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WellWellWell

Member

Registered: 2021-08-22

Posts: 14

[SOLVED] "Ghost" or Orphaned Window Won't Go Away (KDE Plasma)

I'm using the NVIDIA driver and KDE Plasma and loving it... but trying to figure out some work-arounds and looking for tips.

Every once in a while an application will "crash" or otherwise stop working, typically this is Brave, but not always.  The problem is that when they stop working I'm left with a "ghost" window that lingers and cannot be interacted with. If I do a "Windows Key" + D it minimizes with all other active windows and comes back when I show the desktop again.  It does not respond to clicks and cannot be removed.  What I'm looking for is some command to reset whatever is causing that "ghost" app to persist. 

I've tried by killing the plasma process and restarting it but that doesn't remove it.

Anyone know a way to get rid of these orphaned windows?

Last edited by WellWellWell (2021-08-28 15:21:13)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,754

Re: [SOLVED] "Ghost" or Orphaned Window Won't Go Away (KDE Plasma)

Run xkill (the xorg-xkill package) and click the window other than that generally properly killing all brave processes should work as well.

Last edited by V1del (2021-08-26 19:52:26)

WellWellWell

Member

Registered: 2021-08-22

Posts: 14

Re: [SOLVED] "Ghost" or Orphaned Window Won't Go Away (KDE Plasma)

Run xkill (the xorg-xkill package) and click the window other than that generally properly killing all brave processes should work as well.

I waited for it to happen again and tried xkill.  Unfortunately the click goes right thru the visualization of the ghost window and targets plasma, thus killing it.  Plasma then restarts itself and the ghost window remains. I also checked for any running brave tasks and nothing exists. It acts as if it's just a visual artifact.

I started researching the compositor and KDE Desktop Effects.  As it turns out, it appears to be related to the "Translucency" Desktop Effect enabled within KDE.  If I go in and disable Translucency within the Desktop Effects applet, the ghost window vanishes.  I can then re-enable Translucency and it's gone for good. Very strange.

Anyway, I guess this is a solid work-around.  Thanks again!

WellWellWell

Member

Registered: 2021-08-22

Posts: 14

Re: [SOLVED] "Ghost" or Orphaned Window Won't Go Away (KDE Plasma)

Not sure if this is directly related, as I'm not switching virtual desktops, but the result seems the same:

https://www.mail-archive.com/kde-bugs-d … 95316.html

seth

Member

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 51,470

Re: [SOLVED] "Ghost" or Orphaned Window Won't Go Away (KDE Plasma)

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=438552#c1

It turns out, I don't need to swith desktops to illicit the behaviour. Gaining focus seem to be the trigger when another window (filesave dialog e.g.) closes.

You can toggle the compositor w/ alt+shift+f12

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WellWellWell

Member

Registered: 2021-08-22

Posts: 14

Re: [SOLVED] "Ghost" or Orphaned Window Won't Go Away (KDE Plasma)

You can toggle the compositor w/ alt+shift+f12

Sweet, thanks!