Kwin compositor not working properly: Task switcher not showing + window titles monospaced

Hello, I have done a clean install of manjaro (22.0) and after setting everything up, I am experiencing problems with the compositor:

  • When pressing alt+tab, the window switches, but there is no pop-up showing me the windows it will switch through. Even though under “Window management → Task switcher” I have selected a theme.
  • The window titles are monospaced, and don’t respect the settings for “Appearance → Fonts → Window title”.

I’ve run kbuildsycoca5 once. And now when I run kwin_x11 --replace &, the problems go away. Until I reboot or log-out, then they are back.
The output of kwin is (I have it as github gist, but cant link due to the new account restrictions.):

kwin
kwin_xkbcommon: XKB: inet:323:58: unrecognized keysym "XF86EmojiPicker"
kwin_xkbcommon: XKB: inet:324:58: unrecognized keysym "XF86Dictate"
OpenGL vendor string:                   Intel
OpenGL renderer string:                 Mesa Intel(R) UHD Graphics (CML GT2)
OpenGL version string:                  4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 22.3.1
OpenGL shading language version string: 4.60
Driver:                                 Intel
GPU class:                              Comet Lake
OpenGL version:                         4.6
GLSL version:                           4.60
Mesa version:                           22.3.1
X server version:                       1.21.1
Linux kernel version:                   6.1.1
Requires strict binding:                yes
GLSL shaders:                           yes
Texture NPOT support:                   yes
Virtual Machine:                        no

The output of qdbus org.kde.KWin /KWin supportInformation.
This output doesn’t change after i have ran the --replace command.

kwin qdbug
KWin Support Information:
The following information should be used when requesting support on e.g. https://forum.kde.org.
It provides information about the currently running instance, which options are used,
what OpenGL driver and which effects are running.
Please post the information provided underneath this introductory text to a paste bin service
like https://paste.kde.org instead of pasting into support threads.

==========================

Version
=======
KWin version: 5.26.4
Qt Version: 5.15.7
Qt compile version: 5.15.7
XCB compile version: 1.15

Operation Mode: X11 only

Build Options
=============
KWIN_BUILD_DECORATIONS: yes
KWIN_BUILD_TABBOX: yes
KWIN_BUILD_ACTIVITIES: yes
HAVE_X11_XCB: yes
HAVE_EPOXY_GLX: yes
HAVE_WAYLAND_EGL: yes

X11
===
Vendor: The X.Org Foundation
Vendor Release: 12101006
Protocol Version/Revision: 11/0
SHAPE: yes; Version: 0x11
RANDR: yes; Version: 0x14
DAMAGE: yes; Version: 0x11
Composite: yes; Version: 0x4
RENDER: yes; Version: 0xb
XFIXES: yes; Version: 0x50
SYNC: yes; Version: 0x31
GLX: yes; Version: 0x0

Decoration
==========
Plugin: org.kde.breeze
Theme:
Plugin recommends border size: None
onAllDesktopsAvailable: true
alphaChannelSupported: true
closeOnDoubleClickOnMenu: false
decorationButtonsLeft: 0, 2
decorationButtonsRight: 6, 3, 4, 5
borderSize: 0
gridUnit: 10
font: Noto Sans,9,-1,5,50,0,0,0,0,0
smallSpacing: 2
largeSpacing: 10

