Hi,

I've recently done a system update of my Arch Linux (bleeding edge) and my package manager ugraded a couple of KDE packages (KDE 4.2).

Ever since then my screen flickers - meaning turns black for a very small fraction of a second - whenever a Plasma widget is updated. I'm using RSSNOW for example and whenever new RSS articles are shown the screen flickers. Sometimes there's like a delay and the screen would only flicker after I hovered the mouse over a menu item or some other GUI element.

This is very annoying as it's like a constant eye wink which causes me a headache.

I'm pretty certain that it only started after the system update. Here's the list of the updated packages before the flickering started (if that helps):

Code: Select all

[2009-03-01 15:44] starting full system upgrade
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded cabextract (1.2-1 -> 1.2-2)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded faac (1.26-1 -> 1.28-1)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded flashplugin (10.0.15.3-1 -> 10.0.22.87-1)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded ghostscript (8.64-2 -> 8.64-3)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded gpm (1.20.5-2 -> 1.20.6-1)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded grep (2.5.3-3 -> 2.5.4-1)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded groff (1.20.1-1 -> 1.20.1-2)
[2009-03-01 16:20] #####################################
[2009-03-01 16:20] themes are moved in an extra package:
[2009-03-01 16:20] community/murrine-themes-collection
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded gtk-engine-murrine (0.53.1-1 -> 0.53.1-3)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded imagemagick (6.4.9.2-1 -> 6.4.9.7-1)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded phonon (4.3.0-2 -> 4.3.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded soprano (2.2.1-1 -> 2.2.2-1)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded kdelibs (4.2.0-4 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded kdeaccessibility (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded tdb (3.2.7-1 -> 3.3.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:20] upgraded smbclient (3.2.7-1 -> 3.3.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded kdebase-runtime (4.2.0-2 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded kdepimlibs (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded kdebindings (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded kdeadmin (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] warning: /usr/share/config/kdm/kdmrc installed as /usr/share/config/kdm/kdmrc.pacnew
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded kdebase-workspace (4.2.0-6 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded kdeartwork (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded kdebase (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] installed libnova (0.12.3-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] installed indilib (0.6-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded kdeedu (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded kdegames (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded kdegraphics (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded kdemultimedia (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded libvncserver (0.9.1-1 -> 0.9.7-1)
[2009-03-01 16:21] upgraded kdenetwork (4.2.0-3 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:22] upgraded kdepim (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:22] upgraded kdeplasma-addons (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:22] upgraded subversion (1.5.5-1 -> 1.5.6-1)
[2009-03-01 16:22] upgraded kdesdk (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:22] upgraded kdetoys (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:22] upgraded kdeutils (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:22] upgraded kdewebdev (4.2.0-1 -> 4.2.1-1)
[2009-03-01 16:22] >>> Updating module dependencies. Please wait ...
[2009-03-01 16:22] >>> MKINITCPIO SETUP
[2009-03-01 16:22] >>> ----------------
[2009-03-01 16:22] >>> If you use LVM2, Encrypted root or software RAID,
[2009-03-01 16:22] >>> Ensure you enable support in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf .
[2009-03-01 16:22] >>> More information about mkinitcpio setup can be found here:
[2009-03-01 16:22] >>> http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mkinitcpio
[2009-03-01 16:22]
[2009-03-01 16:22] >>> Generating initial ramdisk, using mkinitcpio.  Please wait...
[2009-03-01 16:22] ==> Building image "default"
[2009-03-01 16:22] ==> Running command: /sbin/mkinitcpio -k 2.6.28-ARCH -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/kernel26.img
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Begin dry run
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [base]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [udev]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [autodetect]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [pata]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [scsi]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [sata]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [usb]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [usbinput]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [keymap]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [filesystems]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Generating module dependencies
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Generating image '/boot/kernel26.img'...SUCCESS
[2009-03-01 16:22] ==> SUCCESS
[2009-03-01 16:22] ==> Building image "fallback"
[2009-03-01 16:22] ==> Running command: /sbin/mkinitcpio -k 2.6.28-ARCH -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/kernel26-fallback.img -S autodetect
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Begin dry run
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [base]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [udev]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [pata]
[2009-03-01 16:22] :: Parsing hook [scsi]
[2009-03-01 16:23] :: Parsing hook [sata]
[2009-03-01 16:23] :: Parsing hook [usb]
[2009-03-01 16:23] :: Parsing hook [usbinput]
[2009-03-01 16:23] :: Parsing hook [keymap]
[2009-03-01 16:23] :: Parsing hook [filesystems]
[2009-03-01 16:23] :: Generating module dependencies
[2009-03-01 16:23] :: Generating image '/boot/kernel26-fallback.img'...SUCCESS
[2009-03-01 16:23] ==> SUCCESS
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded kernel26 (2.6.28.5-1 -> 2.6.28.7-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded ktorrent (3.1.6-2 -> 3.2-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded libmad (0.15.1b-3 -> 0.15.1b-4)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded libmysqlclient (5.0.75-2 -> 5.0.77-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded libpng (1.2.34-1 -> 1.2.35-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded xcb-proto (1.3-1 -> 1.4-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded libxcb (1.1.93-1 -> 1.2-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded libx11 (1.1.99.2-2 -> 1.2-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded libxfont (1.3.4-1 -> 1.4.0-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded libxi (1.2.0-1 -> 1.1.4-2)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded man-pages (3.17-1 -> 3.18-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded mysql-clients (5.0.75-2 -> 5.0.77-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded mysql (5.0.75-4 -> 5.0.77-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded ndiswrapper-utils (1.53-1 -> 1.54-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] module configuration already contains alias directive
[2009-03-01 16:23]
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded ndiswrapper (1.53-4 -> 1.54-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded pm-utils (1.2.4-1 -> 1.2.4-3)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded postgresql-libs (8.3.5-1 -> 8.3.6-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded qtcurve-kde4 (0.60.0-1 -> 0.61.4-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded sqlite3 (3.6.10-1 -> 3.6.11-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded tzdata (2009a-1 -> 2009b-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded wine (1.1.15-1 -> 1.1.16-1)
[2009-03-01 16:23] upgraded xfsprogs (2.10.2-1 -> 3.0.0-1)


