Ubuntu
xserver-xorg-video-intel package

  1. Bug #221119
  2. Comment #56

Comment 56 for bug 221119

Revision history for this message
Brian Harkness (maestro-bwh) wrote : Re: [gutsy, hardy, intrepid] Blank screen and (EE) intel(0): overrun on pipe B! on i945GM using intel driver

I found this another post regarding the jaunty xorg repo and I thought I bookmarked it but I can't find it, or maybe it was here and I just could not find it again. At any rate, it seems to be a 'partial' solution for me so far.

1. Downgrading the driver would not work. I found several posts to confirm this.
2. I don't think it has anything to do with desktop effects or compiz. I had the issue with effects on or off.

Here is what I did:
I am using Intrepid on an Asus EEE-BOX with an Intel 945GME (posted earlier) I added these two repos:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/xorg-edgers/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/xorg-edgers/ubuntu jaunty main

I hit upgrade via synaptic to see what might be affected: 8 packages. The the intel driver and some mesa related items were upgraded. Seemed worth a try, because as it stands now, (K)Ubuntu is pretty much unusable if I can't trust it not to tank on stuff I am working on.

I then disabled the repo, as I know it is never a good idea to mix and match different versions of a distro.

Being this is actually a desktop PC connected to a VGA - I disabled the TMDS-1 output in my xorg.conf file:

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
 Driver "intel"
 Option "ForceEnablePipeA" "true"
        Option "monitor-TMDS-1" "ExternalMonitor"

EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier "ExternalMonitor"
        Option "Ignore" "True"
EndSection

And lastly, since I use Kubuntu, in SystemSettings --> Advanced --> Service Manager

I stopped "xrandr detecting monitor changes," and then unchecked the box. In other posts, this has been reported to reduce/stop flickering.

The screen still occasionally flickers, but the desktop and applications are MUCH sharper. Resizing icons on the desktop and such "re-drawings" used to stick and be sluggish and now I don't notice that either.

So far, my performance is notably better. I am not sure if it is more stable yet BUT I am hoping to be able to report back that I no longer get a blank screen where I have to reboot and lose what I was working on!