Cinnamon forces software rendering on Mint 20.3 with latest Linux 5.4 LTS kernel

[monster1612]

hi, folks! I'm a longtime Linux user, but relatively new to Mint - and after having installed it recently, I'm really enjoying the experience so far, but I do have a couple of issues relating to the default LTS kernel included in Mint 20.3 (x64, Cinnamon edition) on my hardware.

specifically, I've found that Cinnamon is reporting that my system is running without video hardware acceleration (and I'm guessing that as a side effect of this, my screen brightness cannot be controlled via my keyboard or the Power Manager applet).

here's the output of inxi -Fxxxrz:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-96-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 wm: muffin 5.2.0 
           dm: LightDM 1.30.0 Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Convertible System: Dell product: Inspiron 7405 2n1 v: 1.5.4 serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 31 v: 1.5.4 
           serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Dell model: 0NNDRC v: A00 serial: <filter> UEFI: Dell v: 1.5.4 date: 06/10/2021 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 19.7 Wh condition: 48.6/53.0 Wh (92%) volts: 15.8/15.0 model: SMP-ATL3.56 DELL 9077G12 
           type: Li-poly serial: <filter> status: Charging 
           Device-1: hid-0018:04F3:2A84.0001-battery model: 04F31234:00 04F3:2A84 serial: N/A charge: N/A status: N/A 
CPU:       Topology: 8-Core model: AMD Ryzen 7 4700U with Radeon Graphics bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Zen rev: 1 
           L2 cache: 4096 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm bogomips: 31941 
           Speed: 3738 MHz min/max: 1400/2000 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1480 2: 2166 3: 1506 4: 1400 5: 1339 
           6: 1411 7: 1339 8: 1284 
Graphics:  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Renoir vendor: Dell driver: N/A bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 1002:1636 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: ati,fbdev unloaded: modesetting,radeon,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~77Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 12.0.0 256 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 21.0.3 compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 03:00.1 
           chip ID: 1002:1637 
           Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor vendor: Dell 
           driver: snd_rn_pci_acp3x v: kernel bus ID: 03:00.5 chip ID: 1022:15e2 
           Device-3: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 17h HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 03:00.6 chip ID: 1022:15e3 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-96-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 8086:2723 
           IF: wlp1s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
           IF-ID-1: tailscale0 state: unknown speed: 10 Mbps duplex: full mac: N/A 
           IF-ID-2: virbr0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           IF-ID-3: virbr0-nic state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 24.45 GiB (5.1%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 model: KBG40ZNS512G NVMe KIOXIA 512GB size: 476.94 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 
           serial: <filter> rev: 10410105 scheme: GPT 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 29.40 GiB used: 9.58 GiB (32.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-3 
           ID-2: /boot size: 468.3 MiB used: 225.7 MiB (48.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1 
           ID-3: /home size: 136.63 GiB used: 14.55 GiB (10.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-4 
           ID-4: swap-1 size: 25.00 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 79.5 C mobo: 44.0 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 3356 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list 
           1: deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com una main upstream import backport
           2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
           2: deb-src [arch=amd64,i386] https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tailscale.list 
           1: deb https://pkgs.tailscale.com/stable/ubuntu focal main
Info:      Processes: 303 Uptime: 45m Memory: 15.07 GiB used: 2.14 GiB (14.2%) Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: 
           gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38

I can get the "Check your video drivers" message to disappear on startup if I switch to the 5.13.0-27 kernel (which appears to properly enable hardware-accelerated rendering in Cinnamon and also enables my brightness to be controlled), but then my laptop's monitor will not correctly initialize if I suspend and then resume, and both shutdowns and restarts will hang at the spinning Linux Mint splash screen without ever changing the device state (even if I reset DefaultTimeoutStopSec from 10s to 90s in /etc/systemd/system.conf.d/50_linuxmint.conf and reboot).

I've collected logs from the 5.13 kernel using the journalctl -b -1 | tee > (gzip --stdout > journalctl_$USER.gz) command as mentioned in this forum post after a REISUB (magic sysrq reboot sequence), and then uploaded them to termbin - once after the resume failed to initialize the display, and once after the reboot/shutdown failed to fully shut down Mint. (I scrubbed just about anything related to Tailscale or ISP info/IPs from the logs, to reduce the amount of PII being leaked, but they are otherwise unmodified.)

collected after failed reboot: https://termbin.com/6ymo
collected after suspend/resume: https://termbin.com/3pyf

I'd ideally like to be able to use the new kernel to leverage the enhanced AMD GPU drivers, but the inability to properly shut down or sleep is a dealbreaker that'll keep me on the LTS kernel, so I'm open to any suggestions to either work around that or manually install the drivers with the LTS kernel in place.

