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[Mike Jester <mike@xxxxxxxxx>]

Understood. I agree that not completely breaking virtual machines in
some hypervisors is important. While I'm required to use bare-metal
installs on these systems, I depend on VMs as much as the next person.
There has to be an alternate solution.

Are you suggesting there's a kernel change needed that shouldn't load
vesafb until later? Or are you saying I should set GRUB_TERMINAL=console
and do something once it's booted? I can't modprobe vesafb now after
all. Sorry if I'm a bit slow on the uptake here -- this is my first
rodeo. I am primarily a C++ developer but I have not spent any time in
the kernel before.

Unfortunately I can't change the config in any way that would cause
regression in production. That includes lowering the resolution or just
using 80x24. They're pretty strict on both regression and security here.
Also, there is no SSH to these boxes so any interaction I have with them
is sitting physically in front of them.

I got some more dmesg outputs and checked /proc/fb on each.

12.04 3.2 and 12.04 3.13 SYSFB=N displayed the same: 0 VESA VGA
12.04 3.13 SYSFB=Y was: 0 simple

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1434581

Title:
  Console extremely slow with 3.13 and newer kernels for certified
  servers with Matrox G200er2 or similar

Status in linux package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in linux source package in Trusty:
  Confirmed
Status in linux source package in Utopic:
  Confirmed
Status in linux source package in Vivid:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  When I first came across this issue I thought it was the same as bug
  #1316035 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg-
  server/+bug/1316035), but this bug seems to be about X and it is
  reporting xorg-server as the package with the issue. I've seen a
  report on the certification program already on this, but it was
  lacking follow-up and suggested a bug report, question 255332
  (https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu-certification/+question/255332).
  I've already asked about this on the forums, and received no replies.

  I originally encountered this issue due to having a bunch of Dell
  servers that I was testing with kernel 3.13 on 12.04. The text console
  is so slow that it is unusable when using vi or doing an operation
  similar to dpkg -l |grep xorg. Comparing the exact same system with
  kernel 3.2 or 3.11 loaded and running lsmod, vesafb is listed and
  performance is excellent. It is not listed on the 3.13 system. The
  same issue exists on 14.04 with the 3.13 or 3.16 kernel.

  Attempting to do modprobe vesa or modprobe vesafb returns modprobe:
  FATAL: Module vesa not found and modprobe: FATAL: Module vesafb not
  found respectively.

  Attempting to use uvesafb on this hardware results in a black screen.
  Attempting to use vga16fb results in good performance, but I am locked
  to 640x480. I tried to use fbset to force higher resolutions, but it
  either results in a distorted display or tells me there is not enough
  memory.

  I need a 1280x1024 console with performance equal to 12.04 with
  kernels 3.2-3.11. The server I'm using for testing is a Dell R320.

  This appears to be regression as I can duplicate it by simply doing a fresh install of 12.04.1 and not having the issue, while doing a fresh install of 12.04.5, 14.04.1, or 14.04.2 results in a very slow console.
  --- 
  AlsaDevices:
   total 0
   crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  1 Mar 20 13:17 seq
   crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 33 Mar 20 13:17 timer
  AplayDevices: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
  ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.7
  Architecture: amd64
  ArecordDevices: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
  AudioDevicesInUse: Error: command ['fuser', '-v', '/dev/snd/seq', '/dev/snd/timer'] failed with exit code 1:
  CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=3255aa87-ba68-4b74-bdb0-1112aba7d46e
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-03-20 (0 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.3)
  IwConfig: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
  MachineType: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R320
  Package: linux (not installed)
  PciMultimedia:
   
  ProcEnviron:
   TERM=linux
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  ProcFB: 0 VESA VGA
  ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-46-generic root=UUID=fda4445f-efe2-4e93-9adb-ecaf6386f8cd ro consoleblank=0
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-46.79-generic 3.13.11-ckt15
  RelatedPackageVersions:
   linux-restricted-modules-3.13.0-46-generic N/A
   linux-backports-modules-3.13.0-46-generic  N/A
   linux-firmware                             1.127.11
  RfKill: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
  Tags:  trusty
  Uname: Linux 3.13.0-46-generic x86_64
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
  UserGroups: root
  _MarkForUpload: True
  dmi.bios.date: 09/23/2013
  dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
  dmi.bios.version: 2.0.21
  dmi.board.name: 0R5KP9
  dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
  dmi.board.version: A09
  dmi.chassis.type: 23
  dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
  dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvr2.0.21:bd09/23/2013:svnDellInc.:pnPowerEdgeR320:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0R5KP9:rvrA09:cvnDellInc.:ct23:cvr:
  dmi.product.name: PowerEdge R320
  dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

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