[lintek]

System Specs

Operating System – Linux Lite	Linux Lite 7.8
CPU / Processor	intelcore i5-3570
Memory (RAM)	24 GB
Storage	mSATA SSD
Graphics (GPU)	NV106

When I hit the INSTALL UPDATES icon in the tray I get this for the Fetch Updates List menu:



The bottom right and bottom left of he box are active but blank.

I have no idea what is on the list and what button I am pressing if I click on it.

?

[stevef]

There's a known problem with Nvidia drivers rendering some windows.
Most recently reported here.

https://dfgkh547-jsdfv8.iyhkj.tk/forums/showt...ight=blank

The 'GSK_RENDER=gl' hack has been used several times.

[valtam]

[KNOWN ISSUE] Lite Updates (and other apps) open as a blank white window — NVIDIA 470 driver

Affects: Linux Lite 7.x (based on Ubuntu 24.04) on machines using the NVIDIA 470 legacy graphics driver - typically older GeForce cards such as the GT 730.

THE SYMPTOM

After updating, Lite Updates — and possibly other applications - open as a blank white window with nothing drawn in them. The apps are actually running; they just aren't being painted on screen.

WHY IT HAPPENS

This is an upstream NVIDIA + GTK issue, not a Linux Lite bug. The newer GTK4 toolkit in Ubuntu 24.04 defaults to a graphics renderer that the NVIDIA 470 legacy driver does not handle correctly, so the windows never repaint. Switching GTK4 back to its older "gl" renderer fixes it. Background reading: https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/mu...-04/291106

HOW TO CHECK IF THIS AFFECTS YOU

Open a terminal (Menu > System > Terminal, or right-click the desktop > Open Terminal Here) and run:

Code:

nvidia-smi

If the "Driver Version" shown begins with 470, this applies to you. If you use a different driver (or an AMD Intel GPU), you are not affected and should not apply the workaround below.

THE FIX

Option 1:

Quick manual fix (works immediately)
Run this single command in a terminal to add the setting, then reboot:

Code:

echo 'GSK_RENDERER=gl' | sudo tee -a /etc/environment

Reboot your PC. Lite Updates and the other apps will now display correctly.

Option 2:

Permanent automatic fix (recommended)

A Linux Lite update applies this for you automatically, but ONLY on machines that are actually running the 470 driver - so other systems are unaffected. Because the updater window itself may be one of the blank apps, install the update from a terminal:

Code:

sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade

Then reboot (or log out and back in). Once the update is installed, the fix is applied at every login automatically. If you ever move to a newer driver or GPU, it switches itself off again - no further action needed.

IF YOU ADDED THE MANUAL FIX BUT ARE NOT ON A 470 CARD

The automatic update only acts on real 470 systems, but a manual line in /etc/environment stays until you remove it. If you added the line earlier and you are NOT using the 470 driver, you can remove it to get the newer renderer back: run "sudo nano /etc/environment", delete the line "GSK_RENDERER=gl", save
(Ctrl+O, Enter) and exit (Ctrl+X), then reboot.

[valtam]

Moved to Security & Bug Fixes.

[lintek]

Here are my results:

Code:

 nvidia-smi Sat Jun 20 10:01:17 2026       +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | NVIDIA-SMI 470.256.02   Driver Version: 470.256.02   CUDA Version: 11.4     | |-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | GPU  Name        Persistence-M| Bus-Id        Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC | | Fan  Temp  Perf  Pwr:Usage/Cap|         Memory-Usage | GPU-Util  Compute M. | |                               |                      |               MIG M. | |===============================+======================+======================| |   0  NVIDIA GeForce ...  Off  | 00000000:01:00.0 N/A |                  N/A | | 50%   36C    P0    N/A /  N/A |    772MiB /  2001MiB |     N/A      Default | |                               |                      |                  N/A | +-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+                                                                                +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Processes:                                                                  | |  GPU   GI   CI        PID   Type   Process name                  GPU Memory | |        ID   ID                                                   Usage      | |=============================================================================| |  No running processes found                                                 | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Looks like I have a version of 470 so I guess this is the one I need to run:

Code:

sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade

?


That isn't going to restore the Nouveau drivers will it?  They were really buggy.

Thank you.

[stevef]

A1 Yes
A2 No

[lintek]

Thank you!

[lintek]

Applied the suggested code 

Code:

sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade

and then rebooted the computer.

Problem still not fixed.  Updates list box still blank.

So then I just tried this code

Code:

echo 'GSK_RENDERER=gl' | sudo tee -a /etc/environment

We'll see if it worked.  But is it permanent?

[valtam]

Please return the output of:

Code:

apt-cache policy lite-patch

Code:

cat /proc/driver/nvidia/version

Code:

ls -l /etc/X11/Xsession.d/90linuxlite-gsk-renderer

[lintek]

Code:

apt-cache policy lite-patch lite-patch:   Installed: 7.0-0030-linuxlite   Candidate: 7.0-0040-linuxlite   Version table:     7.0-0040-linuxlite 500         500 http://repo.linuxliteos.com/linuxlite galena/main amd64 Packages *** 7.0-0030-linuxlite 500         500 http://repo.linuxliteos.com/linuxlite galena/main i386 Packages         100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Code:

cat /proc/driver/nvidia/version NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module  470.256.02  Thu May  2 14:37:44 UTC 2024 GCC version:  gcc version 13.3.0 (Ubuntu 13.3.0-6ubuntu2~24.04.1)

Code:

ls -l /etc/X11/Xsession.d/90linuxlite-gsk-renderer ls: cannot access '/etc/X11/Xsession.d/90linuxlite-gsk-renderer': No such file or directory