Fedora 42 KDE weird lines appearing

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1

I just installed Fedora 42 KDE on my laptop and then installed the nvidia drivers.

I have noticed in some apps such as KWrite and Konsole that weird lines start appearing as I am typing. These lines are always horizontal. Sometimes they go the full width of the app and sometime shorter. Sometimes they are solid lines and sometimes dotted. They may also sometimes flash.

Here are two examples

System:
  Kernel: 6.16.11-200.fc42.x86_64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
    v: 15.2.1 clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=(hd0,gpt2)/vmlinuz-6.16.11-200.fc42.x86_64
    root=UUID=6780cdaf-aea0-45d4-889c-1a875bae60ad ro rootflags=subvol=root
    rhgb quiet rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau,nova_core
    modprobe.blacklist=nouveau,nova_core
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.4.5 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.19.0
    wm: kwin_wayland vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Fedora Linux 42 (KDE Plasma Desktop
    Edition)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 0989M2 v: A00 serial: <superuser required> part-nu: 0B4A
    uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: Dell v: 1.26.0 date: 09/05/2024
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 52.1 Wh (100%) condition: 52.1/63.4 Wh (82.3%)
    health: good temp: 27.1 C volts: 16.84 min: 15.2 model: SMP DELL N9XX126
    made: 2022-06-16 type: Li-poly serial: <filter> charging: status: full
    type: fast avail: adaptive,custom,fast,standard,trickle cycles: N/A
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech K850 Performance Wireless
    Keyboard serial: <filter> charge: 100% (should be ignored)
    rechargeable: yes status: discharging
  Device-2: hidpp_battery_1 model: Logitech M720 Triathlon Multi-Device
    Mouse serial: <filter> charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes
    status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: model: 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H bits: 64 type: MST AMCP
    arch: Alder Lake gen: core 12 level: v3 note: check built: 2021+
    process: Intel 7 (10nm ESF) family: 6 model-id: 0x9A (154) stepping: 3
    microcode: 0x437
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 8 cores: 14 threads: 20 mt: 6 tpc: 2
    st: 8 smt: enabled cache: L1: 1.2 MiB desc: d-8x32 KiB, 6x48 KiB; i-6x32
    KiB, 8x64 KiB L2: 11.5 MiB desc: 6x1.2 MiB, 2x2 MiB L3: 24 MiB
    desc: 1x24 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 400 min/max: 400/4600:4700:3500 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 400 2: 400 3: 400 4: 400
    5: 400 6: 400 7: 400 8: 400 9: 400 10: 400 11: 400 12: 400 13: 400 14: 400
    15: 400 16: 400 17: 400 18: 400 19: 400 20: 400 bogomips: 107520
  Flags-basic: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  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 mitigation: Clear Register File
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  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; PBRSB-eIBRS: SW sequence; BHI: BHI_DIS_S
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsa status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
  Type: vmscape mitigation: IBPB before exit to userspace
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-P GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] vendor: Dell
    driver: i915 v: kernel alternate: xe arch: Xe process: Intel 10nm
    built: 2021-22+ ports: active: HDMI-A-1,eDP-1 empty: DP-1,DP-2
    bus-ID: 0000:00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:46a6 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GA107M [GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile] vendor: Dell
    driver: nvidia v: 580.95.05 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm
    non-free: 550-580.xx+ status: current (as of 2025-08; EOL~2026-12-xx)
    arch: Ampere code: GAxxx process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-2023
    bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:25a2 class-ID: 0302
  Device-3: Microdia Integrated_Webcam_FHD driver: uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-6:5 chip-ID: 0c45:6739
    class-ID: 0e02
  Display: wayland server: Xwayland v: 24.1.8 compositor: kwin_wayland
    driver: gpu: i915 d-rect: 4800x1440 display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 pos: primary,left model: Dell G2724D serial: <filter>
    built: 2023 res: mode: 2560x1440 hz: 60 scale: 114% (1.15) to: 2226x1252
    dpi: 109 gamma: 1.2 size: 596x335mm (23.46x13.19") diag: 684mm (26.9")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 2560x1440 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: eDP-1 pos: right model: AU Optronics 0x2b9b built: 2021 res:
    mode: 2240x1400 hz: 60 scale: 140% (1.4) to: 1600x1000 dpi: 190 gamma: 1.2
    size: 300x188mm (11.81x7.4") diag: 354mm (13.9") ratio: 16:10
    modes: 2240x1400
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0
    drv: nvidia device: 2 drv: iris device: 3 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia
    surfaceless: drv: nvidia wayland: drv: iris x11: drv: iris
    inactive: device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.1.9 glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel Iris Xe Graphics (ADL GT2)
    device-ID: 8086:46a6 memory: 14.94 GiB unified: yes display-ID: :0.0
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.313 layers: 7 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel
    Iris Xe Graphics (ADL GT2) driver: mesa intel v: 25.1.9
    device-ID: 8086:46a6 surfaces: N/A device: 1 type: discrete-gpu
    name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU driver: nvidia v: 580.95.05
    device-ID: 10de:25a2 surfaces: N/A device: 2 type: cpu name: llvmpipe
    (LLVM 20.1.8 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 25.1.9 (LLVM 20.1.8)
    device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi
    wl: wayland-info x11: xdriinfo, xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake PCH-P High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
    driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl alternate: snd_hda_intel, snd_soc_avs,
    snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl bus-ID: 0000:00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:51c8
    class-ID: 0401
  API: ALSA v: k6.16.11-200.fc42.x86_64 status: kernel-api
    tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.9 status: active 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: Intel Alder Lake-P PCH CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    bus-ID: 0000:00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:51f0 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp0s20f3 state: up mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager,wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX211 Bluetooth driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 3-10:6 chip-ID: 8087:0033
    class-ID: e001
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.4
    lmp-v: 13 status: discoverable: no pairing: no class-ID: 7c010c
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller driver: vmd
    v: 0.6 port: N/A bus-ID: 0000:00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:467f rev: class-ID: 0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.82 TiB used: 66.56 GiB (3.6%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD BLACK SN770 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: 47.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 1.82 TiB size: 1.82 TiB (100.00%) used: 66.09 GiB (3.6%)
    fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3
  ID-2: /boot raw-size: 1024 MiB size: 973.4 MiB (95.06%)
    used: 469 MiB (48.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-3: /boot/efi raw-size: 600 MiB size: 598.8 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 19.3 MiB (3.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-4: /home raw-size: 1.82 TiB size: 1.82 TiB (100.00%)
    used: 66.09 GiB (3.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    comp: lzo-rle avail: lzo,lz4,lz4hc,zstd,deflate,842 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 44.0 C mobo: 45.0 C sodimm: 39.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 0 fan-1: 0
Info:
  Memory: total: 16 GiB note: est. available: 15.3 GiB used: 4.71 GiB (30.8%)
  Processes: 427 Power: uptime: 19m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: s2idle
    wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot, suspend, test_resume
    image: 6.06 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,upowerd Init: systemd v: 257
    target: graphical (5) default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: rpm pkgs: N/A note: see --rpm tools: dnf,yum pm: flatpak
    pkgs: 7 Compilers: gcc: 15.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.37 running-in: konsole
    inxi: 3.3.39
2

