Bug 506895 - Flickering and graphical glitching after upgrading to Plasma 6.4 (NVIDIA, Wayland)
Summary: Flickering and graphical glitching after upgrading to Plasma 6.4 (NVIDIA, Way...
Status: REPORTED
Alias: None
Product: kwin
Classification: Plasma
Component: compositing (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 6.4.0
Platform: Arch Linux Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: KWin default assignee
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-07-11 00:24 UTC by German
Modified: 2025-08-28 16:50 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
Video demonstrating the issue (2.51 MB, video/mp4)
2025-07-11 00:24 UTC, German
Details

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Description German 2025-07-11 00:24:12 UTC
Created attachment 183149 [details]
Video demonstrating the issue

SUMMARY
I recently ran a package upgrade and went from Plasma 6.3 to 6.4. Ever since, I have been experiencing an increasing amount of graphical glitches with my system. Seemingly, screen updates are delivered out of order (exhibited by stuttery scrolling); or parts of windows disappear briefly.

The issue is periodic in nature, happens around every minute, occasionally. It’s rather difficult to capture and most often I encounter it in Vivaldi, but also in other apps including Plex, Haruna, Discord and even Konsole. The issue also happens when web pages scroll themselves with JS, so it’s not strictly tied to user input. I noticed it on videos (e.g. YouTube), too, but it's less severe and rarer, and it’s often most visible on the player UI or the captions, but not the video itself.

I initially posted the issue to the EndeavourOS forum, but it seems like it is beyond their scope - it is not tied to a specific distro, since it occurs on NixOS too as detailed by (farnoy): 
https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/flickering-and-graphical-glitching-after-upgrading-to-plasma-6-4-nvidia/73202/2?u=igerman

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Open a Chromium-based browser (Vivaldi in my case)
2. Use normally, pay special attention to scrolling
3. Observe issue

OBSERVED RESULT
Stuttering, parts of window disappear

EXPECTED RESULT
No stuttering, solid window

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux: EndeavourOS, 6.15.4-arch2-1
KDE Plasma Version: 6.4.2
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.15.0
Wayland, nvidia-open drivers (https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/nvidia-open/)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Please see attachment video or https://imgur.com/TRgvmkY for a demonstration. Recommended to view through Imgur for higher quality, as I had to compress the video to fit in the file size limit of the bug tracker.

