[SOLVED] Screen breaks up, checkerboard like.

[JimmyJim]

Looking for help with video issues.

Sometimes the screen will break up into sortof a broken checkerboard pattern, squares maybe 10px wide. And as I move windows around they might flash or change forming diagonal patterns. I have screenshots and hardinfo but can't manage to attach them to this note.

I can't make it happen at will, with a finite number of steps. But scrolling a document, moving a window, watching video -- things involving the mouse and video activity does increase the probability.

Does not seem to matter what application I'm using.

If I logout and log back in it's fine for a while until it breaks again.

If it breaks and I switch users it's fine until I switch back again, so the problem seems limited to user space.

This system is dual boot with windows, running it for years no problem. With Linux Lite it seems a bit fragile.

Thanks in advance to any and all who might venture to assist,
Jim.

[JimmyJim]

  Screenshot_2025-06-17_18-41-53.png (Size: 296.23 KB / Downloads: 3)
  hardinfo_report.html (Size: 73.28 KB / Downloads: 1)
Attached find screenshot and hardinfo. Figured out how to attach files. Just did an update, no change. Should I try re-installing?

[stevef]

Without having the same specific hardware it is hard to provide help.  It's not clear if the problem is driver related.  Your system currently uses the nouveau drivers which are generally ok.

I'd begin by noting the time the problem begins and checking the logs for a specific time period while the problem is evident.

Code:

journalctl --since hh:mm:ss --until hh:mm:ss

[JimmyJim]

Wow thanks for the clue -- Warp Drive Containment Field??

Here is copypaste from the log. In the terminal this text was glowing scary red. Is there a way to see logs real-time?

Jul 09 12:44:05 blacktop kernel: logitech-hidpp-device 0003:046D:4077.0003: HID++ 4.1 device connected.
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: TRAP ch 7 [007f8f4000 xfwm4[4704]]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: GPC0/TPC0/MP trap: global 00000000 [] warp 3e0009 [ILLEGAL_INSTR_ENCODING]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: TRAP ch 7 [007f8f4000 xfwm4[4704]]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: GPC0/TPC0/MP trap: global 00000004 [MULTIPLE_WARP_ERRORS] warp 10009 [ILLEGAL_INSTR_ENCODING]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: TRAP ch 7 [007f8f4000 xfwm4[4704]]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: GPC0/TPC0/MP trap: global 00000004 [MULTIPLE_WARP_ERRORS] warp 30009 [ILLEGAL_INSTR_ENCODING]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: TRAP ch 7 [007f8f4000 xfwm4[4704]]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: GPC0/TPC0/MP trap: global 00000004 [MULTIPLE_WARP_ERRORS] warp 10009 [ILLEGAL_INSTR_ENCODING]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: TRAP ch 7 [007f8f4000 xfwm4[4704]]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: GPC0/TPC0/MP trap: global 00000004 [MULTIPLE_WARP_ERRORS] warp 20009 [ILLEGAL_INSTR_ENCODING]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: TRAP ch 7 [007f8f4000 xfwm4[4704]]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: GPC0/TPC0/MP trap: global 00000004 [MULTIPLE_WARP_ERRORS] warp 0009 [ILLEGAL_INSTR_ENCODING]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: TRAP ch 7 [007f8f4000 xfwm4[4704]]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: GPC0/TPC0/MP trap: global 00000004 [MULTIPLE_WARP_ERRORS] warp 0009 [ILLEGAL_INSTR_ENCODING]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: TRAP ch 7 [007f8f4000 xfwm4[4704]]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: GPC0/TPC0/MP trap: global 00000004 [MULTIPLE_WARP_ERRORS] warp 0009 [ILLEGAL_INSTR_ENCODING]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: TRAP ch 7 [007f8f4000 xfwm4[4704]]
Jul 09 12:44:35 blacktop kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gr: GPC0/TPC0/MP trap: global 00000004 [MULTIPLE_WARP_ERRORS] warp 10009 [ILLEGAL_INSTR_ENCODING]

...and on and on it goes...

[stevef]

Should I try re-installing?

You could try an earlier version of Linux Lite but I would not expect that re-installing 7.4 will change anything.

Is there a way to see logs real-time?

Could try

Code:

journalctl -f

Ctrl C when you've seen enough.

If those messages only appear while the issue is present it suggests a problem between nouveau and the desktop environment/window manager

Without having the same hardware it is hard to know what to advise.

I've seen seemingly credible reports that editing this file

Code:

/etc/environment

by adding this line

Code:

GSK_RENDERER=gl

at the end of the file fixes various graphics glitches, none of the glitches mentioned seem a close match to your description.
Nothing to lose as you can undo the change by restoring the file.

A bit more searching found a GTK blog about the new rendering software
https://blogs.gnome.org/gtk/2024/01/28/n...s-for-gtk/

If you are using GTK on very old hardware, you may be better off with the old GL renderer, since it makes fewer demands on the GPU. You can override the renderer selection using the GSK_RENDERER environment variable:

which seems feasible

You could try the proprietary nvidia legacy drivers - if they work for your hardware. See the manual beginning at
https://www.linuxliteos.com/manual/hardw...l#graphics

[JimmyJim]

Thank you so much. Success -- at least so far. I swapped out the Nouveau driver for "NVIDIA driver metapackage from nvidia-driver-470 (propreitary, tested)" -- that's how it is listed. both in the documentation and for real. I'm not a gamer, so don't pay much attention to graphics, just so long as it works and can stream video.

Tried my best to break it -- so far it don't break. And if I can't reproduce it it ain't a bug. I'll mark it fixed...