Platform
==========
Name: KWin::X11StandalonePlatform

Cursor
======
themeName: breeze_cursors
themeSize: 24

Options
=======
focusPolicy: 0
xwaylandCrashPolicy:
xwaylandMaxCrashCount: 3
nextFocusPrefersMouse: false
clickRaise: true
autoRaise: false
autoRaiseInterval: 0
delayFocusInterval: 0
shadeHover: false
shadeHoverInterval: 250
separateScreenFocus: false
activeMouseScreen: true
placement:
activationDesktopPolicy: 0
focusPolicyIsReasonable: true
borderSnapZone: 10
windowSnapZone: 10
centerSnapZone: 0
snapOnlyWhenOverlapping: false
rollOverDesktops: false
focusStealingPreventionLevel: 1
operationTitlebarDblClick: 5000
operationMaxButtonLeftClick: 5000
operationMaxButtonMiddleClick: 5015
operationMaxButtonRightClick: 5014
commandActiveTitlebar1: 0
commandActiveTitlebar2: 28
commandActiveTitlebar3: 2
commandInactiveTitlebar1: 4
commandInactiveTitlebar2: 28
commandInactiveTitlebar3: 2
commandWindow1: 7
commandWindow2: 8
commandWindow3: 8
commandWindowWheel: 28
commandAll1: 10
commandAll2: 3
commandAll3: 14
keyCmdAllModKey: 16777250
condensedTitle: false
electricBorderMaximize: true
electricBorderTiling: true
electricBorderCornerRatio: 0.25
borderlessMaximizedWindows: false
killPingTimeout: 5000
hideUtilityWindowsForInactive: true
compositingMode: 1
useCompositing: true
hiddenPreviews: 1
glSmoothScale: 2
glStrictBinding: true
glStrictBindingFollowsDriver: true
glPreferBufferSwap: 101
glPlatformInterface: 1
windowsBlockCompositing: true
latencyPolicy:
renderTimeEstimator:

Screen Edges
============
desktopSwitching: false
desktopSwitchingMovingClients: false
cursorPushBackDistance: 1x1
timeThreshold: 150
reActivateThreshold: 350
actionTopLeft: 0
actionTop: 0
actionTopRight: 0
actionRight: 0
actionBottomRight: 0
actionBottom: 0
actionBottomLeft: 0
actionLeft: 0

Screens
=======
Active screen follows mouse:  yes
Number of Screens: 2

Screen 0:
---------
Name: HDMI-1-0
Enabled: 1
Geometry: 1920,0,3440x1440
Scale: 1
Refresh Rate: 59972
Adaptive Sync: incapable
Screen 1:
---------
Name: eDP-1
Enabled: 1
Geometry: 0,360,1920x1080
Scale: 1
Refresh Rate: 144003
Adaptive Sync: incapable

Compositing
===========
Compositing is active
Compositing Type: OpenGL
OpenGL vendor string: Intel
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa Intel(R) UHD Graphics (CML GT2)
OpenGL version string: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 22.3.1
OpenGL platform interface: GLX
OpenGL shading language version string: 4.60
Driver: Intel
GPU class: Comet Lake
OpenGL version: 4.6
GLSL version: 4.60
Mesa version: 22.3.1
X server version: 1.21.1
Linux kernel version: 6.1.1
Direct rendering: Requires strict binding: yes
GLSL shaders:  yes
Texture NPOT support:  yes
Virtual Machine:  no
OpenGL 2 Shaders are used

Loaded Effects:
---------------
kwin4_effect_fadingpopups
kwin4_effect_morphingpopups
kwin4_effect_maximize
kwin4_effect_sessionquit
kwin4_effect_dialogparent
kwin4_effect_fullscreen
kwin4_effect_windowaperture
kwin4_effect_login
kwin4_effect_scale
kwin4_effect_logout
kwin4_effect_frozenapp
kwin4_effect_squash
colorpicker
outputlocator
blendchanges
screenshot
screenedge
zoom
slidingpopups
slide
glide
desktopgrid
highlightwindow
overview
windowview
blur
startupfeedback
kscreen

Currently Active Effects:
-------------------------
blur

Effect Settings:
----------------
kwin4_effect_fadingpopups:
pluginId: kwin4_effect_fadingpopups
isActiveFullScreenEffect: false

kwin4_effect_morphingpopups:
pluginId: kwin4_effect_morphingpopups
isActiveFullScreenEffect: false

kwin4_effect_maximize:
pluginId: kwin4_effect_maximize
isActiveFullScreenEffect: false

kwin4_effect_sessionquit:
pluginId: kwin4_effect_sessionquit
isActiveFullScreenEffect: false

kwin4_effect_dialogparent:
pluginId: kwin4_effect_dialogparent
isActiveFullScreenEffect: false

kwin4_effect_fullscreen:
pluginId: kwin4_effect_fullscreen
isActiveFullScreenEffect: false

kwin4_effect_windowaperture:
pluginId: kwin4_effect_windowaperture
isActiveFullScreenEffect: false

