Bug#233933: X server 4.3 stalls for a few seconds when switching from console back to X
Package: xserver-xfree86
Version: 4.3.0-0pre1v5
Hi,
The new (4.3) X server seems to have a nasty habit of stalling transitions
from the console (640x400) to X (1024x768). Everything on the X display sits
there for five or six seconds, at which point it resumes normally.
Everything except the xawtv overlay part of the screen which is unaffected
(I see the TV normally, presuming it wasn't behind another window when I
switched to console initially).
With my ATI card (both ati from XFree86 and firegl from ATI), I see
a half-correct snapshot of the screen during the pause. Half-correct meaning
that for example I can see the windows, the background and the WindowMaker
docklets, but I can't see some of the textboxes or the dots on the dock that
indicate whether a program is started. Semi-random small things like that.
With my Matrox card (with the mga driver from XFree86), I see a blank black
screen during the pause. Sometimes the cursor is also visible on the black
screen (it's black with a white outline, normal).
There seem to be no pertinent log messages regarding this in the log file,
only several instances of what seems to be the usual fodder:
(II) 3rd Button detected: disabling emulate3Button
(WW) Open APM failed (/dev/apm_bios) (No such file or directory)
The problem disappears upon reverting to xserver-xfree86 4.2.1-16. That is,
the pause after switching back from console reverts to being minute (adj.),
probably as long as the time needed to actually re-render the screen.
There also seemed to be a similar longer pause when the X server would be
started for the first time, but I can't say whether this is just a
subjective observation. I also seem to recall seeing it on some of the other
machines where I've installed X 4.3 from experimental, but I'm not sure.
I will probably upgrade to the X 4.3 from unstable soon enough but I doubt
that something like this changed in just the handful of Debian revisions.
No other X-related packages (including xserver-common, even) were changed
after I upgraded to xserver-xfree86 4.3 and after I downgraded it back to 4.2.
Please fix this. TIA.
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