Graphics issues after update

Question

12.04, LTS Yesterday morning I ran suggested updates. After doing so I had these problems:

After about one minute, the screen will flash, sometimes more than once, then the launcher and system menu will vanish, leaving only the desktop visible. Sometimes the screen will the revert back to showing the launcher, and/or flip back and forth between the two modes before stopping.

Whichever mode it ends up in, the mouse cursor still responds to mouse movements, but the mouse buttons do nothing, and the keyboard does not respond. I can do nothing except restart the machine using the power switch.

After a lot of experimenting, I discovered that by starting in recovery mode, the system would come up as 1600 x1200 "Laptop" rather than the previous 1920 x1080 "Samsung 22" that had been in use. As long as I start the system this way, it apparently works OK. Booting as normal then altering the screen resolution to 1600 x1200 (quickly, before the first minute or so is up) does not help - it still dies as before. Booting in recovery mode does not give me the option to change the resolution to anything other than the one used by recovery mode.

So this problem, which occured immediately after an update, appears to be related to the graphics driver. I have attached the last section of /var/log/apt/history.log (re-formatteded for human readbility) but I don't see anything in there that suggests to me that it would effect the graphics in this way.

I would have to dig to find out exactly what graphics card I'm using. Nothing special, just whatever cheap card came with the PC, and I'm sure I never installed any special driver for it.

I'd sure like to be able to just boot without going into recovery mode first, and I'd sure like to have my accustomed resolution back.

If anyone can tell me

1) which of these update is likely to have done this, and 2) how to revert back to the prevcious version

I'd appreciate it.

Thanks

Start-Date: 2013-03-23  09:08:58
Commandline: aptdaemon role='role-commit-packages' sender=':1.71'
Install: 

linux-headers-3.2.0-39-generic:amd64 (3.2.0-39.62), 

linux-headers-3.2.0-39:amd64 (3.2.0-39.62), 

linux-image-3.2.0-39-generic:amd64 (3.2.0-39.62)

Upgrade: 

libsmbclient:amd64 (3.6.3-2ubuntu2.3, 3.6.3-2ubuntu2.4), 

dmsetup:amd64 (1.02.48-4ubuntu7.1, 1.02.48-4ubuntu7.2), 

apt-transport-https:amd64 (0.8.16~exp12ubuntu10.7, 0.8.16~exp12ubuntu10.10), 

nautilus:amd64 (3.4.2-0ubuntu6, 3.4.2-0ubuntu7), 

libnss3:amd64 (3.14.1-0ckbi1.93ubuntu.0.12.04.1, 3.14.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.1), 

usbmuxd:amd64 (1.0.7-2, 1.0.7-2ubuntu0.1), 

libgudev-1.0-0:amd64 (175-0ubuntu9.2, 175-0ubuntu9.3), 

network-manager-gnome:amd64 (0.9.4.1-0ubuntu2, 0.9.4.1-0ubuntu2.1), 

smbclient:amd64 (3.6.3-2ubuntu2.3, 3.6.3-2ubuntu2.4), 

thunderbird-locale-en-us:amd64 (17.0.3+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1, 17.0.4+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1), 

gstreamer0.10-plugins-good-dbg:amd64 (0.10.31-1ubuntu1.1, 0.10.31-1ubuntu1.2), 

libnm-gtk0:amd64 (0.9.4.1-0ubuntu2, 0.9.4.1-0ubuntu2.1), 

bamfdaemon:amd64 (0.2.124.2-0ubuntu1, 0.2.126-0ubuntu1), 

gstreamer0.10-plugins-good-doc:amd64 (0.10.31-1ubuntu1.1, 0.10.31-1ubuntu1.2), 

perl:amd64 (5.14.2-6ubuntu2.2, 5.14.2-6ubuntu2.3), 

libevince3-3:amd64 (3.4.0-0ubuntu1.5, 3.4.0-0ubuntu1.6), 

thunderbird:amd64 (17.0.3+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1, 17.0.4+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1), 

