1

Last week I randomly started facing a screen flickering issue on Ubuntu 20.04. I also had KDE Plasma installed alongside GNOME, which had an even more serious issue that led to freezing of the screen. I uninstalled Plasma but that didn't fix it. I tried virtually every solution I found, especially here. It didn't work. I even made changes to the /etc/default/grub like it says here. It did not work either. I finally decided that I have to reinstall my OS. I did that (without formatting /home, in case that's relevant). It still did not fix the problem. On the contrary, it seems to have got worse and now in my system UI, the loop from an upper case 'P' is missing as well. Here's a video of what's happening.

I have a dual boot system with Windows and I am not facing this in my Windows installation. Nor did I face it when I booted from the Live USB. My Linux kernel version is 5.8.0-50-generic. I have a system with dual graphics. This is the output for inxi -G

Graphics: Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel Device-2: AMD Mars [Radeon HD 8730M] driver: radeon v: kernel Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: radeon tty: N/A OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2) v: 4.2 Mesa 20.2.6

I am literally at wit's end and I need help on this URGENTLY. Please tell me what to do and if any more info is needed (please tell me any commands to run in terminal to get this info about the system).

UPDATE: This has turned out to be a kernel issue. I booted using 5.8.0-43 (that was the only previous kernel shown in the boot options) and the problem went away. I've currently installed another old kernel as backup and have edited GRUB to boot from the -43 kernel. But of course this is only a medium-term solution. I want to know how to fix whatever graphics issue in the -50 one.

Additionally, would really appreciate if someone tells me how to update to particular kernels and ensure older ones don't get deleted. For example, I would ideally like to have the most recent two kernels before -50.

user178834
  • 131
  • 2
  • 12
  • 1
    It seems for quite a few people something about the graphics drivers in the xxx 50 version an upgrade from 49 causes the issue.Try and run the .49 kernel and see if the issue goes away. – David Apr 22 '21 at 14:37
  • Also check whether this happens also while on AC power. While on battery, power saving features may cause problems. – vanadium Apr 22 '21 at 16:50
  • Updating the question. – user178834 Apr 22 '21 at 18:18

0 Answers0