Annoying Screen Flickering with Intel GM45 Chipset

[SteveRiley]

Waaah! I'm totally stumped! :mad:

[PJK]

Yeah tell me about it bro. At this point, I think I'm just gonna deal with the occasional flickering, I've installed 11.10 and within 5 minutes I've gotten multiple crashes, and even after installing all upgrades I couldn't open Muon Software Center because it crashed on launch and I can't have that in a development system. Kubuntu 12.04 is super stable, so like I said, I'll just stick with it, and I'm hoping the issue gets resolved down the road.

PS: Doing sudo update-grub still maintains the custom kernel, right?

EDIT: Yeah it does, believe it or not, the flickering is actually worse with the custom kernel. It actually flashes white and black now as opposed to just white. One last thing, I'm gonna add Xedgers repos and upgrade to their drivers, see what happens.

[SteveRiley]

One last thing, I'm gonna add Xedgers repos and upgrade to their drivers, see what happens.

Ah, I thought you had still kept that. There was an update just today in Edgers, so let's hope for the best!

[SteveRiley]

PS: Doing sudo update-grub still maintains the custom kernel, right?

Yup, that kernel will stick around unless you delete it, and because its version number is higher, it will remain the default even when 3.2 is updated.

If you want to get rid of it:

dpkg -P linux-image-3.4.0-994-generic linux-headers-3.4.0-994 linux-headers-3.4.0-994-generic

[PJK]

Right, removed custom kernels, using Xedgers drivers, changed "i915.powersave=0" to "nomodeset". NO SCREEN FLICKER 2 REBOOTS IN A ROW!

Another problem, I'm running at 1280x768 as opposed to 1280x800, so screen is rather blurry, and my cursor occasionally disappears. xrandr -s 1280x800 says 1280x800 not found in modes.

[SteveRiley]

Hey, sounds better than anything so far! Alas, "nomodeset" is not so ideal, because now you're relying on X to set video modes. KMS (kernel mode setting) is the way of the future.

Take a look at your latest /var/log/Xorg.0.log. Do you see any probe attempts for 1200x800?

[PJK]

I believe so, weird it would choose 1280x768 since:

[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): Supported detailed timing:
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): clock: 69.3 MHz Image Size: 331 x 2070 mm
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): h_active: 1280 h_sync: 1328 h_sync_end 1352 h_blank_end 1416 h_border: 0
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): v_active: 800 v_sync: 803 v_sync_end 809 v_blanking: 816 v_border: 0
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): Supported detailed timing:
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): clock: 46.2 MHz Image Size: 331 x 2070 mm
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): h_active: 1280 h_sync: 1328 h_sync_end 1352 h_blank_end 1416 h_border: 0
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): v_active: 800 v_sync: 803 v_sync_end 809 v_blanking: 816 v_border: 0
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): X397H€154WX5
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): Unknown vendor-specific block 0
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): EDID (in hex):
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): 00ffffffffffff00320c000000000000
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): 00120103902115780ab7859959538d27
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): 25505400000001010101010101010101
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): 010101010101121b0088502010303018
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): 36004bcf1000001b0e12008850201030
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): 301836004bcf1000001b000000fe0058
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): 33393748803135345758350a00000000
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): 0026343e446489a4ff01010a20200018
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): EDID vendor "LPL", prod id 0
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): EDID quirk: Detailed timings give vertical size in cm.
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): Printing DDC gathered Modelines:
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "1280x800"x0.0 69.30 1280 1328 1352 1416 800 803 809 816 +hsync -vsync (48.9 kHz)
[ 15.282] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "1280x800"x0.0 46.22 1280 1328 1352 1416 800 803 809 816 +hsync -vsync (32.6 kHz)

[SteveRiley]

Whoa, wait a sec...why is the VESA driver loading, rather than the Intel driver? Hrm... slap that entire log file up here, please. Lemme take a look.

[PJK]

Attached.

Xorg.0.txt

[SteveRiley]

Hm. Are you sure you're using the Xorg-Edgers PPA? Your log file shows X Server version 1.11.3 and Intel driver 2.17.0. The Xorg-Edgers repo currently has X Server 1.12.1 and Intel driver 2.19.0.

Let me see the output of:

apt-cache policy xserver-common xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-video-intel

I have another suggestion, but let's wait for just a moment.

[PJK]

Okay, what the hell. I swear to God, I added that repo, and did update and upgrade. I re-added it though, did update, then upgrade, which returned:

The following packages have been kept back:
libgl1-mesa-dri xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-evdev xserver-xorg-input-mouse xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-vmmouse xserver-xorg-video-ati
xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-fbdev xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64 xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
xserver-xorg-video-nouveau xserver-xorg-video-openchrome xserver-xorg-video-qxl xserver-xorg-video-r128 xserver-xorg-video-radeon xserver-xorg-video-s3
xserver-xorg-video-savage xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx xserver-xorg-video-trident
xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vmware
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 27 not upgraded.

