Screen going black for a few seconds

caiocon · 2011-10-25 13:48:55

Hello everyone.

I've noticed this problem for a really long time now (maybe more then a year), but I never had a chance to deal with it until now. My screen turns black for one or two seconds on some situations, like using 2D or 3D acceleration (compiz effects when I used compiz, gnome-shell effects now, like changing to overview), opening Qt applications or, more recently (with gnome 3.2), opening the new totem UI. But the system doesn't freeze, because everything else works normally when this problem happens, including sound and any video been reproduced.

Any clues about what might be happening? My graphic card is a GeForce 8400 GS 512MB, with the newest nvidia modules (including lib32 as well). I tried nouveau once for a short period and, as I recall, the problem didn't happen, but I don't want to use it.

Thanks in advance for any help, and let me know if i'm not been clear, because english isn't my first language

karol · 2011-10-25 14:52:03

I'm seeing this on nvidia-173xx with dwm. I don't know about sound, but the screen goes pitch black - the backlight goes off too. It comes back after about 2 seconds.
I never saw it before xorg-server 1.10.4 but I'm not saying this particular package is the culprit as I haven't tested this theory.

There's nothing particular that triggers the "blackout".

I recall something similar reported once to the bug tracker - have you searched there already? It might have been related to nouveau though.

caiocon · 2011-10-25 16:06:04

Thanks for the reply, karol.

I tried searching the bug tracker, with no success, although maybe I don't know how to look for it.

I found some information about the Nvidia Powermizer technology that, in some cases, make the screen blink for a fraction of second, but it does not seem to be the case here (neither your case).

I'll keep looking for more information, but it would be really easier if someone who had this problem teach me (us) how to solve it.

karol · 2011-10-25 16:10:03

I think it was https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/23213 but I'm not sure if it's relevant to the issue we're having now.

caiocon · 2011-10-25 16:16:39

I don't think it's the same problem, the description says it blinks randomly, which is not my case. I'm considering trying to use Nouveau for a while again until some solution for this shows up

caiocon · 2011-10-25 16:23:09

More information: I recorded my screen (using gnome 3 built in desktop recorder) while triggering this weird behavior, and in the final video everything was fine, with no black screens. I also tryed changing my monitor (I used to have a 17' 5:4 LG, now I have a 19' 16:9 LG), with no luck. My system is up-to-date (meaning the newest kernel, nvidia driver, xorg or anything else that may be important)

caiocon · 2011-10-26 14:26:58

I moved back to nouveau, and the weird behavior is gone, so, I guess, it's a problem on nvidia official driver.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-10-25 13:48:55

Screen going black for a few seconds

#2 2011-10-25 14:52:03

Re: Screen going black for a few seconds

#3 2011-10-25 16:06:04

Re: Screen going black for a few seconds

#4 2011-10-25 16:10:03

Re: Screen going black for a few seconds

#5 2011-10-25 16:16:39

Re: Screen going black for a few seconds

#6 2011-10-25 16:23:09

Re: Screen going black for a few seconds

#7 2011-10-26 14:26:58

Re: Screen going black for a few seconds

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