Screen blinking when KMS starts on Intel

countercraft · 2010-09-26 00:38:16

Hi, I'm having some trouble with my notebook when KMS starts... just after the i915 module finishes loading and KMS is enabled, the screen starts to blink, as if the monitor were turning on and off repeatedly.
I tested too two versions of Ubuntu (9.10 and 10.04), Mint 9 and Fedora 13, and every time that KMS is started the screen starts to blink. In Arch, I use the early start method, but it's the same thing with the late start method. The same problem occurs when the i915 module finishes loading and KMS starts, when using the 2009.05 install CD. With old versions of the distros (e.g, Ubuntu 9.04 and 2009.08 Arch's install CD), and in Windows 7, everything works fine, since there's no KMS, which gives me almost certain that the problem is the KMS.
As I was testing some distros, I tested some kernel versions too: 2.6.32 in Ubuntu, 2.6.34 in Fedora and 2.6.35 in Arch, and I tested 2.6.36-rc5-git6 in Arch too, but they have the same problem.
Accidentaly I discovered that if I suspend the notebook, when I resume it, the screen stops to blink, and everything gets normal again.
Also there's nothing unusual on dmesg or in the X log.
And unfortunately I can't just disable KMS because the xf86-video-intel driver requires KMS
My chipset is the Intel GL40 (Intel GMA X4500MHD).

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance.

hotloo · 2010-09-26 10:53:21

Obviously, it looks like a hardware problem and it would be better soon with some patches in the future.....But there is definitely some comprimise to stop blinking...

countercraft · 2010-09-26 16:56:27

So do you think it's a problem in Linux kernel or in my laptop?

countercraft · 2010-09-27 11:41:59

I discovered that with kernel 2.6.30 (I've tested 2.6.30 and 2.6.30.10) it works fine. A friend of mine reported this problem too using Ubuntu 10.04 (I don't know yet what GPU his laptop has).
After all this, I believe it's a kernel bug, a very nasty kernel bug
I believe I have to report it to kernel developers, is it right?

Rezero · 2010-10-01 21:07:47

I had a similar problem, where for an instant static would appear all over the screen, but I found a solution. Try appending "i915.powersave=0" to the kernel line in /boot/grub/menu.lst. Haven't seen any adverse affects so far; maybe the battery life is a few minutes shorter?

On an unrelated note, I noticed a nice 3D performance increase after a recent update. Not sure if it was the kernel or the video driver, but it was still a pleasant surprise

Arch Linux

#1 2010-09-26 00:38:16

Screen blinking when KMS starts on Intel

#2 2010-09-26 10:53:21

Re: Screen blinking when KMS starts on Intel

#3 2010-09-26 16:56:27

Re: Screen blinking when KMS starts on Intel

#4 2010-09-27 11:41:59

Re: Screen blinking when KMS starts on Intel

#5 2010-10-01 21:07:47

Re: Screen blinking when KMS starts on Intel

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