Flickering screen on Ubuntu 18.04

Question

I had Ubuntu 16.04 on an old Compaq laptop and it worked seamlessly. Recently, it suggested I update to Ubuntu 18.04. Then the nightmare began. After installing, the laptop uncontrollably flickered, at times making it impossible to use. I went back to 16.04 and the flicker was there also, so I'm guessing 18.04 changed the video settings.

I tried dozens of sudo this and that, and finally got 18.04 to stop flickering, but honestly I cannot recall which sudo command worked. I do know that the Nvidia sudo command completely locked me out of Ubuntu. Once it was stable, I went to Netflix to watch a video, but it was no good. I got some error message/number and searched for a fix. I ran another sudo to fix it, and then the flickering screen came back.

I can't use Windows 10 on the old laptop (it runs as fast as a turtle sleeping), and I can't go back to Ubuntu 16.04 because the flickering screen is still there.

I'm in a nightmare. Any help?

Solution

I feel like I was just in your same shoes, then I found this answer: Graphics problem on Ubuntu 18.04 - blurred text + screen flickering

Try that by removing the following from /etc/environment if it's there:

CLUTTER_PAINT=disable-clipped-redraws:disable-culling
CLUTTER_VBLANK=True`

Yes, more sudo. Use your favorite editor, modify the file, then reboot. I would do it like this:

sudo nano /etc/environment

Delete the lines above, save with ctrl+x, y to accept, and reboot:

sudo reboot

Comments

[wjandrea]

What commands did you run exactly? What graphics hardware do you have? (You can edit your question to add details.)

[Admin]

I've had a similar experience from 16x to 18x upgrade. Had all kinds of video issues. I fixed it by doing a fresh 16x install. Installed the 4.13 kernel, removed the 4.15 kernel and video issues gone. I also apt-mark hold the 4.13 kernel to avoid whatever 4.15 did. Hope this helps.

[Floyd Beck]

It has a Nvidia card. The laptop is an old Compaq Presario (I will check later to get more model info ...it is in the basement). As for "installed the 4.13 kernel, and removed..." HOW do you do that? Are SUDO commands?

[Floyd Beck]

Also, it gets impossible to view and control whenever I try to view a video, esp Netflix.

[pauljohn32]

Thanks @Nick. This saved the day. On my Dell Precision 5510, I had no problem using XFCE desktop with either Compiz or XFwin as window manager. However, any time I tried to run Gnome--any variant--windows were broken up, screen background flashing. I can't thank you enough for this suggestion.