Solving "invisible windows" on boot (NVIDIA)

[adamavenir]

I encountered the following very strange problem and got an effective solution from Claude for it. Sharing here for the sake of documenting.

Problem

Specifically after booting up on my NVIDIA RTX 4080 desktop I encountered an issue where

• I can see in the top bar that windows are being created ('space' numbers are bright when I eg super-b and dimmed when I super-w)
• they do not show up with numerous interactions (clicks, keyboard shortcuts that open apps).
• also my mouse cursor doesn't show up.

Weirdly, if I plug in an external keyboard and click my mouse around a bit, the cursor shows up and I'm then able to open some windows with the same original keyboard I was using before.

Claude's diagnostic suggestion

This is a classic NVIDIA Wayland issue - you're experiencing the dreaded "invisible desktop syndrome." The external keyboard "fix" is a telltale sign of NVIDIA timing/initialization problems.

What's Happening

1. Hardware cursor issue - NVIDIA hardware cursors are broken on Wayland
2. DRM initialization timing - Windows exist but aren't rendering
3. Input device wake-up - External keyboard triggers some initialization that fixes rendering

Immediate Diagnostic

Let's see what's actually configured:

# Check if hardware cursors are disabled
echo $WLR_NO_HARDWARE_CURSORS

# Check current Omarchy environment
cat ~/.local/share/omarchy/default/hypr/envs.conf

# Check what happens at boot
journalctl -b | grep -i nvidia | head -20
journalctl -b | grep -i drm | head -10

Claude's fix suggestion after diagnostic results

Found the problem! 🎯

Issue #1: Hardware Cursors Are Enabled

echo $WLR_NO_HARDWARE_CURSORS returns empty - this is why your cursor disappears! NVIDIA hardware cursors are broken on Wayland.

Issue #2: Missing NVIDIA Environment Variables

Omarchy has good Wayland forcing but is missing critical NVIDIA-specific variables.

Issue #3: Framebuffer Conflict

Your logs show both simpledrm and nvidia-drm fighting over fb0 - this causes the invisible windows.

Immediate Fix

Add to ~/.config/hypr/envs.conf:

# Critical NVIDIA fixes
env = WLR_NO_HARDWARE_CURSORS,1
env = GBM_BACKEND,nvidia-drm
env = __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME,nvidia
env = LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME,nvidia
env = XDG_SESSION_TYPE,wayland

# Disable simpledrm conflict (this is key!)
env = WLR_DRM_NO_ATOMIC,1

Fix the DRM Conflict

The simpledrm loading before nvidia-drm is causing your windows to be invisible. Let's blacklist it:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-simpledrm.conf

Add:

# Prevent simpledrm conflict with nvidia-drm
blacklist simpledrm

Update Your NVIDIA Config

Edit /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf:

# Force early nvidia-drm loading
options nvidia_drm modeset=1 fbdev=1
options nvidia NVreg_PreserveVideoMemoryAllocations=1
options nvidia NVreg_EnableGpuFirmware=1
# Prevent timing issues
options nvidia NVreg_InitializeSystemMemoryAllocations=0

Rebuild and Test

sudo mkinitcpio -P

The external keyboard "fix" works because it triggers some input subsystem event that forces a redraw. But the real fix is disabling hardware cursors and resolving the DRM conflict.

Results

Claude's suggestion worked. I now have a cursor and can open windows after rebooting. I did have to click a couple times but I didn't have to install.

Tested running a game to ensure I didn't somehow break my NVIDIA config, and was able to run a game in 4K at 130fps, so no issues there.