Flickering issue on Ubuntu Linux

[janbodnar]

Issue Type: Bug

Hi, today I started experiencing a flickering issue on a Ubuntu based Linux distribution with Code. The flickering happends on the top area, where the editor meets the tab bar. It is especially visible on the minimap. Code version is 1.28.2. I don't have this issue on the same version on Windows 10. The editor is in normal mode. The issue only started today (or maybe I only spotted it today and worked on Windows lately), the editor has been working smoothly for months. I disabled the extensions and the flickering continued.

VS Code version: Code 1.28.2 (7f3ce96ff4729c91352ae6def877e59c561f4850, 2018-10-17T00:20:56.183Z) OS version: Linux x64 4.4.0-137-generic

System Info

|Item|Value| |---|---| |CPUs|Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8400 @ 2.26GHz (2 x 2267)| |GPU Status|2d_canvas: enabled
checker_imaging: disabled_off
flash_3d: enabled
flash_stage3d: enabled
flash_stage3d_baseline: enabled
gpu_compositing: enabled
multiple_raster_threads: disabled_off
native_gpu_memory_buffers: disabled_software
rasterization: disabled_software
video_decode: unavailable_software
video_encode: unavailable_software
webgl: enabled
webgl2: enabled| |Load (avg)|1, 1, 1| |Memory (System)|3.76GB (0.17GB free)| |Process Argv|.| |Screen Reader|no| |VM|0%|

Extensions (19)

Extension|Author (truncated)|Version ---|---|--- vscode-eslint|dba|1.6.1 php-debug|fel|1.12.6 php-intellisense|fel|2.3.5 php-pack|fel|1.0.2 netbeans-keybindings|gro|0.0.4 latex-workshop|Jam|5.13.0 dotenv|mik|1.0.1 ecdc|mit|0.12.0 python|ms-|2018.9.2 cpptools|ms-|0.19.0 csharp|ms-|1.16.2 java|red|0.33.0 LiveServer|rit|5.1.1 vscode-java-debug|vsc|0.14.0 vscode-java-pack|vsc|0.4.0 vscode-java-test|vsc|0.10.0 vscode-maven|vsc|0.11.1 twig|wha|1.0.2 maple|yjt|1.2.7 (5 theme extensions excluded)

[vscodebot[bot]]

(Experimental duplicate detection) Thanks for submitting this issue. Please also check if it is already covered by an existing one, like:

• Visual Studio Flickers in Windows 10 (#53585)

[kieferrm]

@janbodnar can you please attach a screen recording that shows the flickering? Thanks!

[kieferrm]

/needsMoreInfo

[vscodebot[bot]]

Thanks for creating this issue! We figured it's missing some basic information or in some other way doesn't follow our issue reporting guidelines. Please take the time to review these and update the issue.

Happy Coding!

[strongishllama]

Similar issue for me. No issues on Windows 10, disabling extensions doesn't help. I'm running, Code 1.28.2 and Ubuntu 18.10.

[janbodnar]

I don't have the flickering anymore. Today, Code is working fine. I also tested Atom back then, and it was completely unusable due to flickering. Now Atom is also OK.

[kieferrm]

@janbodnar do you know what changed on your system? Reboot? System updates?

[strongishllama]

I also noticed this morning that it's happening in Google Chrome too, so perhaps it's a Chromium issue?

[janbodnar]

@kieferrm I have not used Code on Linux for a couple of days. I tried it after you have asked for additional details. There were no system updates.

[strongishllama]

I ended up finding a solution that worked both for Chrome and code. In Chrome I disabled hardware acceleration in the settings and code I launch with the --disable-gpu argument from the terminal.

[bpasero]

We are building exploration builds that use a much newer version of Electron (our UI framework). I wonder if this issue reproduces with one of these builds, could you try? Download:

• macOS: Download
• Linux: Download
• Windows: Download

[strongishllama]

There's no flickering on the Linux download or on v1.30 on the insider's version.

[bpasero]

@taliesinmillhouse no flickering even when not using --disable-gpu?

@janbodnar what about you?

[strongishllama]

Yeah without --diable-gpu too.

[bpasero]

Weird, nothing really changed in insiders as far as I know.

[strongishllama]

Possibly an update to Ubuntu or GPU drivers?

[bpasero]

@janbodnar ?

[janbodnar]

@bpasero I will try it on Thursday or Friday. I am away from my office now.

[bpasero]

Thanks

[Pajn]

From a very quick test the exploration build seems to have solved the issue for me. Will report back if things change though

[bpasero]

Ok good to know.

[Pajn]

Okey, flickering have started to appear. It's not as severe as in the normal build but they are definitely there

[bpasero]

I assume this does not reproduce when you run "code --disable-gpu" from the command line?

[Pajn]

Correct, with --disable-gputhere are no flickering.

[janbodnar]

@bpasero I have tested the code exploration on my Linux OS and I found no issues.

[bpasero]

Closing this issue given that we plan to release VSCode stable early February with Electron 3.x. If you want to benefit from the fix already, consider to use our insiders version that already contains the fix: https://code.visualstudio.com/insiders/