After driver update, no GPU acceleration

[guillaume.gaullier@…]

The following bug report has been submitted:
Platform:        Linux-5.14.0-611.38.1.el9_7.x86_64-x86_64-with-glibc2.34
ChimeraX Version: 1.11.1 (2026-01-23 05:51:34 UTC)
Description
Since a recent nvidia driver update, ChimeraX seems to no longer use GPU acceleration.

This is a fresh installation of current stable ChimeraX on AlmaLinux 9.7. Upon startup I get this warning in the Log:


warning
GBM is not supported with the current configuration. Fallback to Vulkan rendering in Chromium.


Opening a PDB entry and trying to rotate it with the mouse is very laggy and results in this kind of graphics glitch (attached).

ChimeraX is not usable at all as a result.

Log:
Startup Messages  
---  
warning | GBM is not supported with the current configuration. Fallback to Vulkan rendering in Chromium.  
  
UCSF ChimeraX version: 1.11.1 (2026-01-23)  
© 2016-2025 Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.  
How to cite UCSF ChimeraX  

> open 1aoi

1aoi title:  
Complex between nucleosome core particle (H3,H4,H2A,H2B) and 146 BP long DNA
fragment [more info...]  
  
Chain information for 1aoi #1  
---  
Chain | Description | UniProt  
A E | HISTONE H3 | H32_XENLA 20-135  
B F | HISTONE H4 | H4_XENLA 16-102  
C G | HISTONE H2A | H2A1_XENLA 4-119  
D H | HISTONE H2B | H2B1_XENLA 24-122  
I J | PALINDROMIC 146 BP DNA REPEAT 8/9 FROM HUMAN X-CHROMOSOME ALPHA SATELLITE DNA |   
  
Non-standard residues in 1aoi #1  
---  
MN — manganese (II) ion  
  

> set bgColor white

> save /home/guillaume/Desktop/image3.png supersample 3




OpenGL version: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 595.45.04
OpenGL renderer: NVIDIA RTX A2000 12GB/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL vendor: NVIDIA Corporation

Python: 3.11.13
Locale: en_US.UTF-8
Qt version: PyQt6 6.9.1, Qt 6.9.0
Qt runtime version: 6.9.2
Qt platform: xcb

XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland
DESKTOP_SESSION=gnome
XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP=gnome
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME
WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-0
GNOME_SETUP_DISPLAY=:1
DISPLAY=:0
Manufacturer: HP
Model: HP Z2 Mini G9 Workstation Desktop PC
OS: AlmaLinux 9.7
Architecture: 64bit ELF
Virtual Machine: none
CPU: 20 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700K
Cache Size: 25600 KB
Memory:
	               total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
	Mem:            30Gi       5.7Gi        11Gi       200Mi        14Gi        25Gi
	Swap:          7.8Gi          0B       7.8Gi

Graphics:
	02:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GA106 [RTX A2000 12GB] [10de:2571] (rev a1)	
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1611]	
	Kernel driver in use: nvidia

