[SOLVED] xscreensaver render error detected

[blnl]

Sometimes my screen-saver crashes, showing a blank screen with "render error detected ..." message.
This message is displayed only short time <1s, then login screen appears.

Due to short time, I'm not able to read the complete error message on screen.
Is there a way to delay the displaying of such errors so I can read it properly?

In the /var/log/messages I have found the following:

Jul  9 09:22:33 dc7100 kernel: render error detected, EIR: 0x00000010
Jul  9 09:22:33 dc7100 kernel: page table error
Jul  9 09:22:33 dc7100 kernel:  PGTBL_ER: 0x00000010
Jul  9 09:22:33 dc7100 kernel: [drm:i915_handle_error] *ERROR* EIR stuck: 0x00000010, masking
Jul  9 09:22:33 dc7100 kernel: render error detected, EIR: 0x00000010
Jul  9 09:22:33 dc7100 kernel: page table error
Jul  9 09:22:33 dc7100 kernel:  PGTBL_ER: 0x00000010

Again I'm not sure it is the same error message, but it look a lot like one on the screen.

Does anyone know what this means and hot to fix it?

[Rubberman]

A page table error is most likely caused by a hardware problem. Get your system manufacturer's diagnostic software and run it continually overnight at least to see what it finds. If the motherboard isn't at fault, it may be a problem with the video hardware.

[blnl]

That's a very bad news for me.
I'll see if I can find some diagnostic software.
Thanks!

[clickit]

I presume you also checked "dmesg" and also /var/log/syslog? It may not have been captured there but its worth a shot.

[blnl]

I presume you also checked "dmesg" and also /var/log/syslog? It may not have been captured there but its worth a shot.

All right, I'll check it after the hardware diagnosis is finished.

[blnl]

A page table error is most likely caused by a hardware problem. Get your system manufacturer's diagnostic software and run it continually overnight at least to see what it finds. If the motherboard isn't at fault, it may be a problem with the video hardware.

• I thoroughly tested my hardware with the HP diagnostic software. Nothing strange found there.
• I replaced the memory, no improvement.
• Finally, I acquired identical hardware in a secondhand shop. Also tested it with the HP diagnostic software (all test passed). The problem still persists (no improvement).

Now I'm pretty sure this is not a hardware issue.

[clickit]

Its been a few years since I had to think about such problems so keep that in mind when I ask how big is ur swap partition relative to ur memory size? Most run at 1.5x but reality requires up to near 3x.
Don't even recall why this comes to mind but 4WIW.

[Rubberman]

Is your video built-in on the motherboard, or an add-in card? There could be a timing issue between the video and system memory, and if the video uses "shared" memory with the operating system, then it may be getting a conflict there. My opinion stands, that this is a hardware error, but it may be endemic with this system board and you may well be SOL in resolving it. Personally, I don't use HP PC's for anything serious these days. They have too much "clever" cruft and as a result, have a lot of this sort of problem. I have several clients with HP's and we are constantly tearing our hair out trying to get them to play nice...

[blnl]

It is an on-board video. Maybe it will work better with an add-on video adapter.

All right, I can agree with you that this still could be some hardware issue by design.
However I don't understand why this issue didn't show with Fedora 11 and 12 (this is only happening with Fedora 13).

I guess I'm stuck with Fedora 12 on this machine for now.

What hardware would you recommend for a Linux desktop? (something that works out of the box)

[Rubberman]

Well, you didn't mention this Fedora 13 update from FC12. Your signature indicates FC12, etc. It may be a driver problem with FC13. Try getting an updated driver from AMD.