VGA-out dies after a while on Eee 1000H

[Phil Pemberton]

Binary package hint: xserver-xorg-video-intel

I am using Kubuntu 8.04.1 (with all current updates installed) on an ASUS Eee 1000H mini-notebook PC. I'm also using xrandr to switch off the LCD and use an external monitor with the machine while it's on my desk.
Xorg video driver is xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.2.1-1ubuntu13.6.
Video chipset is an Intel 945GME.

The problem is, if I switch from LCD to the VGA-out with xrandr, after a few minutes to a few hours, the screen will change to a single solid colour. Switching back to the LCD allows me to interact with the machine again, but VGA-out remains black when I switch back to VGA again. Sync is being output on the VGA port as the monitor is showing the resolution I set it to in the Info screen. Only rebooting the machine will allow VGA-out to work again -- simply restarting X has no effect on the VGA-out issue.

I've tried enabling ForceEnablePipeA, but this had no effect on the problem.

Typically, the video starts glitching when I switch from LCD to VGA-out. It's about once every few minutes, and looks like the screen has missed a sync pulse or something -- the video is shifted right (or maybe left?) a bit for around 1 video frame. This starts happening a few minutes before the video locks, but may not be related.

I have a suspicion that the recent driver update pushed to hardy-updates may be the cause of this. I am going to revert to 2:2.2.1-1ubuntu12 later and see if this resolves the issue.

Other people have included the following in there bug reports -- I can't see any firm requirement for the lspci dumps, but I have included them anyway as they might be helpful, if only for accurately IDing the chipset.

$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 8.04.1
Release: 8.04

$ uname -a
Linux cougar.homenet.philpem.me.uk 2.6.24-19-generic #1 SMP Fri Jul 11 23:41:49 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

$ lspci -nn
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27ae] (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a6] (rev 03)

$ sudo lspci -vvvnn
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27ae] (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Unknown device [1043:8340]
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 16
        Region 0: Memory at f7f00000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
        Region 1: I/O ports at dc00 [size=8]
        Region 2: Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        Region 3: Memory at f7ec0000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256K]
        Capabilities: [90] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable-
                Address: 00000000 Data: 0000
        Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a6] (rev 03)
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Unknown device [1043:8340]
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Region 0: Memory at f7f80000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
        Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

[Phil Pemberton (philpem)]

I've done some more testing:

- Reverting to 2:2.2.1-ubuntu12 didn't fix anything. The problem still exists on the older driver.

- Setting KDE to use the "Solar Winds (GL)" OpenGL screensaver seems to reduce the time required to reproduce this bug. Activate the screensaver, and wait for it to start. Leave it for a few minutes, then move the mouse. The machine will (sometimes) crash. When it does, you'll need to power off and back on again (hold the power switch down until the 1000H powers off, then wait a few seconds and press it again). When the machine reboots, switch to VGA-out. After a few minutes, the screen will black out, but the machine will still respond to keypresses.

[Phil Pemberton (philpem)]

I've just done some more testing:
xserver-xorg-video-intel_2.3.2-2_i386.deb (from Debian lenny):
  - Exhibits the same bug.

xserver-xorg-video-intel_2.4.0~melchiorre-5_i386.deb (from http://melchiorre.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/driver-intel-240-deb-package/)
  - After adding "Driver 'intel'" to xorg.conf, works fine. Does not appear to exhibit the same issue as 2.3.2-2 and 2.2.1-ubuntu12/2.2.1-ubuntu13.6.

Still testing to see if 2.4.0 has fixed the bug.

[Phil Pemberton (philpem)]

Update: same problem on 2.4.0 :(

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Hi Phil,

Don't forget to attach your /var/log/Xorg.0.log from your 2.4.0 tests. Btw in Intrepid we have 2.4.1 but I suspect you'll see the same issue - I've been running into screensaver-related hangs myself on intel gear, but hard to say if it's the same problem (the logs will probably help).

It sounds like it might be a good idea to experiment with different screensaver/dpms settings, to see if you can isolate what is at fault.

Also, if you're seeing a crash, you should also try to get a backtrace - see http://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Backtracing for directions.

[Egres (serge-matveev)]

Workaround: Disable power saving in the display properties. This works for me

[Egres (serge-matveev)]

I'm sorry, but my previous message was wrong. The problem is persist.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Please attach the output of `lspci -vvnn`, and attach your
/var/log/Xorg.0.log file from after reproducing this issue.
If you've made any customizations to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf please
attach that as well.

