[Solved] Graphics issues after reinstalling Debian with no DE

[RobberFox]

> Laptop: LG Gram 14" - Intel Alder Lake i7-1260P - uses integrated graphics
> Beforehand I had Debian 12.6, now it's 12.7

Yesterday I've reinstalled Debian only with 'standard system utilities' selected in taskel (since I want to configure everything myself to learn about the system more). I've followed the Debian's Linux Installation Guide
My steps after first reboot: installing `xorg`, `awesomewm`, copying default Xorg config to `/etc/X11/xorg.conf` setting up `.xinitrc`. Starting X session is fine, the window manager by itself works fine but there are critical graphical issues, for example:

• Using the Kitty terminal (it's a GPU based terminal) I get major lag/freezes/tearing, characters pop-in/cease to exist, etc. In comparison, xterm is working fine.
• Watching videos in Firefox is like ~5 fps.
• While trying to draw in Krita the canvas freezes.

Things I've tried:

• Checking if firmware is installed: updated `sources.list` file, ran `# apt install firmware-linux* intel-microcode` but everything was already up to date (QUESTION: should I try `apt install firmware-intel*` or is it unnecessary?)
• Updated the kernel: to `6.10.11+bpo-amd64` but no difference.
• Checked Kernel Modesetting: for some reason I had no `/etc/modprobe.d/i915-kms.conf` and I made one with `options i915 modeset=1` settings, no difference (QUESTION: did something go wrong with the installation of the drivers if I didn't have such file? Because DebianWiki says KMS is enabled by default)

Other info:
Debian 12.6 with KDE used to work just fine on my laptop. Also currently I don't have any sound but it's probably unrelated to this issue.

[mrmazda]

/etc/X11/xorg.conf is an anachronism very rarely required by FOSS users. The vast majority of users requiring it are users of proprietary (non-FOSS) NVidia drivers. Likewise, /etc/modprobe.d/ should require no content added to the defaults. Kernel modesetting (KMS) has been default, and required by all competent FOSS graphics drivers, for well over a decade. Please remove these two files, then reboot, install inxi from here (Bookworm's version is ancient), and provide pasted text input/output using code tags (</> icon above input window) from inxi -GSaz --vs run in a GUI terminal.

None of the most popular GUI environments require .xinitrc, so you may need to remove that as well. I'm not familiar with awsomewm, which might require or desire it.

[RobberFox]

FIXED: Removing `/etc/X11/xorg.conf` resolved the issue! I also removed `/etc/modprobe.d/i915-kms.conf` and instead of `~/.xinitrc` I now use `startx` in my `~/.bashrc` to start awesomewm. Here is the output of `inxi -GSaz --vs`:

Code: Select all

inxi 3.3.26-00 (2023-03-28)
System:
  Kernel: 6.10.11+bpo-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.10.11+bpo-amd64
    root=UUID=241fcba5-3b18-4a8e-a169-e8fbcb95e406 ro acpi_mask_gpe=0x6E
  Desktop: awesome v: 4.3 vt: 1 dm: startx Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-P Integrated Graphics vendor: LG driver: i915
    v: kernel arch: Gen-12.2 process: Intel 10nm built: 2021-22+ ports:
    active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,DP-2,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:46a6
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Chicony LG Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 3-2:2
    chip-ID: 04f2:b6fa class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1200 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x317mm (20.00x12.48")
    s-diag: 599mm (23.57")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: LG Display 0x06ec built: 2021 res: 1920x1200
    hz: 60 dpi: 161 gamma: 1.2 size: 302x188mm (11.89x7.4") diag: 356mm (14")
    ratio: 16:10 modes: 1920x1200
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel Graphics (ADL GT2)
    direct-render: Yes

It also solved the no-sound issue!
A bit off-topic question: before reinstalling Debian, IIRC I had only 1 control in amixer: `Master`. Now it's a list of Master, Headphone, Speaker, S/PDIF, S/PDIF 1, S/PDIF 2/ Auto-mut, PGA1.0 1, PGA30.0, PGA31.0, PGA7.0 7, PGA8.0 8, PGA9.0 9. Why is that and does it matter?

[None1975]

A bit off-topic question: before reinstalling Debian, IIRC I had only 1 control in amixer: `Master`. Now it's a list of Master, Headphone, Speaker, S/PDIF, S/PDIF 1, S/PDIF 2/ Auto-mut, PGA1.0 1, PGA30.0, PGA31.0, PGA7.0 7, PGA8.0 8, PGA9.0 9. Why is that and does it matter?

Hello.

What sound system you are using? Alsa, pulseaudio, or pipewire? If the sound works without any problems with your equipment, I think you can ignore it.

[RobberFox]

I'm using what came with Debian by default - ALSA - and it works. The only inconvenience comes from confusion of having ~14 volume sliders in `alsamixer` and not knowing which one to use to control the volume through awesomewm