Black (blank) windows for a few applications

vgivanovic · 2019-09-04 20:23:32

A few applications, and only on one of my systems, have totally black (blank) windows. Inside the window, everything is black. But the underlying functionality is there because I can close the windows by clicking on where the window close button ought to be. I have three Arch systems: an LG Gram 13", an Intel NUC, and a no-name Chinese mini-system. I only have the black window problem on the Intel NUC. Some affected applications are Chromium (76.0.3809.132-1), Nextcloud client (2.5.3-2) and the eric6 web browser (QtWebEngine version, but not the QtWebKit version). There are other programs which have this problem, but I can't recall which.

All other applications function normally.

The problem started after a typical system upgrade a few weeks ago. Since I expected the problem to clear up with a subsequent system upgrade, the way it usually does, I didn't note exactly which programs, libraries, and kernel were upgraded after which I began having black windows.

A search of the Multimedia and Games forum didn't reveal that anyone else had this problem, so I would appreciate some suggestions on how to proceed. (It's driving me crazy, and since one of the apps is Nextcloud, I can't log in and sync some of my folders across multiple systems, which are needed when I'm not at home.)

Thanks.
— Vladimir

I'm running a fully updated system. Here's the output of 'inxi -Frmxx'

 System:    Host: prokofiev Kernel: 5.2.9-arch1-1-ARCH x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.1.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.14.1 
           tk: Gtk 3.24.10 wm: xfwm4 dm: xinit Distro: Arch Linux 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: Intel product: NUC8i7HVK v: J71485-502 serial: HD1688096700091 Chassis: type: 3 
           v: 2.0 serial: N/A 
           Mobo: Intel model: NUC8i7HVB v: J68196-502 serial: BTHN818001T1 UEFI: Intel 
           v: HNKBLi70.86A.0029.2018.0222.1606 date: 02/22/2018 
Memory:    RAM: total: 31.37 GiB used: 24.14 GiB (77.0%) 
           Array-1: capacity: 64 GiB slots: 4 EC: None max module size: 16 GiB note: est. 
           Device-1: ChannelA-DIMM0 size: 16 GiB speed: 2400 MT/s type: DDR4 manufacturer: 859B 
           part-no: BLS16G4S26BFSD.16FBD 
           Device-2: ChannelA-DIMM1 size: No Module Installed 
           Device-3: ChannelB-DIMM0 size: 16 GiB speed: 2400 MT/s type: DDR4 manufacturer: 859B 
           part-no: BLS16G4S26BFSD.16FBD 
           Device-4: ChannelB-DIMM1 size: No Module Installed 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i7-8809G bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Kaby Lake rev: 9 
           L1 cache: 256 KiB L2 cache: 8192 KiB L3 cache: 8192 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 49552 
           Speed: 2256 MHz min/max: 800/4200 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2256 2: 3705 3: 3359 4: 2464 5: 3745 6: 2810 
           7: 2732 8: 2089 
Graphics:  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Polaris 22 XT [Radeon RX Vega M GH] vendor: Intel 
           driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1002:694c 
           Display: server: X.Org 1.20.5 driver: modesetting compositor: compton resolution: 3840x2160~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: AMD VEGAM (DRM 3.32.0 5.2.9-arch1-1-ARCH LLVM 8.0.1) v: 4.5 Mesa 19.1.5 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel CM238 HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:a171 
           Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Polaris 22 HDMI Audio vendor: Intel driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 1002:ab08 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.2.9-arch1-1-ARCH 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-LM driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: f000 bus ID: 00:1f.6 chip ID: 8086:15b7 
           IF: enp0s31f6 state: down mac: 54:b2:03:04:70:8b 
           Device-2: Intel I210 Gigabit Network driver: igb v: 5.6.0-k port: b000 bus ID: 05:00.0 chip ID: 8086:157b 
           IF: enp5s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: 54:b2:03:04:70:8c 
           Device-3: Intel Wireless 8265 / 8275 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: b000 bus ID: 06:00.0 
           chip ID: 8086:24fd 
           IF: wlp6s0 state: down mac: 0c:54:15:66:39:a6 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 6.39 TiB used: 3.27 TiB (51.2%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 PRO 1TB size: 953.87 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 
           serial: S462NF0K614477M 
           ID-2: /dev/sda type: USB vendor: Western Digital model: WD My Passport 2599 size: 3.64 TiB 
           serial: 57585431454135413853334B 
           ID-3: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: Western Digital model: WD My Passport 0741 size: 1.82 TiB 
           serial: 575832314139334631333835 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 879.23 GiB used: 622.83 GiB (70.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 
           ID-2: /boot size: 59.59 GiB used: 80.4 MiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 57.5 C mobo: 29.8 C gpu: amdgpu temp: 54 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist 
           1: https://mirrors.xtom.com/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           2: https://mirror.sfo12.us.leaseweb.net/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           3: https://mirror.lty.me/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           4: http://mirror.sfo12.us.leaseweb.net/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           5: http://mirror.lty.me/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           6: http://mirrors.xtom.com/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           7: http://ca.us.mirror.archlinux-br.org/$repo/os/$arch
           8: https://mirror.dal10.us.leaseweb.net/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           9: https://arch.mirror.square-r00t.net/$repo/os/$arch
           10: https://mirror.wdc1.us.leaseweb.net/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           11: http://mirror.dal10.us.leaseweb.net/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           12: https://mirrors.rit.edu/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           13: http://il.us.mirror.archlinux-br.org/$repo/os/$arch
           14: https://mirror.stephen304.com/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           15: https://reflector.luehm.com/arch/$repo/os/$arch
           16: https://arch.mirror.constant.com/$repo/os/$arch
           17: http://mirror.wdc1.us.leaseweb.net/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           18: http://mirrors.rit.edu/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
           19: http://arch.mirror.square-r00t.net/$repo/os/$arch
           20: https://arlm.tyzoid.com/$repo/os/$arch
Info:      Processes: 311 Uptime: 3d 36m Init: systemd v: 242 Compilers: gcc: 9.1.0 clang: 8.0.1 Shell: zsh v: 5.7.1 
           running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.34