[SMG]

specifically, I've found that Cinnamon is reporting that my system is running without video hardware acceleration (and I'm guessing that as a side effect of this, my screen brightness cannot be controlled via my keyboard or the Power Manager applet).

Welcome to the forum, monster1612.

Your system is running without any graphics drivers because the 5.4 kernel came out long before your CPU/GPU did.

Graphics:
Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Renoir vendor: Dell driver: N/A bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 1002:1636
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: ati,fbdev unloaded: modesetting,radeon,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~77Hz
OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 12.0.0 256 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 21.0.3 compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yes

AMD graphics drivers are in the kernel so you need to be using a newer kernel. There are no external drivers you can install. Unfortunately, quite a few people with Ryzen 4000 series computers are having issues with the 5.13 kernel.

People are having better success with the 5.14-oem kernel. I do not know if that will clear all the issues you've seen, but give it a try.

Install the latest 5.14-oem kernel with sudo apt install linux-oem-20.04d and reboot.

If that does not work, I will take a look at the logs you posted tomorrow. It's getting late for me.

[monster1612]

People are having better success with the 5.14-oem kernel. I do not know if that will clear all the issues you've seen, but give it a try.

thanks for the quick reply!

after installing it and rebooting, I've found that a quick restart works without any hanging, but after suspending, resume still won't wake the screen up. (I can recapture a log if you'd like once you've had a chance to look at what's already posted.)

[SMG]

after the reboot/shutdown failed to fully shut down Mint:

I'm going to ask for clarification of terms here. A reboot and a shutdown are two different events. The log indicated the computer was shut down and the operating system did stop.

Code: Select all

Jan 21 18:56:43 pollux systemd[1]: Shutting down.
Jan 21 18:56:43 pollux systemd-shutdown[1]: Syncing filesystems and block devices.
Jan 21 18:56:43 pollux systemd-shutdown[1]: Sending SIGTERM to remaining processes...
Jan 21 18:56:43 pollux systemd-journald[489]: Journal stopped

However, that does not mean all the hardware was necessarily shut down. The operating system sends the message to the hardware, but the BIOS/UEFI is what controls shutting down the hardware.

What exactly did you see happen during that shutdown (or was it a reboot)? And is that still happening with the 5.14-oem kernel?

after the resume failed to initialize the display:

How are you putting the computer to sleep? I did notice in both logs:

Code: Select all

kernel: ACPI: button: The lid device is not compliant to SW_LID.

which can sometimes cause issues related to suspend (because the message about the lid opening and or closing may not be transferred properly to the operating system).

I also noticed there was no message to put the computer to sleep. There was

Code: Select all

Jan 20 23:28:08 pollux systemd[1]: Received SIGINT.

Which could indicate Ctl-Alt-Del was done in a console? SIGINT shut down the system. The system was not suspended.

Both logs did have kernel Oops related to AMD Sensor Fusion Hub.

Code: Select all

Jan 20 14:57:26 pollux kernel: Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP NOPTI
Jan 20 14:57:26 pollux kernel: CPU: 3 PID: 198 Comm: systemd-udevd Not tainted 5.13.0-27-generic #29~20.04.1-Ubuntu
Jan 20 14:57:26 pollux kernel: Hardware name: Dell Inc. Inspiron 7405 2n1/0NNDRC, BIOS 1.5.4 06/10/2021
Jan 20 14:57:26 pollux kernel: RIP: 0010:amd_sfh_hid_client_init+0x47/0x350 [amd_sfh]

This may relate to temperature and other sensors? I would not think it is related to the issues in this topic.

Please explain how you are putting the computer to sleep and how you are attempting to wake it.

