many content rich
websites; websites that I know would eat RAM. I watched as the RAM
depleted. The computer gradually became slower, and processor usage
increased as expected. The SWAP usage was increasing, I continued, as I
maxed out the RAM, the SWAP usage increased but NO GARBLED GRAPHICS. I
randomly opened other applications, like Ardour 3 with a 50+ track
session, Hydrogen Drum Machine, LibreOffice writer, Thunderbird. I
continued until the the SWAP was almost maxed out and the computer
became unbearable to use.

Finally, I closed Firefox. This process would, under normal
circumstances instantly cause the entire screen to become garbled, as
the OS begins to flush the RAM and SWAP cache, restoring persistent
files temporarily stored in the SWAP back to the RAM. I watched the
System Monitor as the RAM and SWAP cache was restored. I viewed the dash
(an area that always became corrupt graphically). There was no
corruption anywhere. The speed of the computer was returned once the the
RAM was restored. In the past, with garbled graphics, the computer would
become unbearable to use, you would not be able to log out, you would
have to shut down. All functions were intact.

In conclusion and partly supporting my previous comments above. This is
not so much an issue with Swapping as it is an issue with what is being
Swapped. Before reserving that 1GB of RAM, Ubuntu would use all memory
available to the system as RAM depleted, before using the SWAP partition
(editing the SWAPiness has little to no effect on this). I did notice
some improvements in memory/SWAP management in Ubuntu 14.10 but the
issues with garbled graphics increased. This has led me to believe that
Ubuntu is Swapping the graphics data stored in RAM, this in turn causes
the garbled graphics.

By reserving 1GB of RAM (hidden from Ubuntu), The graphics chip always
has dedicated RAM available to it, even when the OS is supposedly
running out of RAM and starts Swapping. By reserving that RAM, it is
always available to the graphics chip, all graphics data stays in that
dedicated RAM and does not get Swapped, hence no more garbled graphics.
It is my theory that in order to solve the issue with garbled graphics
on the Intel x4500, we would have to instruct Ubuntu to keep all
graphics data in RAM and never SWAP it. SWAP only application data.
Until this fix is implemented, this workaround is the best option you
have got.

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop
Packages, which is subscribed to xserver-xorg-video-intel in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1358936

Title:
  [gm45] L-shaped memory with invalid swizzling

Status in “xserver-xorg-video-intel” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  I have been having an issue with garbled graphics on an ASUS K50IJ
  Laptop with Intel GMA X4500 integrated graphics.

  It is a difficult bug to recreate in a timely fashion as it requires
  you to be on the system for a decent amount of time (like an hour,
  sometimes less). Usage scenario to recreate this bug: would be to
  gradually build up to 10 Firefox or Google Chrome tabs. Minimize the
  applications, Open a 4000x3000 pixel photo in GIMP, do some editing.
  After using the computer for a while, go to the launcher and click
  Firefox or Chrome. Close Firefox or Chrome and then close GIMP.
  Firefox will take a while to close and while the hard drive is
  loading, the screen will suddenly become garbled.

  I've been a user of Ubuntu since version 6.06 (Dapper Drake) and have
  been using it exclusively on this laptop since version 12.04. I have
  not had this issue until 14.04.

  The temporary workaround is to log out and log back in, after which
  the graphics are back to normal. I also checked to see if it was a
  memory issue but System Monitor does not appear to display such an
  issue.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  Package: xorg 1:7.7+1ubuntu8
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-34.60-generic 3.13.11.4
  Uname: Linux 3.13.0-34-generic x86_64
  .tmp.unity.support.test.0:
   
  ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.3
  Architecture: amd64
  CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
  CompositorRunning: compiz
  CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
  CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
  CurrentDesktop: Unity
  Date: Tue Aug 19 14:34:16 2014
  DistUpgraded: Fresh install
  DistroCodename: trusty
  DistroVariant: ubuntu
  ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
  GraphicsCard:
   Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
     Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1862]
     Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1862]
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-08-07 (12 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2)
  MachineType: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. K50IJ
  ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.13.0-34-generic root=/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-root ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
  SourcePackage: xorg
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
  dmi.bios.date: 12/04/2009
  dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
  dmi.bios.version: 217
  dmi.board.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
  dmi.board.name: K50IJ
  dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
  dmi.board.version: 1.0
  dmi.chassis.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
  dmi.chassis.type: 10
  dmi.chassis.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
  dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
  dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr217:bd12/04/2009:svnASUSTeKComputerInc.:pnK50IJ:pvr1.0:rvnASUSTeKComputerInc.:rnK50IJ:rvr1.0:cvnASUSTeKComputerInc.:ct10:cvr1.0:
  dmi.product.name: K50IJ
  dmi.product.version: 1.0
  dmi.sys.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
  version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.11.2+14.04.20140714-0ubuntu1
  version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
  version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.52-1
  version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 10.1.3-0ubuntu0.1
  version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
  version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 10.1.3-0ubuntu0.1
  version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2
  version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.8.2-1ubuntu2
  version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.3.0-1ubuntu3.1
  version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.910-0ubuntu1
  version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.10-1ubuntu2
  xserver.bootTime: Tue Aug 19 09:31:11 2014
  xserver.configfile: default
  xserver.errors:
   
  xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
  xserver.outputs:
   product id                                 488 
   vendor                                     LGD
  xserver.version: 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2

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