So, quick background, on Kubuntu and have massive screen tearing issues. I have never had these problems on any other Linux Distros. Videos look really choppy, overall it's not a good experience. I have recently switched over from Windows, and don't know how to update/install drivers on Ubuntu. I just know I have Intel… Sorry if I am being vague, but that's all I got.
Ubuntu – Screen Tearing on Kubuntu 16.04 with Intel Drivers
intelkubuntuscreentearing
Related Solutions
Create /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf containing
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Graphics"
Driver "intel"
Option "TearFree" "true"
EndSection
That should fix everything.
Source is https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel_graphics#Tear-free_video
Note: This only works if you're using bumblebee.
Note from comments: Since 10.10 the config file directory is now /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d
Starting from Ubuntu 16.04 LTS * you can use the following script to switch between NVIDIA and INTEL's graphics cards and besides it corrects the video/screen tearing on INTELs environment: https://github.com/bauca/graphics-switcher
Try the instructions here. The quick fix worked well. It was night and day. All I had to do was copy and paste a command into the terminal, but the permanent didn't work. I couldn't make a xorg.conf file.
https://www.cmscritic.com/how-to-fix-nvidia-screen-tearing-in-xfce-mate-kde-lxde-and-others/#/
If you are running Xrce, LXDE, MATE or other desktop environments that are not running a compositor such as Compton and you have a reasonably new NVIDIA card, you are likely pulling your hair out trying to get rid of the awful screen tearing you are experiencing. This screen tearing typically occurs when you are running a proprietary NVIDIA driver under Linux and have one of the aforementioned (or any non-composited) desktop environments. Fortunately for all of us there is a fix, and I'm going to walk you through how to make that nasty NVIDIA screen tearing go away.
I'm not going to get into the specifics as to why this happens because frankly, I have no idea and I'm more interested in how to make it go away.
For me, the tearing is very obvious when moving windows back and forth or scrolling in Firefox.. to the point that it drives me (and I'm sure you as well or you wouldn’t be here) absolutely nuts. So why suffer any longer? Let's get rid of it, shall we?
To test out and see if the fix works properly for you, open up a terminal and execute the following command (just copy it from here and paste it in):
nvidia-settings --assign CurrentMetaMode="nvidia-auto-select +0+0 { ForceCompositionPipeline = On }"
Your screen may flicker for a second and you should then see a drastic improvement. Test out Firefox and moving windows. Did the fix work for you? If so, we’ll need to make it permanent as this is just a temporary fix for now but don't worry, I’ll show you how. If it didn’t work for you, you can try changing the line slightly to this:
nvidia-settings --assign CurrentMetaMode="nvidia-auto-select +0+0 { ForceFullCompositionPipeline = On }"
Note that in the line above, we just changed the
ForceCompositionPipeline
toForeFullCompositionPipeline
.Once you've determined that this does indeed fix your issue, we'll need to make sure it's permanent. If it didn't work or caused an issue, simply reboot and you'll be back to your normal desktop.
Now that we've determined that our fix works, to resolve screen tearing once and for all, it's time to make the changes stick. First we need to make sure you have an xorg.conf present in the
/etc/X11
directory. To find out, type the following command into a terminal and press Enter:ls /etc/X11
If you see an xorg.conf file listed like below, proceed.
$ ls /etc/X11 app-defaults xinit Xreset Xsession.d default-display-manager xkb Xreset.d Xsession.options fonts xorg.conf Xresources xsm rgb.txt xorg.conf.backup XsessionIf not, skip this next part but keep reading; I've got you covered further down under What to do if you can't find an /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
For those with an xorg.conf listed, in the same terminal window, make a backup of the file by typing the following command and pressing Enter:
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup
Now open the file with your favorite text editor (I'm a fan of nano text editor myself) as root and enter the following command:
sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
This will open up your editor, you will then want to add a line below based on which one worked for you under the Screen Section, so it ends up looking similar to this:
Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen1" Device "Device1" Monitor "Monitor1" DefaultDepth 24 Option "Stereo" "0" Option "metamodes" "nvidia-auto-select +0+0 { ForceFullCompositionPipeline = On }" SubSection "Display" Depth 24 EndSubSection EndSection
So, if of the two nvidia-settings lines above we tested, the one with ForceFullCompositionPipeline worked, use the example above, if ForceCompositionPipeline worked, simply use that instead in the example above.
Some of you may already have an Option "metamodes" in your
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
, like in the example below for dual monitor setup:Option "metamodes" "VGA-0: 1152x864_60 +0+0, DVI-D-0: 1680x1050_60 +0+864"
If this is the case, simply change the line so that it look like this:
Option "metamodes" "VGA-0: 1152x864_60 +0+0, DVI-D-0: 1680x1050_60 +0+864 { ForceCompositionPipeline = On }"
Reboot and your tearing should be gone!
What do do if you can't find an
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
Now, for those of you who, like me, did not have an
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
(most people running Ubuntu, for instance), you may be panicking thinking that you won't be able to apply this fix. Not to worry, I had the same issue, and I won't leave you hanging.On my main machine, I’m running Linux Mint 18, but this should work with any distribution, I suspect. I did not have an xorg.conf, so what I did was launch the nvidia-settings tool and generated a new one by going to the X Server Display Configuration section and under file name enter /etc/X11/xorg.conf (uncheck merge with existing if it's checked as this is only useful in the instance of where you have one) and then click Save to X Configuration File.
This should generate one for you which you can then modify using the steps above.
Best Answer
I also experienced video tearing with Kubuntu 16.04 on my Intel i7-2600K Sandybridge processor with integrated Intel HD 3000 Graphics.
SOLUTION A: Best solution
Choose Compositor on LHS and ensure:
Note: Ignore message "Full screen repaints" can cause performance problems.
Do not use Re-use screen content on Intel Graphics!
Click Apply
This completely fixed the problem for me. There was no video tearing in full screen or in a window, and there was no artifacting.
See Bug 321589 - Automatic VSync strategy causes tearing
SOLUTION B:
Edit /etc/environment and add the following lines:
Save the file and reboot.
This fixed the problem for me with full screen videos. There is; however, occasional tearing with videos in a window. There was no artifacting with these settings.
BACKGROUND:
I discovered the three variables to try, which were listed as working for NVidia graphics, at the following link: Screen Tearing After Kubuntu Upgrade 15.10 -> 16.04
The above three lines did prevent video tearing, but I experienced some artifacting with some non-video playing activities, such as editing a file with emacs. Hence I experimented some more and found a better compromise.
For a description of these KDE variables see KWin/Environment Variables.
Later on I discovered the Full screen repaints setting which completely resolved all issues for me.