Weird window flickering

Desktop Environments Plasma
1

Hi there,

I have an issue that could be best described as windows having flashing transparency with jagged edges.
This happens since install and I thought it’d be just the kernel or something else that would get fixed later. But since my install was in January I thought, I’d bring it up here.

It’s really hard to properly explain, so please have a look at these pictures (ignore the black bars, I redacted my name there):

Video snapshots

Case 1
Case 11920×1080 161 KB

Case 2
Case 21920×1080 172 KB

Case 3
Case 31920×1080 175 KB

Case 4 (higher than normal transparency)
Case 4 (higher than normal transparency)1920×1080 177 KB

I noticed it in these programs so far:

  • Steam
  • Discord
  • Konsole
  • Dolphin
  • Telegram Desktop

These are my system details:

My system

Operating System: EndeavourOS
KDE Plasma Version: 6.6.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.26.0
Qt Version: 6.11.1
Kernel Version: 6.18.32-2-custom-lts (64-bit)*
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS w/ Radeon 780M Graphics
Memory: 32 GiB of RAM (30.7 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor 1: AMD Radeon 780M Graphics
Graphics Processor 2: AMD Radeon RX 7700S
Manufacturer: Framework
Product Name: Laptop 16 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series)

*The issue occurs with the latest mainline, zen and lts kernels. I’m using a custom kernel right now, but it’s not connected to the issue occurring or not.

