White/blank window using Nvidia GPU in Linux

[arscynic]

Fixing Phoenix Code

Running Phoenix Code using an Nvidia GPU might result in a blank (white/black/etc.) window only.¹²
The fix is to force Phoenix Code into using integrated graphics through the following command,³ where one's integrated graphics is assigned to either 0 or 1:⁴
__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 ~/.phoenix-code/phoenix-code⁵

Fixing Phoenix Code shortcuts

To fix any shortcuts one has, create a shell script that simply contains __NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 ~/.phoenix-code/phoenix-code, in my case phoenix_code-no_gpu.sh, make it executable, and point the shortcut to this newly made shell script instead of the default launcher file located at "/home/username/.phoenix-code/phoenix-code".

Depending on one's environment, or other method, it could be necessary to use __NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 /home/username/.phoenix-code/phoenix-code instead of using ~ to point to one's home directory.

Verifying if Phoenix Code is using the GPU

1. Open your task manager of choice and look for the processes associated with Phoenix Code. I am using xfce4-terminal with "Show processes as tree" enabled. Notice WebKitWebProcess in the screenshot below.
   

2. Execute command nvidia-smi and look for WebKitWebProcess in the output,⁶ marked in green on the screenshot below.
   

3. Notice the 0 in front of the processes, including WebKitWebProcess. That means the Nvidia GPU is assigned number 0, integrated graphics number 1, and therefore Phoenix Code is using the GPU. This renders the Phoenix Code window blank as shown in the screenshot below:
   

Footnotes

1. No idea about AMD GPUs. ↩

2. The blank window colour depends on ones desktop environment's theme colour. ↩

3. Originally posted on Discord. ↩

4. In my case the GPU is assigned to 0 so one has to offload it to 1. ↩

5. Source: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PRIME#Configure_applications_to_render_using_GPU ↩

6. A more convenient nvidia-smi alternative is nvitop which shows the full process names/commands. ↩

[abose]

Thanks for reporting the issue and solution @arscynic

[arscynic]

My pleasure. Anything to destroy Microsoft's unethically gained dominance with love towards superior software.

[charlypa]

Hi @arscynic,

Could you please try adding the following to your /etc/environment file:

WEBKIT_DISABLE_DMABUF_RENDERER=1

After that, restart your OS and check if the issue is resolved.

Let us know how it goes!

[arscynic]

Hi @arscynic,

Could you please try adding the following to your /etc/environment file:

WEBKIT_DISABLE_DMABUF_RENDERER=1

After that, restart your OS and check if the issue is resolved.

Let us know how it goes!

Splendid. I forced Phoenix Code to use the GPU and it still works with WEBKIT_DISABLE_DMABUF_RENDERER=1.