`inxi -Farz`:
```
System:
  Kernel: 6.15.4-arch2-1 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.1.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: initrd=\7efbc5bde033409aa8b8e115ce8a1d56\6.15.4-arch2-1\initrd
    nvme_load=YES nowatchdog rw
    root=UUID=3e5beb48-2439-4421-b36f-b8abe6de9a23 nvidia_drm.modeset=1
    systemd.machine_id=7efbc5bde033409aa8b8e115ce8a1d56
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.4.2 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.15.0
    wm: kwin_wayland vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: EndeavourOS base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME B450M-A v: Rev X.0x
    serial: <superuser required> part-nu: SKU uuid: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: 4622 date: 09/29/2024
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech G603 Wireless Gaming Mouse
    serial: <filter> charge: 100% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes
    status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3+ gen: 3
    level: v3 note: check built: 2022 process: TSMC n6 (7nm) family: 0x19 (25)
    model-id: 0x21 (33) stepping: 2 microcode: 0xA201210
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 8 threads: 16 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 512 KiB desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 4 MiB
    desc: 8x512 KiB L3: 96 MiB desc: 1x96 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3588 min/max: 575/4151 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: amd-pstate-epp governor: performance cores: 1: 3588 2: 3588 3: 3588
    4: 3588 5: 3588 6: 3588 7: 3588 8: 3588 9: 3588 10: 3588 11: 3588 12: 3588
    13: 3588 14: 3588 15: 3588 16: 3588 bogomips: 95815
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: ghostwrite status: Not affected
  Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: Safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW;
    STIBP: always-on; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not
    affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GA102 [GeForce RTX 3090] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: nvidia v: 575.64.03 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm
    non-free: 550-570.xx+ status: current (as of 2025-04; EOL~2026-12-xx)
    arch: Ampere code: GAxxx process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-2023 pcie:
    gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s ports:
    active: none off: DP-3 empty: DP-1,DP-2,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 09:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:2204 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Realtek HD webcam driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-1:2 chip-ID: 0bda:58b0
    class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.18 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8
    compositors: 1: kwin_wayland 2: SurfaceFlinger driver: X: loaded: nvidia
    gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: DP-3 model: Huawei ZQE-CBA serial: <filter> built: 2022 res:
    mode: 3440x1440 hz: 144 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 110 gamma: 1.2
    size: 797x334mm (31.38x13.15") diag: 864mm (34") modes: max: 3440x1440
    min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia device: 2
    drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia surfaceless: drv: nvidia wayland: drv: nvidia
    x11: drv: nvidia inactive: device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 575.64.03
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090/PCIe/SSE2
    memory: 23.44 GiB display-ID: :1.0
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.313 layers: 7 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu
    name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 driver: nvidia v: 575.64.03
    device-ID: 10de:2204 surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi
    wl: wayland-info x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GA102 High Definition Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s bus-ID: 09:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:1aef
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Solid State Logic SSL 2 driver: snd-usb-audio type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-2:15 chip-ID: 31e9:0001
    class-ID: fe01
  Device-3: Arturia MiniLab mkII driver: snd-usb-audio type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-3.4:8 chip-ID: 1c75:0289
    class-ID: 0103
  Device-4: Realtek HD webcam driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-1:2 chip-ID: 0bda:58b0
    class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
  API: ALSA v: k6.15.4-arch2-1 status: kernel-api
    tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.6 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: ASUSTeK RTL8111H driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 08:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp8s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: br-0fc55ef2c60d state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-2: br-c5acc2e1d79d state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-3: docker0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-4: tailscale0 state: unknown speed: -1 duplex: full mac: N/A
  IF-ID-5: vethgcNkl9 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-6: virbr0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-7: waydroid0 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: unknown
    mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager,systemd-timesyncd
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Cambridge Silicon Radio Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode) driver: btusb
    v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1
    bus-ID: 1-3.1.2:10 chip-ID: 0a12:0001 class-ID: e001
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: disabled
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: no address: N/A
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 3.64 TiB used: 264.63 GiB (7.1%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD BLACK SN850X 2000GB size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 620361WD temp: 52.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Toshiba model: HDWD110
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> fw-rev: A8J0 scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 870 EVO 1TB
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 2B6Q scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 930.51 GiB size: 914.83 GiB (98.31%)
    used: 264.35 GiB (28.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
    compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 512 MiB used: 511.8 MiB (100.0%)
    priority: -2 file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 61.8 C mobo: 44.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 1178 fan-2: 0 fan-3: 0
  Power: 12v: N/A 5v: N/A 3.3v: 3.38 vbat: 3.31
Repos:
  Packages: 1778 pm: pacman pkgs: 1760 libs: 368 tools: yay pm: flatpak
    pkgs: 18
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/endeavouros-mirrorlist
    1: https://mirror.moson.org/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    2: https://mirror.alpix.eu/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    3: https://ftp.belnet.be/mirror/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    4: https://mirror.rznet.fr/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    5: https://md.mirrors.hacktegic.com/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    6: https://ftp.rz.tu-bs.de/pub/mirror/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    7: https://mirror.accum.se/mirror/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    8: https://mirror.leitecastro.com/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    9: https://repo.c48.uk/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    10: https://mirrors.c0urier.net/linux/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    11: https://fosszone.csd.auth.gr/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    12: https://mirrors.gigenet.com/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    13: https://mirror.nag.albony.in/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    14: https://mirrors.nxtgen.com/endeavouros-mirror/repo/$repo/$arch
    15: https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    16: https://mirror.funami.tech/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    17: https://mirror.archlinux.tw/EndeavourOS/repo/$repo/$arch
    18: https://mirror.b-interactive.com.au/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    19: https://mirror.jingk.ai/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    20: https://mirrors.jlu.edu.cn/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    21: https://www.miraa.jp/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    22: https://mirror.sjtu.edu.cn/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
    23: https://mirrors.urbanwave.co.za/endeavouros/repo/$repo/$arch
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    1: https://arch.midov.pl/arch/$repo/os/$arch
    2: https://mirror.juniorjpdj.pl/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
    3: https://mirror.przekichane.pl/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
    4: https://arch.sakamoto.pl/$repo/os/$arch
    5: https://ftp.psnc.pl/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Info:
  Memory: total: 64 GiB note: est. available: 62.71 GiB
    used: 10.07 GiB (16.1%)
  Processes: 478 Power: uptime: 1h 56m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 25.04 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
    power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical
    tool: systemctl
  Compilers: clang: 20.1.7 gcc: 15.1.1 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9 running-in: konsole
    inxi: 3.3.38
```
Comment 1 Filip 2025-07-11 12:05:14 UTC
Can't help you, but can ask a few questions. To try to find the cause so that the devs have easier time later.

