[q45] Flickering on Adobe Air application

Bug #405425 reported by Luis F. Lopez
10
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
xf86-video-intel
Fix Released
High
xserver-xorg-video-intel (Ubuntu)
Incomplete
Low
Unassigned

Bug Description

Hardware Platfform :Dell Optiplex 760 with Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller.
Ubuntu Version: 9.04
Intel Driver version: 2:2.8.0+git20090724.9a45ace2-0ubuntu0sarvatt~jaunty
X version: 2:1.6.2+git20090724+server-1.6-branch.606f6dba-0ubuntu0sarvatt2~jaunty
Kernel version: linux-image-2.6.31-020631rc4-generic

Description of the issue: When executing adobe air application that includes a "invert screen" effect heavy flickering can be noticed on the display. A video of the issue can be accessed at :
http://people.canonical.com/~luislopez/Dell_Optiplex_760_Display_Flickering_on_Adobe_Air_Application.avi

Attaching X log and output for lspci -vvnn

[lspci]
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset DRAM Controller [8086:2e10] (rev 03)
     Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:027f]
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2e12] (rev 03)
     Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:027f]

Revision history for this message
In , Bryce Harrington (bryce) wrote :

Created an attachment (id=28043)
dmesg.txt

Revision history for this message
Luis F. Lopez (luis.lopez) wrote :

Hardware Platfform :Dell Optiplex 760 with Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller.
Ubuntu Version: 9.04
Intel Driver version: 2:2.8.0+git20090724.9a45ace2-0ubuntu0sarvatt~jaunty
X version: 2:1.6.2+git20090724+server-1.6-branch.606f6dba-0ubuntu0sarvatt2~jaunty
Kernel version: linux-image-2.6.31-020631rc4-generic

Description of the issue: When executing adobe air application that includes a "invert screen" effect heavy flickering can be noticed on the display. A video of the issue can be accessed at :
http://people.canonical.com/~luislopez/Dell_Optiplex_760_Display_Flickering_on_Adobe_Air_Application.avi

Attaching X log and output for lspci -vvnn

Revision history for this message
Luis F. Lopez (luis.lopez) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Luis F. Lopez (luis.lopez) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Luis F. Lopez (luis.lopez) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Bryce Harrington (bryce) wrote :

Hi Luis,

I've forwarded the bug upstream to https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=22969 - please subscribe to this report in case upstream needs further information or wishes you to test something. Let me know if you're not getting timely response from them and I can follow up.

Changed in xserver-xorg-video-intel (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → High
status: New → Triaged
Revision history for this message
In , Gordon Jin (gordon-jin) wrote :

*** Bug 22937 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Revision history for this message
In , Gordon Jin (gordon-jin) wrote :

I'm suspecting this is related to bug#16612.

Revision history for this message
Robert Hooker (sarvatt) wrote :

Does it also happen with the 2.6.31-rc2 (or older) kernel?

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

Created an attachment (id=28115)
Conf file for my display - resolution 1024x600

Adrian - my xorg.conf - I tried removing most of the things from the conf -it still exposes the same behaviour.

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

Created an attachment (id=28116)
Adrian -Xorg.0.log for starting X + AdobeAir + rotating screen 180 degrees (no debug)

Adrian - Here is an Xorg.0.log for starting X + appl + rotating the screen after application start. (xrandr -o inverted) - there is no debug option in xorg.conf

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

Created an attachment (id=28117)
Adrian - lspci -vv for my config

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

IMPORTANT:
Now regarding the Air Application displaying video or video effects when screen rotated if I keep the finger pressed (it has a touchscreen or the mouse pressed) somewhere on the corner of the screen the flckering dissapears. So maybe is has something to do with a bad choice for the moment of blitting the rotated buffer which interacts with mouse display ???!?!? - so maybe doing that during vblank would be a better option ?

Adrian

P.S.
Additional REMARK
On my platform as well when I turn off X (init 3 or killall X) the machine freezez about 3-5 seconds and the display is garbled for that period of time- but I think this is another issue not linked with the current bug. This is systematic.

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

Created an attachment (id=28118)
Adrian - dmesg for my config

Dmesg file for my config

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

Created an attachment (id=28119)
video with the bug

See here how when turning the screen the app flashes. When pressing the screen (touchscreen) the flickering dissapears.

I only had a phone to take the video (quite bad quality bu t the result can be seen) so the format is 3gp. It can be played by VLC even if it complains it doesn't know how to play this format.

Adrian

Revision history for this message
In , Keith Packard (keithp) wrote :

under RandR transforms, there is no synchronization of the screen updates with vblank.