kwin4_effect_login:
pluginId: kwin4_effect_login
isActiveFullScreenEffect: false

kwin4_effect_scale:
pluginId: kwin4_effect_scale
isActiveFullScreenEffect: false

kwin4_effect_logout:
pluginId: kwin4_effect_logout
isActiveFullScreenEffect: false

kwin4_effect_frozenapp:
pluginId: kwin4_effect_frozenapp
isActiveFullScreenEffect: false

kwin4_effect_squash:
pluginId: kwin4_effect_squash
isActiveFullScreenEffect: false

colorpicker:

outputlocator:

blendchanges:

screenshot:

screenedge:

zoom:
zoomFactor: 1.2
mousePointer: 0
mouseTracking: 0
focusTrackingEnabled: false
textCaretTrackingEnabled: false
focusDelay: 350
moveFactor: 20
targetZoom: 1

slidingpopups:
slideInDuration: 150
slideOutDuration: 250

slide:
horizontalGap: 45
verticalGap: 20
slideDocks: false
slideBackground: true

glide:
duration: 160
inRotationEdge: 0
inRotationAngle: 3
inDistance: 30
inOpacity: 0.4
outRotationEdge: 2
outRotationAngle: 3
outDistance: 30
outOpacity: 0

desktopgrid:
activeView:
gridRows: 2
gridColumns: 1
animationDuration: 300
layout: 1
partialActivationFactor: 0
gestureInProgress: false
showAddRemove: true
desktopNameAlignment: 0
desktopLayoutMode: 0
customLayoutRows: 2

highlightwindow:

overview:
activeView:
animationDuration: 300
layout: 1
ignoreMinimized: false
blurBackground: true
partialActivationFactor: 0
gestureInProgress: false
searchText:

windowview:
activeView:
animationDuration: 300
layout: 1
ignoreMinimized: false
mode: 0
partialActivationFactor: 0
gestureInProgress: false
searchText:

blur:

startupfeedback:
type: 1

kscreen:


Loaded Plugins:
---------------
kwin5_plugin_krunner
kwin5_plugin_nightcolor

Available Plugins:
------------------
kwin5_plugin_buttonrebinds
kwin5_plugin_colord
kwin5_plugin_krunner
kwin5_plugin_nightcolor

Output of inxi -Faz:

inxi
System:
  Kernel: 6.1.1-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1-x86_64
    root=UUID=aad0d804-f9b9-477d-bfa8-91d4473f11b8 rw quiet splash
    resume=UUID=b288ce22-5d85-47bb-bef3-ed2e22cd40ce udev.log_priority=3
    sysrq_always_enabled=1
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.26.4 tk: Qt v: 5.15.7 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM
    Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 81YU v: Lenovo Legion 7 15IMHg05
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 v: Lenovo Legion 7 15IMHg05
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0R32862 WIN
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: LENOVO v: E9CN62WW(V4.07)
    date: 01/21/2021
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 44.6 Wh (59.5%) condition: 75.0/80.0 Wh (93.7%)
    volts: 15.6 min: 15.4 model: 0x43 0x65 0x6C 0x78 0x70 0x 0x4C 0x31 0x39
    0x43 0x34 0x50 0x8000 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: not charging
    cycles: 40
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-10875H bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Comet Lake
    gen: core 10 level: v3 note: check built: 2020 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
    model-id: 0xA5 (165) stepping: 2 microcode: 0xF4
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 8 tpc: 2 threads: 16 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 512 KiB desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 2 MiB desc: 8x256 KiB
    L3: 16 MiB desc: 1x16 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 893 high: 2300 min/max: 800/5100 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800
    5: 800 6: 800 7: 2300 8: 800 9: 800 10: 800 11: 800 12: 800 13: 800
    14: 800 15: 800 16: 800 bogomips: 73625
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: retbleed mitigation: Enhanced IBRS
  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: Enhanced IBRS, IBPB: conditional, RSB
    filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: SW sequence
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel CometLake-H GT2 [UHD Graphics] vendor: Lenovo driver: i915
    v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5 process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20 ports:
    active: eDP-1 empty: none bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9bc4
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA TU104BM [GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Mobile / Max-Q]
    vendor: Lenovo driver: nvidia v: 525.60.11 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm
    non-free: 525.xx+ status: current (as of 2022-12) arch: Turing code: TUxxx
    process: TSMC 12nm FF built: 2018-22 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1ed3 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: Syntek Integrated Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-6:7 chip-ID: 174f:2435 class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.6 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: nouveau alternate: fbdev,nv,vesa
    dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 5360x1440 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1414x380mm (55.67x14.96")
    s-diag: 1464mm (57.64")
  Monitor-1: HDMI-1-0 pos: primary,top-right res: 3440x1440 hz: 60 dpi: 109
    size: 800x335mm (31.5x13.19") diag: 867mm (34.15") modes: N/A
  Monitor-2: eDP-1 pos: bottom-l res: 1920x1080 hz: 144 dpi: 142
    size: 344x194mm (13.54x7.64") diag: 395mm (15.55") modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.1 renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (CML GT2)
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH cAVS vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_skl,snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl bus-ID: 00:1f.3
    chip-ID: 8086:06c8 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA TU104 HD Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 3
    speed: 8 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:10f8 class-ID: 0403
  Sound API: ALSA v: k6.1.1-1-MANJARO running: yes
  Sound Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.21 running: no
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.63 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:06f0 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp0s20f3 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Lenovo driver: r8168 v: 8.050.03-NAPI modules: r8169 pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 42:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp66s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX201 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-14:9 chip-ID: 8087:0026 class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 3 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.86 TiB used: 758.63 GiB (39.8%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:1 vendor: Western Digital model: PC SN730
    SDBPNTY-1T00-1101 size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 11130001 temp: 36.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital model: PC SN730
    SDBPNTY-1T00-1101 size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 11130001 temp: 41.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 463.87 GiB size: 455.52 GiB (98.20%)
    used: 29.14 GiB (6.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7 maj-min: 259:9
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 350 MiB size: 349.3 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 12.3 MiB (3.5%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6 maj-min: 259:8
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 10 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:6
Sensors:
  Src: /sys System Temperatures: cpu: 55.0 C pch: 49.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 339 Uptime: 8m wakeups: 4 Memory: 31.06 GiB used: 7.3 GiB (23.5%)
  Init: systemd v: 252 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers:
  gcc: 12.2.0 clang: 14.0.6 Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1591 libs: 432
  tools: pamac pm: flatpak pkgs: 0 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9 default: Bash v: 5.1.16
  running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.24

I have tried to find a solution to this problem elsewhere, but no luck so far. I have list of a few links of other topics I used, but again, can’t link :).

Normally I’d chalk this up to graphics driver issues. But given that a restart of kwin fixes it, I am inclined to think it lies elsewhere.
And in addition, this is the first time an install of linux has worked flawlessly with steam games simply by pressing “Auto Install Proprietary Driver” in “hardware configuration”. Which is nice :smile:.

Does anyone have an inkling as to what the problem could be?

Hello dear brass_phoenix.

On the Internet, and in truth, there is no detailed solution to your problem. I do not quite understand what the problem is from the technical side. I advise you to clean reinstall the system. After the done actions, leave the results in the form of screenshots in the answer to my message or by mentioning me.

Sincerely, Escape.

Hello Escape,
Thank you for the reply. Usually with these kind of problems I would eventually indeed do a clean install.
But that’s the thing: this is the clean install :sweat_smile:.

I can’t add screenshots sadly, due to new account restrictions.
But what basically happens, is that the window decorations look normal, except that the title, and the right-click menu, is in a sort of fall-back monospace. But should be Noto Sans.

Of the task switcher I can’t make a screenshot, because the switcher simply doesn’t appear :smile:.

A patch-up I am thinking of, is having a script run the kwin replace command on startup, but that’s a bit of a hack :sweat_smile:.

Dear brass_phoenix.

I want to note that you should probably reinstall the graphics driver from the repository of the manufacturer of your video card, I was prompted by the fact that (as I understand it) your problem is a graphic artifact. Often such problems arise precisely because of the video card drivers. If the problem persists, install the XCFE, GNOME or Cinnamon version. Hope this helps you. XD
Link to install Manjaro environments: Click here

Sincerely, Escape.