Visual artifacts when using the old 'intel' Xorg driver

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Thanks. Unfortunately that did not attach the information we require. :(

Please run:

  dmesg > dmesg.txt
  lspci -k > lspcik.txt
  journalctl -b0 > journal.txt

and then attach the resulting three files.

Thanks. I can see a couple of problems with the machine now, which could cause this bug:

1. You have the old 'intel' graphics driver enabled. That's no longer being maintained and should not be used, especially on newer hardware like yours. Please ensure your Xorg config files do not load the 'intel' driver and if in doubt just uninstall it:

  sudo apt remove xserver-xorg-video-intel

You should be using the newer 'modesetting' driver which is also the default.

2. You have a number of extensions installed:

b'org.gnome.shell' b'enabled-extensions' b"['<email address hidden>', '<email address hidden>', '<email address hidden>', 'multi-monitors-add-on@spin83', '<email address hidden>', '<email address hidden>', '<email address hidden>', '<email address hidden>', '<email address hidden>', '<email address hidden>']"

so if removing the intel graphics driver hasn't already fixed the bug then please try to uninstall all of those extensions. Yes uninstall and not just disable, because a disabled extension can still interfere with the shell.

Thank you, removing both "xserver-xorg-video-intel" package and /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf file solved all the issues I had

Removing both "xserver-xorg-video-intel" and deleting /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf file solved the artifact issues on my Dell 9360 as well.

I'm not sure what's creating that file causing the problems:

  /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf

Maybe you've experimented with a PPA in the past that modified your graphics packages? You can also find out by running:

  dpkg -S /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf

Anyway, the point is that config file should not exist on a clean Ubuntu system.

Also confirming that removing xserver-xorg-video-intel solved my problem too. I didn't delete xorg.conf file though. Didn't have the 20-intel.conf file either.

Also confirming that removing xserver-xorg-video-intel solved the problem for me too.

I did not also have /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf. However, I did have /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/01-amdgpu-pro-px.conf which was trying to load the intel driver that was just removed:

  jsalvo@rig01:~$ cat ~/xorg.conf.d-01-amdgpu-pro-px.conf
  Section "ServerFlags"
        Option "AutoAddGPU" "off"
  EndSection

  Section "Device"
        Identifier "Intel"
        Driver "intel"
  EndSection

  Section "Files"
    ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
  EndSection

Have to remove that file as well and then also do a:

  sudo apt purge xserver-xorg-video-amdgpu-pro

... as the amdgpu-pro was installed when it was on 16.04 LTS, before the upgrade to 20.04 LTS.

Removing xserver-xorg-video-intel and 20-intel.conf did not work on my Intel NUC which is being used as a headless server. As it is a headless machine I control it from my PC using Remmina (VNC). The NUC does not have a monitor connected to it. When the NUC boots it searches for a monitor. If it can't find one it won't activate video. If so, Remmina VNC results in showing a black screen. In order to be able to see the NUC's desktop I need to "trick" it during boot into believing that a monitor is connected. This is done through 20-intel.conf. Its contents forces the NUC to believe that displays are connected:

Section "Device"
    Identifier "intelgpu0"
    Driver "intel"
    Option "VirtualHeads" "2"
EndSection

Therefore, removing xserver-xorg-video-intel and 20-intel.conf resulted in that I could not see the NUC's desktop anymore via Remmina.
As an experiment I connected a monitor to the NUC's HDMI port. In this case the artifacts are gone.
I plan to try one alternative solution: plug a HDMI dummy adapter into the NUC's HDMI port. Then I might not need the mentioned code in 20-intel.conf any more. Then remove xserver-xorg-video-intel and 20-intel.conf, hoping that I can connect via Remmina.

I have my minipc server Gigabite Brix 4105 and the monitor is not connected to it. Installed Ubuntu Desktop 12.04.2.
I control it from my PC using VNC and no visual artifacts.

This is done through 20-intel.conf

Section "Device"
    Identifier "intelgpu0"
    Driver "intel"
    Option "VirtualHeads" "1"
    Option "TearFree" "true"
    Option "TripleBuffer" "true"
    Option "DRI" "false"
EndSection

I added the following commands to my startup script:

xrandr --newmode "1920x1080" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088 1120 -hsync +vsync
xrandr --addmode VIRTUAL1 1920x1080
xrandr --output VIRTUAL1 --mode 1920x1080 --right-of HDMI1
xrandr -d :0 --output VIRTUAL1 --primary --auto

Generate modeline with gtf or cvt (Replace 1920 1080 with your preferred resolution). Here is what I get:
$ cvt 1920 1080
# 1920x1080 59.96 Hz (CVT 2.07M9) hsync: 67.16 kHz; pclk: 173.00 MHz
Modeline "1920x1080_60.00" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088 1120 -hsync +vsync

Why is it marked as Won't Fix? The obsolete package xserver-xorg-video-intel is installed with the operating system. Please remove it.

This bug is marked as "Won't Fix" because it won't be fixed. xserver-xorg-video-intel is old and should not be used anymore. The default built-in driver (called 'modesetting') should be used instead.

I'm not sure how safe it would be to remove xserver-xorg-video-intel from the Ubuntu archive because people upgrading from older releases where it was the only driver, might still have config files that depend on it. Not being able to find the driver specified in your config file would cause bigger issues than just "visual artifacts", like not being able to log in.

Follow-up on my comment #22: I installed a HDMI plug to my Intel NUC. Then removed the xserver-xorg-video-intel and 20-intel.conf. After reboot the plug was detected and the visual artifacts were gone.

In Ubuntu Unity 21.04 Beta xserver-xorg-video-intel is installed by default, but doesn't cause artifacts. In a test version prior to Beta it did cause them.

Regarding #25, I suggest removing it from the installer. I don't mind archives. I reported it against Ubuntu Unity:

https://gitlab.com/ubuntu-unity/ubuntu-unity-issues/-/issues/85

I was told "it will be replaced by a update or needs to be remove at Ubuntu's end.".

The package being installed does not mean it is used. Xorg will use the correct driver 'modesetting' by default.

I had *exactly* the (very well) described issues here:
  o Really weird corrupted font artifacts.
  o Bizarre semi-tiled blocks on my background screen.

Occurred after doing an upgrade of Ubuntu 20.04 on an Dell XPS 7590.

Running the suggested command:

      sudo apt remove xserver-xorg-video-intel

And rebooting fixed everything. Thanks very much.