[Sean Bridges (shizeon)]

Hello,
  I experiencing the same symptoms exactly. I have an eeepc 901 though. I have captured and attached my Xorg.log, lspci and the snippet of the Xorg log when the video card refuses to turn on the external monitor. As Phil mentioned the screen starts to glitch (shifts for a second every few minutes) before the problem, but nothing happens in the xorg log while this is occurring. The full Xorg log has from startup, to initial switch to external, to glitching, to blank out. Then switching back to internal, and back again a few times. Hope this helps.

$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 8.04.1
Release: 8.04

$ uname -a
Linux shizeon-eeepc 2.6.24-22-eeepc #1 SMP Sun Oct 5 20:25:09 MDT 2008 i686 GNU/Linux
shizeon@shizeon-eeepc:~$

[andrehsiqueira (andrehsiqueira)]

Hello.
this problem remain for me on Toshiba Satellite U205-S5034. There isn´t a problem into Hardy 8.04 but after update ( and after check problem, reinstall) to Intrepid, my external monitor crash after few seconds or many hours and I need to reboot to get it again...

So, the problem isn´t restrict to EEEpc...My external VGA has the same problem.

[Sean Bridges (shizeon)]

Andrehsiqueira, does your laptop have the same graphics card that this bug is against? "Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27ae] (rev 03)"

[andrehsiqueira (andrehsiqueira)]

Hi Sean:

Yes it's my video card...

$ lspci |grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS,
943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)

Thanks for your attention.

2008/11/15 Sean Bridges <email address hidden>

> Andrehsiqueira, does your laptop have the same graphics card that this
> bug is against? "Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated
> Graphics Controller [8086:27ae] (rev 03)"
>
> --
> VGA-out dies after a while on Eee 1000H
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/257894
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

--
Atenciosamente

André Henrique de Siqueira

====================
"O mundo precisa mais de atitudes
do que de lamentações."

[Dafko (dafko)]

I'm having same problem on ubuntu 8.10 on my Acer Extensa 5510 notebook. Few blinks and pitch black, it's pretty annoying. Did someone solved this issue?

Thank you, DAfko

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

[Please attach files rather than put them in tarballs, as it makes it a lot easier to review them, so your bug will get attention faster.]

[erix5 (vitaly-torshyn)]

I've tried 2.5.1 and the issue was fixed with switching off an external VGA.
Also I append option "ForceEnablePipeA" "true" into device section in the xorg.conf. It works well for me on Acer Aspire One netbook.

[Phil Pemberton (philpem)]

I've just backported 2.5.1 from Jaunty to Hardy -- this involved backporting and installing:
libdrm 2.4.1-0ubuntu7
libpciaccess 0.10.3-1
xserver-xorg-video-intel 2.5.1-1ubuntu6

Switching from internal to external monitor worked, until I started running OpenGL screensavers (Euphoria fullscreen, Space, Solarwinds, Particle Fountain, Krotation, Kpendulum, Gravity and Flux for a few seconds each in the preview box, then finally Fireworks 3D fullscreen). The VGA display went blank (monitor showed sync, but no video) shortly after Fireworks 3D did the "Welcome to KDE 3.5.9" part of its animation.

Fn-F8 got the LCD running again, but switching from LCD to VGA again produces the blank screen.

lspci, lsb-release, etc. output is the same as the above.

Xorg log attached.

[Phil Pemberton (philpem)]

xorg.conf

[Phil Pemberton (philpem)]

OK, backporting libdrm and xorg-video-intel completely broke DRI... I got a "driOpen failed" error in xorg.log, and completely lost 3D. Ugh.

Looks like I need to do some more research to find out what else needs rebuilding (hopefully not "all of Xorg"...)

[Phil Pemberton (philpem)]

OK, I've modified my Xorg config a little:

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
 Driver "intel"
# VideoRam 16384
# Option "ForceEnablePipeA"
 Option "ModeDebug" "yes"
 Option "FramebufferCompression" "off"
EndSection

[...]

Section "Screen"
 Identifier "Default Screen"
 Monitor "Configured Monitor"
 Device "Configured Video Device"

 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 16
  Virtual 2048 2048
 EndSubSection
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 24
  Virtual 2048 2048
 EndSubSection
EndSection

This seems to have resolved the pipe underruns, but I'm not 100% convinced yet. It's been about 10 minutes since I last restarted X, I played with the screensavers a little at the start, and VGA is still up and running.