The whole problem does not occur when I disable the desktop effects via shift+alt+F12.

Some more information about my configuration:

lspci:

Code: Select all

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G72M [Quadro NVS 110M/GeForce Go 7300] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])                                                                                                                               
        Subsystem: Dell Device 01c2                                                                                             
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16                                                                       
        Memory at ed000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]                                                                 
        Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]                                                                   
        Memory at ee000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]                                                                 
        [virtual] Expansion ROM at ef000000 [disabled] [size=128K]                                                               
        Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 2                                                                           
        Capabilities: [68] MSI: Mask- 64bit+ Count=1/1 Enable-                                                                   
        Capabilities: [78] Express Endpoint, MSI 00                                                                             
        Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel                                                                                   
        Capabilities: [128] Power Budgeting                                                                                   
        Kernel driver in use: nvidia                                                                                             
        Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nvidia                                         

Graphic driver:

Code: Select all

schorsch@archie:~$ sudo cat /proc/driver/nvidia/version
NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86 Kernel Module  180.29  Wed Feb  4 23:44:25 PST 2009
GCC version:  gcc-Version 4.3.3 (GCC)


xorg.conf:

Code: Select all

# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings:  version 1.0  (buildmeister@builder63)  Tue Jan  6 10:03:55 PST 2009

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
   FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load           "dbe"
    Load           "extmod"
    #Load           "type1"
    Load           "freetype"
    Load           "glx"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
    Option         "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "LPL"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 75.0
    VertRefresh     60.0
    Option         "DPMS"
    #Option         "UseEdidDpi" "FALSE"
    Option         "DPI" "96x96"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "Quadro NVS 110M"
    Option         "NoLogo" "True"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "1440x900_60 +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
    Option         "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection



Does anybody else experience such a flickering? I've found quite a few bugs in the bug tracker about screen flickering, but it was mostly related to using applications in fullscreen mode.
I appreciate any help from you guys. So far I've been quite happy with my KDE 4.2 and I hope we can fix this. ^^

TIA,
Blackhole

I haven't experienced whole screen flickering after the 4.2 update but my system tray icons disappear and come back again when I manipulate any of the widgets or even when i minimize a window with effects turned on. This is not there if I turn Desktop Effects off.
Maybe KWin has gained a lot of features but has become a bit slower in the process. Any ideas guys?
Oh and I have onboard Intel graphics...

@blackhole: that's almost certainly graphics driver related.

@ashwinhgtx: the latest intel driver is a lot slower than the previous revision, sadly, and . the next version is supposedly better again in this department.

aseigo wrote:@blackhole: that's almost certainly graphics driver related.

So you're saying it's up to Nvidia, right? Or do you see anything I could improve in my configuration?

I'm testing the open source driver right now instead of the official, proprietary Nvidia one, although it doesn't support any 3D.

I also have the suspicion that cpufrequtils might be the guilty bit. Has anybody had any graphic related problems when running cpufrequtils with the ondemand governor?
Does that make any sense? Could it be the cause of my problems?

Correct, unless an update is available which might contain the fix, it is up to NVidia to fix the problem.

I do not think that cpufrequtils can mess with the Graphics card, if it can you should be able to deactivate that.

I've done a lot of testing now. With the proprietary and the free drivers. With cpufequtils and without.

Fazit: It's the official Nvidia drivers. I just don't understand it. There must be so many people out there using a Quadro NVS. It's a common laptop chip. So why aren't there more complaints in the web? Google search doesn't bring up anything that's newer than 2007.

I have the same problem and I also got a nvidia card (9600GT).
I'm running testing (xorg-server 1.6) and I notice the problem in vlc(-embedded).
When I move my mouse and the menu comes up the screen flickers.
The same thing happends if I for example change the volume and the meter comes up.

I tried nvidia-beta from AUR version 185.13, but still no luck.

Oh I have that too, but that's a different problem with fullscreen applications. You're talking about running vlc in fullscreen mode, right? There a couple of bug reports about fullscreen apps in KDE's bugzilla.

The flickering I'm talking about is not limited to full screen apps, but it happens on my desktop in general. It's also more subtle and happens more frequently than the fullscreen issue.
But I agree, the fullscreen flickering is annyoing too, especially when watching DVDs and having RSSNow running in the background.