vgivanovic · 2019-09-04 20:24:45

Dang! I meant to post this in Multimedia and Games section ….

jasonwryan · 2019-09-04 20:36:14

Have you tried changing the theme?

seth · 2019-09-04 20:42:41

We've chromium and twice QtWebEngine as noted troublemakers.
Smells like invalid textures, ie. a GL problem and I'd start by stopping compton and continue by installing xf86-video-amdgpu to see whether it makes a difference.

vgivanovic · 2019-09-05 04:37:36

@jasonwryan @seth Thanks for the suggestions. I'll report back tomorrow morning, and if it solves my problem, you'll have the satisfaction of having saved both my sanity and further loss of hair!

vgivanovic · 2019-09-07 18:26:48

Changing themes didn't seem to help.

I have xf86-video-amdgpu already installed, and loaded as a module. So, no go there ... unfortunately. That's on my Intel NUC system. But on my laptop, with only Intel UHD Graphics 620, Nextcloud works.

By carefully noting the position of various GUI elements on my laptop and then duplicating those actions in the black windows of the Intel NUC system, I was able to log into Nextcloud. So my immediate need has been met.

But Chromium is still an issue. On both systems I now get a core dump. <sigh> Since I mostly use Firefox, I can continue to work. But, it would be nice to be able to use Chromium.

seth · 2019-09-07 19:00:41

Then why does it say

Display: server: X.Org 1.20.5 driver: modesetting

?

Please post your xorg log. We'll then simply try the other variant.

Arch Linux

#1 2019-09-04 20:23:32

Black (blank) windows for a few applications

#2 2019-09-04 20:24:45

Re: Black (blank) windows for a few applications

#3 2019-09-04 20:36:14

Re: Black (blank) windows for a few applications

#4 2019-09-04 20:42:41

Re: Black (blank) windows for a few applications

#5 2019-09-05 04:37:36

Re: Black (blank) windows for a few applications

#6 2019-09-07 18:26:48

Re: Black (blank) windows for a few applications

#7 2019-09-07 19:00:41

Re: Black (blank) windows for a few applications

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