I'm reporting what I believe to be a bug with either the X composite extension or the linux Nvidia driver that just hasn't been cleared. Here's my setup: NVIDIA BFG 6600GT OC 128mb AGP / 2 DVI (both used for Twinview) 2 Samsung 193P LCD monitors (Twinviewed) AMD64 3ghz using the i386/IA32 drivers (i386 because 64-bit compiles of linux lack on some supported programs) 1gb RAM The NVIDIA driver itself loads perfect and X loads into Gnome or Xfce (Xfce being my favorite choice) without much of an issue until I enable the "Composite" extension in xorg.conf. Without the extension loaded, all OpenGL screensavers, desktop programs, etc., seem to work flawlessly. When the "Composite" extension is loaded, on the startup of XFCE (once the "loading.." mouse disappears) the screen appears to write windows over itself hundreds of times. For the lack of a better explanation, it looks like the monitor's refresh rate is having an issue but it stays on the desktop as if there were a picture taken of it and used as a wallpaper. The weirdest part of this is that I can take an open window, such as Terminal for example, and drag it around to "wipe" the screen clean of this. Once I "wipe" the screen clean with the terminal window, Composite appears normal with transparency and performs without much of an issue.. other than the fact I notice it's a wee bit slower than without, but that's okay. I will provide logs on request if needed.
This sounds like a duplicate of bug 1262. Which version of the driver are you using, and if it's not 1.0-8178, is the problem resolved if you upgrade to that version?
(In reply to comment #1) > This sounds like a duplicate of bug 1262. Which version of the driver are you > using, and if it's not 1.0-8178, is the problem resolved if you upgrade to that > version? Unfortunately my Nvidia card recently went kaputt and tommorrow I will be shipping it back to the manufacturer for a replacement. I hope to be able to answer whether or not 8178 solves this problem in a timely fashion. I will gladly report back here when I have those findings for your disposal.
I have received my replacement BFG 6600GT OC Nvidia card in the mail. I reinstalled Linux (PCLinuxOS .92) and setup TwinView. Through Synaptic, I downloaded the 8178 Nvidia drivers. In xorg.conf, RenderAccel is enabled. AllowGLXWithComposite is enabled. Composite is enabled. On loading KDE with this configuration, the screen flashes and everything on it turns white.. then fills up with red/green/blue blocked-off garbage. KDE then refreshes the screen really fast and the garbage disappears. On loading a screensaver (OpenGL, I had to check), the screensaver loads and displays very fast (as it should).. but when exiting the screensaver back to the desktop, the red/green/blue blocked-off garbage reappears and I'm forced to "wipe" it clean with another window on the desktop. FYI: I have window shadows enabled, as well as fade-in effects. Simply put in a nutshell: The display issue still appears with composite enabled and is not fixed with this driver version for me.
I have taken five snapshots of this happening with my digital camera. I will be reformatting and going back to Windows until this issue is solved. I /really/ want to use Linux, but this is making it difficult. So I should be able to provide you with pictures of this event shortly. Also while this is probably a different issue, after using what I described in comment #3 for a little over an hour, the system is very slow and on the verge of becoming very unstable. I'm using an AMD64 3ghz/1gb RAM and it's running like a pentium 250mhz with Composite and AllowGLXWithComposite enabled.
Created attachment 4671 [details] After I exit a preview of the screensaver, this garbage appears across both monitors. As a sidenote, see how the transparency for the KDE menu also contains parts of other menus I previously viewed?
Created attachment 4672 [details] I fiddled around to find the top bar of the KDE Control Panel so I could move the window. This is what I mean when I say I "wipe" the screen clear of the garbage with windows.
Those screenshots look exactly like the bug that was fixed in 1.0-8178 (bug 1262). Can you please generate an nvidia-bug-report.log and attach it to this bug? Thanks!
While I have already reformatted, I've dropped Windows on a 10gb partition. I'll set a partition aside for PCLinuxOS .92 and let lilo handle the dual-boot. I'll upgrade to 8178 as soon as I've installed and gladly attach the log file. I'll also attach the working xorg.conf when things are setup properly. Thanks for taking interest in this.
Created attachment 4680 [details] Nvidia Bug Report - 02/19/06 - 8178 Composite/Twinview Display Problem Scratch that on including the xorg.conf -- stupid me, it's already included in the nvidia-bug-report.log. ;) Here is the required file for your viewing. I ran nvidia-bug-report.sh and this is what was generated. The Nvidia driver version is 8178. When I entered KDE with the new driver and Composite enabled in it's setup, as expected and described before the screen flashed garbage before it flashed again and went away. I did not load an OpenGL screensaver at the time of this log. If you'd like me to do that and generate another (if it would affect it's outcome) I'll gladly do so. Regardless, due to the flash of garbage on KDE's login, it's pretty obvious the problem is still there on my end.
The bug report that you attached indicates that you're using version 1.0-8174, rather than 1.0-8178. 1.0-8178 is available at this URL: http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-8178/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-8178-pkg1.run
Created attachment 4715 [details] Nvidia Bug Report - 02/21/06 - 8178 Composite/Twinview Display Partial Fix You were entirely correct that I was using 8174 instead of 8178, and my apologies for that. It was a definite oversight on my part. However, on upgrading (and this time verifying) to 8178, I still have a couple of problems to report. The first problem is this issue is not fixed entirely. While it's true when shutting down the machine the garbage no longer appears as KDE redraws a gray BG to give an eyecandy effect to it's session menu, logging into KDE is a different story. When KDE is "initializing the desktop", the screen flashes a bright white, holds this display for a few seconds, and then flashes garbage briefly before the KDE taskbar pops up. Once the taskbar is popped up, I noticed no more of this display issue. Secondly, whether this is an issue related to Nvidia, Composite, or KDE, I am unaware, but on the KDE menu (comparable to the Windows 'Start' menu), within the shadow effect behind the menu you'll find strange drawings of other menu contents. One of the pictures I have taken illustrates this. Thirdly and perhaps the most important of them all for me as an end user, after using Composite, KDE, and the 8178 drivers for over thirty minutes or so, the system slows down to basically a crawl. Any window that pops up takes forever, any window refresh takes forever.. it's as if the memory on the machine (1gb + 5gb swap) is just totally ate into oblivion after only thirty minutes and very minimal usage. Interestingly, it seems to all happen at once. It doesn't appear there is a gradual slowness of anything loading at all. Again, I'm not sure if number three is a KDE issue, an Nvidia issue, or a Composite issue. I've regenerated an nvidia-bug-report.log for your viewing regardless. Thanks for your continued effort in attempting to solve these problems.
Michael, These three bugs are unrelated to the bug that was originally reported, i.e. the garbage that can be "wiped away" with windows. 1. The flash of corruption when KDE starts is a known issue that should be fixed in the next NVIDIA driver release. If you still see the problem after that, please file a new bug. 2. This is a KDE bug. KDE does not use translucent windows for its translucent menus, and instead takes a screenshot and blends the menu with that. When another menu is already open, its contents appear in the screenshot. 3. I've seen this issue too but haven't had time to track it down. I've found that running "killall kompmgr" (which causes KDE to restart it) works around the problem temporarily. Based on your feedback, I'm marking this bug a duplicate of bug 1262. *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 1262 ***
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