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Ubuntu Flickering in Alt-Tab

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When using Alt-Tab to switch between tasks on my Ubuntu box, I occaisonally encounter a horrible flicker.  This flicker very visibly alternates a fullscreen window between it's content and a black screen.  Occasionally this would hang my PC, prompting a reboot.  Othertimes it would seem to reset my video card (requiring an X restart).

The workaround is provided by the Ubuntu bug tracker, in Rui Boon's comments on bug #155053, which suggest tweaking an option in compiz.  The pre-requisite is to install compiz-settings-manager, if you haven't already:

sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

Next, run Compiz Config Settings Manager (which might be known as "Advanced Desktop Effects Settings"), from the System/Preferences menu.

Find and uncheck the option: Unredirect Fullscreen Windows, in the General option's General tab.

Close the settings manager, and you should be flicker-free.

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Edited on Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 2:01 a.m.