Bug 498528 - Adaptive sync causes a AMD freesync compatible display to flicker then not display any output if an app is either fullscreen or borderless windowed
Summary: Adaptive sync causes a AMD freesync compatible display to flicker then not di...
Status: RESOLVED UPSTREAM
Alias: None
Product: kwin
Classification: Plasma
Component: general (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 6.2.5
Platform: Arch Linux Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: KWin default assignee
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-01-11 13:35 UTC by carolanderson0702
Modified: 2025-03-04 14:14 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

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Description carolanderson0702 2025-01-11 13:35:36 UTC
SUMMARY
I have a system with an RX 7600 and a monitor that supports adaptive sync under Linux, however, when adaptive sync is turned on for that display, it starts to act odd when something is fullscreened (see observed result)

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. make sure the display is using a AMD GPU. I'm not sure if the issue affects NVIDIA or Intel cards currently
2. make sure the display supports adaptive sync
2. have adaptive sync set to 'automatic,' possibly 'always' causes it too, I haven't tested yet.
3. go to youtube and fullscreen a video while it's running

OBSERVED RESULT
The display will flicker once then stop showing any output until you hit the super key. You then have to pretty much close the app, chromium in this case, to fix it.

EXPECTED RESULT
everything should work as normal, the video should play in fullscreen, similarly to if I had adaptive sync off.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Windows: 
macOS: 
(available in the Info Center app, or by running `kinfo` in a terminal window)
Linux/KDE Plasma: 6.12.8-arch1-1
KDE Plasma Version: 6.2.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.9.0
Qt Version: 6.8.1

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
I have looked at other issues like mine, the closest one being this issue: https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=480972 However, since it was reported for plasma 5 and not 6, it seems to have either not been fixed yet, or has reared it's ugly head again.

Relevant hardware:
monitor: acer cb292cu (ultrawide 2160x1080@75hrz)
gpu: AMD RX 7600
CPUs (yes I have 2): x2 Intel® Xeon® CPU E5-2698 v4

I also wasn't sure what component this would fall under... It was between 'core' and 'generic' for me
Comment 1 Zamundaaa 2025-01-16 17:03:50 UTC
What happens if you set adaptive sync to "always"?
Comment 2 carolanderson0702 2025-01-17 13:24:19 UTC
(In reply to Zamundaaa from comment #1)
> What happens if you set adaptive sync to "always"?

it seems worse, I didn't bother to full screen a video because my ultrawide kept wanting to flicker every so often while I was opening chromium, and this was without being in fullscreen. I turned it off before I tried anything in fullscreen
Comment 3 Bug Janitor Service 2025-02-01 03:47:23 UTC
🐛🧹 ⚠️ This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least 15 days. Please provide the requested information, then set the bug status to REPORTED. If there is no change for at least 30 days, it will be automatically closed as RESOLVED WORKSFORME.

For more information about our bug triaging procedures, please read https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging.

Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!
Comment 4 carolanderson0702 2025-02-04 09:19:49 UTC
ok, it turns out my ultrawide uses AMD's Freesync Tech. I know G sync and Freesync work the same regardless of GPU these days but that's on Windows. It definitely seems like the option needs to be greyed out for some displays unless adaptive sync working with monitors like this is intended
Comment 5 zini.fin+kde 2025-02-04 20:19:58 UTC
I started to have this problem yesterday seemingly after I upgraded my kernel from 6.12.10.arch1-1 to 6.13.1.arch1-1. My display (ASUS VG27AQ, 2560x1440 @ 165 Hz, DisplayPort) would turn off independent of the adaptive sync setting in Display Configuration when I played a full screen video in Firefox (YouTube) or when playing a game.

Then I noticed that my display had its adaptive sync setting turned off. After I turned it back on (no idea when it got reset), adaptive sync now works as before and I see that the frame rate is variable depending on the content.

Operating System: Arch Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.2.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.10.0
Qt Version: 6.8.2
Kernel Version: 6.13.1-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D 8-Core Processor
Memory: 31,3 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Product Name: X570 AORUS ELITE
System Version: -CF
Comment 6 carolanderson0702 2025-02-06 13:03:53 UTC
(In reply to zini.fin+kde from comment #5)
> I started to have this problem yesterday seemingly after I upgraded my
> kernel from 6.12.10.arch1-1 to 6.13.1.arch1-1. My display (ASUS VG27AQ,
> 2560x1440 @ 165 Hz, DisplayPort) would turn off independent of the adaptive
> sync setting in Display Configuration when I played a full screen video in
> Firefox (YouTube) or when playing a game.
> 
> Then I noticed that my display had its adaptive sync setting turned off.
> After I turned it back on (no idea when it got reset), adaptive sync now
> works as before and I see that the frame rate is variable depending on the
> content.
> 
> Operating System: Arch Linux 
> KDE Plasma Version: 6.2.5
> KDE Frameworks Version: 6.10.0
> Qt Version: 6.8.2
> Kernel Version: 6.13.1-arch1-1 (64-bit)
> Graphics Platform: Wayland
> Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D 8-Core Processor
> Memory: 31,3 GiB of RAM
> Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
> Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
> Product Name: X570 AORUS ELITE
> System Version: -CF

This is not the case for me. My ultrawide doesn't have adaptive sync support, but it does have AMD's Freesync support. I want to say it could be older than when AMD and NIVIDA started supporting the other company's syncing tech
Comment 7 carolanderson0702 2025-02-06 13:06:39 UTC
NVM, it came out about 4 years ago so it would work on NIVIDA cards, though I'm pretty sure Free sync monitors should work with Linux's adaptive sync
Comment 8 Zamundaaa 2025-03-04 14:14:19 UTC
(In reply to carolanderson0702 from comment #4)
> ok, it turns out my ultrawide uses AMD's Freesync Tech. I know G sync and
> Freesync work the same regardless of GPU these days but that's on Windows.
> It definitely seems like the option needs to be greyed out for some displays
> unless adaptive sync working with monitors like this is intended
If the driver doesn't work with some displays, then that driver would need to stop supporting it. We have no knowledge of what the display or the driver do exactly, all we get is "vrr_capable: 1" from the driver and then we show the option.

I don't know what's going on here to be frank, but it sounds like it's a regression in amdgpu or that monitor needs a quirk. Either way it needs to be dealt with in the kernel, please report this at https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm/amd/-/issues