Summary of existing issues with the nVidia proprietary driver

Graphics / Linux Linux
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1

Non-gamer here simply looking to achieve a viable workstation setup.

With each successive driver release since the 550 series there’s a growing number of problems.

Currently tracking 4 known issues. To summarize, ordered by subjective severity, from lowest to highest:

  1. Use-after free error in 570 driver. Needs to be addressed, but low impact with no crash.
  1. Chrome/Electron VK_ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER errors at launch. I don’t care about this one as I use neither software/platform.
  1. GTK4 application tooltips and popover dialogs are stretched/distorted/frozen. This affects the GL and NGL renderers for GTK4 apps and is wildly annoying.
  1. GTK4 apps background CPU usage and application crash-on-exit with Vulkan renderer. This is a showstopper for using the default Vulkan GTK4 renderer.

Using this roundup topic for myself to organize, track, and update the overall status of issues I’m facing for each successive driver release.

I’ve provided numerous nVidia bug reports, GDB backtraces, etc. where applicable, and will also continue providing feedback on the individual issue threads as well as driver-release-specific feedback topic threads.

Current stack:

  • Arch Linux | Kernel 6.13.5
  • Gnome-shell | Mutter 47.5
  • Wayland (meson_options: xwayland=false, x11=false)
  • Gtk4 4.16.12
  • Mesa 24.3.4
  • vulkan-icd-loader 1.4.304
  • nVidia 570.124.04
1 Like
570 release feedback & discussion
[560.35.03] GTK4 apps background CPU usage with Vulkan renderer
BUG: KFENCE: use-after-free read in _nv000177kms [nvidia_modeset]
570 release feedback & discussion
GNOME/GTK Application tooltips are stretched/distorted
Xorg.conf: Settings that disable buggy/defunct Nvidia driver components like Vulkan etc
550.40.07 - The NVIDIA driver was unable to open 'libnvidia-glvkspirv
Nvidia driver isn't compatible with simpledrm so boot output and TTYs are blank
2

Forgot one…

  1. Nvidia driver isn’t compatible with simpledrm so boot output and TTYs are blank

For older generation GPUs (<= Pascal), nvidia_drm.fbdev=0 kernel parameter is still required to have a functional TTY, display the full boot text, and avoid the “freezing” / black screen.

Also, nvidia_drm.modeset=1, used in combination with the patched Arch kernel, is still required as a kernel parameter to avoid the simpledrm device creation.

See Also:

1 Like
3

Updating this tracking thread for the nVidia 570.133.07 Production Branch driver release.

Currently afftected by 5 issues with nVidia Linux drivers.

New bug reports attached and further details have been submitted for each individual issue.


  1. Use-after free error
  1. Chrome/Electron VK_ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER errors at launch.
  1. GTK4 application tooltips and popover dialogs are stretched/distorted/frozen. This affects the GL and NGL renderers
  1. GTK4 apps background CPU usage and application crash-on-exit with Vulkan renderer. This is a showstopper for using the default Vulkan GTK4 renderer.
  1. Nvidia driver isn’t compatible with simpledrm so boot output and TTYs are blank

Latest stack:
  • Arch Linux | Kernel 6.13.7
  • Gnome-shell | Mutter 48.0
  • Wayland (meson_options: xwayland=false, x11=false)
  • Gtk4 4.18.2
  • Mesa 25.0.2
  • vulkan-icd-loader 1.4.304
  • nVidia 570.133.07

I will continue to update this tracking thread for each successive driver release.

3 Likes
5

Updating this tracking thread for the nVidia 575.57.08 New Feature Branch driver release.

Currently affected by 5 issues with the proprietary nVidia Linux driver.

3 of these issues have been acked by nVidia and assigned internal tracking bug numbers.

New bug reports attached, and further details have been submitted, for each individual issue.


  1. Use-after free error
    • nVidia internal tracking Bug #5282077    )

  1. Chrome/Electron VK_ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER errors at launch.
    • nVidia internal tracking Bug #4882287

  1. GTK4 application tooltips and popover dialogs are stretched/distorted/frozen. This affects the NGL renderer.

  1. GTK4 apps background CPU usage with the Vulkan backend renderer.
    • nVidia internal tracking Bug #5236115 (/proc/stat)
    • nVidia internal tracking Bug #5238502 (futex)

  1. Nvidia driver isn’t compatible with simpledrm so boot output and TTYs are blank

Current software stack:
  • kernel 6.14.9
  • gnome-shell 48.2 (Wayland)
  • mutter 48.3 (-Dxwayland=false -Dx11=false)
  • gtk4 4.18.5 (-Dx11-backend=false)
  • vulkan-icd-loader 1.4.313
  • nVidia 575.57.08

I will continue to update this tracking thread for each successive driver release.

