Hardware-related issues
Miscellaneous problems with Intel graphics adapters
Many users are already aware from coverage in the press that significant changes have recently been made to the driver for Intel graphics adapters (and the supporting code in Mesa/DRI and the kernel), and that these have caused some functionality regressions. If you are suffering from problems with an Intel graphics adapter such as failure of X to start at all, hangs or freezes or crashes in the graphical environment, display corruption, failure of 3D accelerated applications to work properly or similar problems, and your issue is not specifically covered elsewhere on this page, the following general advice may be of use.
Several such issues may be worked around by disabling kernel mode setting. To do this, add nomodeset as a kernel parameter. If this solves your problem, please check whether a bug has already been reported for it, and if not, file a new bug report on the xorg-x11-drv-intel component, explaining your symptoms, and providing all the usual information required for X.org bug reports. In future kernel mode setting will be the only available method, and so we wish to ensure all problems caused by kernel mode setting are fixed.
If this does not resolve your issue, one other potential workaround is to change to a different acceleration method. To do this, add a line:
Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
or:
Option "AccelMethod" "XAA"
to the Device section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf. If that file does not exist, you can run system-config-display as root to create it. Again, if doing this works around the problem you are experiencing, please check whether a bug report on the problem has already been filed, and if not, please file a new bug report on the xorg-x11-drv-intel component, explaining your symptoms, and providing all the usual information required for X.org bug reports. These legacy acceleration methods will be removed in future, so any bugs in the new acceleration method (UXA) need to be fixed.
Miscellaneous problems with ATI / AMD graphics adapters
As with the Intel driver, the Radeon driver for ATI / AMD graphics adapters is going through substantial changes, and it is worth noting some configuration options that may help address various problems with such adapters. If you are experiencing failure to start the graphical desktop, hanging or freezing, corruption, or slow performance with an ATI / AMD graphics adapter, you may try the following.
Some issues may be worked around by disabling kernel mode setting. To do this, add nomodeset as a kernel parameter. If this solves your problem, please check whether a bug has already been reported for it, and if not, file a new bug report on the xorg-x11-drv-ati component, explaining your symptoms, and providing all the usual information required for X.org bug reports. In future kernel mode setting will be the only available method, and so we wish to ensure all problems caused by kernel mode setting are fixed.
If this does not resolve your issue, one other potential workaround is to change to a different acceleration method. To do this, add a line:
Option "AccelMethod" "XAA"
to the Device section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf. If that file does not exist, you can run system-config-display as root to create it. Again, if doing this works around the problem you are experiencing, please check whether a bug report on the problem has already been filed, and if not, please file a new bug report on the xorg-x11-drv-ati component, explaining your symptoms, and providing all the usual information required for X.org bug reports. These legacy acceleration methods will be removed in future, so any bugs in the new acceleration method (EXA) need to be fixed.
Finally, if this does not resolve your issue, there is one other configuration option to try. Add a line:
Option "AccelDFS" "off"
to the Device section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf. If that file does not exist, you can run system-config-display as root to create it. Again, if doing this works around the problem you are experiencing, please check whether a bug report on the problem has already been filed, and if not, please file a new bug report on the xorg-x11-drv-ati component, explaining your symptoms, and providing all the usual information required for X.org bug reports.
Text becomes corrupted on systems with Intel graphics adapters
link to this item - Bugzilla: #495323
Several users with many different Intel graphics adapters have reported text displayed in applications becomes heavily corrupted after the system has been running for a while. Disabling kernel modesetting, using the nomodeset parameter, works around this issue. The cause of this problem is under investigation and we hope to provide an official update to resolve it shortly after the release of Fedora 11.
A test build that should resolve this problem is available from Koji: kernel-2.6.29.4-167.fc11. If you are affected by this issue, please test this update and report your results to the bug report.
Resume from suspend fails with NVIDIA graphics adapters
link to this item - Bugzilla: #459323
Resuming from suspend fails to restore the graphical display when using the nouveau video driver, which is now the default for all NVIDIA video adapters in Fedora 11. Unfortunately, there is no workaround for this problem, and it is not likely to be fixed within the Fedora 11 timeframe. If you have a system with an NVIDIA video adapter on which you need suspend/resume functionality, you must use an alternative driver. The old nv free driver will work for some cards, but for others, only the proprietary nvidia driver will work. To switch to the nv driver, you can use the system-config-display utility - on the Hardware tab, click the Configure... button next to Video Card and select the nv driver from the list.
Graphical desktop failing to start or crashing with AGP NVIDIA graphics cards
link to this item - Bugzilla: #490358, Bugzilla: #487456, Bugzilla: #498579, Bugzilla: #499730
Problems have been reported with several NVIDIA AGP graphics cards, with the new nouveau graphics driver used in Fedora 11. AGP is a tricky case that the driver does not yet handle well for several cards. If you experience failure to start the graphical desktop (X server), or hanging or crashing of the graphical desktop, and you have an NVIDIA-based AGP graphics card, you may want to try the following workaround. Add the kernel parameter nouveau.noagp=1. For many reporters, this resolves the problem.