Installed Packages:
    aiohappyeyeballs: 2.6.1
    aiohttp: 3.13.1
    aiosignal: 1.4.0
    alabaster: 1.0.0
    annotated-types: 0.7.0
    anyio: 4.12.1
    appdirs: 1.4.4
    asttokens: 3.0.1
    attrs: 25.4.0
    babel: 2.17.0
    beautifulsoup4: 4.13.5
    blockdiag: 3.0.0
    blosc2: 3.12.2
    build: 1.3.0
    certifi: 2026.1.4
    cftime: 1.6.5
    charset-normalizer: 3.4.4
    ChimeraX-AddCharge: 1.5.20
    ChimeraX-AddH: 2.2.8
    ChimeraX-AlignmentAlgorithms: 2.0.2
    ChimeraX-AlignmentHdrs: 3.6.1
    ChimeraX-AlignmentMatrices: 2.1
    ChimeraX-Alignments: 3.1.1
    ChimeraX-AlphaFold: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-AltlocExplorer: 1.2
    ChimeraX-AmberInfo: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Animations: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Aniso: 1.3.2
    ChimeraX-Arrays: 1.1
    ChimeraX-Atomic: 1.61.4
    ChimeraX-AtomicLibrary: 14.2.1
    ChimeraX-AtomSearch: 2.0.1
    ChimeraX-AxesPlanes: 2.4
    ChimeraX-BasicActions: 1.1.3
    ChimeraX-BILD: 1.0
    ChimeraX-BlastProtein: 3.0.0
    ChimeraX-Boltz: 1.1
    ChimeraX-BondRot: 2.0.4
    ChimeraX-BugReporter: 1.0.2
    ChimeraX-BuildStructure: 2.13.1
    ChimeraX-Bumps: 1.0
    ChimeraX-BundleBuilder: 1.6.0
    ChimeraX-ButtonPanel: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-CageBuilder: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-CellPack: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Centroids: 1.4
    ChimeraX-ChangeChains: 1.1
    ChimeraX-CheckWaters: 1.5
    ChimeraX-ChemGroup: 2.0.2
    ChimeraX-Clashes: 2.3
    ChimeraX-ColorActions: 1.0.5
    ChimeraX-ColorGlobe: 1.0
    ChimeraX-ColorKey: 1.5.8
    ChimeraX-CommandLine: 1.3.0
    ChimeraX-ConnectStructure: 2.0.1
    ChimeraX-Contacts: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Core: 1.11.1
    ChimeraX-CoreFormats: 1.2
    ChimeraX-coulombic: 1.4.5
    ChimeraX-Crosslinks: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Crystal: 1.0
    ChimeraX-CrystalContacts: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-DataFormats: 1.2.4
    ChimeraX-Dicom: 1.2.7
    ChimeraX-DistMonitor: 1.4.2
    ChimeraX-DockPrep: 1.1.4
    ChimeraX-Dssp: 2.0
    ChimeraX-EMDB-SFF: 1.0
    ChimeraX-ESMFold: 1.0
    ChimeraX-FileHistory: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-FunctionKey: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Geometry: 1.3
    ChimeraX-gltf: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Graphics: 1.4.1
    ChimeraX-Hbonds: 2.5.3
    ChimeraX-Help: 1.3
    ChimeraX-HKCage: 1.3
    ChimeraX-IHM: 1.1
    ChimeraX-ImageFormats: 1.2
    ChimeraX-IMOD: 1.0
    ChimeraX-IO: 1.0.4
    ChimeraX-ItemsInspection: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-IUPAC: 1.0
    ChimeraX-KVFinder: 1.7.3
    ChimeraX-Label: 1.2
    ChimeraX-LinuxSupport: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-ListInfo: 1.2.2
    ChimeraX-Log: 1.2.2
    ChimeraX-LookingGlass: 1.1
    ChimeraX-Maestro: 1.9.2
    ChimeraX-Map: 1.3
    ChimeraX-MapData: 2.0
    ChimeraX-MapEraser: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-MapFilter: 2.0.1
    ChimeraX-MapFit: 2.0
    ChimeraX-MapSeries: 2.1.1
    ChimeraX-Markers: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Mask: 1.0.2
    ChimeraX-MatchMaker: 2.2.2
    ChimeraX-MCopy: 1.0
    ChimeraX-MCPServer: 0.1.0
    ChimeraX-MDcrds: 2.17.2
    ChimeraX-MedicalToolbar: 1.1
