RHBA-2009:1391 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

An updated xorg-x11-drv-i810 driver package that fixes various bugs
and provides various enhancements is now available.

Description

xorg-x11-drv-i810 is an Intel integrated graphics video driver for the
X.Org implementation of the X Window System.

Note that this package provides two drivers, 'i810' and 'intel'. The i810
driver is supported for i8xx series chips, up to and including i865. The
intel driver is supported for all i915 and later chips.

This updated package provides the following bug fixes and enhancements:

• previously, support for switching between virtual terminals -- or between

virtual terminals and the X Window System -- was not fully implemented for
newer Intel graphics cards. Users experienced a wide range of problems when
they switched, including: losing the display completely; having the display
filled with random, pulsating colors; receiving "out of range" or "can't
display this mode" errors; the system ceasing to respond; or the system
restarting. Cards affected included those with the G4X, G965, GM45, Q43,
and Q45 chipsets. The driver now includes full support for switching to,
from, and between virtual terminals, meaning that users can switch safely
without encountering the problems that they experienced previously.
(BZ#244933, BZ#470450, BZ#487657)

• previously, no man page was provided to describe the "intel" driver

included in this package, only the "i810" driver. A separate man page is
now supplied for each driver. (BZ#467186)

• the graphics cards supported by the two drivers in this package overlap

considerably. Previously, this created confusion for users as they selected
the driver to use with a particular card. A preferred driver is now
specified for each card, and if users select the non-preferred option,
they receive a warning that the particular combination of card and driver
is not a supported configuration. This clarifies the use of the drivers in
this package. Existing configurations will continue to function, regardless
of the combination of card and driver. (BZ#479067)

• Lenovo Thinkpad notebooks have a "Fn" key that can be combined with the

numbered function keys to access a variety of features, typically including
volume, screen brightness, sleep, and switching to an external monitor.
Previously, these key combinations would not produce the desired outcomes
on X61 Thinkpad notebooks. Although some of these functions were enabled by
changes in other software components, no support existed within the
graphics drivers for the key combinations that would brighten and dim the
display. Support for these features is now present in the driver. X61
users can now use the hotkeys to control screen brightness on their
notebooks. (BZ#468448)

• previously, although the code to support HDMI output was included in the

driver, this was not initialized while the system detected displays.
Therefore, the system was unable to detect monitors connected by DVI. HDMI
detection is now enabled so that when the system initializes displays, the
system can detect monitors on DVI connections and output to them correctly.
(BZ#476831)

• previously, Xinerama mode was not enabled for the "intel" driver.

Therefore, when users set Xinerama mode for a graphics card that uses the
"intel" driver, the driver would crash. The "intel" driver now includes
support for Xinerama, making this mode available to users. Note that a
scrolling problem that users also experienced when using the "intel" driver
for dual-head configurations was not related to this driver, and is resolved
in a separate update for the X server. (BZ#477177)

All users of the xorg-x11-drv-i810 driver should upgrade to this updated
package, which resolves these issues and adds these enhancements.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure that all previously-released
errata relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via Red Hat Network. Details on how to use
the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 244933 - display lost after switch to tty, and back to X on Intel G965
• BZ - 448586 - Firefox 3 crashes Xorg at picture.c:1600
• BZ - 467186 - xorg-x11-drv-i810 "intel" man page is broken
• BZ - 468448 - Intel driver not catching fn-button events on x61 in 5.3 beta candidate
• BZ - 476831 - Intel-DVI is not working on Q43/Q45 chipset.
• BZ - 477177 - 'intel' driver has xinerama and scrolling issues in dual head
• BZ - 479067 - cut out redundant support in intel and i810 driver
• BZ - 487657 - System hang or shutdown with VGA on Q43/Q45 on gfx/console transition

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)