Weird behavior on display, since kernel versions 5.15.x

Lubuntu Support
1

Like I mentioned a while ago here

still the problem exists with kernel versions 5.15.x
I had no problems with kernel versions 5.13.x

Can somebody from Lubuntu team look into this, perhaps create a bug report and point (link) to this post?
I can provide then necessary information so to solve this problem.

I now use Lubuntu Kinetic with LXQt 1.1.0 and

uname -a
Linux MYCOMPUTER 5.15.0-33-generic #34-Ubuntu SMP Wed May 18 13:34:26 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I also tried a while ago Xubuntu 22.04, just to make sure it is not related to Openbox or LXQt, but the same problem with Xubuntu with 5.15.x kernel versions. Same with Lubuntu 22.04.

Clearly something must have changed from kernel versions 5.13.x to 5.15.x to cause this problem.
When I boot my Mini-PC the problem appears already on the login screen.

1 Like
2

Use 20.04 or 22.04.
Sometimes using updated software not means having more performance.

3

Lubuntu doesn’t manage the kernel or Ubuntu base system that accesses your hardware, and we can only file a bug if we can replicate the issue & thus report on what we experience. It’s likely the 5.15 kernel is not ‘playing well’ with your graphics hardware, thus we’d need a system using the same hardware & be using the same kernel modules (aka drivers) to experience the issue.

Lubuntu 21.10 is in it’s last days of support; thus 5.13 kernel is not a safe choice.

Lubuntu 20.04 LTS has two supported kernels, the GA or most stable choice of 5.4 is supported the life of the product, and HWE which recently switched from 5.13 to 5.15 (as the changes in 20.04.4 to 20.04.5 roll out).

Our bug reporting link is https://phab.lubuntu.me/w/bugs/

It tells you how to file a bug, all you need is the package name, where I’d start by looking at what kernel module is involved on your system where you have issues (ie. 5.15); I’d compare that to what you see when using the 5.13 kernel to see if it’s changed; as if it has that maybe something support can solve.

Using the command sudo lshw -C display to list hardware of class ‘display’ for my own box; I can see that this system uses a radeon kernel module (ie. it reported driver=radeon in the output). Was that detail the same for both your 5.13 & 5.15 listings? Depending on what I saw here, I might file the bug report against the kernel or kernel module itself.

To file a bug report against the kernel, you use

ubuntu-bug linux

To file a report against the kernel module radeon, I first need the package, so I’m my case I’d likely use


guiverc@d960-ubu2:/de2900/ubuntu_64/slow_boot$  dpkg -l |grep radeon
ii  libdrm-radeon1:amd64                          2.4.110-1ubuntu1                           amd64        Userspace interface to radeon-specific kernel DRM services -- runtime
ii  xserver-xorg-video-radeon                     1:19.1.0-2build3                           amd64        X.Org X server -- AMD/ATI Radeon display driver

I know DRM is digital rights… so I’ll ignore that, and file using

ubuntu-bug xserver-xorg-video-radeon

If I wasn’t sure which of those two packages was the correct package, I’d just file using ubuntu-bug linux and let a bug triager correct it if they felt it was wrong.

3 Likes
4

Not an option to use older Lubuntu version like 20.04.
22.04 same problem with 5.15.x, so it is about using a distro with 5.13.x kernel.

5

guiverc, I don’t understand what to do… do you say, that I have to compare a 5.13.x and 5.15.x kernel with respect to graphics driver?

When I boot my Mini-PC I see only one kernel to choose

5.15.0-33-generic

Do I have to install a 5.13.x kernel to do a comparison with the 5.15.0-33 kernel? How to do this?

Although, there is maybe enough information available now…
When the problem first time appeared (my former post) I had the following kernel versions

uname -a                                                                                                                                                         
Linux MYCOMPUTER 5.15.0-17-generic #17-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jan 13 16:27:23 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

This was the version which introduced the problem, as far as I can remember. There was an update and afterwards the problem appeared.

On boot I the chose this available version

uname -a
Linux MYCOMPUTER 5.13.0-22-generic #22-Ubuntu SMP Fri Nov 5 13:21:36 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

No problem with this one.

I have a Mini-PC GIGABYTE Brix GB-BLCE-4105 with Intel Celeron J4105.
Executing your given command delivers the following informations

sudo lshw -C display
  *-display                 
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: GeminiLake [UHD Graphics 600]
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
       logical name: /dev/fb0
       version: 03
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom fb
       configuration: depth=32 driver=i915 latency=0 resolution=2560,1440
       resources: irq:133 memory:a0000000-a0ffffff memory:90000000-9fffffff ioport:f000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff

Maybe a knowledgeable person might have enough information to do a comparison what changed from 5.13.0-22-generic to 5.15.0-17-generic for the Intel graphics driver=i915 (or maybe in 5.13.x some other Intel graphics driver was specified there instead of i915, whatever).

