Arch Linux

jvkersch

Member

Registered: 2019-10-20

Posts: 2

[SOLVED] Micro-freezes on Linux 5.3.7 with i915 graphics

I'm looking for some pointers to help troubleshoot the following issue: after doing a system upgrade my xorg started freezing intermittently for a few seconds at a time, making interacting with the machine a pain. I've tried various things that I found online, to no avail, but I have one lead: if I have glxgears running in my desktop environment, then the freezes _don't occur at all_. I have no clue at all why that would be the case.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to where I can start looking? I don't know if this is a graphics issue, but in case it is, I've added some system info below. Please let me know if anything else is required.

1. lspci output: 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520] (rev 07)
2. Output from lsmod | grep i915
i915                 2326528  8
i2c_algo_bit           16384  1 i915
drm_kms_helper        212992  1 i915
drm                   516096  7 drm_kms_helper,i915
intel_gtt              24576  1 i915
3. Output from uname -a
Linux yangbok 5.3.7-arch1-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Oct 18 00:17:03 UTC 2019 x86_64 GNU/Linux

As far as I can tell, I don't have any custom kernel parameters that would affect the working of the graphics driver.

Last edited by jvkersch (2019-10-22 20:38:55)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,661

Re: [SOLVED] Micro-freezes on Linux 5.3.7 with i915 graphics

Remove xf86-video-intel if you have it installed, it's barely maintained and apparently there was some change in the 5.3 series that lead to issues with it.

jvkersch

Member

Registered: 2019-10-20

Posts: 2

Re: [SOLVED] Micro-freezes on Linux 5.3.7 with i915 graphics

This is amazing -- uninstalling xf86-video-intel fixed the problem! Thanks V1del!

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,661

Re: [SOLVED] Micro-freezes on Linux 5.3.7 with i915 graphics

If you're happy with this solution, please mark the thread as [SOLVED] by editing the title in your first post. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Co … ow_to_post

nomorewindows

Member

Registered: 2010-04-03

Posts: 3,362

Re: [SOLVED] Micro-freezes on Linux 5.3.7 with i915 graphics

I thought intel was keeping their drivers up to date.

---

I may have to CONSOLE you about your usage of ridiculously easy graphical interfaces...
Look ma, no mouse.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,661

Re: [SOLVED] Micro-freezes on Linux 5.3.7 with i915 graphics

They do, but they switched their main focus to the generic modesetting driver in xorg. Which also makes sense since 2D ddx is not going to be relevant in wayland and most other future endeavors.  There's one sole developer that does occasional commits on xf86-video-intel but they seldom actually fix issues, and it hasn't seen an official stable release in 6 years.

It's still relevant for old graphics cards that can't do modesetting and for corner cases that want to use bumblebee for multi-monitor support.

nomorewindows

Member

Registered: 2010-04-03

Posts: 3,362

Re: [SOLVED] Micro-freezes on Linux 5.3.7 with i915 graphics

I'm thinking I generally have better luck with intel than amd and nvidia isn't even maintaining older cards.

---

I may have to CONSOLE you about your usage of ridiculously easy graphical interfaces...
Look ma, no mouse.

devsk

Member

Registered: 2019-07-07

Posts: 8

Re: [SOLVED] Micro-freezes on Linux 5.3.7 with i915 graphics

Remove xf86-video-intel if you have it installed, it's barely maintained and apparently there was some change in the 5.3 series that lead to issues with it.

What driver am I supposed to use for the integrated graphics once I remove xf86-video-intel? I am running into the same issue.

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 17,323

Re: [SOLVED] Micro-freezes on Linux 5.3.7 with i915 graphics

X will use modesetting if no other driver is present.

devsk

Member

Registered: 2019-07-07

Posts: 8

Re: [SOLVED] Micro-freezes on Linux 5.3.7 with i915 graphics

X will use modesetting if no other driver is present.

I tested this and it works fine. But one issue: This driver does not allow me to change screen brightness on the laptop. Laptop is stuck at a low brightness. Any ideas on fixing that?

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,661

Re: [SOLVED] Micro-freezes on Linux 5.3.7 with i915 graphics

Don't use xbacklight use literally any other one:  https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ba … _utilities (light is often mentioned, acpilight should be syntax-compatible)

Last edited by V1del (2019-12-14 14:27:13)

Vortico

Member

Registered: 2013-07-30

Posts: 6

Re: [SOLVED] Micro-freezes on Linux 5.3.7 with i915 graphics

Thanks, this worked. I also had to delete my `/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf` file (which I apparently created a while ago and had Intel-specific stuff in it) after removing xf86-video-intel for X to start succesfully.

Last edited by Vortico (2019-12-26 11:01:07)