Bug#883980: Steps to Duplicate Problem
After a clean reboot, I began experimenting to find repeatable steps to
duplicate the problem.
I have the following programs running across 9 workspaces (which are
always running on my machine): Chromium & gPHPEdit, Web (Ephiphany) &
Geany, and Terminator (running a split screen). The problem does not
manifest itself yet.
I open a Terminal running Screen plus Files (Nautilus) plus Document
Viewer (Evince). Then the problem begins to manifest itself, and it
grows worse as I experiment.
FIRST MANIFESTATION: I open a youtube video in Chromium and it begins
playing. When I move my mouse pointer from the surrounding page across
the embedded video, or back again, the screen goes black for 1 second.
This manifestation is not sporadic. It happens almost every single time,
provided the above conditions are met.
SECOND MANIFESTATION: When I type something in Terminator, the screen
goes black for 1 second. This manifestation is sporadic. It happens from
time to time, provided the above conditions are met.
THIRD MANIFESTATION: When I open Software, and I type a term in the
Search field, the screen goes black for 1 second. This manifestation is
sporadic. I happens only sometimes.
FOURTH MANIFESTATION: When I type into Bash running in Terminal, the
screen goes black for 1 second. This manifestation is sporadic. I
happens only sometimes.
OBSERVATION: As I experiment and open additional copies of Document
Viewer (Evince), the problem seems to get much worse. The screen goes
black for longer periods of time, and when it returns, it is frequently
scrambled up, goes black again, and then returns to normal.
NOTE: I have 8GB of RAM. I have been routinely doing these activities
and much more for the past 4 months, with no problems. I do not believe
that I am near to maxing out memory. This problem appeared with the
upgrade to Debian 9.3.
I am looking into how I can downgrade the kernel without causing further
problems. This is my only, my primary work machine. I cannot afford to
screw it up. I don't have a second computer to experiment with. Sorry.
I am happy to help with any reasonable troubleshooting steps. Thanks.
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