Revision history for this message
In , Luis-lopez-canonical (luis-lopez-canonical) wrote :

It's important to mention that on the original bug report the screen rotation is not performed using xrandr, it's done via internal application mechanism (probably by Adobe Air API)

Revision history for this message
In , Keith Packard (keithp) wrote :

thanks, it wasn't entirely clear (and some of the replies included xrandr rotation).

The only way to get synchronization today is to use Xv or GL; all other 2D rendering is not synchronized with vertical blank.

Revision history for this message
Luis F. Lopez (luis.lopez) wrote :

Yes, the issue also happens in older kernels (2.6.30-020630-generic).

Revision history for this message
In , Keith Packard (keithp) wrote :

I'm not sure what else we can do here; if adobe air works fine in some orientation and fails in others, it doesn't seem like something we can fix in the driver.

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

In my case screen rotation is done via xrandr and not by Adobe. What is strange is that if the mouse is pressed somewhere on the screen outside the video area the flicker dissapears and if it's on the video it still does some strange things on all lines of the screen corresponding to the mouse shape. So it has to do with some sync.

Adrian

Revision history for this message
In , Luis-lopez-canonical (luis-lopez-canonical) wrote :

An additional remark that needs to be mentioned is that when the screen resolution is reduced to 1024x768 (normally it's 1366x768) then the flickering disappears.

Also when executing the application on a hardware platform that requires a proprietary driver (ATI), this issue is not present.

Could these two facts be considered as an indication that this is a driver issue?

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

To resume the problems marked by Bryce and me(Adrian):

1) Screen flickering aith Air applications when screen is turned in Adobe AND xrandr (maybe internally Adobe does the same thing xrandr)

2) Screen flickering does NOT occur on other proprietary video drivers (screen turned with xrandr or native in Adobe) with other cards: NVIDIA Geforce(Adrian) and ATI (Bryce) - so this kind of excludes Adobe Air issues !

3) Adrian : when pressing and holding the mouse cursor pressed in some corner of te screen flickering dissapears

4) Bryce: when resolution is not at it's maximum flickering dissapears.
   Adrian: tested on myconfig - flickering is still there in 800x600 on my 1024x600 capable screen !

CONCLUSION:
  According to point 2) Adobe Air should almost be excluded as source of the problem hence we do have a problem that should be fixed here.

Adrian

Revision history for this message
In , Keith Packard (keithp) wrote :

Please don't conflate the RandR configuration with a separate application; these are two separate issues. RandR has known performance and flickering issues which do not have any bearing on environments not using it.

Given that there is no way to avoid tearing using core X interfaces, the fact that other drivers don't exhibit the same level of tearing is entirely accidental. To fix this in general, the Adobe Air application will need to use some API which avoids tearing. The only candidates today are either Xv or OpenGL; we simply don't have a core X API that solves this problem available to us.

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

I don't want to be rude - I just want things to be solved and even help if I can.

So on a very similar machine - the CPU is still Atom 1.6 Ghz but on the video part the chipset is a bit different it is working with xrandr turned. The driver and OS and software is exactly the same.

NOT WORKING MACHINE
-------------------
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)

WORKING MACHINE:
---------------
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82945G/GZ Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)

A) So the one not working is the MObile version of the approximatelly same chipset.
If it flickers sometimes is now and in 3 minutes - I can live with that -it is usable.

B) Somebody explain me way on the machine that flickers with screen turned - if I press the mouse and keep it pressed during interaction with the application the flicker goes away ?!?!?

If Adobe is not using Xv or Gl it should flicker all the time.

On the two machines I run exactly the same application - the same binaries !

I have no answer to this ....

Adrian

Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)
tags: added: flicker jaunty q45
Revision history for this message
In , Luis-lopez-canonical (luis-lopez-canonical) wrote :

Adding URL for video showing that no flickering is noticeable when resolution is reduced to 1024x768:

http://people.canonical.com/~luislopez/Dell_Optiplex_760_Adobe_Air_Application_No_Flickering_at_1024x768.avi

Revision history for this message
In , Gordon Jin (gordon-jin) wrote :

It's said Ubuntu has found a workaround and this bug's priority can be decreased.

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

(In reply to comment #20)
> It's said Ubuntu has found a workaround and this bug's priority can be
> decreased.

Could you give a link or something to the workaround ?
Adrian

Revision history for this message
In , Gordon Jin (gordon-jin) wrote :

(In reply to comment #21)
> (In reply to comment #20)
> > It's said Ubuntu has found a workaround and this bug's priority can be
> > decreased.
>
> Could you give a link or something to the workaround ?
> Adrian

I heard that from Quanxian, but I don't know more detail. I guess Ubuntu know.

