The Toughbook Intel GMA flicker on Linux thread

[SHEEPMAN!]

Too cool mate.

FOLKS WHO ARE CHECKING THIS IN THE BLIND (I know you are lurking) THIS IS THE FLICKER FIXER UNTIL THE SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE BUGS ARE SORTED.

Kode-niner thanks for the time spent on this.

[kode-niner]

I was playing around a bit because I had suspicions that this wasn't as simple as just using 76Hz. What I've discovered is that it is not the fact that we are using 1024x768@76Hz that fixes the problem. It's the simple fact that we are switching resolutions and/or refresh rates at some time during boot that somehow convinces the display to act normally and not flicker once X starts up and the window manager loads. It's sort of like when you close and open the lid to fix the problem, you're kicking the thing in the butt and telling it to behave. Putting 640x480@60 in grub also solves the problem. In fact putting any supported resolution other than 1024x768@60 seems to work. I simply do not precisely know why this is happening and I consider this grub linux command line solution a "quick and dirty hack" and not a fix.

Speaking of quick and dirty, here is another silly solution. Create a script that issues these two commands and have it run when your desktop loads or through another startup method under X:

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xrandr -s 640x480
xrandr -s 1024x768

All it does is switch screen resolutions to 640x480 and immediately back to 1024x768, so the screen may flash briefly while it executes. Ridiculous but it works. I just tried it a second ago by adding the script to Mint's System Tools -> Preferences -> Startup Applications.

Also this works:

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xset dpms force off
xset dpms force on

It turns the monitor on and off.

If you seriously want to try these, just paste one of the code examples above in an empty file as a superuser. (sudo if necessary) Let's say:"

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nano /usr/local/bin/buttkick

and paste the text inside, save and quit.

Make it executable:

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chmod +x /usr/local/bin/buttkick

The when you start up your system and it's flickering, just open a terminal and type:

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buttkick

Find whatever method your OS supports to make it autostart if you really want to such as Mint's Startup Applications panel.


Edited original post with grub solution to make it easier for those new to this thread.

[SHEEPMAN!]

Heh! Buttkick. I like it.

BTW this is not limited to Mint 17. LMDE 17 uses 12.0 Intel Video and doesn't flicker. Several other flavors flicker and the fix is the same.

As you said it's nice to know why but this is a Q&D solution that works.

[kode-niner]

What's the package name for the Intel video driver? I thought it was xserver-xorg-video-intel but the version numbers don't match with anything near 12.0.

[SHEEPMAN!]

I was prolly using the wrong terminology....
I scanned multiple flickering flavors and the commonality was in /var/log/xorg.0.log.......bout mid way down...'scuse my ignorance.
Scared me there for a sec. LMDE uses 14.1 ....thought I was on Mint 17.

11.244] (II) Module intel: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 11.244] compiled for 1.14.3, module version = 2.21.15
[ 11.244] Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[ 11.244] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 14.1

In my ignorance again....X.Org.Video Driver 15.0 = flicker.

14.1 as above is fine.

Ignorance is curable....keep trying friend.

J'd

[SHEEPMAN!]

To date there are 215 "views" of this post. Who are you? Join the festivities. This is the Toughbook/Linux HQ.

Thanks for looking.

[Shawn]

I am lurking, but not 215 times....

[kode-niner]

Here's some interesting news. I've decided to wipe out Mint and install my usual Debian LXDE, jessie/testing version on Jeff's CF-30. It flickers! But the worst part is that screwing around with resolutions in grub does NOT work! The only thing I could do is use a login script to stop the flickering. This means that I am motivated to find an even better solution.

[SHEEPMAN!]

Does lid shut open work? w/ power setting to suspend on close. What I mean is does flicker go away. Curious.

[kode-niner]

Yes, the usual methods work once I've logged in and the desktop has loaded, such as switching resolutions or refresh rates and turning the display on and off.