    ChimeraX-Meeting: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Minimize: 1.3.2
    ChimeraX-MLP: 1.1.1
    ChimeraX-mmCIF: 2.16
    ChimeraX-MMTF: 2.2
    ChimeraX-ModelArchive: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Modeller: 1.5.22
    ChimeraX-ModelPanel: 1.6
    ChimeraX-ModelSeries: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Mol2: 2.0.3
    ChimeraX-Mole: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Morph: 1.0.2
    ChimeraX-MouseModes: 1.2
    ChimeraX-Movie: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-MutationScores: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Neuron: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Nifti: 1.2
    ChimeraX-NMRSTAR: 1.0.2
    ChimeraX-NRRD: 1.2
    ChimeraX-Nucleotides: 2.0.3
    ChimeraX-OpenCommand: 1.15.2
    ChimeraX-OrthoPick: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-PDB: 2.7.12
    ChimeraX-PDBBio: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-PDBLibrary: 1.0.5
    ChimeraX-PDBMatrices: 1.0
    ChimeraX-PickBlobs: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Positions: 1.0
    ChimeraX-PresetMgr: 1.1.4
    ChimeraX-ProfileGrids: 1.4.2
    ChimeraX-PubChem: 2.2
    ChimeraX-ReadPbonds: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Registration: 1.1.2
    ChimeraX-RemoteControl: 1.0
    ChimeraX-RenderByAttr: 1.6.5
    ChimeraX-RenumberResidues: 1.1
    ChimeraX-ResidueFit: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-RestServer: 1.3.3
    ChimeraX-RNALayout: 1.0
    ChimeraX-RotamerLibMgr: 4.0
    ChimeraX-RotamerLibsDunbrack: 2.0
    ChimeraX-RotamerLibsDynameomics: 2.0
    ChimeraX-RotamerLibsRichardson: 2.0
    ChimeraX-SaveCommand: 1.5.2
    ChimeraX-Scenes: 0.3.1
    ChimeraX-SchemeMgr: 1.0
    ChimeraX-SDF: 2.0.3
    ChimeraX-Segger: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Segment: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Segmentations: 3.5.10
    ChimeraX-SelInspector: 1.0
    ChimeraX-SeqView: 2.17.3
    ChimeraX-Shape: 1.1
    ChimeraX-Shell: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Shortcuts: 1.2.1
    ChimeraX-ShowSequences: 1.0.3
    ChimeraX-SideView: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-SimilarStructures: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Smiles: 2.1.2
    ChimeraX-SmoothLines: 1.0
    ChimeraX-SpaceNavigator: 1.0
    ChimeraX-StdCommands: 1.19.1
    ChimeraX-STL: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Storm: 1.0
    ChimeraX-StructMeasure: 1.2.1
    ChimeraX-Struts: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Surface: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-SwapAA: 2.0.1
    ChimeraX-SwapRes: 2.5.2
    ChimeraX-TapeMeasure: 1.0
    ChimeraX-TaskManager: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Test: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Toolbar: 1.2.3
    ChimeraX-ToolshedUtils: 1.2.4
    ChimeraX-Topography: 1.0
    ChimeraX-ToQuest: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Tug: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-UI: 1.49.1
    ChimeraX-Umap: 1.0
    ChimeraX-uniprot: 2.3.2
    ChimeraX-UnitCell: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-ViewDock: 1.5.2
    ChimeraX-VIPERdb: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Vive: 1.1
    ChimeraX-VolumeMenu: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-vrml: 1.0
    ChimeraX-VTK: 1.0
    ChimeraX-WavefrontOBJ: 1.0
    ChimeraX-WebCam: 1.0.2
    ChimeraX-WebServices: 1.1.5
