Bug#482369: xserver-xorg-video-intel: X fails to start: machine hangs with black screen & is unresponsive to pings

[Brice Goglin <Brice.Goglin@ens-lyon.org>]

Paul Metcalfe wrote:
> Package: xserver-xorg-video-intel
> Version: 2:2.2.1-2
> Severity: important
>
> Kernel : 2.6.24-1-amd64 (debian 2.6.24-7)
>
> When starting X, the screen goes black (as per the standard X startup), 
> then the machine hangs and (at least on one trial) does not respond to 
> pings.  This is not deterministic; it is more likely to happen when X is 
> started through gdm than when X is started through startx.  I have 
> observed something similar on reboots from Windows for a while, but 
> assumed that Windows was just leaving the card in a dodgy state.  Now I 
> get hangs on clean boot from power-off.
>
> This puzzles me: I have been running 2:2.2.1-2 for a while, but the 
> symptoms have got worse within the past week.  Is this some freaky 
> timing issue?
>   

Did you upgrade your kernel recently? Can you try an older kernel ?

Brice