Tearing/Flickering when sharing screen via zoom

[Sk4zz]

 * Cinnamon version: 4.4.8
 * Distribution: Manjaro (stable)
 * Graphics hardware: Intel 3rd Gen Core Graphics Controller
                          AND: Intel HD Graphics 5500
* Driver: xf86-video-intel 1:2.99.917
* 64 bit 

Issue
When sharing the screen in a Zoom session, the other participants have a flickering image where desktop wallpaper is visible under the shared window for a split second and only on a part of the shared screen. This seems to be more prevalent when acting on the window (up to about 5 flickers per second). This problem appears on two different laptops with intel graphics cards.

Steps to reproduce
Start a screen share via zoom.

Other information
This problem seems to be not existing on a desktop computer with the same software versions installed but with an nvidia graphics card. Switching to XFCE solves the problem.

I have tried all VSync settings in the system settings. The flickering seems to be a little less when I don't use the "presentation time" option but is still there for every option. Disabling composite for fullscreen windows and sharing a fullscreen window did not help either.

I have not yet tried to change to the unstable branch and instal Cinnamon 4.6. Is there any indication that that might help?

Thank you!

[rhrazdil]

Seems a lot like #5359, try restarting Cinnamon (ctrl+alt+esc).

[wgunruh]

No it is not. I am having the same problem he is--the problem is notmy own screen-- it is that others with whom I am sharing a window on my screen see the tearing/flickering where the background desktop shows on parts of the shared window on their computer. on mine everything is normal. I suspect it is a Qt problem, or an X problem since it looks like the window is not being rendered properly over the background by Zoom.

I am on Mageia 7 updated using Plasma desktop. This problem has only occurred lately. (last month).

[generalredneck]

Something along these lines

[wgunruh]

Yes, but that is mild case. In my case you can see it at http://www.theory.physics.ubc.ca/zoom-flicker.mp4 (or the bottom of the page at www.theory.physics.ubc.ca/) as recorded on my laptop when I was sharing a Whiteboard on my home desktop. Running on Plasma on Mageia 7 (Intel onboard graphics chipset, althought that should not make a difference) If I run on XFCE this problem does not occur, so, at least in my case it seems to be associated with KDE Plasma desktop.

…

On Tue, 8 Dec 2020, Allan Chappell wrote: Something along these lines 

[FelixHaller]

I think it has something to do with compositing. When using Plasma just disable the compositing (aka desktop effects) (Hotkey: ALT+SHIFT+F12) and try again. It worked for me in other apps (MS Teams) that produce the same flickering on the shared screen.
Unfortunately there is no way to disable the compositing in Cinnamon as it is built-in. Or am I wrong?

[phauer]

I'm facing the same issue. Interestingly, the flickering does not occur when I'm using Zoom or MS Teams via the browser (chrome). It only happens when I'm using the dedicated app of Zoom or MS Teams.

[michael-markevich]

I can confirm the issue as well.

• Linux 5.10.4 with Intel X video driver (UHD 620 card)
• Cinnamon 4.8.5
• Latest Zoom client with screen sharing on in the whiteboard mode.

[LainLayer]

Same issue.

• Linux 5.9.16
• Intel i3-4130 integrated graphics
• Cinnamon 4.6.7
• zoom 5.4.57450.1220

Both in whole screen and in single window recording mode.
Not only in zoom, but also in ffmpeg when recording the screen.
Issue not present when using XFCE.

[phauer]

I was able to fix this with the following workaround: In the login screen (display manager), I select "Cinnamon (Software Rendering)" instead of only "Cinnamon". Then, the flickering disappears.

[ccjjmartin]

No luck for me on software rendering, issue still appears.

[balbinot]

Same issue here

• Linux 5.4.0
• Intel Core i7-8550U (UHD 620)
• Cinnamon 4.4.8
• Zoom 5.3

[filipegiusti]

Same here.

• Cinnamon 4.8.6
• Intel Corporation HD Graphics 630 (rev 04)
  • Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7600K CPU @ 3.80GHz
• Zoom 5.5.2
• xf86-video-intel 1:2.99.917+916+g31486f40-1

I'm using arch.

Using "software rendering" solves the issue for me, but it's kind of a problem to have to restart the session when you wanna screen share.

[luke2m]

I don’t think that this is a Cinnamon issue, Budgie (also based on Gnome 3) on Arch has the same problem. Switching to XFCE also fixes it.

[wgunruh]

Zoom just released a new version which they implied may help fix this. So try the latest zoom. (5.5.7011.0206-1). I have not yet been able to test this as what I have now works of XFCE, and since I am usuing it for teaching almost every day, I do not want to tempt the gods. William G. Unruh __| Canadian Institute for|____ Tel: +1(604)822-3273 Physics&Astronomy _|___ Advanced Research _|____ Fax: +1(604)822-5324 UBC, Vancouver,BC _|_ Program in Cosmology |____ unruh@physics.ubc.ca Canada V6T 1Z1 ____|____ and Gravity ______|_ www.theory.physics.ubc.ca/

…

On Thu, 4 Mar 2021, luke2m wrote: [CAUTION: Non-UBC Email] I don’t think that this is a Cinnamon issue, Budgie (also based on Gnome 3) on Arch has the same problem. Switching to XFCE also fixes it. — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.[AMLNT67JDAU2XNQXANX4QRDTCAXLRA5CNFSM4NFLBQJ2YY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGOF4TNOFI.gif]

[filipegiusti]

I don’t think that this is a Cinnamon issue, Budgie (also based on Gnome 3) on Arch has the same problem. Switching to XFCE also fixes it.

It seems to be related to compositing but that can't be disabled in Cinnamon.

[filipegiusti]

Zoom just released a new version which they implied may help fix this. So try the latest zoom. (5.5.7011.0206-1). I have not yet been able to test this as what I have now works of XFCE, and since I am usuing it for teaching almost every day, I do not want to tempt the gods.

I just tried on Zoom 5.5.4 (7938.0228) and it's not fixed.

[tomchor]

I just installed Manjaro with cinnamon and I have the exact same problem as appears here: #9321 (comment). Curiously I used to have Arch Linux with cinnamon until last week and this wasn't a problem.

Cinnamon: 4.8.6
Zoom 5.6.1

Unfortunately switching to xfce is not an option for me.

Is this issue at the very least well-understood at this point? Zoom is kind of essential these days, so having it not work properly is a huge hassle :/

[bouloumag]

For the record, this solution worked for me on ArchLinux and Cinnamon 5.2.0:

Remove "old" Intel driver in favor of the default modesetting driver

sudo pacman -R xf86-video-intel

Disable vsync for Zoom for more smooth screen sharing experience

sudo rm /usr/bin/zoom

cat <<"EOF" > /tmp/zoom
#!/bin/sh
vblank_mode=0 /opt/zoom/ZoomLauncher "$@"
EOF

sudo install -m 0755 /tmp/zoom /usr/bin

Source : https://viliampucik.wordpress.com/2020/04/02/fix-tearing-and-flickering-in-zoom-screen-sharing/

[jeroeness]

Hi, I'm also experiencing this issue. I tried a lot of methods and suggestions on the internet and in this thread. None of them seems to solve the problem in a satisfying way for me personally. Using XFCE (even with compositing enabled) has no flickering issues for me, but I want to stick with Cinnamon. Removing xf86-video-intel leads to my tty being stuck with a freezing cursor on boot (I didn't investigate the cause of this any further).

The closest to solving the problem I got is launching Cinnamon with software rendering from the display manager. With this approach I pay with performance but I can reliably share my screen (which I do from time to time for work). I also noticed that the flickering problem is less severe with high-end hardware.

I hope, someday there will be a good fix for this problem.

[tomchor]

@jeroeness Switching to video-modesetting worked for me. I did it through the Manjaro Settings Manager.

[wgunruh]

The latest Zoom for me solves the tearing on Plasma, but has trouble that if you place another window partly on top of the shared window, then that other window leaves a black area on the transmitted shared window. That is less of a disaster than the flickering/tearing however. William G. Unruh __| Canadian Institute for|____ Tel: +1(604)822-3273 Physics&Astronomy _|___ Advanced Research _|____ Fax: +1(604)822-5324 UBC, Vancouver,BC _|_ Program in Cosmology |____ ***@***.*** Canada V6T 1Z1 ____|____ and Gravity ______|_ www.theory.physics.ubc.ca/

…

On Wed, 16 Jun 2021, Jeroen wrote: [CAUTION: Non-UBC Email] Hi, I'm also experiencing this issue. I tried a lot of methods and suggestions on the internet and in this thread. None of them seems to solve the problem in a satisfying way for me personally. Using XFCE (even with compositing enabled) has no flickering issues for me, but I want to stick with Cinnamon. Removing xf86-video-intel leads to my tty being stuck with a freezing cursor on boot (I didn't investigate the cause of this any further). The closest to solving the problem I got is launching Cinnamon with software rendering from the display manager. With this approach I pay with performance but I can reliably share my screen (which I do from time to time for work). I also noticed that the flickering problem is less severe with high-end hardware. I hope, someday there will be a good fix for this problem. — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, orunsubscribe.[AMLNT63ISXDMKG6V5QVTZOTTTCJOLA5CNFSM4NFLBQJ2YY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGOG NTCTFA.gif]

[filipegiusti]

The latest Zoom for me solves the tearing on Plasma

What version of Zoom?

[jeroeness]

Thanks for the suggestion @tomchor.

For me the problem is solved by configuring my NVIDIA as primary GPU [1]. I also enabled prime sync [2] and configured LightDM to support the change (which would otherwise give a black screen).

Using my NVIDIA as primary GPU also fixed some rendering issues with my displaylink drivers.

I think the screen tearing/flickering are related specifically to Intel Integrated Graphics (or its drivers).

[1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA_Optimus#Use_NVIDIA_graphics_only
[2] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA#DRM_kernel_mode_setting

[astrobel]

I found this thread after dealing with this issue for a couple of months, and @jeroeness's answer partially works for me. (Thank you for sharing it!) Now, I still have flickering when I share my whole screen, but when I share an individual window, it is static so long as the window is not active. As soon as I click on the window being shared, however, the issue returns. (Editing to add that I will also be rolling back these changes as they cause my CPU to overheat.)

Specs:

• Cinnamon 5.0.5
• Zoom 5.7.4
• Kernel 5.13.9 (Arch)

[EsneyderP]

Just in case, I was having this issue but using an NVIDIA graphic card. I just fix it by doing:

• Open your application menu
• Search “nvidia”: You’ll find “NVIDIA X Server Settings” – click that
• Turn off Flipping: X Screen 0 -> OpenGL Settings -> Allow Flipping (uncheck)

[totoal]

Just in case, I was having this issue but using an NVIDIA graphic card. I just fix it by doing:

• Open your application menu
• Search “nvidia”: You’ll find “NVIDIA X Server Settings” – click that
• Turn off Flipping: X Screen 0 -> OpenGL Settings -> Allow Flipping (uncheck)

This worked for me on Linux Mint 20.3, Cinnamon 5.2.7

[binarynoise]

I also had this problem (with x0vncserver, x11vnc, OBS, AnyDesk) on cinnamon on arch, but the trick from @bouloumag helped. After removing the old driver, the flickering went away.