    ChimeraX-Zone: 1.0.1
    click: 8.3.1
    colorama: 0.4.6
    comm: 0.2.3
    contourpy: 1.3.3
    coverage: 7.13.1
    cxservices: 1.2.3
    cycler: 0.12.1
    Cython: 3.1.4
    debugpy: 1.8.19
    decorator: 5.2.1
    distro: 1.9.0
    docutils: 0.21.2
    executing: 2.2.1
    filelock: 3.19.1
    fonttools: 4.61.1
    frozenlist: 1.8.0
    funcparserlib: 2.0.0a0
    glfw: 2.10.0
    grako: 3.16.5
    h11: 0.16.0
    h5py: 3.15.1
    html2text: 2025.4.15
    httpcore: 1.0.9
    httpx: 0.28.1
    httpx-sse: 0.4.3
    idna: 3.11
    ihm: 2.2
    imagecodecs: 2024.6.1
    imagesize: 1.4.1
    iniconfig: 2.3.0
    ipykernel: 6.30.1
    ipython: 9.5.0
    ipython_pygments_lexers: 1.1.1
    ipywidgets: 8.1.8
    jedi: 0.19.2
    Jinja2: 3.1.6
    jsonschema: 4.26.0
    jsonschema-specifications: 2025.9.1
    jupyter_client: 8.6.3
    jupyter_core: 5.9.1
    jupyterlab_widgets: 3.0.16
    kiwisolver: 1.4.9
    line_profiler: 5.0.0
    lxml: 6.0.2
    lz4: 4.3.2
    Markdown: 3.8.2
    MarkupSafe: 3.0.3
    matplotlib: 3.10.7
    matplotlib-inline: 0.2.1
    mcp: 1.18.0
    msgpack: 1.1.1
    multidict: 6.7.0
    ndindex: 1.10.1
    nest-asyncio: 1.6.0
    netCDF4: 1.6.5
    networkx: 3.3
    nibabel: 5.2.0
    nptyping: 2.5.0
    numexpr: 2.14.1
    numpy: 1.26.4
    nvidia-nvjitlink-cu12: 12.9.86
    OpenMM: 8.2.0
    OpenMM-CUDA-12: 8.2.0
    openvr: 1.26.701
    packaging: 25.0
    ParmEd: 4.2.2
    parso: 0.8.5
    pep517: 0.13.1
    pexpect: 4.9.0
    pickleshare: 0.7.5
    pillow: 11.3.0
    pip: 25.2
    pkginfo: 1.12.1.2
    platformdirs: 4.5.1
    pluggy: 1.6.0
    prompt_toolkit: 3.0.52
    propcache: 0.4.1
    psutil: 7.0.0
    ptyprocess: 0.7.0
    pure_eval: 0.2.3
    py-cpuinfo: 9.0.0
    pybind11: 3.0.1
    pycollada: 0.8
    pydantic: 2.12.5
    pydantic-settings: 2.12.0
    pydantic_core: 2.41.5
    pydicom: 2.4.4
    Pygments: 2.18.0
    pynmrstar: 3.3.6
    pynrrd: 1.0.0
    PyOpenGL: 3.1.10
    PyOpenGL-accelerate: 3.1.10
    pyopenxr: 1.1.4501
    pyparsing: 3.3.2
    pyproject_hooks: 1.2.0
    PyQt6: 6.9.1
    PyQt6-Qt6: 6.9.2
    PyQt6-WebEngine: 6.9.0
    PyQt6-WebEngine-Qt6: 6.9.2
    PyQt6_sip: 13.10.2
    pytest: 9.0.2
    pytest-cov: 7.0.0
    python-dateutil: 2.9.0.post0
    python-dotenv: 1.2.1
    python-multipart: 0.0.21
    pyzmq: 27.1.0
    qtconsole: 5.7.0
    QtPy: 2.4.3
    qtshim: 1.2
    RandomWords: 0.4.0
    referencing: 0.37.0
    requests: 2.32.5
    roman-numerals: 4.1.0
    roman-numerals-py: 4.1.0
    rpds-py: 0.30.0
    scipy: 1.14.0
    setuptools: 80.9.0
    sfftk-rw: 0.8.1
    six: 1.17.0
    snowballstemmer: 3.0.1
    sortedcontainers: 2.4.0
    soupsieve: 2.8.3
    Sphinx: 8.2.3
    sphinx-autodoc-typehints: 3.2.0
    sphinxcontrib-applehelp: 2.0.0
    sphinxcontrib-blockdiag: 3.0.0
    sphinxcontrib-devhelp: 2.0.0
    sphinxcontrib-htmlhelp: 2.1.0
    sphinxcontrib-jsmath: 1.0.1
    sphinxcontrib-qthelp: 2.0.0
    sphinxcontrib-serializinghtml: 2.0.0
    sse-starlette: 3.2.0
    stack-data: 0.6.3
    starlette: 0.52.1
    superqt: 0.7.6
    tables: 3.10.2
    tcia_utils: 1.5.1
    tifffile: 2025.3.13
    tinyarray: 1.2.5
    tornado: 6.5.4
    traitlets: 5.14.3
    typing-inspection: 0.4.2
    typing_extensions: 4.15.0
    urllib3: 2.6.3
    uvicorn: 0.40.0
    wcwidth: 0.3.2
    webcolors: 24.11.1
    wheel: 0.45.1
    wheel-filename: 1.4.2
    widgetsnbextension: 4.0.15
    yarl: 1.22.0
File attachment: Screenshot from 2026-03-16 10-17-49.png

