I use an application that I installed as a flatpak. My lynix Mint (21.2) machine Dell M6700 with an Nvidia chip set gets freedesktop updates which include the freedesktop Nvidia driver.
After the update the application freezes, it captures the screen when the application starts. It does not display the intended content.
I must reinstall the original nvidia driver to clean up the mess.
If you have a fix, I’d like to hear it. This issue seems to put a lie to the claim that flatpak provides a stable runtime environment for applications delivered with flatpak.
1 Like
The nvidia driver is uniquely problematic because it doesn’t maintain a stable ABI between its kernel and userspace components. A separate flatpak extension is made for each driver version, but you need to flatpak update (or equivalent) to get it.
I’ve seen one other report similar to the behavior you describe, but it clearly isn’t a widespread issue. The same debugging info I requested there would be of use here:
When this happens, please compare the nvidia version in flatpak --gl-drivers to the driver version in nvidia-smi. Also confirm that org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.nvidia-VERSION is installed, using something like flatpak list --runtime | grep nvidia
The output of the guilty flatpak update command (or the relevant excerpt from flatpak history) could also be helpful.
What do you mean? Are you downgrading the actual nvidia driver and rebooting? Or doing something with the flatpak nvidia extension? If so, what?
That could have been phrased more generously.
I apologize for my puzzled query. I am here because I need help. I am a first time user.
The driver that came with mint is nvidia-driver-390.157-0ubuntu0.22.04.2.
When the freedesktop updates it installs …nvidia-390-157 1.4. the application captures the screen when I start it and does not display the intended material.
The xorg-video-nouveau driver also comes with the Mint distribution. The application works but the driver has problems with multiple displays.
To reinstall the original driver I first install the xog version reboot and install the nvidia version. After I reinstall the nvidia-driver-390ubuntu driver the app works correctly and I can run multiple displays. My problem seems to be that the freedesktop driver is does not run with my nvidia chip set.
What is especially odd is when the application puts out an update the update includes the freedisktop driver.
What is most troubling is the idea that one day the ubuntu driver might not resurrect the application.
I believe that this is due to the proprietary driver. The freedesktop version is incompatible.
I might not be able to use the free desktop version.
Thanks for your helpful comments.
It’s an unfortunate quirk of how the nvidia extension is packaged on Flathub that adding a new driver version triggers an update for every other version, and that update causes the driver to be re-downloaded from nvidia. There is a plan in the works to fix the latter so the bogus updates will be no-ops at least. This should also make things a bit more robust.
org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.nvidia-390-157 is the flatpak extension for that nvidia driver version. It was released in 2022, and there apparently haven’t been any updates for that legacy driver series since. There are some reports of breakage with that driver here: Several flatpak applications, on operating systems with Nvidia GPU and 390-157 driver, with "org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.nvidia-390-157" runtime, don't launch. · Issue #211 · flathub/org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.nvidia · GitHub
Ultimately, this is an unmaintained proprietary driver, and I’m not sure there’s much we can do.
When you run flatpak update, is the nvidia extension being installed or upgraded? It’s conceivable that you’re running the flatpak apps without any nvidia extension, and when flatpak installs the nvidia extension, it breaks like in the above issue. To confirm, you could try flatpak uninstall org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.nvidia-390-157 and see if apps work without it installed. It’s not clear to me whether apps would use software rendering or simply fail (but the latter seems more likely).
The flatpak info command shows the the freedesktop driver in uninstalled after I change back to the ubuntu nvidia driver that came with my distribution of Mint.
The distribution also includes an xorg video driver. The application also works with that driver. However, the driver is erratic with dual displays. The nvidia driver works dual displays correctly.
The application display works correctly with the freedesktop driver uninstalled. A work around with the freedesktop driver is disabling openGL in the application configuration file.
If it works without the extension, you could mask it to prevent it from being installed automatically:
flatpak mask org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.nvidia-390-157
Great idea.
Thanks for your help.
I updated flatpak to reintroduce the error.
I uninstalled the freedesktop nvidia driver. That “fixed” the application.
I masked the freedesktop nvidia driver. I updated flatpak it responded with “Nothing to be done”.
This should "“solve” my issue for the future releases.