Ubuntu
xserver-xorg-video-ati package

Window titles flicker in Ubuntu - why?

Asked by Gergely Máté

We have a Dell Inspirion notebook here with Ubuntu 11.10 installed. After 10-15 minutes of usage, the title bars on the windows on the screen start to flicker. The flickering means that some or all window title bars flashes - sometimes just of one window, sometimes of many. When flashing, the title bar seems to be pure white for a moment. The flashing occurs from time to time when we leave the computer idle. However, when we move the mouse pointer around the screen, the titlebar flashing occurs much more frequently.

I tried both Unity and Unity 2D, and the flickering happens on both session.
I tried both the open source ATI driver and the proprietary one, and the flickering happens with both.

We tried Ubuntu 11.04, and there was more flickering with the old system: not just the window title bars flashed from time to time, but also the top menu bar flickered at the top of the screen.

What could cause the problem?

How could I fix the flashing of the window title bars?

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Gergely Máté (sportember) said : 		#1

Some additional info: Nautilus windows do a complete redraw when the flickering occurs, so all the icons and the toolbar disappear and reappear in a moment, therefore the whole window flickers. This happens mostly when I move around the mouse, flashing occurs in about every 1-3 seconds.

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enubuntu (mr.tennents) said : 		#2

I suggest you to report a bug.
Do this:
1. Opena terminal by hitting CTRL + ALT + T
2. Insert and run this command:
ubuntu-bug metacity

Explain your problem in the bug report.

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Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure) said : 		#3

@eNry
Since this problem occurs both with Unity 2D (which uses metacity) and Unity (which uses compiz and not metacity), this bug is either not in metacity, or is coincidentally present both in metacity and compiz. Since this bug doesn't seem specific to any window manager, and sometimes entire windows flicker, it seems like this bug is really in xserver-xorg.

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Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure) said : 		#4

Also, assuming you do report a bug, please read https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs carefully first.

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Gergely Máté (sportember) said : 		#5

If the bug is in xserver-xorg, what parameter should I give to ubuntu-bug?

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Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure) said : 		#6

I recommend running ubuntu-bug without arguments, and provide information as requested to report a video-related bug.

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renemoraes (renenrmoraes) said : 		#7

I confirm the same issue here.
I'm also with a Dell Inspirion notebook with Ubuntu 11.10 installed, and I would help, but I dont know how.

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