Arch Linux

dkdk9

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Registered: 2025-08-10

Posts: 8

Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

I have an Arch + GNOME installation with a GTX 660 (GK106) graphics card with the 470xx driver, following the Arch documentation.
Upon completion, everything went smoothly, however, in GNOME, I noticed some visual glitches in some applications. Currently, GNOME is using X11.

Any solutions?

https://imgur.com/a/PHkvdDJ
https://imgur.com/a/sBBApih

seth

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From: Don't DM me only for attention

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 73,703

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

Does it help to "export GSK_RENDERER=cairo" to those clients (or at large)?

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dkdk9

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Registered: 2025-08-10

Posts: 8

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

This helped partially, however, there are still some distortions like in the images I sent.

seth

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From: Don't DM me only for attention

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 73,703

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

How "partially" and what "still some" exactly?
Where and how did you export this?
looking at the second screenshot, your WM seems affected, so make that /etc/profile.d/some_script.sh and make sure it's set executable, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Enviro … s#Globally

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dkdk9

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Registered: 2025-08-10

Posts: 8

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

Scrolling through the system settings a few times, some visual glitches appear. They don't really bother you because they happen in the background.
This is partly because some windows experience visual glitches like the one in the second image I sent.

I put it exactly as it is in the docs
/etc/environment

But I'll try the script too.

https://imgur.com/a/dqWT2u7

seth

Member

From: Don't DM me only for attention

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 73,703

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

nb. the syntax in /etc/environment would only be "GSK_RENDERER=cairo", you can "echo $GSK_RENDERER" to see whether it applied somewhere™
You can also try "GSK_RENDERER=gl" and "GSK_RENDERER=ngl", but if the glitches are there w/ the software renderer, that might not be it and you rather facing an issue w/ the compositor.
Do you get similar glitches when running gtk4 applications outside gnome (eg. uncomposited openbox or even on wayland w/ eg. weston or labwc)?

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dkdk9

Member

Registered: 2025-08-10

Posts: 8

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

Yes, some other apps had these visual glitches, mainly breaking text and making it unreadable.

I tried
GSK_RENDERER=vulkan

It seems to have fixed these visual glitches and improved scrolling performance in some apps. However, I noticed that maximizing the app window causes GNOME to crash.

I believe the root problem is the graphics card (GTX 660).

seth

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From: Don't DM me only for attention

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 73,703

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

Afaiu vulkan is the default backend anyway?
Do you have a backtrace for the crash?

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dkdk9

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Registered: 2025-08-10

Posts: 8

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

Right after crashing, I have these logs:

https://pastebin.com/Qy4kUQBB

seth

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From: Don't DM me only for attention

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 73,703

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

Anything in https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Core_d … _core_dump ?

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tekstryder

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Registered: 2013-02-14

Posts: 504

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

nVidia 470 + X11 + Vulkan is unlikely a viable combo. I'm impressed anything even rendered.

I'd recommend focusing troubleshooting on the NGL (New GL) backend (old GL is deprecated in 4.18.x [¹])

Cairo is the purely software renderer. If you've issues with that it's a bug in GTK or nVidia, neither of which will be fixed by either upstream.

If you can reproduce the issue using Nouveau, with either Cairo or NGL, you've got a shot at a valid GTK bug report.

[¹] When GTK 4.20.x lands, NGL renderer will become referred to as simply GL (full circle), but NOT the GL of old, which has been dropped.

dkdk9

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Registered: 2025-08-10

Posts: 8

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

Anything in https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Core_d … _core_dump ?

As incredible as it may seem, without coredumps

dkdk9

Member

Registered: 2025-08-10

Posts: 8

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

nVidia 470 + X11 + Vulkan is unlikely a viable combo. I'm impressed anything even rendered.

I'd recommend focusing troubleshooting on the NGL (New GL) backend (old GL is deprecated in 4.18.x [¹])

I tried: gl, ngl, cairo.

Of these three, all three presented the same visual issues, some less so than the others (Cairo). In ngl and gl, some gtk windows remained blank, and the gnome-control-center wallpaper section didn't display its content. The only one that fixed these issues, but it crashed when maximizing a window, was Vulkan. I found it strange that it worked like this, especially with X11 and an obsolete graphics card.

seth

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From: Don't DM me only for attention

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 73,703

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

causes GNOME to crash

With what symptoms specifically then?
However the previous output is full of

The logical or physical device has been lost. (VK_ERROR_DEVICE_LOST) (-4)

so plausibly seems related to the vulkan renderer.

Do you get similar glitches when running gtk4 applications outside gnome (eg. uncomposited openbox or even on wayland w/ eg. weston or labwc)?

Seems 580xx and vulkan ain't rendering either
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=307566

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dkdk9

Member

Registered: 2025-08-10

Posts: 8

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

causes GNOME to crash

With what symptoms specifically then?

Something like this
https://imgur.com/a/3PCcjLF

I think it's time to change my video card.

Last edited by dkdk9 (2025-08-14 14:19:36)

seth

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From: Don't DM me only for attention

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 73,703

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

Looks like a bug on unredirection - matches the errors somewhat.
You don't get that w/ ngl/gl/cairo?

Do you get similar glitches when running gtk4 applications outside gnome (eg. uncomposited openbox or even on wayland w/ eg. weston or labwc)?

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tekstryder

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Registered: 2013-02-14

Posts: 504

Re: Some visual glitches in some gnome applications

Answer seth before we reach quoteception event horizon.

Test with Nouveau + NGL.

If the same visual glitches occur the nVidia driver is somewhat indemnified and a GTK issue could be filed.

Last edited by tekstryder (2025-08-14 15:15:28)