[Solved] Install bl-Helium-4-amd64, application windows aren't visible

fusion3 · 2019-01-04 04:57:53

I installed bl-Helium-4-amd64 and installation appeared to be successful. When I log in for the first time, I see tint2 bar across the top of my screen, filling the whole width. Clicking the icons in tint2 to launch applications or launching applications from the menu appears to do nothing. They never appear on screen or in tint2. Conky is not visible. I can see the applications I launched listed if I press Super+Tab, but I can't see the windows. I can get the tint2 chooser to appear, and choosing the bottom tint2 makes it appear on the bottom of my screen. It appears that the windows are either not being drawn, or are off the screen. Tint2 seems to know how large the screen is because it locates itself properly. I have rebooted numerous times and reinstalled BL twice. The behavior is consistent.

Last edited by fusion3 (2019-01-05 00:51:29)

damo · 2019-01-04 05:07:33

We probably need to know your hardware. Try disabling compositing to start with?

Also look for error messages in the systemd journal, ~/.xsession-errors, and dmesg.

Bearded_Blunder · 2019-01-04 11:51:53

To add to what @ damo said, since you don't seem to be able to access the info from the openbox "desktop" you may need to ctrl+alt+f1 & login at a tty to access that information.

Last edited by Bearded_Blunder (2019-01-04 11:52:28)

fusion3 · 2019-01-04 13:57:48

Hardware is AMD E-350 APU, 3GB RAM. I disabled compton in ~/.config/openbox/autostart, behavior is the same.

fusion3 · 2019-01-04 14:33:09

In ~/.xsession-errors, the tint2 lines say "nb monitors 2". I also have Xorg.0.log and Xorg.1.log files in my /var/log directory. There is only one monitor connected, but it appears my system thinks there are 2. I don't how to change this from the command line.

fusion3 · 2019-01-04 17:12:55

I am unable to use xrandr. The only way I can access the terminal is through TTY, and when trying to use xrandr there I get "Can't open display".

Bearded_Blunder · 2019-01-04 18:53:44

You could try looking at the output of

lspci -k | less

(less so it doesn't shoot off the top of your tty) that should tell you the video hardware and driver in use.. maybe it's related

If it's a BIOS based system you could try passing xdriver=vesa as a kernel parameter at least while troubleshooting, it's basic horrid graphics, not supported on EFI systems though, 'fraid i don't know the equivalent for those, but it might get you up enough to post directly from the installed system, since you'd be able to pase output.

https://wiki.mageia.org/en/How_to_set_up_kernel_options wrote:

xdriver=(name of driver) Try to force the usage of a given driver.
Example: xdriver=nouveau (open source driver for NVIDIA). Other drivers: intel, nvidia (NVIDIA proprietary driver), fglrx (ATI/AMD proprietary driver), radeon (open source driver for ATI/AMD).
xdriver=vesa : use the BIOS's VESA implementation. With UEFI, there is no VESA, there's EFIFB instead.

If there's another driver that works that way you can set the parameter in /etc/default/grub & then update grub.

fusion3 · 2019-01-04 19:27:16

Thanks everyone for the help. It was using the radeon driver, which seemed to be working. I tried vesa and fglrx as well, but they didn't change anything. I finally booted back into the regular desktop and was able to access xrandr by using Super+Tab to select it, then pressing Alt+F6 to maximize the window. Then I used Super+Arrow to walk through the desktops until it appeared. Super+Tab was showing only one desktop. Xrandr was showing two monitors, so I removed the incorrect one and now everything works as expected.

Bearded_Blunder · 2019-01-04 19:45:58

Cool, glad it's fixed, could you please edit your first post and add [Solved] at the beginning of the title.
It's considered the thing to do on this forum

#1 2019-01-04 04:57:53

[Solved] Install bl-Helium-4-amd64, application windows aren't visible

#2 2019-01-04 05:07:33

Re: [Solved] Install bl-Helium-4-amd64, application windows aren't visible

#3 2019-01-04 11:51:53

Re: [Solved] Install bl-Helium-4-amd64, application windows aren't visible

#4 2019-01-04 13:57:48

Re: [Solved] Install bl-Helium-4-amd64, application windows aren't visible

#5 2019-01-04 14:33:09

Re: [Solved] Install bl-Helium-4-amd64, application windows aren't visible

#6 2019-01-04 17:12:55

Re: [Solved] Install bl-Helium-4-amd64, application windows aren't visible

#7 2019-01-04 18:53:44

Re: [Solved] Install bl-Helium-4-amd64, application windows aren't visible

#8 2019-01-04 19:27:16

Re: [Solved] Install bl-Helium-4-amd64, application windows aren't visible

#9 2019-01-04 19:45:58

Re: [Solved] Install bl-Helium-4-amd64, application windows aren't visible

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