Desktop environment crashes when playing games

Hi

When I’m playing games, sometimes the desktop environment will crash completely. On Wayland it will freeze up and the computer needs to be restarted. On X11 it freezes for a minute before logging me out. It only does this on some games, both proton and native.

On X11 I’ve tried disabling the compositor but it hasn’t made any difference. I’m using 2 1080p monitors, both set to 60Hz. I’m not sure what else to try to troubleshoot the issue.

I’ve had crashes on Counterstrike 2 (native), Chivalry 2 (Proton), Foxhole (Proton) and Sins of s Solar Empire 2 (Proton). Outside of games the system ruins fine, the only issue being sometimes closing LibreOffice Calc will make the desktop environment freeze for about 5-10 seconds.

My specs are:

Operating System: Manjaro Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.22.0
Qt Version: 6.10.1
Kernel Version: 6.18.8-1-MANJARO (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 12 × AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 6-Core Processor
Memory: 32 GiB of RAM (31.3 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon RX 6600
Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Product Name: X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI
System Version: -CF

can you report

inxi -Fza
cpupower frequency-info
sudo mhwd-kernel -li

is there any error in journal ( -1 boot before ) ?

sudo journalctl -b -1 -p4

Are your monitors connected Displayport or HDMI? I had some issues similar to yours (though maybe not quite as extreme) and swapping my HDMI ports cured it. Still not sure why, but very repeatable.

One’s display port and the other is HDMI (it’s old enough that it doesn’t actually have a display port on it). I’ll try change the display port in the GPU though, thank you.

Sorry to dump all of this, I’m not sure which lines are relevant and which aren’t. The first commands gave this output:

System:
  Kernel: 6.18.8-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.18-x86_64
    root=UUID=49e11750-1595-4499-a3d7-161e08c17847 rw quiet splash
    resume=UUID=7eba6469-b01e-4f12-9c11-7c2de95b4df4 udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.5.5 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.22.0
    wm: kwin_x11 vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Gigabyte product: X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI v: -CF
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Gigabyte model: X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI serial: <superuser required>
    uuid: <superuser required> Firmware: BIOS vendor: American Megatrends LLC.
    v: F39 date: 10/28/2025
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3+ gen: 3
    level: v3 note: check built: 2022 process: TSMC n6 (7nm) family: 0x19 (25)
    model-id: 0x21 (33) stepping: 2 microcode: 0xA201213
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 6 threads: 12 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 384 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 3 MiB
    desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 32 MiB desc: 1x32 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1738 min/max: 561/4654 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: amd-pstate-epp governor: powersave cores: 1: 1738 2: 1738 3: 1738
    4: 1738 5: 1738 6: 1738 7: 1738 8: 1738 9: 1738 10: 1738 11: 1738 12: 1738
    bogomips: 88799
  Flags-basic: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3
  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 status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: Safe RET
  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: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW;
    STIBP: always-on; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not
    affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsa mitigation: Clear CPU buffers
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
  Type: vmscape mitigation: IBPB before exit to userspace
Graphics:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Navi 23 [Radeon RX 6600/6600
    XT/6600M] vendor: Tul / PowerColor driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: RDNA-2
    code: Navi-2x process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-22 pcie: gen: 4
    speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: DP-2,HDMI-A-1
    empty: DP-1,DP-3,Writeback-1 bus-ID: 0b:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:73ff
    class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.21 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.9
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu unloaded: modesetting,radeon
    alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1013x285mm (39.88x11.22")
    s-diag: 1052mm (41.43")
  Monitor-1: DP-2 mapped: DisplayPort-1 pos: primary,left model: AOC 2590G4
    serial: <filter> built: 2021 res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1)
    dpi: 90 gamma: 1.2 size: 544x303mm (21.42x11.93") diag: 623mm (24.5")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-A-0 pos: right model: LG (GoldStar) M2232
    serial: <filter> built: 2012 res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1)
    dpi: 102 gamma: 1.2 size: 476x267mm (18.74x10.51") diag: 546mm (21.5")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11:
    drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 25.3.4-arch1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon RX 6600 (radeonsi navi23
    LLVM 21.1.6 DRM 3.64 6.18.8-1-MANJARO) device-ID: 1002:73ff
    memory: 7.81 GiB unified: no
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.335 layers: 6 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: AMD
    Radeon RX 6600 (RADV NAVI23) driver: mesa radv v: 25.3.4-arch1.1
    device-ID: 1002:73ff surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor wl: wayland-info
    x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Navi 21/23 HDMI/DP Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 0b:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:ab28 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Starship/Matisse HD Audio
    vendor: Gigabyte driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s
    lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0d:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.18.8-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.10 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel I211 Gigabit Network vendor: Gigabyte driver: igb v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 04:00.0
    chip-ID: 8086:1539 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp4s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 2
    speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 05:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:2723 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp5s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX200 Bluetooth driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-2:3 chip-ID: 8087:0029
    class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.9 TiB used: 775.06 GiB (39.8%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD BLACK SN770 1TB size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 731100WD temp: 59.9 C scheme: MBR
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Seagate model: XA960LE10063
    size: 894.25 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 2147 scheme: MBR
  ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: SK Hynix model: HFS128G39TND-N210A
    size: 119.24 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0P10 scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 922.71 GiB size: 907.15 GiB (98.31%)
    used: 775.06 GiB (85.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
    compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8.8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 42.5 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 44.0 C
    mem: 44.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 0
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.26 GiB used: 3.12 GiB (10.0%)
  Processes: 472 Power: uptime: 3m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 12.48 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
    power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 258 default: graphical
    tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1567 libs: 481 tools: pamac pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
    Compilers: clang: 21.1.6 gcc: 15.2.1 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9 default: Bash
    v: 5.3.9 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.40
analyzing CPU 4:
  driver: amd-pstate-epp
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 4
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 4
  energy performance preference: balance_performance
  hardware limits: 561 MHz - 4.65 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 1.74 GHz and 4.65 GHz.
                  The governor "powersave" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: 4.62 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: yes
    Active: yes
  amd-pstate limits:
    Highest Performance: 166. Maximum Frequency: 4.65 GHz.
    Nominal Performance: 132. Nominal Frequency: 3.70 GHz.
    Lowest Non-linear Performance: 62. Lowest Non-linear Frequency: 1.74 GHz.
    Lowest Performance: 20. Lowest Frequency: 550 MHz.
    Preferred Core Support: 1. Preferred Core Ranking: 186.
[sudo] password for bogman: 
Currently running: 6.18.8-1-MANJARO (linux618)
The following kernels are installed in your system:
   * linux612
   * linux618
   * linux66

