[SOLVED] AMD RX 6600 - Screen flickering

[stefan_o]

Hello,
I got myself a new graphics card, a RX 6600 by ASRock. I've got a 4K monitor connected to it using DisplayPort, unfortunately I experience a lot of screen flickering, the entire screen is black for a fraction of a second, maybe once a minute. It seems to happen more often with specific tasks like playing a video in celluloid (VLC doesn't seem to affect it) or scrolling a webpage. Additionally I experience some slight noise in the far right side of the screen only visible with uniform dark grey (good example is the background of a Firefox window where only a small image is opened).
I tried another cable (one that was advertised as 8K60), no difference. Both cables work fine with my old graphics card (Nvidia GT 1030, now in a different PC, tested with the same Monitor). I tried different settings und software versions:

• Booting with amdgpu.dc=0
• Different Vsync options in cinnamon
• Enabling variable refresh rate in Xorg
• Enabling TearFree in Xorg
• Updated kernel 5.15 to 5.17 (xanmod)
• Updated MESA from default to 22.0 and now 22.1 (kisek ppa)

No difference. I tried an HDMI cable now, still the same problem.
I tried the vrrTest application, I noticed an issue: Vsync is always off, when I try to enable it the taskbar appears for half a second, but it still says vsync: false. Even though VRR seems to work (monitor is displaying a reduced frame rate as expected), the movement of the bars in the application is not smooth at all. With my Nvidia card VLC could use Adaptative Sync to display 50 fps video at 50 fps, now that doesn't work anymore.

Any idea what causes this problem?

Best regards
Stefan

My system:
Linux Mint 20,3
Gigabyte Aorus Pro B550
AMD Ryzen 5900X
64 GB RAM


Edit: I just tried vrrTest (https://github.com/Nixola/VRRTest) again and I found out that trying to switch to Vsync can cause a complete freeze of the system (not even SysRQ+b will do anything, num lock on keyboard is frozen) when trying multiple times in a short time (just open the application and press s several rimes). There is definitely something wrong when a non-root userspace app can freeze the system.

[deepakdeshp]

Please post output of terminal command

Code: Select all

inxi-Fxxxrz

in code tags.

[stefan_o]

Here is the output of my current configuration (5.17 kernel, Mesa 22.1). I installed rocm (without building the kernel module) to see if it changes the problem, no difference.

