[amdgpu] Screen is flickering

[Maxim]

When I use my Xubuntu OS, my screen sometimes turning off and on as if the screen went completely black. The problem was on vanilla Ubuntu too, because I used it before with the same problem occurring.
The Ubuntu release is 24.04 LTS;
The xorg version is 1:7.7+23ubuntu3.

This only happens on Linux, because I use multiboot and the problem does not occur on windows.
I already tried to change refresh rate and to update drivers, but none seemed to work yet.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+23ubuntu3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.8.0-35.35-generic 6.8.4
Uname: Linux 6.8.0-35-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.28.1-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
BootLog: Error: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/var/log/boot.log'
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
CompositorRunning: None
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Tue Jun 18 20:14:24 2024
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: noble
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Ellesmere [Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590] [1002:67df] (rev ef) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Tul Corporation / PowerColor Radeon RX 570 4G [Red Dragon] [148c:2379]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2024-05-29 (20 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 24.04 LTS "Noble Numbat" - Release amd64 (20240424.2)
MachineType: To be filled by O.E.M. To be filled by O.E.M.
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.8.0-35-generic root=UUID=d42a969b-f787-4139-9cb8-7a1366df017f ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 07/05/2020
dmi.bios.release: 4.6
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 4.6.5
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: X79 (INTEL Xeon E5/Corei7 DMI2 - C600/C200 Cipset
dmi.board.vendor: INTEL
dmi.board.version: V304
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.:bvr4.6.5:bd07/05/2020:br4.6:svnTobefilledbyO.E.M.:pnTobefilledbyO.E.M.:pvrTobefilledbyO.E.M.:rvnINTEL:rnX79(INTELXeonE5/Corei7DMI2-C600/C200Cipset:rvrV304:cvnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:skuTobefilledbyO.E.M.:
dmi.product.family: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.product.name: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.product.sku: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.product.version: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.sys.vendor: To be filled by O.E.M.
version.compiz: compiz N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.120-2build1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 24.0.5-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx N/A
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:21.1.12-1ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:22.0.0-1build1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20210115-1build1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.17-2build1

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Next time the problem happens, please run:

  journalctl -b0 > journal.txt

and attach the resulting text file here.

[Maxim (slimechannel)]

Added the journal, hopefully it helps!

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thanks. The only message I can see that might be related is:

  kernel: amdgpu 0000:03:00.0: amdgpu: Disabling VM faults because of PRT request!

which some googling suggests is caused by the GPU being under load. Certainly Steam was running at the time.

It might pay to try some older and newer kernels:

  https://kernel.ubuntu.com/mainline/?C=N;O=D

and hopefully you can find some that don't have the bug. If so then you would be able to zoom in on where the problem started (or was fixed).

[Maxim (slimechannel)]

All kernels available in the repository (not really sure which though, that's what said in the guide at least) are 6.8.0.31 and 6.8.0.35 and both of them have this problem. Probably there is a way to install other kernels, though I'm unsure which version should I install, how do I do that and does it break my system if I do it the wrong way.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Since it involves installing a lot of packages repeatedly and you don't sound confident, I will no longer recommend trying other kernels.

Other than that, I can only suggest trying a newer HDMI (or DVI?) cable.

[Maxim (slimechannel)]

But why would the cable be the reason if it works properly on windows?
And I would like to change kernel if it fixes the problem, the thing is I'm kind of new to Linux so I don't get a lot of Linux related stuff, but I already can install packages and do other simple actions.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Display cables matter a lot because they have to transmit gigabits per second and small imperfections can interrupt that randomly, leading to a temporarily black screen.

The reason a cable might work on Windows but not Linux could be slightly different signalling, if for example Windows is using 24-bit colour and Linux using 30-bit. Then Linux would need more bandwidth to maintain a stable connection.

But it could also just be a software bug. If you want to try installing the latest graphics test kernel then download these four deb files:

  https://kernel.ubuntu.com/mainline/drm-tip/2024-06-04/amd64/

and then install them at the same time:

  sudo dpkg -i *.deb

You probably also need to have Secure Boot DISABLED in the BIOS in order to test such kernels.

Since it's a test kernel it's not guaranteed to always work. You can which tell version is running with the command:

  uname -r