[erix5 (vitaly-torshyn)]

Phil, you have missed option that I suggest :)
Try this:

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
 Driver "intel"
# VideoRam 16384
# It turns off disabling pipa A by a driver after while.
# Its 100 % working workaround.
 Option "ForceEnablePipeA" "true"
 Option "ModeDebug" "yes"
 Option "FramebufferCompression" "off"
EndSection

I don't know why, I didn't spend time investigate more deeply debugging on driver. The problem is caused by driver and Xorg decide to turn off pipe A (VGA connector). When you turn on 'ForceEnablePipeA' driver will never perform 'disable pipe A' action so X will use VGA (pipe A) all the time.

And about 'libdrm'. I don't why your DRI is not working. I have 2.4.1 version installed and DRI working well... still :)

The problem with DRI logged in your X log and it is not a 2.4.1 release problem. Attach your X log please...

[Sean Bridges (shizeon)]

Option "ForceEnablePipeA" "true"

This seems to have resolved the problem for me also. I have been on my external screen for well over an hour without seeing the glitch. Will run all day tomorrow and post if anything returns. Thanks for the info erix5!

$ lspci | grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)

[Sean Bridges (shizeon)]

Unfortunately I spoke too soon. Screen blacked out after about an hour of use this morning. Going to try adding Option "FramebufferCompression" "off" to the mix and see if that has any effect.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

[This is an automatic notice.]

We'd like to forward your bug upstream, however upstream requires
that you first test it against their newer driver code.

To save you the effort of building the driver from source, we've built
packages for the driver and its new dependencies.

So you have a couple options:

 1. Download and test .debs for intrepid, from:
     https://edge.launchpad.net/~intel-gfx-testing/+archive

 -or-

 2. Download and test the Jaunty alpha-2 (or newer) Live CD,
     (which includes a beta of the new xserver 1.6 as well).
     See http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/9.04/ for ISOs

Thanks ahead of time! You can simply reply to this email to report your
findings.

P.S., if you wish to forward your bug upstream yourself, please follow
these directions to do so:
  http://intellinuxgraphics.org/how_to_report_bug.html

[Phil Pemberton (philpem)]

Right, based on the changelogs for those packages, the "intel-gfx-testing" packages should be identical to the ones I backported to Hardy on the 16th. 2.5.1 didn't seem to lose VGA-out, and I was using it for the best part of a day.

I'll look into doing a full backup and an upgrade to Intrepid on my Eee tomorrow; for now, I've got a basic Intrepid install on an 8GB USB flashdrive. 2.5.1 seems stable, but I've only had it running for a few minutes. I've got some development work on my to-do list, and the code is on the Eee, so I think I'll use that as an excuse to hook up the KVM and do an 8-hour long-term test :)

Certainty that the bug is fixed: currently hovering at around 10%

Cheers for the help thus far guys, it's much appreciated.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Great, let us know how it goes.

[Phil Pemberton (philpem)]

Strangely enough I'm not seeing this happening on Ubuntu 8.10 at all. For reference:

philpem@cougar:~$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 8.10
Release: 8.10

philpem@cougar:~$ uname -a
Linux cougar.homenet.philpem.me.uk 2.6.27-8-eeepc #1 SMP Sun Nov 16 12:02:12 MST 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

The kernel is the array.org "EeePC Enhanced" kernel, everything else is stock, right down to the graphics driver (2:2.4.1-1ubuntu10).

Additionally, a few other visual glitches seem to have vanished without trace -- if I Alt-tabbed away from then back to Amarok on 8.04.1 with the visualiser off, the whole vis panel filled with random noise. Similarly, the checkboxes and radio buttons that weren't being drawn correctly (when selected, they were clear, and the checks/bullets never displayed) are now drawing fine...

Uptime five hours, three of those using the VGA output. I'm tempted to call this fixed, but will leave the Eee powered up overnight with one of the Reallyslick OpenGL screensavers running to see if it really /is/ fixed.

[Phil Pemberton (philpem)]

It's probably worth saying that the only option I have set against the intel graphics driver in xorg.conf is:
Option "ModeDebug" "yes"

I'm about to turn this off...

[Phil Pemberton (philpem)]

OK, the Eee's been running for about two days now, and no VGA-out blanking. This is with "stock" Intrepid, upgraded from Hardy.

I think upgrading to 8.10 fixed it. That doesn't really help the folks who are running Hardy, but my 1000H is working fine, ergo problem solved :)

Thanks for the help, guys.

[Sean Bridges (shizeon)]

Hi All,
  I was successfull at running the Hardy version with both of these options set.
Just running with ForceEnablePipeA didn't work by itself.

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
 Driver "intel"
 Option "ForceEnablePipeA" "true"
 Option "FramebufferCompression" "off"
EndSection

I ran with this config since my last post about 5 days ago and switched back and forth multiple times per day and it worked great.