When I run your command with i915 nothing comes back
dpkg -l |grep i915

I ran also

glxinfo -B
name of display: :0
display: :0  screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
Extended renderer info (GLX_MESA_query_renderer):
    Vendor: Intel (0x8086)
    Device: Mesa Intel(R) UHD Graphics 600 (GLK 2) (0x3185)
    Version: 22.1.3
    Accelerated: yes
    Video memory: 10609MB
    Unified memory: yes
    Preferred profile: core (0x1)
    Max core profile version: 4.6
    Max compat profile version: 4.6
    Max GLES1 profile version: 1.1
    Max GLES[23] profile version: 3.2
OpenGL vendor string: Intel
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa Intel(R) UHD Graphics 600 (GLK 2)
OpenGL core profile version string: 4.6 (Core Profile) Mesa 22.1.3
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.60
OpenGL core profile context flags: (none)
OpenGL core profile profile mask: core profile

OpenGL version string: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 22.1.3
OpenGL shading language version string: 4.60
OpenGL context flags: (none)
OpenGL profile mask: compatibility profile

OpenGL ES profile version string: OpenGL ES 3.2 Mesa 22.1.3
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.20
6 
echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
x11

That means Xorg is used? I saw recently that some updates with apt were related to Wayland.
Wayland is another display server and can be used in Lubuntu Kinetic?
How to switch back and forth between Xorg and Wayland? Maybe with Wayland the problem isn’t present.

In /etc/sddm I found

wayland-session 
Xsession

but don’t know if this is related to switching session between Xorg and Wayland.

7

apt show xserver-xorg-video-intel

said

The use of this driver is discouraged if your GPU is new enough (ca. 2007 and newer). 
You can try uninstalling this driver and let the server use its built-in modesetting driver instead.

So I did sudo apt remove xserver-xorg-video-intel but the problem remains.

8

Yeah sorry, there is some interpretation of results in the subsequent commands; which wasn’t obvious with my seeing radeon which didn’t need any conversion.

If I see i915 as did, I’d have used intel in the package name, which on my box would have resulted in

ii xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20210115-1 amd64 X.Org X server -- Intel i8xx, i9xx display driver

where the description would match what I was looking for, ie. Xorg server intel driver for i8xxx & i9xxx; i915 fitting in that description. Note: Intel is a special case though; how they are handled now has changed, as the Intel devs changed approaches. This driver package is deprecated, but still installed as it will get used for certain hardware that runs best with it & that’s only old hardware. This is why you saw the message you saw.

If you don’t have 5.13 kernel installed; I’d have booted live media that used it, and ran the 5.13 kernel (ie. 21.10 or 20.04.4 media) and just by running the sudo lshw -C display command you’ll get either the same driver=i915 output telling you no change to driver/kernel module is involved (more weight it’s a regression type bug) OR a different kernel module was being used (ie. driver=something else) thus the difference is that on booting, your machine is concluding a different kernel module (driver) is suitable to what actually worked; something support can resolve.

If you were using a 20.04 system which only recently switched from 5.13 to 5.15 kernel; I’d not expect any live media would be required; during boot when you see the grub menu appear; you should be able to select (via Advanced Options if necessary) older kernels which I’d hope would still offer 5.13 (in time it won’t though). If your system is single-OS, you may need to use Shift or a key for the grub menu to appear; and for some systems I have to boot 2-3 times before I’m fast enough on the keyboard to have it appear too,

I hoped only that you’d boot the 5.13 kernel, and run the sudo lshw -C display command and check the driver= part was the same, or different. Any [bug] reporting will be performed on the newer 5.15 kernel though; the 5.13 used only for some quick comparison purposes to ensure it’s not something else (ie. hardware detection during boot that has determined different kernel modules are best on 5.15)

9

Some things to try;

A) Disable one of the monitors if you have dual output
Preferences > LXQt Settings > Monitor settings > Enable this display (don't)

B) xserver-xorg-video-intel

It doesn’t look like you have used it at all.
If Xorg does not find any intel conf file in /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/
then it defaults to load the mode setting driver.
This is equivalent to having a conf file like this;
e.g /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-mode.conf

	Section 	"Device"
		Identifier  "Intel Graphics"
		Driver  	"modesetting"
	EndSection

as opposed to e.g /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf

	Section 	"Device"
		Identifier  "Intel Graphics"
		Driver 		"intel"
	EndSection

which is the intel driver.
It’s not recommended because UHD Graphics 600 isn’t that old.
i.e the modesetting driver is supposed to support it.
Also, you can get into an awful lot of trouble if you make typo mistakes in the conf file, like not being able to boot.