[monster1612]

What exactly did you see happen during that shutdown (or was it a reboot)? And is that still happening with the 5.14-oem kernel?

my apologies for the mixing of terms on my part. I forgot that reboots & shutdowns work differently, and I was indeed trying to reboot the machine at that point in time.

with the 5.13 kernel installed, I was finding that the screen was still on and displaying the spinning Mint logo, and pressing any key (mostly Ctrl-Alt-F1) showed terminal output saying that it had unmounted all of the partitions and was (in theory) displaying a series of messages that ended with "Reached target Shutdown." or something along those lines. pressing any function key (with Ctrl-Alt) just refreshed the screen and displayed the same wall of text.

at that point, to break out of the session, I used the Alt-PrintScreen key combination with the REISUB keys to send what I'm guessing was the hardware interrupt.

after applying the 5.14-oem kernel, I found that reboots and shutdowns both correctly power down the hardware.

How are you putting the computer to sleep? I did notice in both logs:

Code: Select all

kernel: ACPI: button: The lid device is not compliant to SW_LID.

which can sometimes cause issues related to suspend (because the message about the lid opening and or closing may not be transferred properly to the operating system).

at the time I captured the log related to the suspend event, I don't believe I closed the laptop lid. I only chose the Suspend option from the Quit menu in Mint - doing so caused the Mint lock screen to show up, but then the screen never turned off, and nothing happened when I tried to move the mouse or press any key (even Ctrl-Alt-F1 to open a TTY session) until I leveraged the REISUB key combination again.

[SMG]

at the time I captured the log related to the suspend event, I don't believe I closed the laptop lid. I only chose the Suspend option from the Quit menu in Mint - doing so caused the Mint lock screen to show up, but then the screen never turned off, and nothing happened when I tried to move the mouse or press any key (even Ctrl-Alt-F1 to open a TTY session) until I leveraged the REISUB key combination again.

Thanks for the details. I am guessing the SIGINT showing in the log is probably when you did REISUB.

The log you provided does not show a suspend command being received. I would not have expected you to see the lock screen when suspending (I would have expected that when resuming from suspend). I'm not sure what happened, but, looking through Cinnamon issues on GitHub, it seems sometimes there is an issue with or interference from the Cinnamon screensaver when people are suspending or resuming from suspend. The screensaver does interact with the lock screen.

Do you have the screensaver activated? Maybe try disabling it to see if suspend works (or at least lets the command be received by the operating system). If that works then that gives us an idea of what to investigate.

The other options to try are suspending from the command line using sudo systemctl suspend or pm-suspend.

[monster1612]

Do you have the screensaver activated? Maybe try disabling it to see if suspend works (or at least lets the command be received by the operating system). If that works then that gives us an idea of what to investigate.

The other options to try are suspending from the command line using sudo systemctl suspend or pm-suspend.

I did have a delay set before starting the screensaver (5 minutes), as well as the "Lock the computer when put to sleep" and "Lock the computer after the screensaver starts" options turned on. I ran sudo systemctl suspend twice, once with those settings intact, and once after turning them off (and setting the delay to "Never"; both times, the device suspended successfully, but I encounter the same behavior where the screen won't turn on and it seems like resume never happens.

logs before adjusting the settings: https://termbin.com/mzvr
logs after adjusting the settings: https://termbin.com/xdst

[SMG]

I do see the request to suspend this time for both logs (which I did not see in the prior ones). There were messages about the screensaver in the first one and not the second, but I did not see anything which would indicate to me the screensaver might be an issue.

Both times the system seems to have suspended, but I do not see an indication of what may have happened.

Often when suspending, there are messages which are part of the suspend that do not show up in the log until after resuming from suspend. I presume it is a timing issue and the computer has suspended before all the messages get written to the log. They queue and wait for logging to resume. Without the system resuming, we never see those messages.

The only line which might be a clue is:

Code: Select all

Jan 24 00:47:59 pollux kernel: Lockdown: systemd-logind: hibernation is restricted; see man kernel_lockdown.7

When checking Ubuntu man pages: kernel_lockdown (which would not let me select 20.04 so the link is for 22.04 but the notes say this feature was added to kernel 5.4), I see the following lines:

On an EFI-enabled x86 or arm64 machine, lockdown will be automatically enabled if the
system boots in EFI Secure Boot mode.

· Unencrypted hibernation/suspend to swap are disallowed as the kernel image is saved to a
medium that can then be accessed.

I am not sure if just a straight suspend falls into that category.

However, others with AMD graphics have had problems with their computers not resuming from suspend. It's possible the problem is related to the graphics driver and not the EFI. I've seen similar output to what you posted (the logs just ending at the suspend message) for some people with issues related to their Nvidia driver so I know graphic drivers can relate to this type of issue.

I do not have any other suggestions of what to try. Sorry.