Bug#884116: linux-image-4.9.0-4-amd64: screen atrifacts then crash
Further adventures.
From https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=884116#45 :
> I am using Kde with a theme that relies heavily on transparency and I guess this
> makes things worse
> [...] Enabling
> a theme with less transparency effects makes the system work longer before crashing.
It occurred to me after reading this that I, too, have been using transparency effects.
I have some semi-transparent MATE panels, and have the compositing window manager
option turned on. So I tried disabling these, and updating the kernel -- from
4.9.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.51-1 (2017-09-28) x86_64 to
4.9.0-5-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.65-3+deb9u2 (2018-01-04) x86_64 (the current kernel).
Perhaps this is just apophenia, but I think I experienced fewer screen judders (for lack of
a better term). (Note that, unlike others, I've never experienced a crash from this bug.)
I decided to try the backports kernel (well, *a* backports kernel -- there seem to be multiple
ones). The specific kernel is
4.14.0-0.bpo.2-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.14.7-1~bpo9+1 (2017-12-22) x86_64
So far (I still haven't re-enabled transparency or compositing. Frankly, I'm too nervous to --
I prefer a stable system to messing around and possibly getting an unstable one.
Still, it's a shame I can't use the current kernel -- judging from the date of the backports
kernel build, it seems unlikely it's been patched for Meltdown.
Regards, Agafnd
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