Revision history for this message
In , Yingying Zhao (yingying-zhao) wrote :

Copy from Alberto's email:
"he only workaround that the user who reported the bug found is to set the resolution to 1024x768."

I added Alberto to the copy list.

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

I did that and it doesn't solve the problem in our case.
In any resolution I have the same problem.

Adrian

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

I repeat what I previously said before:

Setup: I have two machines with different motherboards but same CPU (atom 1.6).
1) Shuttle
2) Tablet

Shutlle - everything works with screen turned with xrandr .

Tablet - I have the flickering problem when turning the screen.
However if I keep the mouse button pressed (or the touchscreen) the flickering stops - I have a normal display.

Adrian

Changed in xserver-xorg-video-intel:
status: Unknown → Confirmed
Bryce Harrington (bryce)
description: updated
Revision history for this message
In , Keith Packard (keithp) wrote :

X server version 1.6.4 improves scheduling of rotation redisplay; have you tried that to see if this reduces flickering?

Revision history for this message
In , Adrian-opticvideo (adrian-opticvideo) wrote :

(In reply to comment #26)
> X server version 1.6.4 improves scheduling of rotation redisplay; have you
> tried that to see if this reduces flickering?

Yes ! I am using the opensuse 11.1 Factory X11 repository so I download right away all things. There are some changes - I don't know if I can call them improvements in my case. For I managed to have something working by passing in 64k color instead of true color.

With the old Xorg when screen was turned I had flickering but strange enough ony when not pressing the mouse somewhere on the screen. When the mouse button was pressed the flickering had gone away.

Now - whenever there should be flickering the video/or display starts to move alot slower and pressing the mouse button somewhere does not help anymore. Anyway is a bit more fluid as interface but I am trying to play a 800x600 video on an Atom 1.6Ghz machine. I insist however for the case with the old Xorg when pressing the mouse button over at any position on the screen will completely remove flickering - very strange.

Adrian

Changed in xserver-xorg-video-intel:
status: Confirmed → In Progress
Bryce Harrington (bryce)
summary: - [Q45] Flickering on Adobe Air application
+ [q45] [Q45] Flickering on Adobe Air application
Bryce Harrington (bryce)
summary: - [q45] [Q45] Flickering on Adobe Air application
+ [q45] Flickering on Adobe Air application
Bryce Harrington (bryce)
tags: added: hardy
Changed in xserver-xorg-video-intel:
importance: Unknown → High
Changed in xserver-xorg-video-intel:
importance: High → Unknown
Changed in xserver-xorg-video-intel:
importance: Unknown → High
Revision history for this message
In , Agajan (agajan) wrote :

I have a Dell Optiplex 960 which has a Q45 Express chipset.

I am seeing similar flickering when I view a video at the following URL:

http://www.wpix.com/sports/college-sports/

On the right side, there is a Flash video. If I make that video fullscreen and play it, I get the flickering.

The same computer can play other Flash videos in fullscreen mode and not have flickering issue.

xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.12.3-2.fc17.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-intel-2.20.8-1.fc17.x86_64

Revision history for this message
In , Chris Wilson (ickle) wrote :

(In reply to comment #28)
> I have a Dell Optiplex 960 which has a Q45 Express chipset.
>
> I am seeing similar flickering when I view a video at the following URL:
>
> http://www.wpix.com/sports/college-sports/
>
> On the right side, there is a Flash video. If I make that video fullscreen
> and play it, I get the flickering.
>
> The same computer can play other Flash videos in fullscreen mode and not
> have flickering issue.

Fortuitous. Flash does not employ synchronized updates to the scanout. This bug is purely about that the update of the rotated scanout is not synchronous even if the applications are requesting synchronous updates.

Revision history for this message
In , Chris Wilson (ickle) wrote :

Requires the explicit Option "TearFree", but is now possible as of

commit d788b69fdb5ea73b1d283a89e53b2b19eaa90e6e
Author: Chris Wilson <email address hidden>
Date: Mon Oct 21 23:44:29 2013 +0100

    sna: Enable TearFree rendering for transformed scanouts

    References: https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=22969
    Signed-off-by: Chris Wilson <email address hidden>

Ideally this task will be performed by the compositor instead.

Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)
tags: added: trusty
removed: hardy jaunty
Changed in xserver-xorg-video-intel:
status: In Progress → Fix Released
Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Luis F. Lopez, this bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? If so, could you please test for this with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ .

If it remains an issue, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

apport-collect -p xserver-xorg-video-intel REPLACE-WITH-BUG-NUMBER

Please note, given that the information from the prior release is already available, doing this on a release prior to the development one would not be helpful.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs

Changed in xserver-xorg-video-intel (Ubuntu):
importance: High → Low
status: Triaged → Incomplete
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