2 Likes
GNOME/GTK Application tooltips are stretched/distorted
BUG: KFENCE: use-after-free read in _nv000177kms [nvidia_modeset]
6

many thanks for maintaining this thread! :)

7

Well folks, I’m happy to report that nVidia knocked one off the list with the 575.64 New Feature Branch driver. Nice!

I’ve marked the dedicated issue thread for this as SOLVED.

• nVidia internal tracking Bug #5282077)


My… pleasure?? Haha.

3 Likes
8

Updating this tracking thread for the nVidia 575.64.03 New Feature Branch driver release.

Currently affected by 4 issues with the proprietary nVidia Linux driver.

ALL 4 of these issues have been acked by nVidia and assigned internal tracking bug numbers.

New bug reports attached, and further details have been submitted, for each individual issue.


  1. Chrome/Electron VK_ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER errors at launch.
    • nVidia internal tracking Bug #4882287

  1. GTK4 application tooltips and popover dialogs are stretched/distorted/frozen. This affects the NGL renderer.
    • nVidia internal tracking Bug #5382305

  1. GTK4 apps background CPU usage with the Vulkan backend renderer.
    • nVidia internal tracking Bug #5236115 (/proc/stat)     (appears resolved)
    • nVidia internal tracking Bug #5238502 (futex) (bigger issue)

  1. Nvidia framebuffer driver isn’t compatible with simpledrm so boot output and TTYs are blank
    • nVidia internal tracking Bug #4157529 (partially resolved in 580 upcoming driver)

Current software stack:
  • kernel 6.15.5
  • wlroots 0.19
  • sway 1.11 (Native Wayland)
  • gtk4 4.18.6 (-Dx11-backend=false)
  • vulkan-icd-loader 1.4.313
  • nVidia 575.64.03

I will continue to update this tracking thread for each successive driver release.

1 Like
Nvidia driver isn't compatible with simpledrm so boot output and TTYs are blank
9

We are on a roll here folks… another one knocked off the list today!

  1. GTK4 application tooltips and popover dialogs are stretched/distorted/frozen. This affects the NGL renderer.

**nVidia internal tracking Bug # 5382305

1 Like
10

Another one fixed after ~3ish years. All the gritty details can be found in the original thread here.

Per the 580.65.06 Beta release notes…


nVidia internal tracking Bug #4157529

I can confirm this is indeed resolved at long last!

Behavior is now in exact parity with that of the nouveau driver.

11

This one is no longer occurring with the 580 series driver since the Beta release.

I asked the OP of the original issue thread to mark it as SOLVED, and will remove it from my list here.

2 Likes
580 release feedback & discussion
550.40.07 - The NVIDIA driver was unable to open 'libnvidia-glvkspirv
12
  1. GTK4 apps background CPU usage with the Vulkan backend renderer.
    • nVidia internal tracking Bug #5236115 (/proc/stat)
    • nVidia internal tracking Bug #5238502 (futex)
    • GTK4 apps crash-on-exit with Vulkan backend #unknown

So, that one thread ended up tracking 3 distinct issues.

I’ve marked it as SOLVED at long last.

Haven’t provided an overall roundup in a while, I’ll do that next.

Things are looking great with the 580 series driver.

1 Like
13

After a few days of putting the 580.95.05 Production Branch driver through its paces, no regressions to note.

This, following the rock-solid 580.82.07 release, has effectively zero known issues for my use cases.

I’m still tracking two issues here tho. One of them is fully resolved and the other may not be a driver issue.

  1. EGL_BAD_ATTRIBUTE with chromium-based browsers
    • nVidia has investigated, but no internal tracking # assigned.
    • I need to file an issue with Chromium to root cause whether it’s a browser or driver issue.
    • Ultimately this has no impact on browser functionality as it only manifests in chrome://gpu page loading.

  1. GTK4 application tooltips and popover dialogs are stretched/distorted/frozen.
    • nVidia internal tracking Bug #5382305
    • This affects GTK4’s non-default GL backend renderer only.
    • This issue has been fully SOLVED for months with the egl-wayland2 library.
    • Only waiting for the library to be tagged and packaged by Arch to mark the thread solved.
    • Still packaging locally and have never had any issue or regression since 2025-07-11.
    • I removed the older egl-wayland library at that time, and have relied solely on the new lib since.

