Re: trixie recent update causing video instability

On 29/06/26 at 22:45, D. R. Evans wrote:
> I can confirm that the problem exists even without viewing videos, but 
> then it's much less obvious (i.e., almost everything looks just fine; 
> but I've discovered that if I go to log out, for example, then the 
> logout screen is garbled). Everything gets much worse much more quickly 
> if I try to view videos or use Streetview (the latter sometimes causes a 
> complete freeze of the system, requiring a hard reset).
> 
> So something definitely seems to be wrong in video-driver-land.

~# inxi -SGaz
System:
   Kernel: 6.12.90 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.0
     clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
     parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.12.90 
root=/dev/mapper/ld0-lv3 ro
     kvm.enable_virt_at_load=0 quiet
   Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.3.6 tk: Qt v: N/A wm: kwin_x11 dm: SDDM
     Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
Graphics:
   Device-1: NVIDIA GK208 [GeForce GT 630 Rev. 2] vendor: ASUSTeK
     driver: nouveau v: kernel non-free: series: 470.xx+
     status: legacy-active (EOL~2024-09-xx) arch: Kepler-2 code: GKxxx
     process: TSMC 28nm built: 2012-2018 pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 8
     ports: active: HDMI-A-1 empty: DVI-D-1,VGA-1 bus-ID: 01:00.0
     chip-ID: 10de:1284 class-ID: 0300 temp: 49.0 C
   Display: unspecified server: X.Org v: 21.1.16 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.6
     compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting alternate: 
fbdev,vesa
     dri: nouveau gpu: nouveau display-ID: :0 screens: 1
   Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22")
     s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
   Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-1 model: HP M24f FHD serial: <filter>
     built: 2022 res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 93 
gamma: 1.2
     size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65") diag: 628mm (24.7") ratio: 15:9, 16:9
     modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
   API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia nouveau platforms: device: 0 drv: nouveau
     device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nouveau surfaceless: drv: nouveau x11:
     drv: nouveau inactive: wayland
   API: OpenGL v: 4.5 compat-v: 4.3 vendor: mesa v: 25.0.7-2 glx-v: 1.4
     direct-render: yes renderer: NV108 device-ID: 10de:1284 memory: 
1.94 GiB
     unified: no
   Info: Tools: api: eglinfo,glxinfo de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor
     x11: xdriinfo, xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr

Here it rarely happens and to fix it when artefacts appears, I logout 
the SDDM session and by doing so X is restarted before the SDDM's login 
screen and the issue is gone for me when I re-login.
Probably looking at the "dmesg" output you'll see a lot of "nouveau" 
driver error message, if this is the case, I think that the only 
solution is to migrate to the nvidia proprietary driver, check whether 
your card is still supported, it seems to me very old. If the card isn't 
supported try googling with a search like "archlinux wiki nouveau 
firefox" some firefox's settings are suggested HTH.

kind regards,