Severe screen flickering when laptop lid is opened. [SOLVED]

[AndyInMokum]

Hi all, how's it going  ?  I've just installed Peppermint 9 64-bit to this HP 6930p Elitebook.  It runs almost perfectly too.  The problem I'm having, is severe screen flickering when the laptop lid is opened.  The power management while plugged in, is set to Switch off display when the lid is closed.  I've tried disabling the Desktop Effects.  This makes no difference.  I've tried using the Mate Power Manager instead of the XFCE4 Power Manager.  That also made no difference.  Ctrl+Alt+F2 followed by, Ctrl+Alt+F7 brings X back to normal.

Previously, I had Xubuntu 18.04 LTS installed.  The identical flickering screen issues were present with this installation too.  I just never got around to trouble shooting it.  I swapped this machine to Peppermint 9, simply because it's more refined and much quicker.  Any help is much appreciated  .  The machine's specs are below:

Code: [Select]

andy@andy-HP-EliteBook-6930p ~ $ inxi -Fz
System:    Host: andy-HP-EliteBook-6930p Kernel: 4.15.0-38-generic x86_64 bits: 64
           Desktop: N/A Distro: Peppermint Nine
Machine:   Device: laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP EliteBook 6930p v: F.16 serial: N/A
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 30DB v: KBC Version 87.2A serial: N/A
           BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: 68PCU Ver. F.16 date: 12/08/2009
Battery    BAT0: charge: 43.5 Wh 96.6% condition: 45.0/48.8 Wh (92%)
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core2 Duo P8600 (-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB
           clock speeds: max: 2401 MHz 1: 1276 MHz 2: 1456 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Mobile 4 Series Integrated Graphics Controller
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
           drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1280x800@59.99hz
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Mobile Intel GM45 Express
           version: 2.1 Mesa 18.0.5
Audio:     Card Intel 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-38-generic
Network:   Card-1: Intel 82567LM Gigabit Network Connection driver: e1000e
           IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300 driver: iwlwifi
           IF: wls1 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 300.1GB (59.4% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: DREVO_X1 size: 60.0GB
           ID-2: /dev/sdb model: SanDisk_SDSSDA24 size: 240.1GB
           ID-3: /dev/mmcblk0 model: N/A size: 16.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 20G used: 7.1G (38%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
           ID-2: /home size: 12G used: 1.2G (11%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 51.0C mobo: 24.9C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 205 Uptime: 12:22 Memory: 1504.9/3845.7MB
           Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.3.56 
andy@andy-HP-EliteBook-6930p ~ $ 

[johnny so-low]

you dont go in to detail about what type of flickering you are experiencing but first things to try are probably changing your monitors refresh rate and maybe resolution ....  could also be a loose of bad LVDS cable the cable from the monitor to the mainboard ... that's just my best guesses .. im sure someone with more knowledge can give you more insight

[VinDSL]

I'd play around with the DPMS settings, Andy.

Over the years, with everything from CRTs, LEDs, desktops, laptops, et cetera - blanking always works the best for me.

[PCNetSpec]

It'd be interesting to know if an 18.10 distro still does this .. maybe Xubuntu 18.10

[AndyInMokum]

It'd be interesting to know if an 18.10 distro still does this .. maybe Xubuntu 18.10

I'm downloading it as I type.  We'll soon find out  .

[AndyInMokum]

It'd be interesting to know if an 18.10 distro still does this .. maybe Xubuntu 18.10

Xubuntu 18.10 has been fully installed to a partition on this machine.  The exact same power management setting are being used as in Peppermint 9.   There is no screen flickering when opening the laptop lid  .  The problem must be a kernel issue.

[alynur]

Hi Andy, with my Samsung laptop I also get flickering but only when I'm on battery power. Once I plug in the power cord, the flickering disappears. I may have to partition this harddrive and check out Xubuntu 18.10.

[johnny so-low]

so can this be fixed with Xorg-Xset ?

[pin]

It'd be interesting to know if an 18.10 distro still does this .. maybe Xubuntu 18.10

Xubuntu 18.10 has been fully installed to a partition on this machine.  The exact same power management setting are being used as in Peppermint 9.   There is no screen flickering when opening the laptop lid  .  The problem must be a kernel issue.

So, why not trying another kernel then? 4.19.0 is running fine on my PM7 machine 

[alynur]

It'd be interesting to know if an 18.10 distro still does this .. maybe Xubuntu 18.10

Xubuntu 18.10 has been fully installed to a partition on this machine.  The exact same power management setting are being used as in Peppermint 9.   There is no screen flickering when opening the laptop lid  .  The problem must be a kernel issue.

So, why not trying another kernel then? 4.19.0 is running fine on my PM7 machine 

I think I'll try this first pin before I make changes to my harddrive.

[alynur]

Okay now I'm confused, I tried to install 4.19.0, ran sudo update-grub and figured since I'm testing the monitor flicker, I would start up without the power cord being plugged in. So I immediately got a kernel panic. Powered down and rebooted into 4.15 and forgot that I still had the power cord unplugged, well no flickering. I reinstalled 4.19, rebooted and I'm still running without the power cord plugged in and no flickering. 4.19 is running good but I think I lost a couple of seconds on bootup. Anyway, I'm not sure my flickering was a kernel problem or not.

[AndyInMokum]

Hi guys thanks for all the responses.  I haven't manually installed a kernel since either Pep 5 or Pep 6.  Could someone run me through the process again.  Many thanks  .

[pin]

Hi Andy,
As you saw from alynur, it might not be the kernel. But, I would give it a shot.
Although, instructions on "how to replace the kernel" should probably not be attempted by everybody. So, I've PM'd you the answer instead of publishing it here 

[Slim.Fatz]

Hi guys thanks for all the responses.  I haven't manually installed a kernel since either Pep 5 or Pep 6.  Could someone run me through the process again.  Many thanks  .

Hi AndyInMokum,

See this message. 

Regards,

-- Slim

[zebedeeboss]

Hi guys thanks for all the responses.  I haven't manually installed a kernel since either Pep 5 or Pep 6.  Could someone run me through the process again.  Many thanks  .

Hi Andy

Use UKUU - it's in the Repo's...

Just revert to nouveau drivers first before upgrading Kernel.  Re-install any proprietary drivers after

Regards Zeb...