Last night I bit the bullet and upgraded to Intrepid like Phil. So far I haven't lost VGA on the stock configuration. One thing I do see though is an occasional screen shift, almost like it loses sync for a millisecond. Hardy did this too, which was usually the precursor to losing VGA. The above xorg config on Hardy fixed both the screen shifting and the blank outs completely.

Now that I am on intrepid, I will try those backported intrepid drivers that Bryce posted and see what happens :)

[Sean Bridges (shizeon)]

I installed the backported drivers for Intrepid and experienced losing my vga-out after about an hour of use. I installed the following files:

libdrm2_2.4.1-0ubuntu7~intrepid_i386.deb
libdrm-intel1_2.4.1-0ubuntu7~intrepid_i386.deb
xserver-xorg-video-intel_2.5.1-1ubuntu5~intrepid_i386.deb

[Sean Bridges (shizeon)]

I went back to the shipping Intrepid drivers and now have had two screen blankouts. Not sure if I have some remnants from those backports hanging around or if I just didn't give it enough time the first time around. Curious to see if Phil eventually encounters the issue again.

[Phil Pemberton (philpem)]

@Sean Bridges:
I'd try this --

Exit X -- either:
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop
Or:
sudo /etc/init.d/kdm stop

When you land at the shell:
sudo apt-get clean all
sudo apt-get purge libdrm2 libdrm-intel1 xserver-xorg-video-intel
-- if apt-get removes anything other than these three packages, add the packages it deletes to the list below
... remove the PPA from /etc/apt/sources.list or /etc/apt/sources.list.d ...
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libdrm2 libdrm-intel1 xserver-xorg-video-intel
sudo reboot

That should get rid of any traces of the 2.5.1 drivers.

[Sean Bridges (shizeon)]

Small update. I did purge all of the 2.5.1 drivers a week or so ago and am running the stock Intrepid 2.4.1 and everything has been working okay. I still get an annoying screen shift (reported in initial sumary) a couple times an hour, but the VGA port remains working.

(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//intel_drv.so
(II) Module intel: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
        compiled for 1.5.2, module version = 2.4.1
        Module class: X.Org Video Driver
        ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 4.1

[Richard Appleby (disposable01)]

Sadly, I'm seeing this problem on an Acer Aspire One, with Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid). I have the stock xserver-xorg-video-intel driver (2:2.4.1-1ubuntu10.1), but I am running a custom kernel from the Kuki distribution (see http://www.kuki.me/kernel).

Symptoms are exactly as described before ... using xrandr to switch from the LVDS to external VGA, then see occasional and irregular glitches where the screen "jumps" slightly for a split second. Some time later, between a few minutes and a couple of hours, the external screen then goes a solid colour (a pastel blue so far!). I can switch back to the LVDS output and the system works perfectly. Trying to switch back to the VGA output causes the monitor to sync to the laptop, but only a blank (black) screen is shown. Only way to recover working VGA is a reboot.

My xorg.conf is completely stock:

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
 Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
 Identifier "Default Screen"
 Monitor "Configured Monitor"
 Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

I've attached lspci output. Will also attach Xorg.0.log next post.

[Particlese (particlese)]

I'm seeing this same problem on a Toshiba Satellite U205-S5057. The VGA screen goes black anywhere from a few seconds to several hours after I log in. (For the longer times, the VGA output flickers horizontally every so often; I'm not sure what the time interval is.) I noticed that daemon.log shows scim-bridge quitting right before the display goes black (see below), and this behavior started around the time that I enabled scim-bridge, so I will see if disabling it fixes the problem. I could be a coincidence, though, because I also got some updates around the same time. Is anyone else here using scim-bridge and seeing similar output in daemon.log?

Additionally, when the VGA screen goes black, I use
xrandr --output LVDS --auto
to turn the built-in screen back on. When I try
xrandr --output VGA --off
I get dumped back to the login screen as if I had hit ctrl+alt+backspace.

Here is the lspci output relating to the onboard video:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)

Here is the output from /var/log/daemon.log. The second line through the last represents the window during which the VGA output went black, and probably up to the point where I was back at the login screen. The last line is the end of the log.
Feb 3 20:10:39 thelaptop scim-bridge: Cleanup, done. Exitting...
Feb 4 00:17:54 thelaptop scim-bridge: Cleanup, done. Exitting...
Feb 4 00:17:55 thelaptop kdm[5409]: X server for display :0 terminated unexpectedly
Feb 4 00:17:55 thelaptop console-kit-daemon[5175]: WARNING: Unable to activate console: No such device or address
Feb 4 00:17:55 thelaptop acpid: client connected from 15919[0:0]
Feb 4 00:18:00 thelaptop acpid: client has disconnected
Feb 4 00:18:03 thelaptop kdm_greet[15959]: Cannot open default user face

Also, /var/log/Xorg.0.log shows a lot of these:
(EE) intel(0): underrun on pipe A!
but there's no time to correlate it with the daemon.log output.

