Screen flickering in kernel > 4.4.0-8 on XPS 9550

[pranith]

On my Dell XPS 15 9550(core i3 integrated graphics), the screen started glitching on kernel 4.4.0-11. This glitching goes away if I reboot to kernel 4.4.0-4.
---
ApportVersion: 2.20-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: pranith 1360 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Lsusb:
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
 Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0c45:6713 Microdia
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
MachineType: Dell Inc. XPS 15 9550
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-11-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=a16c8d99-e1e9-47d7-8873-d3e2800eee71 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-11.26-generic 4.4.4
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.4.0-11-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.4.0-11-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.156
RfKill:
 1: phy1: Wireless LAN
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
Tags: xenial
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-11-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 12/18/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 01.01.15
dmi.board.name: 0WNFM0
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 9
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvr01.01.15:bd12/18/2015:svnDellInc.:pnXPS159550:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0WNFM0:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct9:cvr:
dmi.product.name: XPS 15 9550
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[pranith (bobby-prani)]

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[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[pranith (bobby-prani)]

After installing the kernels in between I am able to reliably reproduce this start from kernel 4.4.0-9.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the latest v4.5 kernel[0].

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug as "Confirmed".

Thanks in advance.

[0] http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.5-rc7-wily/

[pranith (bobby-prani)]

The bug is also present on the latest upstream kernel.

Over on ubuntu formus, people have had similar experiences.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2301071&page=29&p=13451079#post13451079

[pranith (bobby-prani)]

possible duplicate bug: 1554613

[Justin S (ambientrevolution)]

This bug also affects me, I have the same laptop, dell 9550, 1920x1080 screen with i7. I'm working on the intel card and it flashes black every now and then.

[Tom van Bussel (tomvbussel)]

Same issue here. I have the Dell XPS 15 1080p with i7-6700HQ running on kernel 4.4.0-18. There's an occasional completely black frame. The flickering seems to start after "[drm:intel_cpu_fifo_underrun_irq_handler [i915_bpo]] *ERROR* CPU pipe A FIFO underrun" appears in the system log.

The same issue seems to occur on the latest Dell XPS 13 as well: 1554613, 1561729, 1552304

[Quentin (t-quentin)]

Same issue here on Dell XPS 15, using kernel 4.4.0-22.