Simple fix for screen tearing - nVidia

This fix is known to work with the nVidia non-Free driver package on Xfce & Openbox. It should work on any GTK based DE/WM & possibly others. This page will be updated in that regard as feedback comes in.

21-Mar-2015 - Fully re-written due to new information coming in: 

Possible side effects

• It is likely that whenever your mouse touches the top border of your screen it will dissapear (only whilst touching that border).

• It is possible that 3D intensive games may be slowed by the use of this fix. (Still waiting on feedback for that one.)

• Possible problem with some docks. It is not a problem with the Openbox dock or Tint2. (Will add information to this if it comes along.)

Here is the relatively simple procedure

1. Open /etc/X11/mhwd.d/nvidia.conf in your favourite text editor with root permission.

2. Under Section Device add the following line

Option "metamodes" "nvidia-auto-select +0+0 { ForceFullCompositionPipeline = On }"

3. Save the modified file using the Save As option in your text editor, as /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/95-mhwd.conf

4. Again, as root, delete the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/@90-mhwd.conf file, or 90-mhwd.conf file (whichever you have).

5. Log out/in.

That's it.

Making a the new 95-mhwd.conf file means that nVidia won't overwrite it when their is a future closed source upgrade.

Support

Following is a link to this page's forum counterpart where you can post any related feedback: [1]