There is also something else to try;
C) Override Mesa’s renderer (the OpenGL 3D glue that modesetting uses) by adding to

    Preferences > LXQt Settings > Session Settings > Environment Variables
	MESA_LOADER_DRIVER_OVERRIDE=llvmpipe (and reboot)

This forces mesa to use the software renderer instead of what it picked up (i915).
If you see a difference, then it may have something to do with the mesa drivers, or even libdrm-intel1 (drm = direct rendering manager).
There have been issues in the past but was supposedly resolved with mesa 21.3.6.

2 Likes
10

humpty, I tried now adding the environment variable
MESA_LOADER_DRIVER_OVERRIDE

with value
llvmpipe

and reboot, but the problem is still present.
So I will remove this env var, and try as soon as possible what guiverc suggested a live media Lubuntu 22.04 and boot the 5.13.x kernel.

In regards to your B) xserver-xorg-video-intel I can only say that I removed it yesterday (sudo apt remove xserver-xorg-video-intel) as posted, so I cannot say if there was an Intel conf file or not… now what I find in /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d is

10-amdgpu.conf 
10-quirks.conf 
10-radeon.conf 
40-libinput.conf 
70-wacom.conf

I also have only 1 external monitor in use connected via HDMI to my mini-pc.

Not sure if this is relevant Preferences > LXQt Settings > Window Effects > Other there are 2 options

X Render 
GLX (OpenGL)

I set it to GLX (OpenGL), it doesn’t change anything if I change it to X Render in regards to the problem. Is this relevant only when compton is used? I don’t use compton, don’t need the window effects.

What about switching to Wayland? Can this be tried, how?

11

Here are the information from live media Lubuntu 21.10:

uname -a
Linux lubuntu 5.13.0-19-generic #19-Ubuntu SMP Thu Oct 7 21:58:00 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

sudo lshw -C display
  *-display                 
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: GeminiLake [UHD Graphics 600]
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
       version: 03
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list
       configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
       resources: irq:133 memory:a0000000-a0ffffff memory:90000000-9fffffff ioport:f000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff

No problems with this one.

But when using live media Lubuntu 22.04 the problem is present

uname -a
Linux lubuntu 5.15.0-25-generic #25-Ubuntu SMP Wed Mar 30 15:54:22 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

sudo lshw -C display
  *-display                 
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: GeminiLake [UHD Graphics 600]
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
       logical name: /dev/fb0
       version: 03
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom fb
       configuration: depth=32 driver=i915 latency=0 resolution=2560,1440
       resources: irq:133 memory:a0000000-a0ffffff memory:90000000-9fffffff ioport:f000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff
2 Likes
12

I tried now to make a ubuntu-bug linux because I removed the xserver-xorg-video-intel package, so I cannot go against this module but instead against the kernel (the intel graphics drivers are inside the kernel as of my understanding).

But I got this output

ME@MYCOMPUTER:~$ ubuntu-bug linux

*** Collecting problem information

The collected information can be sent to the developers to improve the
application. This might take a few minutes.
................................
..........

*** Problem in linux-image-5.15.0-33-generic

The problem cannot be reported:

This does not seem to be an official Ubuntu package. Please retry after updating the indexes of available packages, if that does not work then remove related third party packages and try again.

Press any key to continue... 

No pending crash reports. Try --help for more information.

I’m not sure if it is because of my new problem here Lubuntu Kinetic - Error on apt update libfm-qt11

But in fact it is not related to any crash, it is simply a misbehavior of the graphics unit.

13

I reported the bug here Bug #1981901 “Weird behavior on display, since kernel versions 5...” : Bugs : linux package : Ubuntu

14

As was suggested on launchpad I tried setting the intel_iommu=igfx_off parameter on boot, and the problem is gone as it looks like.

So they say that this is also solved in >= 5.15.0-40 but when will that come out for Lubuntu Kinetic?
I’m still on 5.15.0-33.

1 Like
15

Glad you got it worked out

Personally I don’t know when kinetic will upgrade kernels beyond the current 5.15 (if I read it with my Ubuntu News hat on, its not something that interests me so I’d possibly not remember it anyway), the Ubuntu kernel team manage that, and it will roll out the same time for all of Ubuntu (ie. including flavors as well use the same repositories).

If you needed to know, this thread is possibly the place to ask.

16

I am no expert on Ubuntu kernel releases and these dates are subject to change. Based on my past experience with Ubuntu releases the kinetic schedule shows Kernel Feature Freeze on September 22nd which will be the date the kernel version is officially chosen. There will be rumblings and articles many weeks before naming kernel version as a few weeks of testing is needed. The release of kinetic is planned for October 20th.

Reference:Kinetic Kudu Release Schedule - Release - Ubuntu Community Hub

1 Like
17

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