[Nouveau] GeForce 5500 crashes driver

[Pekka Paalanen]

On Wed, 25 May 2011 10:11:39 +0200
Flo <debianflo at gmx.at> wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> I have a 7 year old computer which is working fine so far and sufficient
> fast for my 'office' needs. I am running Debian testing. I bought a new
> monitor (HD) and a video card:
> 
> 256 MB GeForce FX5500, Inno3D, AGP 8x/4x
> 
> Working fine, unfortunately it produces a crash:
> 
> .) Sometimes after 30 min, sometimes after a day
> .) Can happen anytime, even when screen saver is on. Happens more
> frequently if 'complicated' websites at browser windows are opened.
> .) Mouse is still moving but everything else on the display is frozen.
> .) I cannot switch to a console but I can login via network (i.e. to
> reboot).
> 
> I conclude that the crashes are due to the combination of video card and
> driver. So, the card is buggy or the driver is buggy.
> 
> I hope you can help me answering the following questions:
> .) Is it reasonable to track down the error? (Maybe it would make sense
> for driver improvement?). What should I start with?

We have bug reporting guidelines here:
http://nouveau.freedesktop.org/wiki/Bugs

Complete kernel and X logs are required to get any insight to
the problem. You also need to specify what versions of all
the software components you use.

Going through the TroubleShooting page is also worth it to
eliminate the usual user errors.

> .) How are the chances that the problem will go away if I buy a similar
> (maybe also GeForce 5500) video card from another manufacturer.

Without further information, I'd say very unlikely.


Thanks.

-- 
Pekka Paalanen
http://www.iki.fi/pq/