linuxmint / linuxmint/muffin

Muffin compositor leaks memory at ~100-140KB/s on X11 with dual monitors

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Dominant language
C
Stars
245
Forks
127
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

Environment

  • Cinnamon 6.6.7, Muffin 6.6.3 (Linux Mint Zena / Ubuntu Noble base)
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, driver 590.48.01 (proprietary kernel modules)
  • X11 session
  • Dual ultrawide monitors: 3840x1600@144Hz (DP-4) + 3840x1600@60Hz (DP-2)
  • No custom applets, extensions, or desklets installed

Bug

The Cinnamon/Muffin compositor leaks memory continuously during normal desktop use. After ~10 days of uptime, Cinnamon's RSS reaches ~930MB (starting from ~200-300MB after a fresh login). The leak rate measured via ps -o rss sampling is approximately 100-140KB/sec, monotonically increasing:

Timestamp   RSS (KB)
1772590230  929280
1772590231  929304
1772590232  929592
1772590233  929596
1772590234  929884
1772590235  929892
1772590236  930180
1772590237  930372
1772590238  930432
1772590239  930432

Impact

Desktop experience degrades over time, requiring a reboot.

Workaround

Logout/login resolves it.

Notes

  • No STACK_OP_ADD errors or other Muffin warnings in .xsession-errors correlate with the leak (only a brief burst of 14 during a Zoom tray icon removal).
  • GPU is at P8/idle clocks during desktop use — the leak appears to be on the CPU/system memory side, not VRAM (stable at ~1450MB for Xorg).

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Begin with Muffin's X11 compositor path and monitor Cinnamon's RSS using ps -o rss; the report provides no source file or test entry point. Reproduce the leak with the listed dual-monitor setup, isolate the retaining path, and verify that RSS remains stable during extended desktop use.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c, linux
Domain
desktop, operating-systems, performance
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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