Do you have freesync/g-sync enabled, did you try to disable them?
Change the resfresh rate.
Change the color accuracy in the display configuration section of system settings. (https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=506895)
Do you want to try nvidia proprietary drivers or nouveau for a second?
Comment 2 Filip 2025-07-11 12:06:18 UTC
Sorry, posted wrong bug ticket in my first comment, wanted to link https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=503458
Comment 3 jakub 2025-07-11 12:38:48 UTC
I'm seeing this too on Plasma 6.4.2, nvidia 575.64 RTX 4000, but only on the open-modules driver + GSP. Proprietary modules without GSP seem to be artifact free.

I get the most intense flickering artifacts when switching virtual desktops and alt-tabbing. Some windows (primarily Brave browser) also have a weird corrupted border/line that renders below my window, way beyond the actual window dimensions. I also force ozone to  use the wayland backend.

There are some other issues with stuttering/freezing with electron (so chrome-based) apps, but those seem to be universal on open & proprietary kernel, and on xwayland and wayland backends of ozone. Not sure if they're related to this one.
Comment 4 German 2025-07-11 12:49:48 UTC
(In reply to Filip from comment #1)
> Can't help you, but can ask a few questions. To try to find the cause so
> that the devs have easier time later.
> 
> Do you have freesync/g-sync enabled, did you try to disable them?
> Change the resfresh rate.
> Change the color accuracy in the display configuration section of system
> settings. (https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=506895)
> Do you want to try nvidia proprietary drivers or nouveau for a second?

Sure, I’ll answer anything to help. 

1. My monitor is FreeSync-capable (connected over DP to an NV card) and it always stays on. I was under the impression that’s not really supported on Linux/KDE. Regardless, I've just verified that the issue is still present with it off on the monitor level.
2. My current refresh rate is 144.00 Hz. I've switched to 120.00 Hz and the issue remained. Same with 99.98 Hz, and even 59.97 Hz.
3. My color accuracy was indeed set to prefer efficiency. I've now set it to prefer color accuracy, but the issue remained. Strangely it seems to occur even more, but the nature of the issue is pretty random so I can't say if it's causation or correlation.

I was actually using the proprietary drivers when I updated to 6.4 and encountered the problem. I switched to nvidia-open but alas it was still glitching out. I don't particularly want to go through the trouble of switching to nouveau (and, besides, that has its own slew of issues).

HDR is off, Adaptive sync or VRR is also set to never. Fractional scaling is off as well with the scale being set to 100%. Screen tearing is allowed in fullscreen windows (which I also tried turning off, the issue remained).

Also, I realize now that I forgot to provide my Qt version. It's 6.9.1.
Comment 5 Filip 2025-07-11 14:34:21 UTC
Thanks for checking all that, sorry it didn't help. Hopefully someone can fix the bug.
Comment 6 Thorry 2025-07-15 11:50:48 UTC
Can confirm I have the exact same issues as OP, ever since I upgraded from 6.3 to 6.4.

I'm running pretty much the same setup as OP, the combination of 6.4 and Nvidia might be the issue, I haven't had the chance to check another videocard. Just like OP I've been messing with a bunch of different settings and nothing seems to change. It's very intermittent, sometimes it's perfectly fine for 30 mins, then it will become almost unusable with glitches all over the place.
Comment 7 Nate Graham 2025-08-28 16:50:25 UTC
It's possible a change in Plasma 6.4 triggered or exacerbated a pre-existing NVIDIA driver issue.