Nvidia-prime rendering black applications

General system Applications
1

It’s a known issue, but the arch wiki does say that using xfce’s compositor, you’ll have no issue (among others).
but when running prime-run on certain applications, they render black (buttons still clickable).
this includes steam, and the 2 games I have tried launching from steam, with or without the “use gpu” laucnh settings on them (i think it automatically does that these days).
i mean, vlc, firefox and telegram all work fine with prime-run. Kinda wish i could check they’re using the gpu.

resizing the black screens does not help, nor does trying it without the compositor.

any ideas?

2

Check nvidia-smi

Check you’re not missing any libraries (e.g. lib32-nvidia-utils) and try the Steam runtime and Native runtime to see if there’s a difference.

Also, what output do you get from the terminal?

3

I am pretty sure I have all the needed libraries. I am using the closed-source, and as such used the provided nvidia install methods. I do have lib32-nvidia-utils, of course.

using nvidia-smi i can see that stuff like vlc and telegram dont seem to use the gpu, even if i launch them with the gpu? similarly, when launching steam with the gpu it does show as using the gpu. perhaps the computer knows that those other programs are just not worth it.

steam native has no change. well, other than a less-slow interface (common issue, i have mostly fixed it)

4

when using the gpu to run steam, this is what the terminal outputs once it’s fully loaded.

[cyris@idefix ~]$ prime-run steam-native
steam.sh[58202]: Running Steam on endeavouros rolling 64-bit
steam.sh[58202]: STEAM_RUNTIME is disabled by the user
steam.sh[58202]: Can't find 'steam-runtime-check-requirements', continuing anyway
[2022-08-06 00:03:09] Startup - updater built Aug  4 2022 19:58:23
[2022-08-06 00:03:09] Startup - Steam Client launched with: '/home/cyris/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam'
[2022-08-06 00:03:09] Opted in to client beta 'publicbeta' via beta file
You are in the 'publicbeta' client beta.
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
[2022-08-06 00:03:09] Loading cached metrics from disk (/home/cyris/.local/share/Steam/package/steam_client_metrics.bin)
[2022-08-06 00:03:09] Using the following download hosts for Public, Realm steamglobal
[2022-08-06 00:03:09] 1. https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 100, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2022-08-06 00:03:09] 2. https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 100, source = 'update_hosts_cached.vdf'
[2022-08-06 00:03:09] 3. http://media.steampowered.com, /client/, Realm 'steamglobal', weight was 1, source = 'baked in'
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
[2022-08-06 00:03:09] Verifying installation...
[2022-08-06 00:03:09] Verification complete
Loaded SDL version 2.23.1-7417645

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.491: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "adwaita",

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.491: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "adwaita",

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.492: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.492: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.492: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.493: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.493: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.493: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.493: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.493: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.493: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.493: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:09.493: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",
ComputeStartupMode: found registry default startup mode: 0steamwebhelper.sh[58313]: Runtime for steamwebhelper: disabled by environment (this is unsupported)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
steamwebhelper.sh[58313]: glibc >= 2.34, partially disabling sandbox until CEF supports clone3()
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
CAppInfoCacheReadFromDiskThread took 120 milliseconds to initialize
local (potentially out of sync) copy of roaming config loaded - 1534 bytes.

(steam:58283): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:03:10.412: gtk_disable_setlocale() must be called before gtk_init()
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
roaming config store loaded successfully - 1534 bytes.
migrating temporary roaming config store
BRefreshApplicationsInLibrary 1: 13ms
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Failed to init SteamVR because it isn't installed
ExecCommandLine: "'/home/cyris/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam'"
System startup time: 3.94 seconds
BuildCompleteAppOverviewChange: 434
RegisterForAppOverview 1: 45ms
RegisterForAppOverview 2: 46ms
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(steam)/version(1659653377)
5

does this ring a bell for anyone?

6

so when launching a game we have everything working: graphics, sound… It’s using the gpu as far as i can tell. but it just does not display it. should I start a new thread?

7

Do you have lib32 libraries installed to run Steam? Not sure what nvidia driver version you are using?

8

Why would you start a new thread for the same issue?

If someone knows what the problem is then they will post here, but the fact noone has come across the same issue means it may be something specific to your system or setup.