A flash of background was happening for two reasons:
1) We were using the xsurface's dimensions to check if the surface is
ready, but these are pending dimensions.
2) In my particular setup, the default geometry of the xsurface does not
intersect any output, which prevented it from receiving a frame done
event. This made the transaction time out and the client would only
redraw once it's been rendered.
96c8c02483