Arch Linux

spicydonuts

Member

Registered: 2008-08-11

Posts: 7

Nvidia + Compiz = window content rendering glitches

I've used Arch as well as other distributions for a while now, both with and without compiz, but I've never encountered this problem before, nor did reinstalling help.

When I have compiz set as the window manager the contents of windows (most noticeable when browsing the web, but system wide problem) frequently do not refresh properly.
I'll select a link and nothing will happen, even though it said 'connectin.../waiting.../etc...' in the status bar and stopped with 'done'.  but then if i move the cursor over parts of the page those elements will suddenly render.
If I scroll everything rerenders properly.  If the web page is too small to scroll I frequently have to minimize and reopen the window.  I'll click on another tab and it will change to show that it's selected, but the window contents won't refresh until I scroll.  I've gotten in the habit of scrolling up and down while I wait for pages to load.  Another easily noticeable manifestation of this glitch is when I move the mouse over entries in menus.  Random entries that I hover over will stay highlighted until I move the mouse over them a second or third time.

I would just use metacity or openbox, since I don't use desktop cube or wobblywindows or any of that flashy stuff, but I can't stand the horizontal tearing.  I use compiz solely for the smooth window transitions and movements and syncing to vBlank, because it makes working on my computer for hours at a time more bearable.  I've tried everything I can think of and no one else seems to have this problem (except for some old posts about an outdated nvidia driver, but I've tried a couple drivers as well as reinstalling).

Anyone with any suggestions will be immensely appreciated.

Berseker

Member

From: Near Lecco, Italy

Registered: 2008-04-24

Posts: 258

Re: Nvidia + Compiz = window content rendering glitches

it is a bug of compiz.. recently I was cloning compiz from git, applying a patch I've found some time ago and compiling compiz, erasing this bug. The problem is that with the recent changes in compiz project (search compiz++ in google) the script I've used doesn't work anymore ad so I can't compile for now.. btw, the patch (that I've got to apply directly to compiz source) was this

http://archlinuxit.pastebin.com/m6f74c1cb

iBertus

Member

From: Greenville, NC

Registered: 2004-11-04

Posts: 2,228

Re: Nvidia + Compiz = window content rendering glitches

Although I haven't noticed this bug myself, I'm with you on the horizontal tearing with every other window manager but compiz. This was never a problem for me even with Windows 98, but for some reason in Linux this is a big issue unless using compiz. It seems like we could solve this problem....

spicydonuts

Member

Registered: 2008-08-11

Posts: 7

Re: Nvidia + Compiz = window content rendering glitches

Thanks for the replies.  I've never had to apply a patch to source like that, so I'm not really sure what to do with it... is there a good place to find out how?

soylent_green_is_hamster

Member

Registered: 2006-11-15

Posts: 109

Re: Nvidia + Compiz = window content rendering glitches

I have the same problem
are you using an nvidia card? if so, you need to enable indirect rendering in your compiz options

unfortunately I then get v syncing problems!

I would really like to sort this issue out. Seems a lot of other people have it too...

windtalker

Member

Registered: 2008-03-17

Posts: 220

Re: Nvidia + Compiz = window content rendering glitches

I'm using the nvidia 173xx driver myself and didn't install compiz.
I have no problems with rendering and also spend hours on the pc.
The only thing I've done is the hint from the beginners guide for xorg.conf and had to do similar in Slack.

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    Option         "RenderAccel" "False"
    Option         "NoLogo" "True"
    Option         "AGPFastWrite" "True"
    Option         "EnablePageFlip" "True"
EndSection

With RenderAccel set for true I had similar instances of what was stated as well as corruption on the desktop and surfing,,,,, font was totally unreadable,,,,, changing it to False cured that.

Cape

Member

From: Mogliano Veneto, Italy

Registered: 2008-11-15

Posts: 105

Re: Nvidia + Compiz = window content rendering glitches

A bit late... just for future reference:
Open ccsm (or right click on fusion icon -> setting manager) enable "Workarounds" and select the last two options ("fix screen updates..." and "force synchronization....").
This, together with unselecting "detect refresh rate" in section "general" and manually setting the refresh rate of the screen, gives me a good vsync (although not perfect...)

Last edited by Cape (2010-07-27 12:14:57)