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Hi all,
I have only recently installed q4os; doubleboot with Windows 10. The first impression is good, but
the desktop screen flicker on upstart, also occasionally when opening programs.
Trying to use it for real work, specifically Arduino so far, I ran into problems with that too;
I had several sketches already, in W10, so I copied them to usb, then to the Arduino folder in q4os.
they first landed in the wrong folder, when correcting that Dolphin hangs itself, several times.
I am adding this info based on a suspicion the OS is not correctly installed(?)
Should I remove OS and reinstall ?
Appreciate any ideas
Peter
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What graphics card or integrated graphics are you using(what hardware are you using in general)? Intel has an issue with flickering in some cases in Linux. You can also try disabling hardware acceleration. Check your settings in display to see if they are correct?
No, theres no need to reinstall the OS at this time.
Its easier to help when we know what hardware you are using and what version of Q4OS, when posting issues.
Last edited by crosscourt (2025-07-25 20:53)
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Thanks for responding !
I did in fact try to add a screenshot of my setup, but failed adding it. If I remember correctly it was a memory issue.
That's another thing to address, I started this project by cloning my original 80 GB HDD into an 120 GB ssd, and then installing
Q4os with dual boot. All in all I now need the "leftover" memory; but that's another issue.
Suppose I could text info about my setup, especially graphics to start with then.
Are you saying Intel has a general problem with flicker, or is that especially Linux related ?
I agree my OS shouldn't need reinstallation ( "rock stable" is the description...)
What I've seen of Linux so far is really good, but there is a learning curve to make real use of everything.
But, will get back with some setup data.
Peter
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Need to know what laptop or desktop you are using, so we know what hardware its using. The Intel flickering is mostly with the older Intel GPUs that use the i915 driver(Linux related). The flickering doesnt happen with all systems as it depends on your configuration.
Im assuming your system is up to date. If youre using a laptop just give us the model number and Ill look up the hardware specs.
Last edited by crosscourt (2025-07-25 22:19)
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Crosscourt;
There's a wealth of information here, can't really find graphics details, but here are some basics:
Desktop Plasma 5.27.5
Distro q4os 5.8.1-n1(Aquarius)
CPU Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00 GHz
Ram 3.14 GiB total storage 111 GiB
Graphics Intel 82945G/GZ Integrated Graphics
PC is an older 64 bit HP, with one SSD 120 GB, some of it unaccessible.
Greetings /Peter
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Thats an old system(20 years) and the 945g/gz has flickering issues with more recent kernels. Is this a desktop system? If so you might try using a different VGA cable or try using the displayport/HDMI/DVI connection(if available) to see if the issue improves. The fact that it happens intermittently makes it a bit tougher but make sure the system is up to date.
Are you using an external monitor and does it happen in Win 10? Is the refresh rate of the monitor set to the default for that monitor such as 60HZ.
Are you running at the default resolution for that monitor like 1920x1080 for instance?
Last edited by crosscourt (2025-07-25 23:48)
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You were right about Intel graphics; I took a Nvidia Geforce graphics board from another computer and installed, now my q4os is indeed rock stable !
In addition to that my installed Blender showed up, probably it needed the better graphics. There are still issues, like Arduino not connecting to ports, but
perhaps that should be addressed in another post ? However, since you seem to be using Arduino, does it simply find a port like in Windows ?
The new Geforce board is also sufficient to run slicers like Cura, I tried installing Prusa as suggested in " Discover" or what the exact name is. this caused some kind of memory error, based on too little memory. If that is correct I might try to remove W10 and use the whole disk (120 GB) for q4os. Would you think that is sufficient ?
Anyway, fixing that flicker was a good thing, thank you for leading me right. I will continue setting up "real work" i.e. things I do with this machine.
Examples are Arduino, TimkerCad, Cura/Prusa and general surfing(like this message on Thunderbird).
Thanks & Regards /Peter
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That was going to be my second suggestion, to try a different graphics card as the driver support will be far better. Glad it worked out.
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The memory error in Discover is a bit odd and memory errors could be related to the fact that youre only running 3gb of ram. Win10 doesnt use any memory while Q4OS is running if this is a typical dual boot hard drive. Certainly if you want more space for apps, install Q4OS by itself on the drive. Long term you need to get a somewhat newer used system with more ram so you are not constrained from doing more things with your system.
Last edited by crosscourt (2025-07-26 21:42)
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