Report: Visual Artifacts in System Settings and Context Menus

[SammMartins]

Bug Report: Visual Artifacts in System Settings and Context Menus

Summary: Visual glitches occurring in toggle switches, dropdown menus, and selection boxes. The issue is not universal across all applications; it is primarily observed within native system configuration screens and GNOME-based interfaces.

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System Information (Environment)

• OS: Zorin OS 18.1 (Noble)
• Kernel: 6.17.0-20-generic x86_64
• Desktop Environment: GNOME v: 46.0 (Zorin Desktop)
• Display Server: X11 (X.Org v: 21.1.11)
• CPU: 12th Gen Intel Core i3-12100F
• GPU: NVIDIA GT218 [GeForce G210]
• Driver: nouveau (v: kernel)

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Description of the Error

Since I started using Zorin OS on my workstation, I have noticed specific graphical glitches:

• Location: "Settings" panels, file selection menus, and various list options (e.g., Search, Accessibility).
• Behavior: Toggle switches and dropdown menus exhibit strange shadowing, element duplication (ghosting), or failures in border rendering.
• Observation: The problem appears to be restricted to elements of the OS's native interface or GTK-based GNOME components.

Supporting Media

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Troubleshooting & Questions

Has anyone else experienced this or is there a known incompatibility with specific video drivers?

I am looking for suggestions on:

1. How to properly debug these rendering failures (specific logs or terminal commands).
2. Known fixes for GTK theme rendering issues on specific hardware.
3. Whether this is a known issue related to hardware acceleration.

[Aravisian]

@SammMartins

GeForce G210

This card was released in 2009 as an ultra low end card.
What driver does the system show in use?

sudo lshw -C video

[SammMartins]

Yes, it really is quite old.

The installed driver is nouveau. Here is the configuration line from the output:

configuration: depth=32 driver=nouveau latency=0 mode=1920x1080

[wsmather]

It seems Nvidia doesn't always get alongwell with the Xorg compositor.

Suggestion:

Try running nvidia-drm.modeset=1 first. It is a core system change that improves how the driver handles display buffers.

Reboot.

If problem persists, turn on
"Force Full Composition Pipeline" in the NVIDIA Settings app.

[SammMartins]

Thanks for the tips. This old hardware is really complicating things.

I can’t actually use the NVIDIA Settings app or the modeset flags because I’m running the nouveau driver. NVIDIA pretty much killed support for this card on modern Kernels. What I’ve Tried launching with GSK_RENDERER=cairo, gl, and ngl. None of them fixed the weird shadows or the ghosting on the switches. Since I’m on nouveau, the NVIDIA-specific tweaks just don't do anything.