LANG=C sudo inxi -Faz 
System:
  Kernel: 6.18.32-2-custom-lts arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 16.1.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: initrd=\23506df189f647839e4c8823e4a93651\6.18.32-2-custom-lts\initrd
    nvme_load=YES nowatchdog rw root=/dev/mapper/stolloss-root quiet splash
    amdgpu.dcdebugmask=0x40000
    systemd.machine_id=23506df189f647839e4c8823e4a93651
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.6.5 tk: Qt v: N/A wm: kwin_wayland dm: SDDM
    Distro: EndeavourOS base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Framework product: Laptop 16 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series)
    v: AG serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 v: AG serial: <filter>
  Mobo: Framework model: FRANMZCP07 v: A7 serial: <filter>
    part-nu: FRAGACCP0G uuid: ca8c534c-2ce7-ee11-9e4a-229330400224
    Firmware: UEFI vendor: INSYDE v: 04.04 date: 03/23/2026
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 78 Wh (99.9%) condition: 78/85 Wh (91.8%) volts: 17.53
    min: 15.48 model: NVT FRANDBA type: Li-ion serial: <filter> charging:
    status: not charging cycles: 211
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS w/ Radeon 780M Graphics socket: FP8 bits: 64
    type: MT MCP arch: Zen 4 gen: 4 level: v4 note: check built: 2022+
    process: TSMC n5 (5nm) family: 0x19 (25) model-id: 0x74 (116) stepping: 1
    microcode: 0xA70410A
  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: 8 MiB
    desc: 8x1024 KiB L3: 16 MiB desc: 1x16 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3215 min/max: 419/5138 boost: enabled
    base/boost: 3800/5125 scaling: driver: amd-pstate-epp governor: performance
    volts: 1.2 V ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 3215 2: 3215 3: 3215 4: 3215
    5: 3215 6: 3215 7: 3215 8: 3215 9: 3215 10: 3215 11: 3215 12: 3215
    13: 3215 14: 3215 15: 3215 16: 3215 bogomips: 121429
  Flags-basic: 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: old_microcode 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: Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB:
    conditional; STIBP: always-on; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not
    affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsa mitigation: Clear CPU buffers
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
  Type: vmscape mitigation: IBPB before exit to userspace
Graphics:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Navi 33 [Radeon RX 7600/7600
    XT/7600M XT/7600S/7700S / PRO W7600] vendor: Framework driver: amdgpu
    v: kernel arch: RDNA-3 code: Navi-3x process: TSMC n6 (6nm) built: 2023+
    pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 8 ports: active: none
    empty: DP-1,Writeback-1,eDP-1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:7480
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Phoenix1 vendor: Framework
    driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: RDNA-3 code: Phoenix process: TSMC n4 (4nm)
    built: 2023+ pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: eDP-2
    empty: DP-2, DP-3, DP-4, DP-5, DP-6, DP-7, DP-8, DP-9, Writeback-2
    bus-ID: c5:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:15bf class-ID: 0300 temp: 51.0 C
  Display: unspecified server: X.Org v: 24.1.11 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.11
    compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: amdgpu
    unloaded: modesetting,radeon alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi
    gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :1 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x1600 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 677x423mm (26.65x16.65")
    s-diag: 798mm (31.43")
  Monitor-1: eDP-2 model: BOE Display 0x0bc9 built: 2022 res:
    mode: 2560x1600 hz: 165 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 188 gamma: 1.2
    size: 345x215mm (13.58x8.46") diag: 407mm (16") ratio: 16:10 modes:
    max: 2560x1600 min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
    device: 1 drv: radeonsi device: 2 drv: swrast gbm: drv: radeonsi
    surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11: drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 vendor: amd mesa v: 26.1.1-arch1.2 glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon 780M Graphics (radeonsi phoenix ACO
    DRM 3.64 6.18.32-2-custom-lts) device-ID: 1002:15bf memory: 500 MiB
    unified: yes
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.350 layers: 8 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: AMD
    Radeon 780M Graphics (RADV PHOENIX) driver: mesa radv v: 26.1.1-arch1.2
    device-ID: 1002:15bf surfaces: N/A device: 1 type: discrete-gpu name: AMD
    Radeon RX 7700S (RADV NAVI33) driver: mesa radv v: 26.1.1-arch1.2
    device-ID: 1002:7480 surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: amdgpu_top,lact wl: wayland-info
    x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Navi 31 HDMI/DP Audio
    vendor: Framework driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4
    speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 8 bus-ID: 03:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:ab30 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Radeon High Definition Audio
    vendor: Framework driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4
    speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: c5:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:1640 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Audio Coprocessor vendor: Framework
    driver: snd_pci_ps v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: c5:00.5 chip-ID: 1022:15e2 class-ID: 0480
  Device-4: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Ryzen HD Audio vendor: Framework
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: c5:00.6 chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403
  Device-5: C-Media Anua Mic CM 900 driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
    type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-1.1.2:12
    chip-ID: 0d8c:0134 class-ID: 0300
  API: ALSA v: k6.18.32-2-custom-lts status: kernel-api
    tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: sndiod v: N/A status: off tools: aucat,midicat,sndioctl
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.6.5 status: n/a (root, process) 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: MEDIATEK MT7922 802.11ax PCI Express Wireless Network Adapter
    driver: mt7921e v: kernel pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1
    bus-ID: 05:00.0 chip-ID: 14c3:0616 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek USB 10/100/1G/2.5G LAN driver: r8152 type: USB rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 7-1:2 chip-ID: 0bda:8156
    class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
  IF: enp199s0f4u1 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, smbd, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: MediaTek Wireless_Device driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-5:6 chip-ID: 0e8d:e616
    class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.3
    lmp-v: 12 status: discoverable: no pairing: no class-ID: 7c010c
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 3.64 TiB used: 2.05 TiB (56.2%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:4 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD BLACK SN770M 2TB 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: 731100WD temp: 41.9 C scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes health: PASSED on: 48d 11h cycles: 2,952
    read-units: 145,050,456 [74.2 TB] written-units: 129,016,759 [66.0 TB]
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD Blue SN580 2TB 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: 281010WD temp: 40.9 C scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes health: PASSED on: 37d 14h cycles: 5,561
    read-units: 124,705,523 [63.8 TB] written-units: 97,488,956 [49.9 TB]
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 240.98 GiB size: 236.14 GiB (97.99%)
    used: 106.61 GiB (45.1%) fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/dm-0
    maj-min: 253:0 mapped: stolloss-root
  ID-2: /home raw-size: 1.57 TiB size: 1.55 TiB (98.36%)
    used: 1.41 TiB (91.3%) fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/dm-2
    maj-min: 253:2 mapped: stolloss-home
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
    compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 64 GiB used: 5.19 GiB (8.1%) priority: -2
    file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 57.5 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
  GPU: device: amdgpu temp: 52.0 C watts: 26.12 device: amdgpu temp: 37.0 C
    mem: 40.0 C fan: 0 watts: 17.00
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB note: est. available: 30.65 GiB
    used: 11.35 GiB (37.0%)
  Processes: 513 Power: uptime: 1d 4h 35m states: freeze,mem,disk
    suspend: s2idle wakeups: 4 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 12.2 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
    power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 260 default: graphical
    tool: systemctl
  Packages: 2016 pm: pacman pkgs: 1998 libs: 441 tools: yay pm: flatpak
    pkgs: 18 Compilers: clang: 22.1.5 gcc: 16.1.1 Shell: Sudo (sudo) v: 1.9.17p2
    default: Bash v: 5.3.9 running-in: yakuake inxi: 3.3.40
2

