1105487 - Firefox associated with display glitches on external monitor in Ubuntu

Status: UNCONFIRMED

(Core :: Graphics, defect)

Description

[skierpage]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:33.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/33.0
Build ID: 20141013200257

Steps to reproduce:

I use Firefox (currently version 33) with Ubuntu 14.04 on a MacBook Air5,2 with Intel HD Graphics 4000 chipset. I use rEFInd to boot into Linux.

I plug in an external Dell 22" LCD monitor over mini DisplayPort -> DVI. It's rotated 90 degrees clockwise.

I run a second Firefox window, Gnome terminal, and occasionally other windows on this external monitor.


Actual results:

Sporadic display glitches on the external monitor. Every few days I'll start seeing sparse black checkerboard across it, or shifted colors, or the monitor blanks for a few seconds.  But this *only* happens if there's a Firefox window on the external display. If I minimize this Firefox window or drag it to my built-in display, then the external display is rock-solid.


Expected results:

It could be a linux driver problem, could be hardware, could be a problem with compiz or unity, ...  But since Firefox is the proximate cause of corruption I'm filing it here.

I don't see any report of display problems in /var/log/Xorg.0.log or `dmesg`. I'm running stock kernel except for a Broadcom Wi-Fi module, and Intel's display driver
   intel(0): SNA compiled: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.910-0ubuntu1.3 (Timo Aaltonen <[e-mail]>)

Firefox's about:support "Graphics" section says

Adapter Description	Intel Open Source Technology Center -- Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Mobile
Device ID	Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Mobile
Driver Version	3.0 Mesa 10.1.3
GPU Accelerated Windows	0/3 Basic
Vendor ID	Intel Open Source Technology Center
WebGL Renderer	Intel Open Source Technology Center -- Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Mobile
windowLayerManagerRemote	false
AzureCanvasBackend	cairo
AzureContentBackend	cairo
AzureFallbackCanvasBackend	none
AzureSkiaAccelerated	0

I see no overridden settings for display or graphics in about:config.

I know Firefox blacklists and whitelists certain graphics chips and drivers.  There's no mention of HD 4000 or Ivybridge in https://wiki.mozilla.org/Blocklisting/Blocked_Graphics_Drivers