Qt AppImage fails to open on CachyOS + AMD GPU with vulkan enabled
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Description
Is there an existing issue for this?
- This is a bug in RetroArch frontend
- I have searched the existing issues
Description
Qt AppImage does not start with video_driver = "vulkan"
This bug can be resolved on my system by removing libxcb-present and libxcb-randr
Replacing them with the libraries from my system makes it run on my system, as well as Ubuntu 24.04 through Distrobox but not Ubuntu 22.04
A similar issue seems to have been reported in https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/issues/13714 but that seems to be an issue with a different library
This issue does not arise using the non-Qt AppImage or on my laptop running the same distro but with an Nvidia GPU
Expected behavior
Retroarch opens
Steps to reproduce the bug
Use a PC with CachyOS (might happen on other arch-based distros) installed and an AMD GPU
Set video_driver = "vulkan"
Version/Commit
1.22.2
Bisect Results
No response
Present in the nightly version
Yes, this is reproduced in the nightly build
Platform & operating system
CachyOS x86_64
Affected Cores
No response
Environment information
Window Manager: KWin/Wayland
Relevant log output
[luna@luna-desktop RetroArch-Linux-x86_64]$ ./RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage -v
Setting $HOME to /mnt/hdd/Downloads/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home
[INFO] [Config] Looking for config in: "/mnt/hdd/Downloads/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/retroarch.cfg".
[INFO] RetroArch 1.22.2 (Git 04731c7)
[INFO] === Build =======================================
[INFO] CPU Model Name: AMD Ryzen 5 7600 6-Core Processor
[INFO] Capabilities: MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4 SSE42 AES AVX AVX2 AVX512
[INFO] Version: 1.22.2
[INFO] Git: 04731c7
[INFO] Built: Apr 22 2026
[INFO] =================================================
[INFO] [Input] Found input driver: "x".
[INFO] [Environ] SET_PIXEL_FORMAT: RGB565.
[INFO] [Core] Version of libretro API: 1, Compiled against API: 1
[INFO] [Core] Geometry: 320x240, Aspect: 1.333, FPS: 143.85, Sample rate: 48000.00 Hz.
[INFO] [Video] Set video size to: 960x720.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface wl_compositor at version 6.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface zxdg_decoration_manager_v1 at version 1.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface wp_viewporter at version 1.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface wp_fractional_scale_manager_v1 at version 1.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface wl_shm at version 2.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface wl_seat at version 10.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface zwp_pointer_constraints_v1 at version 1.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface zwp_relative_pointer_manager_v1 at version 1.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface wl_data_device_manager at version 3.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface wp_cursor_shape_manager_v1 at version 2.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface zwp_idle_inhibit_manager_v1 at version 1.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface wp_content_type_manager_v1 at version 1.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface xdg_toplevel_icon_manager_v1 at version 1.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface wp_single_pixel_buffer_manager_v1 at version 1.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface xdg_wm_base at version 6.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface wl_output at version 4.
[INFO] [Wayland] Registered interface wl_output at version 4.
[INFO] [Vulkan] Vulkan dynamic library loaded.
[ERROR] [Vulkan] Could not find required instance extensions. Will attempt without them.
[ERROR] [Vulkan] Instance does not support required extensions.
[ERROR] [Vulkan] Failed to create Vulkan instance.
[INFO] [Vulkan] Vulkan dynamic library loaded.
[ERROR] [Vulkan] Could not find required instance extensions. Will attempt without them.
[ERROR] [Vulkan] Instance does not support required extensions.
[ERROR] [Vulkan] Failed to create Vulkan instance.
[INFO] [Vulkan] Vulkan dynamic library loaded.
[ERROR] [Vulkan] Could not find required instance extensions. Will attempt without them.
[ERROR] [Vulkan] Instance does not support required extensions.
[ERROR] [Vulkan] Failed to create Vulkan instance.
[ERROR] [Vulkan] Failed to create Vulkan context.
[INFO] [Vulkan] Using resolution 320x240.
[ERROR] [Vulkan] Failed to get context data.
[ERROR] [Video] Cannot open video driver. Exiting...
[ERROR] Fatal error received in: "video_driver_init_internal()"
[INFO] [Core] Unloading core...
[INFO] [Core] Unloading core symbols...
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reproducing the Qt AppImage failure on CachyOS with an AMD GPU and video_driver set to vulkan, then inspect the Vulkan initialization path indicated by the log messages about missing instance extensions. Compare behavior with the non-Qt AppImage and with the system versions of libxcb-present and libxcb-randr; done means the affected AppImage opens with Vulkan enabled without removing bundled libraries.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- c
- Domain
- computer-graphics, desktop
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 48/100