[x1400] screen flicker (lucid)

[dotJan]

When I've used my laptop for a while, suddenly the screen starts flashing. It only takes a few seconds. I have a Fujitsu Siemens Pi1536 laptop with Mobility Radeon X1400. Older versions of ubuntu worked well.
i use ubuntu 10.04 lts 32bit desktop edition.

[Edmond Dantes (edantes)]

Same symptom (flickering) at login, which also takes longer than usual. I am running Ubuntu 10.04 AMD64 on a no-brand desktop system with an on board Radeon X1200

[jrk (jrk)]

Same symptoms with ATI X1450

[AndyC (comptonstudios)]

I have flickering at login as well. AMD64 Radeonx1200. If I add radeon.modeset=0 to the kernel command line this problem is fixed temporarily. Once grub2 updates radeon.modeset=0 is removed and the flickering returns on login. The only side-effect I see from the addition to the kernel command line is screen corruption during shutdown.

Thanks

[AndyC (comptonstudios)]

This is a fresh install of 10.04

[Miguel García Puyol (miguelpuyol)]

I have the same problem in a Dell Inspiron 6400 with ATI Radeon X1400

The flashing frequency gets worse and worse

[Miguel García Puyol (miguelpuyol)]

I have to add that this didn't happend on Ubuntu 9.10

[Miguel García Puyol (miguelpuyol)]

I fixed it by following the instructions on this thread:

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=1672814

Edit /etc/default/grub as root and add "i915.powersave=0" as a boot option to the default kernel options. (Should be the line containing the word "quiet", add it inside the quotes.)

[Xenmaster (njvoegele)]

The flashing seems to affect many things I do, right when I login, has affected me also when I log into games like wow through wine, also when starting a video on Hulu and at other various times opening other programs.
AMD 3800
ATI Radeon HD 3650 PCI express 2.0 512MB
3 gigs ddr2 ram
Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid
All updates
Using AMD proprietary FGLRX driver

This did not affect me however on my other PC with the same version of Linux installed using
Intel 3ghz
Nvidia Geforce 440MX 64MB
2 gigs ddr ram
Open source drivers
All system updates

Nor did it affect me with Radeon 9600 se installed on the second system however I was not able to get 3D drivers to install correctly with only partial 3D capabilities with the 9600 se so I did not continue to use this card

[dotJan (dotjan)]

When i boot with option "nomodeset" after bootoption "quiet", problem is solved...

[Tommy Hoyer (witeshark17)]

This issue appears apparently randomly on a Dell Inspiron 1545. With Ubuntu 10.04 as well. About 3 times in as many hours seems typical. I have seen it on battery only and AC power. Hope this helps!

[Tommy Hoyer (witeshark17)]

More info, Video card is:
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD

[Tommy Hoyer (witeshark17)]

More: I just ran the on board system test and submitted the result to Launchpad. The screen flicker occured once during the test, but evidently had no noticable affect.

[Tommy Hoyer (witeshark17)]

Important: the test left a process running from root using 100% CPU called 'backend'

[Tommy Hoyer (witeshark17)]

Is this comment related to a coming solution?

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/538648/comments/88

[gill_za (gillza)]

I confirm having similar issue on my Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook E8210 with ATI mobility radeon x1400.
Screen flickers randomly most of the time. Also I observe white noise build-up on the screen occasionally. During this the system freezes.

Upgrading the kernel, xorg and installing Gallium 3D helped relieve white noise issue, while flickering remained.

P.S. I also notice an issue with flash video playback on certain sites which weirdly enough results in the interruption of my WiFi connection, not sure if it is related.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1468484

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1492357

[gill_za (gillza)]

Correction:

Gallium 3D did not solve the white noise issue. I'm back to where I satrted.

[Tommy Hoyer (witeshark17)]

Is it known that the issue doesn't exist when using later kernel, such as 2.6.33?

[Tommy Hoyer (witeshark17)]

Forum comments that might help:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9407650#post9407650

[Tommy Hoyer (witeshark17)]

Some updates have been installed. The issue is rare, maybe more so but still occurs.

[YAFU (yafu)]

I have the same problem with an integrated ATI Radeon 1250. Kubuntu 10.04 64bits
The screen flashes always occur when you modify screen settings from systemsettings, or launching KrandRTray. Launching any application installed on Wine too. The display flashes for a few seconds..
Sometimes also after de flickers the screen becomes corrupted in some sectors, and then restored.

[kurt belgrave (trinikrono)]

Assigning to xserver-xorg-video-ati
dotJan
Can you confirm this is a issue in maverick by testing it for me please.
Also Please run the command 'apport-collect 576555' which will attach necessary information for debugging this as an Xorg problem. Thanks in advance.

[Xenmaster (njvoegele)]

The problem still persists for me also, As of September 6 using Ubuntu 10.04 Ati 3650HD with all recommended updates. Screen flickering at boot up, randomly during regular use, watching flash format videos. Only seems to occur for me when using my ATI cards. I do not seem to have this problem using onboard Nvidia 6150se or Nvidia Geforce 5200 FX card. I do not have any intel graphics to test with however

ATI 3650 - Problem occurs Flickering, poor speeds for this generation of card using both open source and ATI proprietary drivers
Nvidia onboard 6150se - No flickering
Nvidia Geforce 5200 FX - No flickering

Assuming now that it is just the way ATI and Intel drivers are made to work with X.server currently
Any input from if others have fixed the issue please let me know.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

[Resetting to incomplete since we need a response from the original reporter on this].

[Bishnu Mishra (mishra-bishnuprasad)]

I also face the same problem with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.
Details:
1. Issue occurs when running on battery power and is reduced(with a little flickering at bottom of the screen) or almost gone when connected to AC power adapter.
2. The screen also flickers while booting. However it is maximum on battery power.
3. I use Compaq CQ40 616-TU laptop with Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500 graphics.
4. I tried Mandrive One Spring 10 and also experienced the same problem.

I changed the Grub file and added i915.powersaver=0 but it did not work. However if I use the laptop with high brightness the problem is reduced (with a little flickering at bottom of the screen) or gone.

Thanks
Bishnu

[Bishnu Mishra (mishra-bishnuprasad)]

I also face the same problem with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.
Details:
1. Issue occurs when running on battery power and is reduced(with a little flickering at bottom of the screen) or almost gone when connected to AC power adapter.
2. The screen also flickers while booting. However it is maximum on battery power.
3. I use Compaq CQ40 616-TU laptop with Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500 graphics.
4. I tried Mandrive One Spring 10 and also experienced the same problem.

I changed the Grub file and added i915.powersaver=0 but it did not work. However if I use the laptop with high brightness the problem is reduced (with a little flickering at bottom of the screen) or gone.

Thanks
Bishnu

[YAFU (yafu)]

@kurt belgrave, I did not have flickers or flashes again in exactly the same conditions in Maverick, ie the login or when changing the display properties. That is, with regard to this bug I think that no longer happens in Maverick, but with desktop effects enabled is a bad performance in general: flicker, screen corruption, poor performance on video playback, etc. You can see my xorg log in this report:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kdebase-workspace/+bug/652401

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Milton (miltonlaufer)]

I've solved this problem. Follow the steps that I mention here:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-ati/+bug/665233