Current stack:

  • kernel 6.16.10
  • hyprland 0.51.1 (-DNO_XWAYLAND:STRING=true)
  • wlroots git master @7cb3393e (Vulkan Backend) (-Dxwayland=disabled)
  • sway git master @d9e615c5 (Native Wayland)
  • egl-wayland2 1.00 (git main@d4deb7c3)
  • nVidia 580.95.05
1 Like
580 release feedback & discussion
14

Wow, can’t believe it’s been over 2 months since I last updated this thread.

That’s because there’s not been much to add.

The 3 most recent driver releases are all issue-free for my system sporting a trusty old Pascal 1080 Ti GPU.

• 580.82.07 ✔👍🏻
• 580.95.05 ✔👍🏻
• 580.105.08 ✔👍🏻

Regarding changes since last post:

  1. I abandoned the quirky EGL Bad Attribute issue, as I simply don’t care what chrome://gpu reports.
    The issue does not affect Brave or Chromium browser usage in any way.

  2. The long-solved, age-old GTK4 tooltip/dialog distortion issue is on the cusp of being marked SOLVED as the egl-wayland2 package is now in [extra-testing] on Arch.
    I’ve been packaging and using the egl-wayland2 library exclusively (no egl-wayland installed) since July 2025 (5ish months) now.

I’m relieved to find 580.105.08 Production Branch driver builds fine and is issue free on kernel 6.18.0, given this is a Longterm kernel.

Hoping the 580 Series drivers are very long-lived and provide support for many future kernels, including next December 2026 LTS release.

Current stack:

  • Arch Linux | kernel 6.18.0 and 6.17.11
  • hyprland git main @ 76ac655 (-DNO_XWAYLAND:STRING=true)
  • sway git master @ f4aba22 + !8715 (Native Wayland)
  • wlroots git master @ a962d58 + !5071 (Vulkan Backend) & (-Dxwayland=disabled)
  • vulkan-icd-loader 1.4.328.1
  • egl-wayland2 1.01 git main @ 3e5b643
  • nVidia 580.105.08

Note:

  1. I build my compositors without Xwayland support
  2. I package the nVidia driver without the various unneeded X11-related bits or deps installed.

I’ll be back with another update after the next 580 Series driver point-release.

15

Currently using the latest 580.119.02 Production Branch driver with kernel 6.17.11.

I performed a variety of graphical tests and benchmarks under the latest commits of both hyprland git and sway / wlroots git.

No new issues or regressions to report!

I see a mod marked this thread as SOLVED.

That’s fair. If nothing pops up in the next 14 days on the latest 580 release, I’ll let this thread close out.

1 Like
16

Decided to keep this thread open for one more 580 series driver release.

The various flickering issues confirmed by nVidia so far seem limited to X11 environments, but I’ve coincidentally got some flickering probs with Waybar under both Sway and Hyprland latest git commits. Haven’t pinpointed culprit yet.

1 Like
17

Coincidence indeed. Under Hyprland it was a valid bug which has since been fixed.

Waybar issue under Sway occurs with:

  • both of the previous two 580 Production branch drivers
  • both egl-wayland2 and egl-wayland individually installed
  • both waybar git and most recent tag (over a hundred commits ago)

So, I’m thinking it’s unlikely a driver regression and mayhaps I’ve just never stumbled upon the behavior as the STR requires steps not in my typical modus operandi.

Anyhoo… gonna try to let this thread remain open…

I’ll put the next release thru its paces and let the thread close if no regressions or new issues found.

18

Hopefully we’ll see a new 580 driver release within the next couple weeks.

Staying on egl-wayland2 git without issue. Now ~6 months without egl-wayland installed. Solid.

1 Like
19

Final update, after more than a week using 580.126.09 Production Branch driver.

That’s now 5 consecutive driver releases with zero issues on my trusty old 1050 Ti GPU.

Simple living here… no HDR, no VRR, and no GSP.

Current stack:

  • kernel 6.18.6
  • hyprland git @8e9add2 (-DNO_XWAYLAND:STRING=true)
  • sway git @055be4e + !8715 (Native Wayland)
  • wlroots git @604fcdb + !5071 (Vulkan Backend) (-Dxwayland=disabled)
  • egl-wayland2 git @1893c37
  • nVidia 580.126.09

As noted previously, not dealing with Xwayland also helps:

  1. I build my compositors without Xwayland support
  2. I package the nVidia driver without the various unneeded X11-related bits or deps installed.

It was quite a ride getting many bugs squashed, but great to see Nvidia address them all.

I will now let this thread expire as SOLVED. Thanks everyone!

1 Like