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I find that often after awakening from suspend on Ubuntu GNOME 16.04 with GNOME 3.20 (I have only found this issue on the latest version, though I have not tried with GNOME 3.18 on 16.04) that I get this strange font issue which can't be fixed by restarting gnome-shell and seemingly only by restarting my entire machine:

gnome-system-monitor font issue

Shutter font issue

File Chooser font issue

Title Bar font issue

gnome-control-center font issue

I do not believe that this is a theme issue as I have tried all the built-in themes (including the dark and light versions) and it is the same for them all. Though it does not seem to affect gnome-shell areas, that is the top-bar, the Activities Overview, etc, are not affected for some reason. So what could this issue be caused by and how can I fix or workaround it?

Information Update:

I have had a look at this answer but the only options in the gnome-tweak-tool for Antialiasing are Rgba, None, and Grayscale, but none of them seem to have any affect on the issue. Is there something I'm missing?

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  • 1
    It seems to be a known issue with the Intel drivers. Perhaps you'll find an answer here: askubuntu.com/questions/584922/…
    – groovy354
    Jul 13, 2016 at 10:24
  • @groovy354: I have updated my question.
    – user364819
    Jul 13, 2016 at 20:27
  • Have you tried that one? askubuntu.com/a/640839
    – groovy354
    Jul 14, 2016 at 5:21
  • Not a solution, but maybe you can just log out to fix it instead of restarting? I have seemingly same issue on Kubuntu 16.04.
    – Carolus
    Aug 11, 2016 at 18:32
  • Log out does not help, actually this happens to me after switching user and back. Gnome flashback, Ubuntu 16.04. Feb 12, 2017 at 2:09

4 Answers 4

9

This might be symptom of a kernel bug since 4.4.6, see here which reportedly got fixed in Linux kernel 4.8.x, and the fix will be in Ubuntu 17.04 (which will likely have 4.10 kernel).

On Fedora bug tracker, someone reported that changing / adding this in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf helps:

Section "Device"
   Identifier  "Intel Graphics"
   Driver      "intel"
   Option      "AccelMethod"  "blt"
   Option      "TearFree"     "true"
EndSection

Didn't try, I am going to wait for 17.04.

To me, this happens also after switching to another user account and back.

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    In 16.04 the Xorg config files are placed in /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d. Shouldn't this file be placed there too?
    – Salem
    Apr 3, 2017 at 18:22
  • 4
    What does the LTS mean, if this fix wont come to 16.04? Such a major issue, and no fix yet to 16.04? Switching to 17.04 is the only solution. Shame on canonical!
    – ashishsony
    May 27, 2017 at 4:16
  • 1
    @ashishsony The fix is available for 16.04. Just update to a 4.8.x kernel, which is available in official 16.04 repositories.
    – BingsF
    Jun 8, 2017 at 3:13
  • +1, except that I think the issue started being shipped from kernel 4.4.0 as many people reported in the referenced ticket, instead of 4.4.6. I'm having this issue with 4.4.0-96, on my 14.04 machine.
    – IsaacS
    Sep 19, 2017 at 13:25
  • Then possibly there are more bugs with these symptomps? Thanks for the info, rewording. Sep 20, 2017 at 1:35
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When my Ubuntu has display problems when recovering from suspend, I fix it with a quick visit to console: Ctrl+Alt+F1.

Wait a couple of seconds if your display blinks, changes resolution etc. Then back: Ctrl+Alt+F7.

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1

Workaround, use kernel 4.8:

sudo apt install linux-generic-hwe-16.04

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/1573959

0

I had this problem and discovered that for some reason my laptop was using an old kernel version (4.4, rather than 4.15, currently) .I'm on 18.04, having upgraded from 16.04.

I installed the latest kernel:

sudo apt-get install linux-image-generic

That has fixed the issue.

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