Thanks for responding. Some delays in responding because of client demands, then because the storage configuration of the machine was incomplete and the debug files couldn't be networked, then because the incessant gnome-session hangs required a hard-reset at nearly every step along the way.
The delays provided some information, however. First, I booted to recovery mode, removed nvidia-driver-440, installed nvidia-driver-450 (the recommended one, per the ubuntu-drivers devices output), exited recovery, and continued the boot (NOT another hard- reset). Here, the resolution was 1024x768, not the full resolution of the monitor, in logging in under all available desktop managers (Xorg, Classic, and Ubuntu). The machine experienced NO gnome session freezes over 8-10 hours with occasional interaction in between client calls. THEN, I did a normal reboot at the end of the day, specified Xorg on login. The resolution now was back to normal but I immediately right- clicked to launch display settings and this triggered a gnome-session freeze. Through a series of hard-resets, the machine continued several other random freezes. Today, I had reconfigured storage to, among other things, mount /tmp to /tmpfs, the consequence of which obviously is to flush /tmp on every reboot. The machine experienced no gnome-session hangs. I then ran apt update and apt full-upgrade, which triggered updates of what appeared to be nvidia-driver-450 and all of its dependencies. The machine then promptly experienced a gnome-session hang. Hard-reset, black screen. Hard-reset, Xorg login, generate the debug files (attached). Run apport-collect 1892973. Launching Firefox to authorize triggers a gnome-session hang. Hard-reset, Xorg login. Launching Firefox triggers a gnome-session hang. Hard-reset, Xorg login. Copy debug files to this machine (a functional Windows laptop) and make this entry. The requested debug files, to the extent of the machine's ability to generate them, are attached. I ended up generating several prior-boot journal logs for all of the foregoing gnome-session hangs, and attach them in a ZIP archive because the interface will only let me attach one file. The files include: - prevboot-1 (first prevboot) - prevboot-2 (the boot preceeding prevboot-1) - prevboot-1128-* (boots involving Firefox-induced hangs and one preceding) - prevboot-1135-1 (boot involving a Firefox-induced hang). Obviously, the machine is incapable of authorizing for apport-collect. I should add that attempting to launch Google Chrome also triggers a gnome-session hang. No files exist in /var/crash. ** Attachment added: "Zip archive of debug files" https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell/+bug/1892973/+attachment/5405535/+files/documents.zip -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to gnome-shell in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1892973 Title: gnome-session fails, and fails, and fails yet again Status in gnome-shell package in Ubuntu: Incomplete Bug description: Ubuntu 20.04.01, gnome-shell 3.36.4, nvidia-driver-450, nvidia- driver-440. Both drivers expressly support the hardware. All varieties of desktop environment (Xorg, Gnome Classic, Ubuntu) Bug summary Screen hangs randomly and iretrievably with the only possibility of recovery being a a hard system reset. Sometimes this is triggered by activity (launching or using gnome-settings; resizing a window; using Nautilus), sometimes, not. No session lasts more than five minutes. No combination of keystrokes will yield a terminal of any kind. The hang also interrupts System Monitor output, so no information regarding use of system resources is available. Steps to reproduce 1. Install gnome-session. 2. Reboot. 3. Use graphical applications. What happened] The screen froze irretrievably. Screen hangs randomly and iretrievably with the only possibility of recovery being a a hard system reset. Sometimes this is triggered by activity (launching or using gnome-settings; resizing a window; using Nautilus), sometimes, not. No session lasts more than five minutes. No combination of keystrokes will yield a terminal of any kind. The hang also interrupts System Monitor output, so no information regarding use of system resources is available. A hard system reset and consequent reboot yields a variety of outcomes. Sometimes, a normal gdm login. Sometimes, a black screen with an inverted-black mouse cursor/pointer/arrow that moves. Sometimes an entirely black screen. Sometimes, not even a hard system reset is sufficient and the system has to be booted into recovery mode, the existing driver removed, and another installed, before rebooting again. With nvidia-driver-440, fewer hangs but the monitor resolution can't be set to its capacity. I don't get it. GNOME hangs have been extensively documented for ten years. The drivers expressly support the hardware. This package is part of an Ubuntu LTS release. Is gnome-session intended to be serious, functional, production software subjected to rigorous and competent quality control? This is a serious question because I have a business to run and can't be sucked down some random technical rabbit hole just to do daily work. Is GNOME just a cute code project intended as a resume line for people looking for real work? What kind of quality control processes are in place that allow ancient failures, extensively reported, to persist? Is anyone at GNOME able and willing to put on their big-boy pants to get a reliable package suitable for production deployments, released? The command cat /var/log/syslog | grep gnome-session reveals fundamental errors in implementing systemd syntax and references/calls to nonexistent binaries. See the gnome-sesion units in /usr/lib/systemd/user. Maybe getting this right would be a first step to helping the developers understand the environment better. Please see man systemd. Source is, astonishingly, a hybrid of C and Javascript, which doubtless presents a QC nightmare. Has anyone given this any thought? What does it take to get this package to work today? - What is the procedure? What commands must be run? - Why doesn't GNOME simply include these commands in a script, just to make it easier? Does anyone there know how? - Why doesn't GNOME simply compile these commands into the package so it works in the first place? - Will a different graphics card matter? - Which one? - Why, if the drivers support the existing hardware, according to the documentation if not the function? Can this package be made to work today? If not, will this package be ready for production use in the next Ubuntu release (i.e., 20.04.02)? If not, what alternatives exist for production use? These are all serious questions. It is astonishing that this package has been released to the public. It getting out the door poses an existential reputational threat to the GNOME project. Any help in getting this package to work would be most gratefully appreciated. What did you expect to happen I expected the screen not to freeze. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell/+bug/1892973/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
