7

I've been struggling with that for the last week. I've checked similar questions, and the proposed solutions worked only for a moment or reduced the glitches, but they didn't fix the issue. Also, I reinstalled Ubuntu, but it didn't help.

My setup is

XPS 13 9300
Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS
Internal monitor
2 external monitors

The issue occurs only on the internal monitor. The 2 external ones are not affected. Which is opposite to other people's issues that I read. I found that when I change my internal monitor setting from 59.99 Hz to 48.00 Hz, the flickering is fixed. It occurs only during logging/screen lock.

I didn't install any new packages or drivers the day it happened. So I unplugged my laptop and went to my neighbor to help him. The issue appeared for the first time when I turned on the computer at his house. When I didn't touch the laptop, the screen was black. The flickering started occurring after touching the touchpad or keyboard.

I also found new warnings during boot:

x86/cpu: SGX disabled by BIOS
pci 0000:00:07.0: DPC: RP PIO log size 0 is invalid
pci 0000:00:07.2: DPC: RP PIO log size 0 is invalid
blacklist: Problem blacklisting hash (-13)
blacklist: Problem blacklisting hash (-13)
blacklist: Problem blacklisting hash (-13)
blacklist: Problem blacklisting hash (-13)
wmi: Failed to parse WDG method

I'm able to run Ubuntu with those warnings. I checked the BIOS configuration and SGX is software enabled.

SUMMARY

Weirdly, something like that happens to the STABLE distro. So far, I've been a happy user of Ubuntu for at least three years. Also, this laptop was bought with Ubuntu 18.04 installed, so I think it has the hardware support. Thanks for your help; hopefully, I've given all the information needed to answer this problem.

SUMMARY OF ATTEMPTS TO FIX IT

Edit:

  • I also did the screen test from the BIOS menu. Dell provides such a tool, and my screen passed the test. So it makes me sure it is a software issue.

Edit 2: I've been trying to get my backup restored. So I start the system from Live USB a lot. The problem is that the snapshots from timeshift won't boot, unfortunately. I noticed now on the Live version of Ubuntu; the problem doesn't exist. Again it seems to be due to different monitor settings.

dev.dave
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  • Boot with a different kernel version or try installing nvidia drivers manually from here and see how it goes. The live version uses the 5.15 kernel. If it works, please update me. – Rishon_JR Feb 25 '23 at 12:11
  • Kernel 5.15 works, it fixed my issues with the screen flickering. – dev.dave Feb 28 '23 at 11:13
  • I solved mine using the solution provided here: https://devicetests.com/fix-screen-flicker-ubuntu-intel-graphics – Mahandry Aug 31 '23 at 06:16

6 Answers6

7

I believe you are having the same issue as a lot of us. I would first run the command:

sudo apt list --installed | grep linux-image

That will return all the kernels you have installed.

Then type:

uname -srm

That will return what kernel is running

I suspect you have 5.19 installed and running.

Reboot the machine and tap f4 to boot into GRUB, select Advanced, and select 5.15 and hit enter.

You have now booted with kernel 5.15.

Is the issue still present?

cmac
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2

I don't have enough reputation to comment on your answer.

I confirm that booting Linux 5.15 remove the problem. But I still experience some random screen freezing, do you have too?

There is a way to boot 5.15 by default?

EDIT: You can set GRUB Default Kernel following this guide: Ubuntu: Install Kernel and Set GRUB Default Kernel

Basically, you have to find the name of the menu and the name of the kernel you want to boot as default.

grep submenu /boot/grub/grub.cfg
grep gnulinux-5.15.0 /boot/grub/grub.cfg

You should find some strings like: gnulinux-advanced-75bb64d0-7e42-4fbe-8f6a-a2cfc95c7d6d for the menu and gnulinux-5.15.0-60-generic-advanced-75bb64d0-7e42-4fbe-8f6a-a2cfc95c7d6d for the kernel.

Finally you can update the GRUB_DEFAULT in /etc/default/grub by joining the strings '>'

i.e.

'gnulinux-advanced-75bb64d0-7e42-4fbe-8f6a-a2cfc95c7d6d>gnulinux-5.15.0-60-generic-advanced-75bb64d0-7e42-4fbe-8f6a-a2cfc95c7d6d'

remind to run update-grub at the end

Ozymandi4s
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    I've tested it for only 10 minutes, but it's no longer a problem. I could change my internal notebook monitor to 60.0 Hz, which works fine. Thanks for the suggestions to edit the grub. I spent recently 5 days trying to get my snapshot from Timeshift to work so I got familiar with editing/fixing grub. For some reason, any snapshot wouldn't boot. Anyway, thanks. – dev.dave Feb 28 '23 at 11:12
1

I have the same issue on Dell XPS 13 9320, which came with Ubuntu 22.04 installed, I think the problem has occurred since the last system update. To:

5.19.0-32-generic

I also noticed that the glitches are triggered in some part of the screen from the cursor. I also tried the recovery mode and there the problem doesn't exist too. So far, I changed my resolution to 1680x1050 at 60Hz and it seems to work better. But I saw sometimes it happen again. So it isn't a final fix, but it is much better!

I also had this random screen freezing before and it seems that with this resolution they are gone too.

Ozymandi4s
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1

I still don't have enough reputation for adding comments, sorry for posting a new answer.

I have updates. Checking on the grub I saw I got 6.0.0-1012-oem installed, it should mean the PC come with this kernel installed but for some reason, that I entirely ignore, I was using kernel 5.19 or 5.15.

I tried booting with this other kernel and so far all glitches are gone. It also seems that the random screen freezings I mentioned before are gone too.

I think it is possible that we had these driver issues because we were using an older kernel version.

Ozymandi4s
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1

I had similar problems when I visited my friend's place. After returning to my own place, everything was back to normal. The reason, in a hindsight, might be the electromagnetic interference from his refrigerator (or other appliances), lol. Think about possible physical causes apart from software...

Yiwei Jiang
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  • It's definitely a software issue. I've been facing some WIFI issues as well. Someone mentioned it could be fixed in the newer kernel. I have just tried to boot to kernel version 5.19. I discovered exactly the same problem as described in the post. The issue has not been resolved yet. – dev.dave Aug 02 '23 at 12:40
1

On my side, it was my new smart watch buckle that has a magnet, and laptop screen was going off, it took me one days to understand as I have a secondary screen ...

Med Ali Difallah
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