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How to Tell Whether Direct Scanout Explains a KWin Fullscreen Crash

A second-monitor fullscreen crash and a direct-scanout-related Chromium freeze are separate KDE reports. Learn how output type, KWin version, and crash evidence help distinguish them.
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A KWin crash when Edge enters fullscreen on a second monitor is a documented symptom, but the available reports do not prove that direct scanout caused that crash. A separate report links direct scanout to fullscreen freezes in Chromium-based apps on DRM virtual outputs—not to the second-monitor crash report. The distinction matters: the symptom may match, while the diagnosis remains unconfirmed.

What the reports actually establish

KDE Bugzilla report 521934 describes KWin crashing when a program or game opens fullscreen on a second monitor. Its excerpt says the reporter reproduced the problem with Firefox and Buckshot Roulette. It does not identify direct scanout as the cause, and the excerpt does not establish that Edge was involved.

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A separate report, KDE Bugzilla 523353, describes a different failure: fullscreen Chromium-based applications could freeze on a DRM virtual output with KWin 6.7.3. In that case, KWin stopped honoring KWIN_DRM_NO_DIRECT_SCANOUT=1 for virtual outputs, allowing direct scanout despite the setting. The report says physical DRM outputs were not affected by that particular regression.

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Because Edge is Chromium-based, the virtual-output report makes direct scanout a plausible lead if your display is a DRM virtual output and the symptom is a freeze. It does not establish why KWin crashed on a physical second monitor. A crash and a frozen fullscreen window are different failures, and the reports should not be treated as interchangeable.

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How direct scanout fits—and where it does not

Direct scanout is a KWin display path relevant to whether a fullscreen surface can be presented without the usual compositing path. The cited reports show that scanout behavior can matter to fullscreen Chromium playback on a particular kind of output. They do not show that disabling direct scanout prevents the second-monitor crash in Bugzilla 521934.

Another KDE report, Bugzilla 516808, says moving the cursor to another monitor during fullscreen makes KWin composite rather than use direct scanout. That indicates multi-monitor cursor state can affect scanout eligibility; it is not evidence that scanout caused the crash in the second-monitor report.

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Check whether the virtual-output report matches your setup

  • Output type: Determine whether the affected second display is a physical DRM output or a DRM virtual output. The reported KWin 6.7.3 regression concerns virtual outputs specifically.
  • Failure type: Note whether KWin exits or restarts, or whether the fullscreen Edge window merely stops updating. The cited reports concern a crash and a freeze respectively.
  • KWin version: Record the exact Plasma and KWin versions, including whether KWin is 6.7.3. A version-specific report is not evidence that every release behaves the same way.
  • Application and graphics stack: Record the Edge version, GPU model, and graphics driver. These details help distinguish a browser-specific symptom from a display-path issue.
  • Crash evidence: If KWin crashes, capture its crash backtrace. A backtrace and exact configuration are needed to connect the symptom to a particular failure mechanism.

Should you set KWIN_DRM_NO_DIRECT_SCANOUT=1?

Do not treat KWIN_DRM_NO_DIRECT_SCANOUT=1 as a universal fix. Bugzilla 523353 specifically reports that KWin 6.7.3 did not honor this setting on DRM virtual outputs. For physical DRM outputs, that report says the particular regression did not apply; it does not establish that the setting will resolve a crash there.

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The Bugzilla 523353 author identified commit 768eb537025b after comparing KWin 6.7.2 and 6.7.3 source tags, and reported that a suggested patch applied syntactically. The author explicitly did not compile or run-test it, so the report is not validation of a working fix. Avoid treating that patch or commit as a confirmed remedy.

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What later Plasma notes say

KDE’s June 27, 2026 Plasma 6.7.2 update says the release fixed a KWin crash related to variable refresh rates in multi-monitor setups and improved fullscreen video playback performance in Chromium-based applications. Those notes do not identify either change as a fix for the exact second-monitor fullscreen crash or the virtual-output direct-scanout regression described above.

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What to include in a useful bug report

When reporting the issue, separate what you observed from what you suspect. State that Edge fullscreen triggers the problem and describe whether KWin crashes or the display freezes; label direct scanout as a possible explanation unless logs or a reproducible test establish it.

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  • Exact Plasma and KWin versions.
  • Whether the affected display is physical or a DRM virtual output.
  • GPU model and graphics-driver version.
  • Edge version and whether another Chromium-based app or browser reproduces the issue.
  • Steps that reliably trigger the failure, including monitor arrangement and cursor position.
  • A KWin crash backtrace if KWin exits or restarts.

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