Here is a fresh summary (with one new result) of the problem on machines with integrated Intel graphics in which Adobe Flash Player 11.2 displays only with shades of purple and green in a horizontally compressed window.

(My current example is a Dell Dimension 2400 on Raring.)

In my testing with the Intel driver using its default acceleration:
- Flash 11.2 works on Quantal with the 3.5 kernel
- Flash 11.2 works on Raring with the 3.5 kernel **
- Flash 11.8 works on Raring with the 3.8 kernel (in Chrome)
- Flash 11.2 fails on Raring with the 3.8 kernel
- Flash 11.2 fails on Saucy with its default kernel

Disabling Flash *hardware* acceleration altogether (via R-click in the Flash display window: Settings: General tab) did not fix the problem.

Setting the Intel driver's acceleration method to UXA rather than its default SNA *always* fixes the Flash problem, but causes a garbled login screen under LightDM that so far has no workaround.

I also tried one possible fix for the default Intel SNA acceleration using the TearFree option. I created /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf with contents:
    Section "Device"
       Identifier  "Intel Graphics"
       Driver      "intel"
       Option      "AccelMethod"  "sna"
       Option      "TearFree"    "true"
    EndSection
But this had no effect.

There was a helpful bug report on file at http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1178982. (Note that it was filed against Linux.) Workarounds posted there were to change the Xorg acceleration method to UXA, or boot with an older kernel. The bug was closed only because the original poster didn't have possession of the machine anymore.

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** Flash sort of works in this case. The colors and window dimensions are normal. But there were other odd display-related effects. Raring booting to a a low-resolution desktop with the mouse pointer locked. I started Chromium via the keyboard and the flash video played long enough for me to see normal colors/dimensions, but then it locked up the browser.

In my interest in testing under Raring with an older kernel, I initially tried to use a Live USB with persistence and follow the instructions at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/MainlineBuilds for installing older Mainline kernels. But this failed to install/run properly with the Live USB. And besides, I wanted to use Stock rather than Mainline kernels. So I installed a different hard drive, installed Quantal, then upgraded to Raring. I suppose if I had run Software Update under Quantal, I would have gotten a 3.6 kernel to test as well. As it was, Raring's Software Update did not install a 3.6 kernel, but only the kernel updates proper to Raring.

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Looking at the above behavior of the "black box" without nearly enough technical knowledge, all I can see at this point is that there is an adverse interplay between certain versions of the kernel, the Intel driver, and Flash. (And I grant that I have not documented the versions of the Intel driver in the various cases, but no one has given me any indication that the Intel driver version is an issue here.)

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