Display problems after update (visual artifacts, black screen, dual monitors not recognised)

Support System Updates
1

Hello,

After the February update, I am having problems with the display.

  1. Both xfce4-display-settings and xrandr have trouble recognizing a dual monitor set up, not working properly neither automatically nor manually.
  2. In some of those cases, one of the monitors remains black: it is on, you can see the cursor, but no windows nor wallpaper. The cursor can change, so the windows are probably there, but nothing else is rendered.
  3. After switching display settings, and even if going back to a single monitor, windows start to show problems, like visual artifacts, screen tearing from multiple windows, flickering, etc.

Results can be variable, it is rather inconsistent, so I am struggling to properly identify the problem.

Everything used to work well before the update. Thank you for your help.

System:
  Kernel: 6.12.11-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64
    root=UUID=f4c906d3-10d5-4463-bf42-2c8deea9b257 rw
    resume=UUID=f4c906d3-10d5-4463-bf42-2c8deea9b257 resume_offset=11909120
    apparmor=1 security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.43 wm: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0
    with: xfce4-panel tools: light-locker vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0
    Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: XPS 13 9360 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 9 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 02PG84 v: A00 serial: <superuser required> part-nu: 082A
    uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: Dell v: 2.14.2 date: 07/13/2020
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 42.3 Wh (100.0%) condition: 42.3/60.0 Wh (70.5%)
    volts: 8.6 min: 7.6 model: SMP DELL TP1GT61 type: Li-poly serial: <filter>
    status: full
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-8550U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Coffee Lake
    gen: core 8 level: v3 note: check built: 2017 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
    model-id: 0x8E (142) stepping: 0xA (10) microcode: 0xF6
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 4 cores: 4 threads: 8 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB
    desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 8 MiB desc: 1x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 400 min/max: 400/4000 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
    governor: powersave cores: 1: 400 2: 400 3: 400 4: 400 5: 400 6: 400 7: 400
    8: 400 bogomips: 32012
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling mitigation: Microcode
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Split huge pages
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT
    vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed mitigation: IBRS
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: IBRS; IBPB: conditional; STIBP: conditional;
    RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel
    arch: Gen-9.5 process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20 ports: active: DP-1,eDP-1
    empty: DP-2 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:5917 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Microdia Integrated Webcam HD driver: uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-5:3 chip-ID: 0c45:670c
    class-ID: 0e02
  Device-3: Logitech C920 HD Pro Webcam driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
    type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-1.2:4
    chip-ID: 046d:0892 class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.15 compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0 driver:
    X: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915
    display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x2160 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 509x572mm (20.04x22.52")
    s-diag: 766mm (30.14")
  Monitor-1: DP-1 pos: primary,top model: Dell P2422HE serial: <filter>
    built: 2022 res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2
    size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: eDP-1 pos: bottom model: Sharp 0x1449 built: 2015 res:
    mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 166 gamma: 1.2
    size: 294x165mm (11.57x6.5") diag: 337mm (13.3") ratio: 16:9
    modes: 1920x1080
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris platforms: device: 0 drv: iris
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: iris surfaceless: drv: iris x11: drv: iris
    inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.3.4-arch1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620 (KBL
    GT2) device-ID: 8086:5917 memory: 7.49 GiB unified: yes
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.303 layers: 4 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel
    UHD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2) driver: N/A device-ID: 8086:5917
    surfaces: xcb,xlib
  Info: Tools: api: eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo de: xfce4-display-settings
    x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_avs bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:9d71
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Logitech C920 HD Pro Webcam driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
    type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-1.2:4
    chip-ID: 046d:0892 class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
  API: ALSA v: k6.12.11-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.2.7 status: off tools: pw-cli
  Server-3: PulseAudio v: 17.0-43-g3e2bb status: active
    with: pulseaudio-alsa type: plugin tools: pacat,pactl,pavucontrol
Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
    vendor: Rivet Networks Killer Wireless-n/a/ac 1535 driver: ath10k_pci
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 3a:00.0
    chip-ID: 168c:003e class-ID: 0280 temp: 53.0 C
  IF: wlp58s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter driver: r8152 type: USB
    rev: 3.2 speed: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 bus-ID: 4-1.3:3
    chip-ID: 0bda:8153 class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
  IF: enp57s0u1u3 state: down mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4 Bluetooth 4.0 driver: btusb v: 0.8
    type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-3:2
    chip-ID: 0cf3:e300 class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 374.78 GiB (78.6%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Toshiba
    model: KXG50ZNV512G NVMe 512GB size: 476.94 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: AADA4106 temp: 35.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 58.59 GiB size: 57.37 GiB (97.92%) used: 50.84 GiB (88.6%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 304 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 418.05 GiB size: 410.42 GiB (98.17%)
    used: 323.95 GiB (78.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 32 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 63.0 C pch: 52.0 C mobo: 41.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 0
Info:
  Memory: total: 16 GiB available: 15.35 GiB used: 2.89 GiB (18.8%)
  Processes: 273 Power: uptime: 4m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: s2idle
    avail: deep wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 6.13 GiB services: upowerd,xfce4-power-manager
    Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1953 libs: 493 tools: pamac,yay Compilers:
    gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.37 running-in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.3.37
2

From the Known Issues and Solutions section of the Stable Update 2025-02-04 announcement:

It’s possible this is related; it might explain the black screen. In any case, if you follow the resolution given it will at least rule out that issue as a contributor.

Regards.

1 Like
3

Thank you. I had seen that, it seemed possibly related, but not exactly the same problem.

I had no screensaver. xfce4-screensaver not even installed. Now I have installed it, and removed light-lock, to see if it makes any difference.

I can’t replicate the issue consistently, so I will have to wait if it presents itself again, and report back later.

1 Like
5

The suggestion above (i.e. related to xfce4-screensaver) did not work. The same exact problems are still here.

I’d be grateful for any suggestions.

7

In future, rather than create a new thread/topic, please ask Moderation staff (nicely) to re-open a closed thread.

The information was provided as being possibly related; as a possible contributor to the problem – presumedly you marked it as the solution.

That you wrote;

after removing light-locker still suggests that it was contributing to the problem in some way.

Perhaps search for other threads (I noticed several in the past week) for variations on the theme; you might discover something related that may be useful.

Good luck.

8

Thank you for merging.

The problems did not show themselves for a couple of days, and since I struggle to replicate them consistently, I thought they were gone, but they aren’t. It is exactly the same as before now.

The visual artifacts and problems with dual monitors lead me to believe this is not the same as the suspend-related issues others are facing.
The most similar problems described in other places usually relate to nVidia’s drivers (which I don’t have).