sudo journalctl -b -1 -p4, gave this output:

kernel: **usb: port power management may be unreliable**
kernel: **[drm:dm_helpers_read_local_edid [amdgpu]] *ERROR* EDID err: 2, on connector: HDMI-A-1**
kernel: **amdgpu 0000:0b:00.0: [drm] *ERROR* No EDID read.**
kernel: **ACPI Warning: SystemIO range 0x0000000000000B00-0x0000000000000B08 conflicts with OpRegion 0x0000000000000B00-0x0000000000000B0F (\GSA1**>
kernel: **Bluetooth: hci0: HCI LE Coded PHY feature bit is set, but its usage is not supported.**
bluetoothd[634]: **Failed to set mode: Failed (0x03)**
NetworkManager[632]: **<warn> [1771070651.0778] device (p2p-dev-wlp5s0): error setting IPv4 forwarding to '0': Resource temporarily unavailable**
dbus-broker-launch[630]: **Activation request for 'org.freedesktop.resolve1' failed: The systemd unit 'dbus-org.freedesktop.resolve1.service' cou**>
dbus-broker-launch[630]: **Activation request for 'org.freedesktop.home1' failed: The systemd unit 'dbus-org.freedesktop.home1.service' could not**>
dbus-broker-launch[780]: **Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.dolphin.FileManager1.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org**>
dbus-broker-launch[780]: **Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.kscreen.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.kde.KScreen'.**
dbus-broker-launch[780]: **Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.plasma.Notifications.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org**>
kernel: **amdgpu 0000:0b:00.0: amdgpu: [drm] Failed to setup vendor infoframe on connector HDMI-A-1: -22**
sddm-greeter-qt6[777]: **file:///usr/share/sddm/themes/breath/Main.qml:230:17 Parameter "username" is not declared. Injection of parameters into** >
dbus-broker-launch[905]: **Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.dolphin.FileManager1.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org**>
dbus-broker-launch[905]: **Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.kscreen.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.kde.KScreen'.**
dbus-broker-launch[905]: **Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.plasma.Notifications.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org**>
/usr/lib/xdg-desktop-portal[943]: **Choosing gtk.portal for org.freedesktop.impl.portal.Lockdown as a last-resort fallback**
kernel: **nvme nvme0: using unchecked data buffer**
kernel: **block nvme0n1: No UUID available providing old NGUID**
baloo_file[939]: **QDBusConnection: name 'org.freedesktop.UPower' had owner '' but we thought it was ':1.22'**
kded6[979]: **Failed to connect to Bolt manager DBus interface:**
kded6[979]: **QDBusObjectPath: invalid path "/modules/wpad-detector"**
kded6[979]: **The kded module name "wpad-detector" is invalid!**
kded6[979]: **QDBusObjectPath: invalid path "/modules/oom-notifier"**
kded6[979]: **The kded module name "oom-notifier" is invalid!**
kded6[979]: **QDBusObjectPath: invalid path "/modules/plasma-session-shortcuts"**
kded6[979]: **The kded module name "plasma-session-shortcuts" is invalid!**
kconf_update[1149]: **/usr/share/kconf_update/breath2tobreath.upd defined Version=5 but Version=6 was expected**
kconf_update[1149]: **/usr/share/kconf_update/filepicker.upd defined Version=5 but Version=6 was expected**
plasmashell[1037]: **Could not find required file "mainscript" for package "/usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.kickerdash/" should be QLi**>
kded6[979]: **PendingCall Error: "The name is not activatable"**
plasmashell[1037]: **Could not find required file "mainscript" for package "/usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.kickerdash/" should be QLi**>
kded6[979]: **PowerDevil SuspendSession action not available!**
org_kde_powerdevil[1115]: **Failed to create wl_display (No such file or directory)**
kded6[979]: **No object for name "auto_null.monitor"**
kded6[979]: **No object for name "auto_null"**
kded6[979]: **No object for name "auto_null.monitor"**
kded6[979]: **No object for name "@DEFAULT_SINK@"**

thiq is the trouble with error HDMI-A
is it possible to uses dp for all ?

Not currently, that monitor only has HDMI. I was trying to test it today, but a game that reliably crashed yesterday didn’t today. I re-ran sudo journalctl -b -1 -p4, and where those error messages were it’s now only showing:

kernel: amdgpu 0000:0b:00.0: amdgpu: [drm] Failed to setup vendor infoframe on connector HDMI-A-1: -22

The only change I’ve made is change the display port I’m using in my GPU.