Blank UI on startup

caelia2

First of all, I have searched and found that users have reported a similar issue in the past, and have seen a couple of solutions, but I believe my case is different, as I will explain below.

The problem I'm seeing is that when I start Vivaldi, no web pages or UI controls are visible; only a light grey screen with the V logo in the center. I am unable to close the program normally, so I have to kill the process from the command line.

SYSTEM INFO:
Hardware: ASUS VivoBook F512D - AMD Ryzen 5 3500U with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx
OS: Manjaro Linux, last updated ~3 days ago
Desktop: XFCE

I've used Vivaldi on this machine since I bought it 4 1/2 years ago. This issue began maybe 5-6 months ago - I didn't pay close attention since I was not using the machine regularly at the time.

I have tried (at least 3 times) removing the Default profile. When I do that, Vivaldi will start normally once. But the next time I try to use it, the screen is blank once again. In other words, Vivaldi starts with the blank screen whenever there is a preexisting Default profile, including the auto-generated one with no modifications.

I have also tried vivaldi --disable-gpu, but that has no effect.

What else should I try?

DoctorG

@caelia2 Welcome in our Vivaldi Community

Do not hesitate to ask, we are a community to help users.

Enjoy browsing with Vivaldi.

DoctorG

@caelia2 Any error messages when starting in Shell/Terminal with command:
vivaldi&

What happens if starting with a temporary fresh profile :
vivaldi --user-data-dir=/tmp/TESTVIV" &

caelia2

@DoctorG said in Blank UI on startup:

@caelia2 Any error messages when starting in Shell/Terminal with command:
vivaldi&

[3069:3112:0225/144917.704335:ERROR:object_proxy.cc(576)] Failed to call method: org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Get: object_path= /org/freedesktop/portal/desktop: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.InvalidArgs: No such interface “org.freedesktop.portal.FileChooser”
[3069:3112:0225/144917.705838:ERROR:select_file_dialog_linux_portal.cc(286)] Failed to read portal version property
[3069:3069:0225/144943.252337:ERROR:network_service_instance_impl.cc(613)] Network service crashed, restarting service.
[3069:3069:0225/144943.262990:ERROR:object_proxy.cc(576)] Failed to call method: org.freedesktop.portal.Secret.RetrieveSecret: object_path= /org/freedesktop/portal/desktop: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod: No such interface “org.freedesktop.portal.Secret” on object at path /org/freedesktop/portal/desktop
[3069:3069:0225/144943.263028:ERROR:secret_portal_key_provider.cc(150)] Failed to retrieve secret: No response from portal.
[3069:3069:0225/144943.751033:ERROR:service_worker_task_queue.cc(198)] DidStartWorkerFail mpognobbkildjkofajifpdfhcoklimli: 3

What happens if starting with a temporary fresh profile :
vivaldi --user-data-dir=/tmp/TESTVIV" &

With this, I get the same result as when I remove the Default profile: the GUI comes up fine the first time (when the specified profile doesn't yet exist), then I get the blank screen on the second and subsequent attempts.

sgunhouse

@caelia2 It may be worth noting, the blank UI might not be Vivaldi itself.

On Windows, my antivirus always takes at least 30 seconds to scan a new file. So after every update when the installer tries to start Vivaldi there is a 30+ second delay between when the new version has been installed and it can actually be run. Besides the AV window that says "Scanning (filename) to see if it is safe to run" I do get a blank window that is the right size for Vivaldi's window for 10-15 seconds, but then vanishes. Not certain the Linux version is doing the same thing of course, but it's possible they are doing something similar - immediately throwing up a blank window of the right size while the real Vivaldi app gets ready to replace that window with its own. (In Windows this whole blank window thing is fairly recent, it used to just not show anything while my AV was scanning the update.)

So the question becomes, is this blank window just filling the time between when you start Vivaldi and the app is actually ready to display - time that previously showed no window at all - or does Vivaldi actually take longer to display the UI than it used to?

caelia2

@sgunhouse said in Blank UI on startup:

@caelia2 On Windows, my antivirus always takes at least 30 seconds to scan a new file. So after every update when the installer tries to start Vivaldi there is a 30+ second delay
[ ... ]
Not certain the Linux version is doing the same thing of course,

It's definitely not doing the same thing. I do not use antivirus software.

but it's possible they are doing something similar - immediately throwing up a blank window of the right size while the real Vivaldi app gets ready to replace that window with its own.

Possible, but I think it's very unlikely. This has happened many times, and though I have not tracked the time precisely, I'm fairly sure I have waited several minutes in a few cases.
Also, I have not seen this issue on my desktop machine, which is much older and a great deal slower than the laptop.

sgunhouse

@caelia2 My comment wasn't about the AV as such, since it only scans the file once per update. It was about the process that the delay allows me to see. In Windows, the Vivaldi shortcut starts one process which displays the blank window before trying to call the actual UI process (which the scan prevents it from doing until the scan completes).

But that is Windows, and Linux might call the real executable directly instead of the whole redirection used to allow background updates. Since Linux doesn't have its own updater, instead using the system's update procedure.

caelia2

@sgunhouse said in Blank UI on startup:

@caelia2 But that is Windows, and Linux might call the real executable directly instead of the whole redirection used to allow background updates. Since Linux doesn't have its own updater, instead using the system's update procedure.

Well, there's a startup script, so it isn't exactly calling the real executable directly, but there is no auto-updating on my system, which I gather is your main point.

BlackIkeEagle

@caelia2 do you use the flags override file? ~/.config/vivaldi-stable.conf ?

And can you both reproduce the issue in X session and wayland session (I think xfce now also has wayland support)

caelia2

@BlackIkeEagle said in Blank UI on startup:

@caelia2 do you use the flags override file? ~/.config/vivaldi-stable.conf ?

I don't have that file. In fact, this is the first I've heard of it. Is it documented somewhere? I searched for "vivaldi-stable.conf," "configuration file," and "flags override file" in the Help section of vivaldi.com, and did not find any relevant info. There also does not appear to be any documentation or example file installed on my system.

And can you both reproduce the issue in X session and wayland session (I think xfce now also has wayland support)

I have never yet run a Wayland session, and am not interested in switching to Wayland until it is a bit more mature. But I might be willing to try it if it would yield valuable information that can't easily be obtained otherwise. Do you believe that is the case?

caelia2

@caelia2 said in Blank UI on startup:

@BlackIkeEagle said in Blank UI on startup:

@caelia2 do you use the flags override file? ~/.config/vivaldi-stable.conf ?

I don't have that file. In fact, this is the first I've heard of it. Is it documented somewhere?

Oh, of course. I should have known to check the Arch Linux Wiki.

Anyway ... did you think something in that file might be causing the problem? Or might I be able to use it to solve the problem? If so, what settings should I try?

BlackIkeEagle

@caelia2 I was asking about the file since putting settings there is not officially supported since it could cause issues if you mess up the flags. So If you are not using the file you have "stock" vivaldi flags which should work out of the box

BlackIkeEagle

@caelia2 Do you mean a custom startup script where you add some additional flags or something?

caelia2

@BlackIkeEagle said in Blank UI on startup:

@caelia2 Do you mean a custom startup script where you add some additional flags or something?

No, I just meant the shell script /opt/vivaldi/vivaldi, which came with the package. I haven't touched it.