Since 5.8.0-49 Screen flickers and becomes unusable

[Tim Passingham]

On ubuntu 20.10, x-org. On upgrade kernel to 5.8.0-49, and then -50, after the desktop has been on for a while the screen starts to flicker. Blocks of text go missing. Letters in a string disappear. Windows start flickering. The panel starts flickering and icons disappear and reappear. The keyboard and mouse seem intermittently responsive. After a restart it is OK for a little then starts again.

ubuntu wayland is no better.

Reverting to 5.8.0-48 fixes the problem completely.

I originally commented on #1923632 but that has gone private, and I was asked to raise my own report. This one.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.10
Package: xorg 1:7.7+19ubuntu15
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.8.0-48.54-generic 5.8.18
Uname: Linux 5.8.0-48-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu50.5
Architecture: amd64
BootLog: Error: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/var/log/boot.log'
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: None
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Mon Apr 19 07:42:02 2021
DistUpgraded: 2020-10-26 15:35:51,446 ERROR got error from PostInstallScript ./xorg_fix_proprietary.py (g-exec-error-quark: Failed to execute child process “./xorg_fix_proprietary.py” (No such file or directory) (8))
DistroCodename: groovy
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes, if not too technical
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0412] (rev 06) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd. Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller [19da:b220]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2018-05-24 (1060 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS "Bionic Beaver" - Release amd64 (20180426)
MachineType: ZOTAC ZBOX-ID92/ZBOX-IQ01
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.8.0-48-generic root=UUID=25b009b8-6f92-4bff-8f3f-8a9700abf672 ro quiet splash fsck.mode=force fsck.repair=yes vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to groovy on 2020-10-26 (174 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 05/21/2014
dmi.bios.release: 4.6
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: B220P007
dmi.board.asset.tag: NA
dmi.board.name: ZBOX-ID92/ZBOX-IQ01
dmi.board.vendor: ZOTAC
dmi.board.version: XX
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrB220P007:bd05/21/2014:br4.6:svnZOTAC:pnZBOX-ID92/ZBOX-IQ01:pvrXX:rvnZOTAC:rnZBOX-ID92/ZBOX-IQ01:rvrXX:cvnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.family: NA
dmi.product.name: ZBOX-ID92/ZBOX-IQ01
dmi.product.sku: NA
dmi.product.version: XX
dmi.sys.vendor: ZOTAC
version.compiz: compiz N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.102-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 20.2.6-0ubuntu0.20.10.1
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 20.2.6-0ubuntu0.20.10.1
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.20.9-2ubuntu1.3
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:19.1.0-1ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20200714-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.16-1

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug 1924778, so it is being marked as such. Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide, or to see if there is a workaround for the bug. Additionally, any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report. Feel free to continue to report any other bugs you may find.