gstreamer0.10-gconf:amd64 (0.10.31-1ubuntu1.1, 0.10.31-1ubuntu1.2), 

libdevmapper1.02.1:amd64 (1.02.48-4ubuntu7.1, 1.02.48-4ubuntu7.2), 

linux-generic:amd64 (3.2.0.38.46, 3.2.0.39.47), 

libwbclient0:amd64 (3.6.3-2ubuntu2.3, 3.6.3-2ubuntu2.4), 

perl-base:amd64 (5.14.2-6ubuntu2.2, 5.14.2-6ubuntu2.3), 

libnspr4-0d:amd64 (4.9.4-0ubuntu0.12.04.1, 4.9.5-0ubuntu0.12.04.1), 

perl-modules:amd64 (5.14.2-6ubuntu2.2, 5.14.2-6ubuntu2.3), 

libapt-inst1.4:amd64 (0.8.16~exp12ubuntu10.7, 0.8.16~exp12ubuntu10.10), 

libpam-smbpass:amd64 (3.6.3-2ubuntu2.3, 3.6.3-2ubuntu2.4), 

gstreamer0.10-plugins-good:amd64 (0.10.31-1ubuntu1.1, 0.10.31-1ubuntu1.2), 

apt-utils:amd64 (0.8.16~exp12ubuntu10.7, 0.8.16~exp12ubuntu10.10), 

samba-common:amd64 (3.6.3-2ubuntu2.3, 3.6.3-2ubuntu2.4), 

udev:amd64 (175-0ubuntu9.2, 175-0ubuntu9.3), 

apt:amd64 (0.8.16~exp12ubuntu10.7, 0.8.16~exp12ubuntu10.10), 

libnm-gtk-common:amd64 (0.9.4.1-0ubuntu2, 0.9.4.1-0ubuntu2.1), 

evince-common:amd64 (3.4.0-0ubuntu1.5, 3.4.0-0ubuntu1.6), 

linux-headers-generic:amd64 (3.2.0.38.46, 3.2.0.39.47), 

linux-image-generic:amd64 (3.2.0.38.46, 3.2.0.39.47), 

evince:amd64 (3.4.0-0ubuntu1.5, 3.4.0-0ubuntu1.6), 

libapt-pkg4.12:amd64 (0.8.16~exp12ubuntu10.7, 0.8.16~exp12ubuntu10.10), 

libdevmapper-event1.02.1:amd64 (1.02.48-4ubuntu7.1, 1.02.48-4ubuntu7.2), 

flashplugin-installer:amd64 (11.2.202.273ubuntu0.12.04.1, 11.2.202.275ubuntu0.12.04.1), 

samba:amd64 (3.6.3-2ubuntu2.3, 3.6.3-2ubuntu2.4), 

gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio:amd64 (0.10.31-1ubuntu1.1, 0.10.31-1ubuntu1.2), 

libnspr4:amd64 (4.9.4-0ubuntu0.12.04.1, 4.9.5-0ubuntu0.12.04.1), 

nautilus-data:amd64 (3.4.2-0ubuntu6, 3.4.2-0ubuntu7), 

liblvm2app2.2:amd64 (2.02.66-4ubuntu7.1, 2.02.66-4ubuntu7.2), 

gir1.2-gudev-1.0:amd64 (175-0ubuntu9.2, 175-0ubuntu9.3), 

libusbmuxd1:amd64 (1.0.7-2, 1.0.7-2ubuntu0.1), 

libperl5.14:amd64 (5.14.2-6ubuntu2.2, 5.14.2-6ubuntu2.3), 

libudev0:amd64 (175-0ubuntu9.2, 175-0ubuntu9.3), 

thunderbird-globalmenu:amd64 (17.0.3+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1, 17.0.4+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1), 

thunderbird-gnome-support:amd64 (17.0.3+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1, 17.0.4+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1), 

linux-libc-dev:amd64 (3.2.0-38.61, 3.2.0-39.62), 

samba-common-bin:amd64 (3.6.3-2ubuntu2.3, 3.6.3-2ubuntu2.4), 

libnautilus-extension1a:amd64 (3.4.2-0ubuntu6, 3.4.2-0ubuntu7), 

iptables:amd64 (1.4.12-1ubuntu4, 1.4.12-1ubuntu5), 

libbamf3-0:amd64 (0.2.124.2-0ubuntu1, 0.2.126-0ubuntu1), 

libnss3-1d:amd64 (3.14.1-0ckbi1.93ubuntu.0.12.04.1, 3.14.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.1), 

libbamf0:amd64 (0.2.124.2-0ubuntu1, 0.2.126-0ubuntu1), 

thunderbird-locale-en:amd64 (17.0.3+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1, 17.0.4+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1)

End-Date: 2013-03-23  09:12:14

Answer 1

Go back to the 3.2.0-38 kernel. There is a bug for the 39 version of the kernel for some users. Please check it here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1157786

Answer 2

User 143338 was correct - the problem apparently is in that version of the Kernel. Fortunately, unless you explicitly remove them, previous versions of the kernel are still on your machine. Kernel updates are installed by the same process that installs the other updates, and can be un-installed the same way. For the benefit of anyone else with this issue, here are some details on how to fix it:

1) Confirm that this is what's wrong.

When booting, the boot menu will present you with several choices, one of which is "Previous versions of Linux". Select this, and boot with 3.2.0-38. Your machine should now run as it did before the last update. If it does not, look elsewhere for an answer. Sorry!

2) To make this change permanent:

Open a terminal and enter:

sudo apt-get remove 3.2.0-39

then

sudo update-grub

When you next boot you will be running 3.2.0-38 again. You can confirm this by entering

uname -a

which will show you exactly which kernel is running.