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* Ubuntu 18.04 & 19.04 keep freezing due to video driver issues *

Until about a month ago, I had been running Ubuntu 18.04 successfully on my Dell Latitude (7th Gen Intel i7 processor, Kaby Lake, and Intel HD 620 GPU).

However, after a recent update to 18.04, I am experiencing constant freezes, after ive been logged in for 2 to 5 minutes.

I tried reinstalling 18.04, and upgrading to 19.04, neither solved the problem.

I know that the issue is related to my video drivers, because if I edit the grub to 'nomodeset', the machine will boot and run (but obviously with very poor video performance).

Ive tried installing the ppa open graphics drivers /oibaf drivers, but that doesnt work either. After installing, I check my drivers to ensure that the box for the oibaf drivers is checked (within 'other software' in the drivers app), and restart... and inevitably when I restart, the system is still using the i915 drivers.

(I run 'lshw -c video' within terminal to see which video driver is being used, and my system seems to still be using the i915 driver, which is causing the crashes)

Is there anything else I need to do to force Ubuntu to use the PPA drivers?

Hoping one of you fine people can help me out here?

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  • I would use the same kernel you were using a month ago assuming you didn't autoremove it manually. Also get the drivers direct from Intel site. Answer posted here under 'possible missing firmware i915' Oct 7, 2019 at 19:47

2 Answers 2

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Here's an observation: On my end, with a Dell Latitude 7490, this problem only occurs when I run on the laptop screen. With an external screen or a projector attached, the system runs 100% stable.

So, certainly a problem with the graphics drivers, but only related to the built-in monitor. I've tested all different refresh rates without success. Best bet so far is to use an external monitor until the problem is resolved upstream.

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  • My comment above might help you as well. Oct 7, 2019 at 19:50
  • Engaging in discussion is useful. My post had pertinent information for narrowing down the problem.
    – zoidberg
    Oct 8, 2019 at 19:44
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I found the fix that solved the problem for me. Dell recently published a BIOS update (at least for my Latitude), that can easily be found on their support site. I installed it under Windows, and have been running Ubuntu in normal mode with the newest kernel without any freeze for a day so far.

Before the BIOS firmware update, "sudo lshw" showed my display as "unclaimed". Since the update, that "unclaimed" is no longer there.

I hope the same works for you.

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