Some NVIDIA onboard graphics chipsets use AGP, as well as expansion cards that fit in an AGP slot. To check whether your onboard chipset is an AGP one, run this command:
grep -i agp /var/log/Xorg.0.log
if it returns anything, your chip is an AGP one. If not, it isn't.
If you experience a problem of this kind, and your graphics card is not the same model as in any of the existing reports listed above, please file a new bug report on the xorg-x11-drv-nouveau component, explaining your symptoms, and providing all the usual information required for X.org bug reports.
Grey lines appear in Firefox location bar and terminal windows with Intel i845 graphics adapters
link to this item - Bugzilla: #502096
In a default configuration, on systems with Intel i845 graphics adapters, you may notice graphical corruption of the Firefox location bar, GNOME terminal windows, and possibly other applications. The corruption manifests as one pixel tall, dotted light grey lines of varying widths in random locations, appearing and disappearing. Disabling kernel modesetting, using the nomodeset parameter, works around this issue.
Enabling desktop effects causes system hang with Intel i845 graphics adapters
link to this item - Bugzilla: #490005
On systems with Intel i845 graphics chipsets, attempting to enable accelerated desktop effects (Compiz) via the System / Preferences / Desktop Effects menu entry causes the system to hang (in fact, X is stuck, but if you have the appropriate network setup, you should be able to ssh into the affected machine to shut it down in an orderly fashion). There is no known workaround for this issue, therefore we advise not trying to enable desktop effects on this graphics chipset for now.
Corrupted display in Google Earth on Intel i855 graphics adapters
link to this item - Bugzilla: #XXXXXX
In a default configuration, on systems with Intel i855 graphics adapters, Google Earth does not display properly, rendering only a small, empty black rectangle (and hence obviously being useless). Disabling kernel modesetting with the nomodeset kernel parameter may work around this issue.
Screen stays black when returning from idle mode on Thinkpad X41T
link to this item - Bugzilla: #489907
On the Lenovo / IBM Thinkpad X41T model laptop, with default settings, the screen will fail to turn back on once it has gone into power-saving idle mode (either on a timeout, or on closing and re-opening the lid). Disabling kernel modesetting via the nomodeset kernel parameter works around this problem, but may cause other problems to occur instead. Another workaround is to create a file with the following contents:
#!/bin/bash
xrandr --output LVDS1 --off
xrandr --output LVDS1 --auto
Make it executable, and set a shortcut key combination to launch it. Running the script via the shortcut should restore the display. Fedora developers are currently working on a fix for this problem.
Graphical installation / desktop fails to start on Asus Eee Top
link to this item - Bugzilla: #491627
It has been reported that with a default configuration, Fedora 11 fails to initialize the graphical desktop (X server) properly on the Asus Eee Top system. You can work around this issue by downloading this file and installing it as /etc/X11/xorg.conf. With this file in place, the X server should start correctly at the native resolution of the system.
Graphical installation / desktop fails to start on Mac systems with Intel 945 graphics adapter 8086:27A2
link to this item - Bugzilla: #494390
Several users of various Apple Mac systems, including some generations of the Mac Mini and Macbook, which all use an Intel 945 graphics adapter with the PCI ID 8086:27A2, have reported that the graphical installation / desktop (X server) fail to start correctly. Some users report that disabling kernel modesetting, with the kernel parameter nomodeset, works around this issue.
Graphical installation / desktop fails to start on Toshiba Portége M100
link to this item - Bugzilla: #500544
It has been reported that starting the graphical environment (either during installation or on boot of an installed system) fails entirely with default configuration on the Toshiba Portége M100 system. To work around this issue, add the nomodeset kernel parameter, which disables kernel modesetting. With this parameter set, things should work fine.
Graphical installation fails to start on ATI / AMD graphics adapters (especially onboard graphics)
On some ATI / AMD graphics adapters - especially onboard adapters (IGPs) - graphical installation may fail to work even if you disable kernel modesetting according to the general ATI / AMD instructions above. In this case, try switching to the fallback vesa driver, by adding xdriver=vesa as a kernel parameter for the installer. If this issue affects you, you will likely need to both disable kernel modesetting and switch to the XAA acceleration method, according to the general ATI / AMD instructions above, if you wish to use the native driver on the installed system (you can switch from vesa to the native driver once the installation has completed using the system-config-display tool).
Slow 3D performance on ATI / AMD graphics adapters
The use of kernel modesetting is known to have an adverse impact on 3D performance for ATI / AMD graphics adapters. If you notice poor 3D performance (and better 3D performance is more important to you than smooth graphical boot), disabling kernel modesetting should improve this somewhat. To disable kernel modesetting, add nomodeset as a kernel parameter.
Garbage displayed in some 3D games and applications on ATI / AMD graphics adapters
link to this item - external reference
The GL_EXT_framebuffer_object OpenGL extension is not currently implemented by the 3D driver for ATI / AMD adapters in Fedora 11. This will result in garbage rendering in any game or application which uses this extension. This is a known limitation of the current implementation of the driver: it is being worked on by the driver developers and future updates may make this extension available again.