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.17.9-xanmod1 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 wm: muffin 5.2.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Gigabyte model: B550 AORUS PRO V2 serial: <filter> 
  UEFI: American Megatrends v: F12 date: 01/18/2021 
CPU:
  Topology: 12-Core model: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Zen 3 L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 177272 
  Speed: 3047 MHz min/max: 2200/3700 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 3429 2: 3584 3: 2875 4: 2873 5: 3603 6: 2873 7: 2874 8: 2871 9: 2873 
  10: 2874 11: 3592 12: 3513 13: 2914 14: 2872 15: 2873 16: 2906 17: 2872 
  18: 2874 19: 2872 20: 2874 21: 4033 22: 2874 23: 2863 24: 2866 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD vendor: ASRock driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus ID: 0b:00.0 
  chip ID: 1002:73ff 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: amdgpu 
  resolution: 3840x2160~60Hz 
  OpenGL: 
  renderer: AMD DIMGREY_CAVEFISH (LLVM 14.0.1 DRM 3.44 5.17.9-xanmod1) 
  v: 4.6 Mesa 22.1.0 - kisak-mesa PPA direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 0b:00.1 
  chip ID: 1002:ab28 
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: Gigabyte 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 0d:00.4 chip ID: 1022:1487 
  Device-3: EGO SYStems type: USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid 
  bus ID: 1-6.1:4 chip ID: 0a92:00d1 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.17.9-xanmod1 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: Gigabyte driver: r8169 v: kernel 
  port: f000 bus ID: 07:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8125 
  IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 48.26 TiB used: 6.92 TiB (14.3%) 
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 
  size: 931.51 GiB speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> rev: 611100WD 
  scheme: GPT 
  ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD120EFAX-68UNTN0 
  size: 10.91 TiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 5400 rpm serial: <filter> 
  rev: 0A81 scheme: GPT 
  ID-3: /dev/sdb vendor: Toshiba model: HDWQ140 size: 3.64 TiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> rev: FJ1M 
  ID-4: /dev/sdc vendor: Seagate model: ST12000VN0008-2PH103 size: 10.91 TiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> rev: SC61 scheme: GPT 
  ID-5: /dev/sdd vendor: Seagate model: ST12000VN0008-2PH103 size: 10.91 TiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> rev: SC61 scheme: GPT 
  ID-6: /dev/sde vendor: Seagate model: ST12000VN0008-2PH103 size: 10.91 TiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> rev: SC61 scheme: GPT 
  ID-7: /dev/sdh type: USB vendor: Generic model: STORAGE DEVICE 
  size: 59.62 GiB serial: <filter> rev: 0579 scheme: MBR 
RAID:
  Supported md-raid types: raid6 raid5 raid4 linear multipath raid0 raid1 
  raid10 
  Device-1: md0 type: mdraid status: active Components: 
  online: sdd1~c3 sdc1~c0 sde1~c1 
  Info: raid: raid-5 blocks: 23437471744 report: 3/3 UUU chunk size: 512k 
  super blocks: 1.2 algorithm: 2 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 914.59 GiB used: 851.79 GiB (93.1%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 
  ID-2: /boot size: 974.7 MiB used: 481.3 MiB (49.4%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 
Sensors:
  Message: No sensors data was found. Is sensors configured? 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ focal main
  2: deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/vscode stable main
  3: deb [arch=amd64] http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian focal non-free contrib
  4: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/gpg-pub-moritzbunkus.gpg] https://mkvtoolnix.download/ubuntu/ focal main
  5: deb-src [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/gpg-pub-moritzbunkus.gpg] https://mkvtoolnix.download/ubuntu/ focal main
  6: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/kitware-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.kitware.com/ubuntu/ focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/berglh-pulseaudio-a2dp-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/berglh/pulseaudio-a2dp/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/geogebra.list 
  1: deb http://www.geogebra.net/linux/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/inkscape_dev-stable-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/inkscape.dev/stable/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kicad-kicad-5_1-releases-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kicad/kicad-5.1-releases/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kicad-kicad-6_0-releases-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kicad/kicad-6.0-releases/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kisak-kisak-mesa-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kisak/kisak-mesa/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/misery-ppa-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/misery/ppa/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com una main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/rocm.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.radeon.com/rocm/apt/debian/ ubuntu main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/signal-desktop-keyring.gpg] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teamviewer.list 
  1: deb https://linux.teamviewer.com/deb stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntustudio-ppa-ardour-backports-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntustudio-ppa/ardour-backports/ubuntu focal main
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/xanmod-kernel.list 
  1: deb http://deb.xanmod.org releases main
Info:
  Processes: 621 Uptime: 15h 34m Memory: 62.82 GiB used: 13.27 GiB (21.1%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 alt: 8/9 
  Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38

[SMG]

I suggest you clear space on your root partition. That full of a partition can definitely cause graphics-related issues.

Partition:
ID-1: / size: 914.59 GiB used: 851.79 GiB (93.1%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3
ID-2: /boot size: 974.7 MiB used: 481.3 MiB (49.4%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2

Checking my notes, the 5.11 kernel has the necessary drivers for the RX 6600 XT, so the 5.13 kernel in the Linux Mint 20.3 "Una" - Cinnamon (Edge) ISO can boot your system and provide the necessary graphics drivers.

If cleaning space on the root partition does not help, I suggest creating an install usb of that Edge ISO and boot to a live session to see if you are still noticing the problem.

You are the first person of whom I have heard to make changes to Xorg for tear-free or refresh rate. It seems like you have made a lot of different changes and tried a lot of things which should not be needed. Maybe there is something special about your hardware than you need them, but testing the ISO gives you a way to check a "clean slate" without having to make any changes to your system.

Additionally, if I have the correct link B550 AORUS PRO V2 (rev. 1.0) :BIOS, there have been multiple AMD AGESA V2 updates since the version you have. There is a F.14 version available (as well as F15a and F15c versions if you are feeling adventurous).

Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: Gigabyte model: B550 AORUS PRO V2 serial: <filter>
UEFI: American Megatrends v: F12 date: 01/18/2021

I installed rocm (without building the kernel module) to see if it changes the problem, no difference.

I do think those rocm packages will work with the kernel you are using. It's been a few weeks since I last checked the AMD website, but at that time the packages only worked up through the 5.13 kernel.

[stefan_o]

I cleaned up my root partition and updated the BIOS to F14, unfortunately old problem remains: System will not enter stand-by (ACPI S3) but immediately wake up again. Nobody can tell me why (I removed all peripherals and it still happend, now even another graphics card doesn't make any difference). The Gigabyte tech support basically told me "we do not care about Linux and we cannot provide any additional information on the BIOS updates to what can be found on the website, because the Taiwanese don't tell us anything". So I have to go back to F12. But doesn't the Linux kernel update the AGESA/microcode during boot? Or is that an Intel-only feature?
So far that didn't help anyway. I'll try an installer usb next.

I do think those rocm packages will work with the kernel you are using. It's been a few weeks since I last checked the AMD website, but at that time the packages only worked up through the 5.13 kernel.

I didn't expect any display problems, but problems with that stuff. Turns out the complete differnce. hashcat benchmark works fine, even Davinci Resolve just works (which is said to be a complete nightmare on anything else than Nvidia, as it uses a combination of OpenGL and OpenCL), I opened an old project and playback worked fine in all views.

[SMG]

But doesn't the Linux kernel update the AGESA/microcode during boot? Or is that an Intel-only feature?

I do not recall if I have seen it in logs or not.

I have Intel-based systems and can not check, but I know the Intel microcode loading is recorded in journalctl and I think it is also in dmesg.

[stefan_o]

I have Intel-based systems and can not check, but I know the Intel microcode loading is recorded in journalctl and I think it is also in dmesg.

I'm not sure if that is loading or just reporting:

Code: Select all

[    0.332657] microcode: CPU0: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332671] microcode: CPU1: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332685] microcode: CPU2: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332700] microcode: CPU3: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332716] microcode: CPU4: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332731] microcode: CPU5: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332746] microcode: CPU6: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332764] microcode: CPU7: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332779] microcode: CPU8: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332795] microcode: CPU9: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332807] microcode: CPU10: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332821] microcode: CPU11: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332836] microcode: CPU12: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332849] microcode: CPU13: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332868] microcode: CPU14: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332882] microcode: CPU15: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.333162] microcode: CPU16: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.333436] microcode: CPU17: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.333690] microcode: CPU18: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.333947] microcode: CPU19: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.334208] microcode: CPU20: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.334462] microcode: CPU21: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.334707] microcode: CPU22: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.334932] microcode: CPU23: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.335156] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.2.

I tested my system now with F12, F14, and F15c bios versions, Kernel 5.13 (ubuntu-hwe), 5.15 and 5.17 (xanmod), all the same. I moved my user folder to revert all user settings to default, no difference.

I tested Mint edge live from an usb flash drive, the problem is different: Normal desktop is fine, but video playback is flickering in celluloid, not the entire screen, only the video.

Any ideas?

[SMG]

I installed rocm (without building the kernel module) to see if it changes the problem, no difference.

I don't think those rocm packages will work with the kernel you are using. It's been a few weeks since I last checked the AMD website, but at that time the packages only worked up through the 5.13 kernel.

I see I had a typo here. I meant to say "I don't think" not "I do think"

I'm not sure if that is loading or just reporting:

Code: Select all

[    0.332657] microcode: CPU0: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332671] microcode: CPU1: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332685] microcode: CPU2: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332700] microcode: CPU3: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332716] microcode: CPU4: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332731] microcode: CPU5: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332746] microcode: CPU6: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332764] microcode: CPU7: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332779] microcode: CPU8: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332795] microcode: CPU9: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332807] microcode: CPU10: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332821] microcode: CPU11: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332836] microcode: CPU12: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332849] microcode: CPU13: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332868] microcode: CPU14: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.332882] microcode: CPU15: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.333162] microcode: CPU16: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.333436] microcode: CPU17: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.333690] microcode: CPU18: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.333947] microcode: CPU19: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.334208] microcode: CPU20: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.334462] microcode: CPU21: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.334707] microcode: CPU22: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.334932] microcode: CPU23: patch_level=0x0a201009
[    0.335156] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.2.

I did some quick searches and that would seem to indicate it is loading. I was not able to find information on how that version number compares to what is available through the BIOS updates, but the fact the live session test went well seems to indicate this is not probably the issue.

I tested Mint edge live from an usb flash drive, the problem is different: Normal desktop is fine, but video playback is flickering in celluloid, not the entire screen, only the video.

Any ideas?

To me, this indicates you did something in your install or settings which is causing the problem. Many people have run into issue with video playback in celluoid or other players. There are setting changes in celluloid which can address it.

When video issues happen in only one app, it is usually a settings issue in the app. When the issues happen across multiple apps and on the desktop, then there is a more general setting or driver issue which is causing the problem.

I tested my system now with F12, F14, and F15c bios versions, Kernel 5.13 (ubuntu-hwe), 5.15 and 5.17 (xanmod), all the same. I moved my user folder to revert all user settings to default, no difference.

I do not understand what the last sentence means. What settings were you reverting? I ask to try and get an idea of what might be causing the issue.

[SMG]

[*]Updated MESA from default to 22.0 and now 22.1 (kisek ppa)

How did you get a default Mesa of 22.0? The current default Mesa is 21.2.6 (although the one on the Edge ISO might be a little older).

[stefan_o]

I see I had a typo here. I meant to say "I don't think" not "I do think"

But it works, the hashcat benchmark results are also very realistic. The xanmod kernel seem to have this options enabled:

You can install ROCm user-level software without installing AMD’s custom ROCk kernel driver. The kernel used must have the HSA kernel driver option enabled and compiled into the amdgpu kernel driver.

(from ROCm Installation)

To me, this indicates you did something in your install or settings which is causing the problem. Many people have run into issue with video playback in celluoid or other players. There are setting changes in celluloid which can address it.

When video issues happen in only one app, it is usually a settings issue in the app. When the issues happen across multiple apps and on the desktop, then there is a more general setting or driver issue which is causing the problem.

But could these problems be related?

I do not understand what the last sentence means. What settings were you reverting? I ask to try and get an idea of what might be causing the issue.

I renamed my user folder in /home and created a new empty one, so after a reboot Linux Mint was greeting me with a welcome screen and all my user settings to the UI (themes, fonts etc.) were back to default like on the live system. But problem was still the same (unlike live system).
Additionally BIOS version doesn't seem to have any influence on the problem.

How did you get a default Mesa of 22.0? The current default Mesa is 21.2.6 (although the one on the Edge ISO might be a little older).

What I meant is I had the stock Mesa 21.2.6, I tried fixing the problem by updating mesa, so I installed the latest one from kisek-ppa, which was 22.0. A day later it got updated to 22.1. Made no difference, all 3 versions have the same issues.
The one the edge iso is 21.0.3. Maybe the older one fixes the problem?

[SMG]

You can install ROCm user-level software without installing AMD’s custom ROCk kernel driver. The kernel used must have the HSA kernel driver option enabled and compiled into the amdgpu kernel driver.

(from ROCm Installation)

Okay.
You installed it separately from the amdgpu driver. That may also make a difference. I do see in the link you provided, "Note: AMD ROCm only supports Long Term Support (LTS) versions of Ubuntu. Versions other than LTS may work with ROCm, however, they are not officially supported." so it can work.

But could these problems be related?

Could a problem in one app in the live version be related to a system-wide problem you are having in your install? Is that what you mean by the two problems?

I renamed my user folder in /home and created a new empty one, so after a reboot Linux Mint was greeting me with a welcome screen and all my user settings to the UI (themes, fonts etc.) were back to default like on the live system. But problem was still the same (unlike live system).

The changes you described in your first post do not sound like changes which are saved in /home. They sound like system setting changes. Making changes in Xorg is a system-level change. In fact, most Linux Mint installs do not even have a custom xorg.conf file. The system default is used.

What I meant is I had the stock Mesa 21.2.6, I tried fixing the problem by updating mesa, so I installed the latest one from kisek-ppa, which was 22.0. A day later it got updated to 22.1.

Thanks for the clarification. I now understand your comment.

[stefan_o]

The changes you described in your first post do not sound like changes which are saved in /home. They sound like system setting changes. Making changes in Xorg is a system-level change. In fact, most Linux Mint installs do not even have a custom xorg.conf file. The system default is used.

I started with no xorg.conf (and no files in xorg.conf.d), I renamed the one that was created by the nvidia driver. I created one trying to fix the problem (with only the two options). Are there any other system-wide graphics related config files? Maybe something that was set by the nvidia driver and not reverted during deinstallation?

Could a problem in one app in the live version be related to a system-wide problem you are having in your install? Is that what you mean by the two problems?

Yes, that's what I mean, because for example a specific method to render graphics is only used for the video on the live system, while on my installation it is used for the entire screen?

[SMG]

I started with no xorg.conf (and no files in xorg.conf.d)

That is the system default.

, I renamed the one that was created by the nvidia driver. I created one trying to fix the problem (with only the two options). Are there any other system-wide graphics related config files? Maybe something that was set by the nvidia driver and not reverted during deinstallation?

The Nvidia X Server settings app will create an xorg.conf if you save changes in the app. I presume that is the one you renamed.

I also presume you either reverted to nouveau before switching out the GPUs or you did a sudo apt-get purge *nvidia* to remove the files.

You did not get to LM20.3 by doing an upgrade in place of LM19.3 and then doing sequential upgrades, correct? You did a fresh install of an LM20 version?

The only other idea which comes to mind is I see you have an Ubuntu Studio PPA installed. Is there anything it in that might be graphics related? I seem to recall helping someone else with Ubuntu Studio installed and there were settings options available which could affect the overall system.

Could a problem in one app in the live version be related to a system-wide problem you are having in your install? Is that what you mean by the two problems?

Yes, that's what I mean, because for example a specific method to render graphics is only used for the video on the live system, while on my installation it is used for the entire screen?

There is no specific method to render graphics on the live system which would be different from an installed system unless you changed something in the installed system. The live system is an actual running Mint operating system which is running from the usb instead of the hard drive.

[stefan_o]

I installed the Nvidia driver using the installer from Nvidia, I also used that one for deinstallation. But there have been a lot of nvidia packages anyway, mostly cuda-related. I purged them all.

The Nvidia X Server settings app will create an xorg.conf if you save changes in the app. I presume that is the one you renamed.

The nvidia installer asks if one should be created, but that doesn't make any difference. That's the file I renamed.

You did not get to LM20.3 by doing an upgrade in place of LM19.3 and then doing sequential upgrades, correct? You did a fresh install of an LM20 version?

Yes, and doing upgrades to all minor releases

The only other idea which comes to mind is I see you have an Ubuntu Studio PPA installed. Is there anything it in that might be graphics related? I seem to recall helping someone else with Ubuntu Studio installed and there were settings options available which could affect the overall system.

All I have installed from the Ubuntu Studio repo is Ardour (only 4 ardour packages, just checked, nothing graphic related). Maybe it's audio related, although I do not use any audio over DisplayPort/HDMI?

[stefan_o]

I tried to deactivate the audio, but I cannot figure out how, I used these options for booting (dmesg also shows after start-up):

Code: Select all

amdgpu.dc=0 amdgpu.audio=0

But that doesn't have an effect, an audio device is still shown ("HDMI / DisplayPort 2 HDA ATI HDMI")

[motoryzen]

I recall Wendell from Level1techs saying one time he discovered the source of a video card's flickering problem when doing video play back be it youtube OR local videos using vlc or celluloid ended up being a faulty or inferior DisplayPort cable. Have you tried another DP cable just to rule that out?

[SMG]

I tried to deactivate the audio, but I cannot figure out how, I used these options for booting (dmesg also shows after start-up):

Code: Select all

amdgpu.dc=0 amdgpu.audio=0

But that doesn't have an effect, an audio device is still shown ("HDMI / DisplayPort 2 HDA ATI HDMI")

Are you still using the amdgpu.dc=0 kernel parameter? If so, that would be a difference between the live session and the installed version.

I do not think the audio is an issue. Try removing both kernel parameters and see if that helps.

[stefan_o]

No, I used amdgpu.dc=0 because amdgpu.audio only works with dc disabled (at least that's how I understood the documentation). By default I don't use any additional parameter, but no matter what parameters I try (dc, audio, freesync_video), the problem is unchanged. Is there somekind of graphics debug mode in mesa or amdgpu that logs something or put some overlay on the screen like the nvidia driver?

[SMG]

Is there some kind of graphics debug mode in mesa or amdgpu that logs something or put some overlay on the screen like the nvidia driver?

I do not know what you mean by "some overlay on the screen like Nvidia". I am also not aware of any "graphics debug mode".

Did you try creating a new user and logging in as that user to see if the problem is still there? There may be differences between doing that and just copying the home directory like you did earlier.

[stefan_o]

Unfortunately still no difference with a freshly created asccount.

I do not know what you mean by "some overlay on the screen like Nvidia". I am also not aware of any "graphics debug mode".

The nvidia driver had some options to overlay some debug information, so there have always been a few lines of information in the top left corner. Would be great if you could set the driver to debug mode, so it outputs if there is a link issue to the monitor, buffer underruns somewhere etc.