Bug 449892

Summary:	Plasma 5.24 - minimized windows show on effects without content for a while, then suddenly they are visible
Product:	[Plasma] kwin	Reporter:	Michał Dybczak <michal.dybczak>
Component:	effects-window-management	Assignee:	KWin default assignee <kwin-bugs-null>
Status:	RESOLVED WORKSFORME
Severity:	normal
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	unspecified
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Manjaro
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Michał Dybczak 2022-02-09 21:21:49 UTC

After update, all switching window animations, overview and other animations tied to window management show only preview of ONE, ACTIVE WINDOW, the rest is just the frame. It looks odd and is highly impractical.

There is only one active window, this means, the rest will be hidden. If I have more separate browser windows, I will have no possibility to differentiate which is which, at least not by the content's preview. I would have to read the lengthy titles of the windows. This is bad, really bad. Besides, if I am switching window, the new one will be active, so the fact which one is inactive is beyond the point. At the moment, it feels like I'm choosing windows blindly. Super irritating, and it feels like a bug, especially that effect looks really awful - only frame, blurred inside, blurred outside and some weird background around the window.

I was happy that cover and flip effect is back, but at the moment it's horrible because of that. I can't see any settings that would enable miniatures preview.

EDIT: It turned out that somehow the miniatures showed up with some windows, others were still empty frames, and then all windows had miniatures. What is happening? All I did was writing description of this bug and trying to switch windows. Maybe the bug is that there is a problem with updating the miniatures, and it lasts many minutes (up to 10 minutes) till they show up? I've seen this kind of delay or odd, accidental behavior with other kwin effects. For example, appmenu was once visible for some apps, for others not, then they switched, the ones that had working appmenu weren't visible and the ones without appmenu had appmenu, then after reboot all apps have appmenu.

Maybe it's not about the lack of miniatures, but some cache of new effects? The new Plasma 5.24 feels buggy and unpredictable. I'm not really sure what is happening and what is the real nature of the bug. Additionally, some overlay windows of some browser plugins have issue to disappear properly. As if this was a driver issue. Maybe a Nvidia bug with new kwin? This wasn't happening before the update, thou. As if with time all was coming back to normal but for the first hour, various effects were not properly showing up.

Comment 1 Vlad Zahorodnii 2022-02-09 21:41:37 UTC

Can you post the output of `qdbus org.kde.KWin /KWin supportInformation`?

Comment 2 Michał Dybczak 2022-02-10 16:54:57 UTC

I'm not sure how do I get the output you asked about. Any specifics? A command, a path to a file?

However, since I got previews, now all works as intended and I can't replicate the issue. It looks like for an hour or two after the update, the system needed quite a while (although I have a relatively performant system with SSD) to update cache or something. It was visible on many fronts, so:

1. Lack of preview miniatures during all window effects (tab switching, overview, grid, etc.)
2. There were issue with appemenus, which sometimes were present, sometimes not, depending on application.
3. Old overview effect settings were visible.

After the hour or so, it suddenly started to work and all the issues above fixed themselves: there are previews of windows on effects, appmenus work, new overview settings are visible, etc. I can't go back to the state of this in-between.

I'm running this system over 7 years and I NEVER HAD SUCH ISSUES BEFORE. My system is fairly stable and that is why I can use it for so many years without reinstallation, so it's not like this is some problem that was before undetected. I lived through so many Plasma updates, more or less problematic ones and this is the first time I had such wacky experience. It's confusing that it fixed itself with time, but on the bright side, it seems to stick.

If I can't replicate the issue and for now all works, I assume, that if someone will experience it, it will work for them as well. No point of keeping this bug open and taking your precious time. There are other Plasma 5.24 bugs to take care off ;).