> Felix Miata wrote: > > Harris composed on 2016-09-17 09:38 (UTC-0400): > > Felix Miata wrote: > Harris composed on 2016-09-17 08:57 (UTC): > I just got a new Dell laptop to replace my former one that I ran Debian on > with no issues -- unfortunately with this one, the screen flickers when I > have it at essentially the next-to-highest brightness setting. I say > "essentially" because it happens in GNOME at the second-highest brightness > level (using the keyboard up/down buttons) although in other desktops (e.g., > Xfce) I cannot reproduce the problem using these keys, because Xfce does not > have such fine increments when I use the keys -- the increments are larger. > However, I CAN reproduce the problem in Xfce (as well as in LXDE and MATE) if > I (a) reproduce the problem in GNOME using the keys, then (b) log out and log > into one of these other DE's without touching the brightness keys. > It appears that this is not a problem with the hardware, as I did a test of > reinstalling Windows 10 (which is what shipped with this laptop) and the > problem did not appear. However, now that I've learned that the brightness > keys produce different brightness percentages depending on the specific > desktop environment, I can't be sure that this does not happen in Windows. > Anyway, does anyone have any knowledge of this type of problem, and advice on > some potential solutions? > Here are my system specs: > Dell Inspiron 15 3000 Series > Intel Core i3-5005U Processor (3M Cache, 2.00 GHz) > 4GB, 1600MHz, DDR3L memory > Intel HD Graphics 5500 > 15.6-inch HD (1366 x 768) Truelife LED-Backlit Display > - In GNOME Settings, the graphics is indicated as Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe > (LLVM 3.5, 256 bits) > I'm running Jessie 8.5. > Thanks very much in advance! > Give a driver switch a try: > # apt-get purge xserver-xorg-video-intel > # apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-modesetting > restart Xserver. > Next time, include output from 'lspci -v'. > Forgot to mention originally why: > http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ubuntu-Debian-Abandon-Intel-DDX > > <http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ubuntu-Debian-Abandon-Intel-DDX> > Thanks Felix, but the problem is still there. I ran the purge and > install as you mentioned, but during the install it said that nothing > was installed as the package was already there. Here's how I restarted > Xserver: > invoke-rc.d gdm restart > I also restarted the system after that. > Here's the output from lspci -v : > 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U > Integrated Graphics (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) > Subsystem: Dell Device 06b0 > Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 64 > Memory at a8000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M] > Memory at b0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M] > I/O ports at 4000 [size=64] > Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] > Capabilities: [90] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit- > Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2 > Capabilities: [a4] PCI Advanced Features > Kernel driver in use: i915 > Bummer. Maybe if Google can't find you anything useful about Broadwell on > Linux, try asking on intel-...@lists.freedesktop.org > <mailto:intel-...@lists.freedesktop.org> or one of the web forums, such as: > http://www.linuxquestions.org/ <http://www.linuxquestions.org/> > http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/ > <http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/> > http://forums.debian.net/ <http://forums.debian.net/> > http://www.techsupportforum.com/ <http://www.techsupportforum.com/> > https://www.phoronix.com/forums/ <https://www.phoronix.com/forums/> > > or a forum or mailing list that matches your preferred DEs, Gnome, XFCE LXDE, > Mate. Possibly this is one of those things that results from escalating > demands from the hardware. Maybe in TDE it wouldn't happen. > IIRC, flicker is a subject I've seen on the intel-gfx mailing list, so you > might start with its archive. > Stretch is so far along in development that it might be a good place to > start, especially if you have disk space available to add it rather than > replacing Jessie. > Knoppix is the best of live media, Debian-based too. It's latest is newer > than Jessie, so it's probably worth burning one to see what happens.
I was able to see this flicker issue on the BIOS video-adjustment screen… which tells me that it’s a hardware or inherent software issue with the laptop itself, not Debian! The unit is on its way back to Dell now. Should have tried this first!! Thanks again. Harris
