[gm45] HP Compaq 2230s laptop: Screen flickers when screen brightness dimmed

[Jan]

Binary package hint: xserver-xorg-video-intel

Using Ubuntu on a HP Compaq 2230s notebook (standard install) the screen can be dimmed via Fn+Keys or xbacklight. However the screen will flicker slightly when dimmed. The effect is most visible when displaying a colorful fullscreen image. The effect could be reproduced with other Linux distributions but not with the preinstalled Windows OS.

Update: The bug can be reproduced on Hardy, Jaunty, Karmic and Lucid.
---
Architecture: amd64
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
DkmsStatus: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
MachineType: Hewlett-Packard HP 2230s
Package: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.9.1-3ubuntu5
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-2.6.32-22-generic root=/dev/mapper/linux-jaunty ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=de_DE.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-22.36-generic 2.6.32.11+drm33.2
Tags: lucid lucid
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-22-generic x86_64
UserGroups: adm admin cdrom dialout lpadmin plugdev sambashare users www-data
dmi.bios.date: 03/05/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.bios.version: 68PHU Ver. F.08
dmi.board.name: 3037
dmi.board.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.board.version: KBC Version 11.17
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnHewlett-Packard:bvr68PHUVer.F.08:bd03/05/2009:svnHewlett-Packard:pnHP2230s:pvrF.08:rvnHewlett-Packard:rn3037:rvrKBCVersion11.17:cvnHewlett-Packard:ct10:cvr:
dmi.product.name: HP 2230s
dmi.product.version: F.08
dmi.sys.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
system:
 distro: Ubuntu
 codename: lucid
 architecture: x86_64
 kernel: 2.6.32-22-generic

[lspci]
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 07)
     Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:3037]

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

Jan, we are no longer actively working on bugs from Karmic (Ubuntu 9.10). You may check if this is still a problem on Lucid (Ubuntu 10.04) and if it is please update this bug report from Lucid with `apport-collect 581076` or simply close this and file a new bug report from Lucid with the ubuntu-bug command.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

We're closing this bug since it is has been some time with no response from the original reporter. However, if the issue still exists please feel free to reopen with the requested information. Also, if you could, please test against the latest development version of Ubuntu, since this confirms the bug is one we may be able to pass upstream for help.

[Jan (janozaurus+ubuntu)]

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[Joonas Saarinen (jza)]

This bug is still present in Ubuntu 13.10. I perceive the flicker to include a beating effect which moves as waves from bottom to top of the screen.

The screen flicker can also be seen in BIOS and in any operating system with a generic graphics driver loaded.

However, when the Intel 4500MHD driver for Windows is started, it sets some parameters which makes the flicker effect disappear.

Under Linux, the flicker effect remains even with the proper Intel graphics driver.

[Joonas Saarinen (jza)]

This bug is now tracked upstream at https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=72289

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Jan, this bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? If so, could you please test for this with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ .

If it remains an issue, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

apport-collect -p xserver-xorg-video-intel REPLACE-WITH-BUG-NUMBER

Please note, given that the information from the prior release is already available, doing this on a release prior to the development one would not be helpful.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs