https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=518347
Bug ID: 518347
Summary: Ghostwriter segfaults immediately on startup on a
hybrid Intel+NVIDIA laptop when running on the default
Intel GPU (Mesa/iris, Haswell). The crash happens
inside QtWebEngine's Chromium GPU compositing
pipeline. The application is unusable without manually
Classification: Applications
Product: ghostwriter
Version First 25.12.3
Reported In:
Platform: EndeavourOS
OS: Linux
Status: REPORTED
Severity: crash
Priority: NOR
Component: general
Assignee: [email protected]
Reporter: [email protected]
Target Milestone: ---
Created attachment 191153
--> https://bugs.kde.org/attachment.cgi?id=191153&action=edit
backtrace-full-gbm-coredumpctl
STEPS TO REPRODUCE
ghostwriter
On a hybrid Intel+NVIDIA laptop with Mesa drivers, Wayland session.
EXPECTED BEHAVIOR
Ghostwriter launches successfully and the Markdown preview renders. If hardware
GPU acceleration is unavailable, a graceful software fallback should be used.
ACTUAL BEHAVIOR
WARNING: GBM is not supported with the current configuration. Fallback to
Vulkan rendering in Chromium.
Segmentation fault (core dumped)
Application crashes immediately after the GBM warning. No document is ever
shown.
SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
OS: EndeavourOS (Arch-based), kernel 6.18.9-arch1-2
Desktop: GNOME 49.4, Wayland
iGPU: Intel HD Graphics 4600 (Haswell)
dGPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M
Mesa: 26.0.3
qt6-webengine: 6.11.0-2
Ghostwriter: 25.12.3-1 (Arch repos), cmark 0.31.2
KDE Frameworks: not installed
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Workaround found — setting Chromium flags before launch fixes the crash:
QTWEBENGINE_CHROMIUM_FLAGS="--disable-gpu-compositing --disable-vulkan"
ghostwriter
As a .desktop override (~/.local/share/applications/ghostwriter.desktop):
Exec=env QTWEBENGINE_CHROMIUM_FLAGS="--disable-gpu-compositing
--disable-vulkan" ghostwriter %f
What was tried:
ghostwriter -> CRASH
(segfault)
prime-run ghostwriter ->
Launches, preview shows black square
QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb ghostwriter -> CRASH
(same result as wayland)
QTWEBENGINE_DISABLE_GPU=1 ghostwriter -> CRASH
(Qt-level flag doesn't reach Chromium)
QTWEBENGINE_CHROMIUM_FLAGS="--disable-vulkan" ghostwriter -> CRASH
QTWEBENGINE_CHROMIUM_FLAGS="--disable-gpu-compositing" ghostwriter -> OK
QTWEBENGINE_CHROMIUM_FLAGS="--disable-gpu-compositing --disable-vulkan"
ghostwriter -> OK, fully stable
Backtrace attached. Crash originates in libgallium called from
RenderWidgetHostViewQtDelegateItem::updatePaintNode inside QtWebEngine.
Suggested fix:
Ghostwriter could apply these Chromium flags automatically as a fallback when
GBM
initialization fails, or document this workaround prominently for hybrid GPU
laptop
users. Alternatively, detecting the "GBM is not supported" condition and
warning the
user rather than crashing would be a significant improvement.
Note: low-level crash details also filed at Mesa GitLab
(https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/freedesktop/freedesktop/-/work_items/3208).
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