This is usually indicative of memory failure - bits being set and not holding a value, or randomly flipping between values.

Run a session on memtest86 and do at least one full pass of everything. It’ll take a long time, so let it run overnight.

If that passes, we can start to look at the two graphics chipsets you have in there. Make sure one of them isn’t dying…

4

This is a dual boot with Windows 11. Windows 11 is absolutely fine. Using Windows 11 right now. No lines, no glitches, no issues at all. Every time I install Linux it’s just one thing after another :frowning:

5

Different kernel in windows, different memory allocation strategy, different use of the hardware, different i915 drivers etc.

No one else is reporting glitching graphical artifacts with kernel 6.16.11 that I’ve seen (although that’s not really conclusive evidence of anything in the grand scheme of things). Saying that, it doesn’t hurt to rule out a failing SODIMM (or whatever laptops use these days) from causing this graphical aberration.

Hopefully it IS a driver issue or the like and not hardware based, as software tends to be cheaper to fix than hardware but ruling stuff out always moves you toward the solution rather than away from it.

1 Like
6

I don’t have the time or energy to bother wasting on fixing Linux issues. I’d hoped it might just be a quick simple solution. I’m not spending hours/days problem solving when I can just use Windows 11 trouble free.

Thanks though.

1 Like
7

No worries. Good luck and au revoir.

8

Weird scaling on both those monitors.
What happens if you set both monitors to 100% scaling?
Currently I see 114% on one and 140% on the other.

 Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 pos: primary,left model: Dell G2724D serial: <filter>
    built: 2023 res: mode: 2560x1440 hz: 60 scale: 114% (1.15) to: 2226x1252
    dpi: 109 gamma: 1.2 size: 596x335mm (23.46x13.19") diag: 684mm (26.9")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 2560x1440 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: eDP-1 pos: right model: AU Optronics 0x2b9b built: 2021 res:
    mode: 2240x1400 hz: 60 scale: 140% (1.4) to: 1600x1000 dpi: 190 gamma: 1.2
    size: 300x188mm (11.81x7.4") diag: 354mm (13.9") ratio: 16:10

That scaling seems to restrict both monitors to 60Hz refresh.