Bug 504887

Summary: KDE not displaying any window previews / thumbnails
Product: [Plasma] kwin Reporter: Diogo Castro <diogo.filipe.acastro>
Component: screencastingAssignee: KWin default assignee <kwin-bugs-null>
Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME    
Severity: normal CC: finleymcentee, kde, kdedev, nate, qydwhotmail, rtaylor
Priority: NOR    
Version First Reported In: 6.3.2   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: Other   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:
Attachments: KDE Overview
Alt+Tab
Hover taskbar

Description Diogo Castro 2025-05-27 21:01:24 UTC
Created attachment 181795 [details]
KDE Overview

SUMMARY

I’m running TuxedoOS with KDE, and since yesterday it seems KDE is unable to display window previews/thumbnails.

When I Alt+tab, all thumbnails are just black squares.
When I bring up KDE Overview with Meta+W, it’s just a black background with no thumbnails for the windows in the current or other desktops.
When I hover over a task in the task bar, instead of displaying a thumbnail with a preview of the window, it only displays the application's icon.

Please see the 3 screenshots attached.

I've been pointed to this ticket, I've installed `qml-module-org-kde-pipewire`, but the issue persists: https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=455021
I usually use X11. I tried logging in with Wayland, but the issue also persists.

Has anyone else had a similar issue? How would I start investigating/fixing this?

Thanks in advance.


STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Open 2 or more windows
2. Press Alt+Tab
3. Press Meta+W
4. Hover over a task in the task bar

OBSERVED RESULT
* When pressing Alt+tab, no window previews are shown
* When pressing Meta+W, no window / desktop previews are shown
* When hovering on the task bar, no previews are shown

EXPECTED RESULT
* Expected to see window / desktop previews in all of the above

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
OS: TUXEDO OS x86_64
Host: TUXEDO Gemini Gen3 AMD
Kernel: 6.11.0-116025-tuxedo
KDE Plasma Version: 6.3.2
KDE Frameworks Version:  6.11.0
Qt Version: 6.8.2
Comment 1 Diogo Castro 2025-05-27 21:02:13 UTC
Created attachment 181796 [details]
Alt+Tab
Comment 2 Diogo Castro 2025-05-27 21:02:30 UTC
Created attachment 181797 [details]
Hover taskbar
Comment 3 Nate Graham 2025-05-27 21:31:42 UTC
Is there an NVIDIA GPU involved?
Comment 4 Diogo Castro 2025-05-27 21:36:24 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #3)
> Is there an NVIDIA GPU involved?

There is! I've got an RTX 4060. Driver's version: 560.35.03
Comment 5 Diogo Castro 2025-05-27 21:40:45 UTC
I tried switching to iGPU mode (AMD Radeon 610M), but the issue still persists.
Comment 6 TraceyC 2025-05-28 17:45:51 UTC
I'm not able to reproduce this on git-master with a laptop that has a dedicated nvidia GPU, and an integrated Intel. 
It's set to use the nvidia GPU for external monitors, and has the proprietary drivers installed (570.153.02)
Comment 7 David Edmundson 2025-05-29 07:13:06 UTC
can you open 'kcmshell6 qtquicksettings' and confirm the renderer is set to auto/opengl
Comment 8 Diogo Castro 2025-05-29 07:51:42 UTC
(In reply to David Edmundson from comment #7)
> can you open 'kcmshell6 qtquicksettings' and confirm the renderer is set to
> auto/opengl

I ran it before reporting the bug, I forgot to mention, but yes, it was set to auto.
Comment 9 Diogo Castro 2025-05-29 07:54:37 UTC
Update: I've "fixed" the issue by resetting KDE and deleting these config/cache files. It may have just been some corrupted file. 

```
cd ~
rm -rf .cache/plasmashell*
rm -rf .cache/kwin
rm -rf .cache/krunner/
rm -rf .cache/ksycoca6*
rm -rf .config/plasma*
rm -rf .config/kde*
rm -rf .config/kwinrc
```

I backed them up in case anyone's interested in diving into this, but I suspect not.
In hindsight, I should have deleted those files one at a time to zone in on the issue...
Comment 10 Diogo Castro 2025-05-29 07:56:32 UTC
(Oh, and rebooting afterwards, of course)
Comment 11 Finley McEntee 2025-06-13 05:09:22 UTC
I was also running into this issue on Endeavouros, but managed to fix it simply by removing the kpipewire package, reinstalling it and rebooting. Not sure what the issue was, or why a few people seem to have had it in the last month, but it at least seems to have an easy fix.
Comment 12 rtaylor 2025-08-14 20:53:41 UTC
(In reply to Diogo Castro from comment #9)
> Update: I've "fixed" the issue by resetting KDE and deleting these
> config/cache files. It may have just been some corrupted file. 
> 
> ```
> cd ~
> rm -rf .cache/plasmashell*
> rm -rf .cache/kwin
> rm -rf .cache/krunner/
> rm -rf .cache/ksycoca6*
> rm -rf .config/plasma*
> rm -rf .config/kde*
> rm -rf .config/kwinrc
> ```
> 
> I backed them up in case anyone's interested in diving into this, but I
> suspect not.
> In hindsight, I should have deleted those files one at a time to zone in on
> the issue...

I just ran into this with kbuntu25.04/kwin4:6.3.4. I only set aside .cache/kwin and rebooted and the issue was resolved. At least for the current poweron. I've not tested if it will return after next reboot/shutdown.