Screenshot from 2026-03-16 10-17-49.png​

[guillaume.gaullier@…]

Added by email2trac

[Greg Couch]

When we've seen this error on Ubuntu, it is often caused by multiple versions of the driver being installed. So one thing to do is to make sure that you only have one version of the Nvidia driver installed -- run "rpm -qa | grep -i nvidia" in a terminal to see what's installed. It is also possible that the Nvidia driver is buggy. And the solution there would be to revert back to an earlier version. It is also possible, but unlikely, that there is a hardware bug with your graphics card. If you revert the driver to an earlier version that worked, and still see the same bug, then you probably need to replace the graphics card. If I think of more possibilities, I'll let you know. Let us know what you try and what the results are.

[guillaume.gaullier@…]

Thanks Greg.


I finally had time to look into this. Reverting to the 590 driver series (right now I have 590.48.01, to be precise) fixed this problem. Now, rotating an open model is as smooth as it was before. The warning in the Log still shows up, but maybe it had been there for longer than I had this slow graphics problem and I had not noticed.


Cheers,


Guillaume

________________________________
From: ChimeraX <ChimeraX-bugs-admin@cgl.ucsf.edu>
Sent: Monday, March 16, 2026 10:22:52 PM
To: gregc@cgl.ucsf.edu; Guillaume Gaullier
Cc: goddard@cgl.ucsf.edu; zjp@cgl.ucsf.edu
Subject: Re: [ChimeraX] #19977: After driver update, no GPU acceleration

#19977: After driver update, no GPU acceleration
-------------------------------------------+------------------------
          Reporter:  guillaume.gaullier@…  |      Owner:  Greg Couch
              Type:  defect                |     Status:  assigned
          Priority:  normal                |  Milestone:
         Component:  Performance           |    Version:
        Resolution:                        |   Keywords:
        Blocked By:                        |   Blocking:
Notify when closed:                        |   Platform:  all
           Project:  ChimeraX              |
-------------------------------------------+------------------------
Comment (by Greg Couch):

 When we've seen this error on Ubuntu, it is often caused by multiple
 versions of the driver being installed.  So one thing to do is to make
 sure that you only have one version of the Nvidia driver installed -- run
 "rpm -qa | grep -i nvidia" in a terminal to see what's installed.  It is
 also possible that the Nvidia driver is buggy.  And the solution there
 would be to revert back to an earlier version.  It is also possible, but
 unlikely, that there is a hardware bug with your graphics card.  If you
 revert the driver to an earlier version that worked, and still see the
 same bug, then you probably need to replace the graphics card.  If I think
 of more possibilities, I'll let  you know.  Let us know what you try and
 what the results are.
--
Ticket URL: <https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/trac/ChimeraX/ticket/19977#comment:2>
ChimeraX <https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/>
ChimeraX Issue Tracker

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[Tom Goddard]

That startup warning

"warning | GBM is not supported with the current configuration. Fallback to Vulkan rendering in Chromium."

means that Qt window toolkit html panels such as the ChimeraX log, and recent files thumbnails and help viewer are being rendered with the Vulkan graphics API and not using the Generic Buffer Management graphics API. This seems to be a superfluous warning message from Qt. I've seen it often, maybe it appears on all Wayland Linux systems.

[Greg Couch]

It appears to be a Nvidia driver bug.