Screen flickering on Ubuntu 20.04 - HP Spectre X360 with Intel Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520]

[Uyfar Us]

I am using Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS on my HP Spectre X360 with Intel Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520] and I am having flickering graphics.

The problem sometimes happens showing grey flickering boxes 5-6 times in a minute, and sometimes it does not happen for 2-3 minutes. Overall, it annoys me quite a lot.

I have tried decreasing the refresh rate from 60Hz to lower options, but that didn't work. Updating the drivers or purging Intel graphics didn't work either. I also tried a couple of stuff I saw online regarding /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/.

I do not have this issue on Windows, therefore it must be Ubuntu-related.

When I set nomodeset on GRUB and update it, flickering disappears, but at the cost of my brightness adjuster and Night Light.

As for package I have:

apt-cache policy pkgname
N: Unable to locate package pkgname

dpkg -l |grep xserver-xorg-core
ii xserver-xorg-core 2:1.20.11-1ubuntu1~20.04.2 amd64 Xorg X server - core server

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+19ubuntu14
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.11.0-36.40~20.04.1-generic 5.11.22
Uname: Linux 5.11.0-36-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.20
Architecture: amd64
BootLog: Error: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/var/log/boot.log'
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CompositorRunning: None
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Tue Sep 28 11:55:47 2021
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: focal
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520] [8086:1916] (rev 07) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520] [103c:804e]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2021-09-22 (5 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS "Focal Fossa" - Release amd64 (20210819)
MachineType: HP HP Spectre x360 Convertible
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.11.0-36-generic root=UUID=c68313b0-c9ba-4714-abc0-dff5762a92b2 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
XorgConf:
 Section "Device"
    Identifier "Intel Graphics"
    Driver "intel"
    Option "TearFree" "true"
 EndSection
dmi.bios.date: 12/27/2019
dmi.bios.release: 15.54
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: F.54
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag
dmi.board.name: 804E
dmi.board.vendor: HP
dmi.board.version: 33.24
dmi.chassis.type: 31
dmi.chassis.vendor: HP
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.ec.firmware.release: 33.24
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrF.54:bd12/27/2019:br15.54:efr33.24:svnHP:pnHPSpectrex360Convertible:pvr:skuN7H72EA#AB8:rvnHP:rn804E:rvr33.24:cvnHP:ct31:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.family: 103C_5335KV G=N L=CON B=HP S=SPT
dmi.product.name: HP Spectre x360 Convertible
dmi.product.sku: N7H72EA#AB8
dmi.sys.vendor: HP
version.compiz: compiz N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.107-1028
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 21.0.3-0ubuntu0.3~20.04.2
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 21.0.3-0ubuntu0.3~20.04.2
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.20.11-1ubuntu1~20.04.2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:19.1.0-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20200226-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.16-1

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thanks for the bug report. Please edit /etc/default/grub and change:

  GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

to:

  GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i915.enable_psr=0"

and then run:

  sudo update-grub

and reboot.

Does that fix the problem?

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Oh actually this sounds like bug 1867668. Please uninstall xserver-xorg-video-intel and don't configure your system to use it. You should log into 'Ubuntu on Wayland' instead.

[Uyfar Us (ubuntunoob11)]

Sorry if the question is too easy but how do I not cofigure my system not to use it. I only removed and purged the xserver-xorg-video-intel and emptied the conf files in etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
Then I switched to Wayland but the issue persists.

[Uyfar Us (ubuntunoob11)]

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i915.enable_psr=0"

Tried this as well, didn't work. When I add nomodeset as well here, flickering goes away but then I lose my brightness settings (including hotkeys) and night light does not activate.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

'nomodeset' is not useful because it's just disabling the graphics driver instead of fixing the real issue.

If the problem is still happening without 'nomodeset' then next please run this command while it is happening:

  journalctl -b0 > journal.txt

and attach the resulting text file here.

[Uyfar Us (ubuntunoob11)]

Yes, it still happens. Here is the text file:

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thanks. I can't see any explanation in there. Can you attach a video of the problem?

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Also note your libdrm packages are not from any official Ubuntu update and are unsupported:

libdrm-amdgpu1 2.4.107-1028 [origin: ubuntu focal]
libdrm-common 2.4.107-1028 [origin: ubuntu focal]
libdrm-intel1 2.4.107-1028 [origin: ubuntu focal]
libdrm-nouveau2 2.4.107-1028 [origin: ubuntu focal]
libdrm-radeon1 2.4.107-1028 [origin: ubuntu focal]
libdrm2 2.4.107-1028 [origin: ubuntu focal]

Please try installing the official versions with:

sudo apt install --reinstall libdrm-amdgpu1/focal-updates libdrm-common/focal-updates libdrm-intel1/focal-updates libdrm-nouveau2/focal-updates libdrm-radeon1/focal-updates libdrm2/focal-updates

and then reboot.

[Uyfar Us (ubuntunoob11)]

I probably did that at some point while tryig to fix the bug (sorry for making it more difficult to debug).
I will try to get a video

[Uyfar Us (ubuntunoob11)]

Here is the video clip of the graphics issue I face.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thanks. That's either a kernel bug or a hardware fault, so let's assume it's a kernel bug.

I suggest waiting for the fix for bug 1936708 to see if that's the issue here. That one will be fixed in https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-hwe-5.11/5.11.0-38.42~20.04.1

[Uyfar Us (ubuntunoob11)]

Alright I will be waiting for that, thank you!

[Uyfar Us (ubuntunoob11)]

I believe the fix is already released, however, my issue persists.