Doing dist-upgrade downloaded all those 27 packages, but I swear I had em. Next answer:

xserver-common:
Installed: 2:1.12.1+git20120502+server-1.12-branch.ed33772a-0ubuntu0ricotz~precise
Candidate: 2:1.12.1+git20120502+server-1.12-branch.ed33772a-0ubuntu0ricotz~precise
Version table:
*** 2:1.12.1+git20120502+server-1.12-branch.ed33772a-0ubuntu0ricotz~precise 0
500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/xorg-edgers/ppa/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
2:1.11.4-0ubuntu10.1 0
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates/main amd64 Packages
2:1.11.4-0ubuntu10 0
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
xserver-xorg-core:
Installed: 2:1.12.1+git20120502+server-1.12-branch.ed33772a-0ubuntu0ricotz~precise
Candidate: 2:1.12.1+git20120502+server-1.12-branch.ed33772a-0ubuntu0ricotz~precise
Version table:
*** 2:1.12.1+git20120502+server-1.12-branch.ed33772a-0ubuntu0ricotz~precise 0
500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/xorg-edgers/ppa/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
2:1.11.4-0ubuntu10.1 0
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates/main amd64 Packages
2:1.11.4-0ubuntu10 0
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
xserver-xorg-video-intel:
Installed: 2:2.19.0+git20120501.7e09babb-0ubuntu0sarvatt~precise
Candidate: 2:2.19.0+git20120501.7e09babb-0ubuntu0sarvatt~precise
Version table:
*** 2:2.19.0+git20120501.7e09babb-0ubuntu0sarvatt~precise 0
500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/xorg-edgers/ppa/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
2:2.17.0-1ubuntu4 0
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
jan@Latitude:/var/log$

[SteveRiley]

Do yourself a favor... change your habit away from apt-get upgrade and instead use apt-get dist-upgrade.

Anyway...now that these drivers are in fact installed, is the problem still there after a reboot? Can I see your Xorg.0.log now?

Oh, and a favor for me... when you post the output of a command like the apt-cache policy might I urge you to use the "[ CODE ]" tag rather than "[ QUOTE ]"? Preserving indents helps to parse the text. Thanky.

[PJK]

Yeah, problem still persists unless I boot with "nomodeset". As far as the CODE tag goes... I didn't know one existed. As you can see, Im pretty good about encapsulating anything important, it's just that a CODE tag button is missing from the WYSIWYG toolbar. Anyway, yeah, here:

xserver-common:
  Installed: 2:1.12.1+git20120502+server-1.12-branch.ed33772a-0ubuntu0ricotz~precise
  Candidate: 2:1.12.1+git20120502+server-1.12-branch.ed33772a-0ubuntu0ricotz~precise
  Version table:
 *** 2:1.12.1+git20120502+server-1.12-branch.ed33772a-0ubuntu0ricotz~precise 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/xorg-edgers/ppa/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     2:1.11.4-0ubuntu10.1 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates/main amd64 Packages
     2:1.11.4-0ubuntu10 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
xserver-xorg-core:
  Installed: 2:1.12.1+git20120502+server-1.12-branch.ed33772a-0ubuntu0ricotz~precise
  Candidate: 2:1.12.1+git20120502+server-1.12-branch.ed33772a-0ubuntu0ricotz~precise
  Version table:
 *** 2:1.12.1+git20120502+server-1.12-branch.ed33772a-0ubuntu0ricotz~precise 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/xorg-edgers/ppa/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     2:1.11.4-0ubuntu10.1 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates/main amd64 Packages
     2:1.11.4-0ubuntu10 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
xserver-xorg-video-intel:
  Installed: 2:2.19.0+git20120501.7e09babb-0ubuntu0sarvatt~precise
  Candidate: 2:2.19.0+git20120501.7e09babb-0ubuntu0sarvatt~precise
  Version table:
 *** 2:2.19.0+git20120501.7e09babb-0ubuntu0sarvatt~precise 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/xorg-edgers/ppa/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     2:2.17.0-1ubuntu4 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages

Ugh, my apologies dude, it seems to be there when doing an "Advanced" reply, which I never use. Sorry

[SteveRiley]

Alrighty, let's remove the VESA driver (and the framebuffer driver too, while we're at it) and see if the Intel driver will load now:

sudo apt-get purge xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-fbdev

After you do this but before you reboot, remove "nomodeset" from the Linux boot paramenters in GRUB.

If you get no X at all and instead dump to a command prompt, save your latest Xorg.0.log to a file someplace because I'll need to look at it. Then reinstall the VESA and framebuffer drivers so you can at least get back to the forum:

sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-fbdev

[SteveRiley]

BTW, in case you haven't realized it, we're now in hack-n-slash mode