[Particlese (particlese)]

I forgot to mention, I'm using Kubuntu 8.10/Intrepid with:
xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.4.1-1ubuntu10.3
kwin 4:4.2.0-0ubuntu1~intrepid1~ppa5 (from the kubuntu-experimental ppa)
Also, kwin's desktop effects are on. I'll try disabling that, as well.

[erix5 (vitaly-torshyn)]

Hi Particlese,

In my case the problem was solved by updating xorg-video-intel package up to 2.5.1 version following some "magic words" in the xorg.conf. Please, try to update that package.

Also I can confirm that 2.6.1 version is working well (fix for blank VGA also included). My Aspire One laptop has been working for 2 days, and no issue with a "black" screen was reported.

Please, try to find more information on http://intellinuxgraphics.org/2008Q4.html.

Do not forgot to put options in your xorg.conf:
...
Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
 Driver "intel"
...
# It turns off disabling pipa A by a driver after while.
# Its 100 % working workaround.
 Option "ForceEnablePipeA" "true"
...
EndSection
...
Finally, well working versions for me are:
2.5.1
2.6.1

Software configuration for 2.5.1:
kernel 2.6.28.1
Xorg 7.3
mesa 7.0.2

[George Weatherill (george-weatherill)]

I'd like to report some weird variation of this bug. I've an Acer Aspire One, less than a week old which has Ubuntu 8.10 on it. Not the latest kernel, that doesn't work with the network so it default loads the stock Ibex kernel instead.

I use the laptop at home and in the office and in both places plug in an external screen and set the laptop screen to off. At home I've an Acer 22" widescreen @ 1600x1050 and everything works perfectly. No screen twitches, no blank screens, no nothing. At work I've tried both an 18" LG and a 19" Iiyama @ 1280x1024. Both of those give screen twitches and eventually a blank screen within an hour or so.

Would anyone have an explanation why a higher res monitor is more stable? Is it some kind of Acer compatibility, ie their monitors are less likely to have compatibility issues with the Aspire One or is it something else?

Working on the laptop screen for 6+ hours and flicking between crowded desktops feels very claustrophic and annoying and I'm hardly going to convince my office to give me a shiny 22" widescreen.

[Particlese (particlese)]

With skim, scim-bridge, and kwin's desktop effects all disabled, I got the flickering and eventually the black screen again, so please disregard my above posts about those other packages. Sorry if I was misleading.

Since I now know for sure that those aren't the problems, I'm trying the 2.5.1 driver as suggested. Before I try building it myself, I'm going to try the backported one here:
https://launchpad.net/~intel-gfx-testing/+archive/ppa

[Particlese (particlese)]

Installing xserver-xorg-video-intel (2.5.1-1ubuntu5~intrepid) from the above PPA and adding the "ForceEnablePipeA" option to the appropriate xorg.conf section keeps the screen from going black, but it still flickers a couple times an hour. I'm content with this situation, but if there's anything else I can do for this bug, I'd still like to help.

[Particlese (particlese)]

So I ended up getting more black screens, but they were much more rare. I have been using
xrandr --fb 1280x1024 --output VGA --auto --output LVDS --off
to turn on the VGA screen and turn off the laptop's screen, and I've been running it with the laptop lid closed.

Now, for two days in a row, I've been leaving the laptop's screen on with just
xrandr --fb 1280x1024 --output VGA --auto
and I haven't had any black screens or flickering. If I turn off LVDS, it flickers within 5 minutes. When I turn it back on again (with the lid still closed), I never witness any flickering. I'm still using the same version of the PPA driver that I mentioned above.

Is there something else I should try, knowing that? Does leaving the internal screen "on" appear to fix or not fix the problem for anyone else?

[Steve Jackson (aearenda)]

Leaving the internal screen on as described does seem to fix the external screen flicker issue on my Aspire One, with 8.10 and no xorg.conf at all.

[Steve Jackson (aearenda)]

Sorry, that's meant to read "no xorg.conf changes at all."

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Closing as per Phil's last comment. If others are having similar problems, you probably have a separate bug, so report it separately.