[MacbookPro11,2] Using external displays show corrupted, flickering images

[Alex Willmer]

Prior to install Wily Werewolf I could use external displays - including an Apple Cinema 27 (mini DisplayPort) and various projectors (Mini-DP to VGA). Since installing Wily external displays show corrupted visuals.

For instance right now, when I plug in an Apple Cinema 27 the display initially shows the contents of my internal display prior to plugging in, but tiled and flashing on/off at about 1 Hz. The display does not update if I type a letter. If I move the mouse the flashing becomes a fast flicker, perhaps 10 Hz. The internal display recovers, once the cable is unplugged. I see similar behaviour with a 1080p television, using either the built in HDMI or Mini-DP -> HDMI

The same display and laptop work under OSX and previously worked with Ubuntu 15.04.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.10
Package: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917-1ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.1.0-3.3-generic 4.1.3
Uname: Linux 4.1.0-3-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.18-0ubuntu7
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,grid,regex,mousepoll,vpswitch,place,wall,move,snap,session,gnomecompat,resize,imgpng,animation,expo,workarounds,fade,scale,ezoom,unityshell]
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Tue Aug 25 09:02:10 2015
DistUpgraded: 2015-07-29 16:30:41,046 DEBUG running apport_crash()
DistroCodename: wily
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 bcmwl, 6.30.223.248+bdcom, 4.1.0-3-generic, x86_64: installed
 virtualbox, 5.0.2, 4.1.0-3-generic, x86_64: installed
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Crystal Well Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0d26] (rev 08) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Apple Inc. Device [106b:012e]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-01-24 (212 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.10 "Utopic Unicorn" - Release amd64 (20141022.1)
MachineType: Apple Inc. MacBookPro11,2
PlymouthDebug: Error: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/var/log/plymouth-debug.log'
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_GB:en
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-4.1.0-3-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=d846ddfa-b48d-44b4-ab28-6c3a00d0252c ro rootflags=subvol=@ plymouth:debug splash quiet drm.debug=0xe
SourcePackage: xserver-xorg-video-intel
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to wily on 2015-07-29 (26 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 01/07/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.bios.version: MBP112.88Z.0138.B14.1501071031
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag#
dmi.board.name: Mac-3CBD00234E554E41
dmi.board.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.board.version: MacBookPro11,2
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: Mac-3CBD00234E554E41
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAppleInc.:bvrMBP112.88Z.0138.B14.1501071031:bd01/07/2015:svnAppleInc.:pnMacBookPro11,2:pvr1.0:rvnAppleInc.:rnMac-3CBD00234E554E41:rvrMacBookPro11,2:cvnAppleInc.:ct10:cvrMac-3CBD00234E554E41:
dmi.product.name: MacBookPro11,2
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: Apple Inc.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.12.1+15.10.20150805-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.64-1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 10.6.3-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 10.6.3-1ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.17.2-1ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.9.2-1ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.5.0+git20150819-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917-1ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.11-1ubuntu3
xserver.bootTime: Tue Aug 25 07:46:49 2015
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors:

xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:
 product id 40985
 vendor APP
xserver.version: 2:1.17.2-1ubuntu3

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

do you have the old kernel still around? if yes, try booting it and see if it still breaks

[Alex Willmer (alex-moreati)]

I don't still have the old kernel. However if I boot the laptop with an Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop amd64 USB stick then both the Apple Cinema 27 and the Panasonic television are detected and display a stable picture.

[Alex Willmer (alex-moreati)]

Two more data points:

1. The mini-dp monitor works correctly if it's plugged in at boot time. It continues to work after suspend/resume and disconnect/reconnect.
2. I tried booting linux-image-4.2.0-040200rc8-generic_4.2.0-040200rc8.201508240030 and it exhibits the same flickering/corruption on the mini-dp monitor.

[Alex Willmer (alex-moreati)]

This behaviour is still present with kernel 4.2.0-7-generic - when an external display is connected the desktop becomes incorrect tiled/scaled, and the displays rapidly (~10 Hz) flicker.

Having the external display (Apple Cinema 27) plugged in during boot is no longer a reliable workaround. Usually it displays a correct login screen at native resolution, then the flickering begins when a desktop session starts.

I've found a better workaround, pressing Super+S triggers 'spread mode' causes each display to show a zoomed out overview of the entire desktop. This (so far) reliably fixes the flickering and the tiling.

Perhaps I've filed this under the wrong package, could it be a bug in Mir or Unity?

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Alex Willmer, to see if this is already resolved, could you please test http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ and advise to the results?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for xserver-xorg-video-intel (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]