Hi @Numerfolt ,
1.Disable Adaptive Sync (VRR)

Adaptive Sync is the most common culprit for flickering in games and applications on AMD GPUs.

  • Go to System Settings > Display and Monitor > Display Configuration.
  • Look for Adaptive Sync and toggle it Off. Alternatively, drop your monitor refresh rate to 120 Hz if you wish to keep it enabled.
  1. Press Alt + Shift + F12 to temporarily disable the compositor. If the flickering stops, go to System Settings > Desktop Effects and disable Blur or Background Contrast.
3

Thanks for replying!

I checked disabling the compositor and it didnt help.

But when I reduced the refreshrate to 60Hz (either 165 or 60 on my laptop) it stopped flickering!

Of course I will keep an eye on it, but it seems fixed so far :slight_smile:

4

Unfortunately the flickering returned today, even with 60Hz and VRR off :frowning:

I tried to record it with Spectacle, but it didn’t show up in the recording :thinking:

5

A problem with the cable or monitor?

6

It the internal monitor of my Framework 16 laptop :confused:

7

Oh. Well I hope it’s not that then!

8

Check it in X11 session or with a new user or in a live system.

9

Wayland was causing the flickering I was having. After I removed it it stopped.

10

It’s hard to test on X11, as it breaks all the scaling and the touchpad gestures for workspace switching, which I use all the time. (This is actually the reason why I won’t go back to X11, there’s too much nice stuff in Wayland…)
But I gave it a try just now and it seems like it’s not happening in X11.

Next I will try it with a new user, that has no special setup whatsoever. It’s not that easy, because I need the programs to actually exhibit the flashing and I have found no way of triggering it reliably.

11

I had a similar error (although in color and not in transparent) in a completely new profile. Gotta check a live image next.

12

Endeavour OS uses X11 for the live image and I didnt manage to switch to Wayland.

13

Okay, I had the opportunity to boot my OS on the computer of a friend of mine and would you believe it:
No flickering at all.

So to me, it looks like something is wrong with the hardware.

14

I don’t think it’s the hardware itself. Rather a issue with drivers or something with the specific hardware combination that the software doesn’t like. In that case Wayland probably, as you ruled out the kernel and it works with X11.
Maybe it works with a different DE? Should KDE be to blame? (though I personally doubt that kde is the reason)

15

It could be a kwin problem, couldn’t it?
I basically need to test something that uses wayland as well and doesn’t break my KDE install.
I wouldn’t want to get used to a tiling compositor, thus there are:
hikari
labwc
mutter
waybox
wayfire
weston
wio
wlmaker
woodland

Only labwc, mutter, wayfire, and weston are in the Arch extra repositories, so maybe I start with one of them?
But I wonder how I can find out how to use a different compositor on my system…

16

Okay, I tried weston, wayfire and labwc.
Weston and wayfire didnt work out of the box, but labwc did.

And would you believe it:
In labwc, Steam does not flicker.
I basically just start Steam and Discord and with kwin I am experiencing at least a little bit of flickering in the first few minutes.
But in labwc it doesnt flicker.

So I guess, I report a bug to kwin then