Arch Linux

pundang

Member

Registered: 2026-07-18

Posts: 1

Cursor stutter/lag on GNOME / KDE Wayland (Nvidia)

Getting mouse cursor stutter under GPU load on GNOME 50 Wayland, NVIDIA. Cursor visibly skips/hitches when the GPU is under light loads (like opening windows) and heavy loads (like using https://www.volumeshader.dev/en/gpu-test). Not present at idle.

My specs are:
* Ryzen 5 5700
* 32GB of RAM at 3200mhz
* RTX 3060 12gb

I'm using nvidia-open 610.43.03

I tried disabling nvidia_drm.modeset=1 and nvidia_drm.fbdev=1 but nothing changed.

This problem isn't present when using system76's COSMIC with Wayland so it may be a Mutter issue (thought it happens with KDE too)

benjamosheac

Member

Registered: 2026-08-09

Posts: 1

Re: Cursor stutter/lag on GNOME / KDE Wayland (Nvidia)

Hello. I have the exact same issue with a similar hardware setup: Ryzen + NVIDIA on GNOME 50. I am experiencing the same cursor lag and animation stuttering. I've also tried applying the following suggested configurations, but nothing has worked and the lag persists:

- Adding `nvidia-drm.modeset=1` and `nvidia-drm.fbdev=1` to the kernel parameters.
- Modifying environment variables to force rendering (e.g., `__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1`, `__GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia`, `GBM_BACKEND=nvidia-drm`).
- Disabling hardware cursors via Mutter environment variables (`MUTTER_DEBUG_DISABLE_HW_CURSORS=1`).
- Enabling `nvidia.NVreg_PreserveVideoMemoryAllocations=1` and configuring suspend services.

Although window managers and desktop environments like Hyprland or KDE Plasma run completely fluidly and without lag, I prefer using GNOME. This really seems to be a specific Mutter issue when mixing AMD processors with NVIDIA GPUs, because on laptops with an Intel + NVIDIA combo, this doesn't happen. Why does it happen exclusively with this combination?

For context, my CachyOS setup is properly configured. As you may have noticed, whether GNOME effects and extensions are enabled or disabled, the outcome is exactly the same. Even with an empty desktop and no applications open, the cursor still stutters intermittently.

I was wondering if you have managed to find a workaround or track down the exact root of this bug yet. Thanks.

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 77,527

Re: Cursor stutter/lag on GNOME / KDE Wayland (Nvidia)

MUTTER_DEBUG_DISABLE_HW_CURSORS should do something about isolated cursor stutters but not animation/rendering problems at large

tr '\0' '\n' < /proc/$(pidof mutter)/environ

to confirm it's exported to mutter.

Other than that, what GPU are you running on and where are what kinds of outputs attached?

glxinfo -B
for OUT in /sys/class/drm/card*; do echo $OUT; edid-decode $OUT/edid; echo "================="; done

You'll need https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/v4l-utils/

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Variable_refresh_rate can be a problem

@pundang the KDE equivalent of "MUTTER_DEBUG_DISABLE_HW_CURSORS=1" is "KWIN_FORCE_SW_CURSOR=1"

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