[nvidia] Restoring minimized applications presents blank window

Here's video

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

btw its specific to nvidia binary driver. 295 could be the cause.

if you unmaximize the window it will show the contents :)

I can also confirm it is specific to nvidia proprietary drivers.I reinstalled nouveau and the launcher behaves as expected.

I get the same issue.

From full screen to minimize - ok
From minimize back to full screen - window is blank

Graphics card: Intel® Core™ i7-2860QM CPU @ 2.50GHz × 8
Driver: NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (version current)

I get the same issue.

From full screen to minimize - ok
From minimize back to full screen - window is blank

Graphics card: GeForce GTX 580M/PCIe/SSE2
Driver: NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (version current)d

I get the same results on a Nvidia card with proprietary drivers

I can only add some minor points:

* I'm running the nvidia-current-updates version of the driver, and have the bug, as well. (Unity 3D, like others).

* Windows that start maximized don't have this problem, they have to be maximized during the session, then minimized, to trigger the bug. That may already be clear, from above.

* Bringing back the minimzed window with Alt-Tab has the same result; blank.

* The window still responds to keyboard input, while blank.

* Unmaximizing a blank window will restore its proper appearance. Repeating this whole cycle has blanked, then fixed, the windows, as many times as I can go through it.

Searching for "maximize minimize" with "blank" or "white", I found a lot of other reports that I duped to this one. Some are filed against compiz, some nvidia drivers, a few against specific apps where users encountered this. I'm not absolutely sure which was the best report to dupe against, of course. This one already had a high priority assigned.

Older Bug 752445 seems similar, though the conditions to reproduce are not as clear, there. And by its date, it's not part of the wave of reports happening here since around March 20.

Bug 891840 is older, too, and doesn't mention minimizing, but also involves the nvidia driver and blank maximized windows.

Oops, I said March 20, when these start around Feb 20. I'll just shut up about that and let the bug dates speak for themselves...

I've added Nvidia-drivers, and Compiz, to this report. I don't know if I've done so properly, or which project name should be used, i.e. Compiz, or Compiz-Core. I'm trying to bring the right attention to this bug, and acknowledge all the dupes. Please undo if I've got it wrong. Thanks.

I have same issue in xfce and windows go blank when just get focus (focus follows mouse) and can only get back with minimize-maximize

I downgraded to the last package of the 290 nvidia driver, 290.10-0ubuntu2, and this bug still occurred. I can't downgrade further as easily; the X ABI changed, and I'd have to downgrade a lot more packages. It's more than I can bite off right now; maybe later. But apparently this is not an just artifact of driver version 295.

Well, I edited the title, to show that it's general, however you restore the window. Hope you don't mind, Shayne.

With NVIDIA hardware and unity 5.10 from the testing ppa, the problem of the invisible windows is NOT gone. I could reproduce it (i.e. with Terminal).

That's ok Edward i don't mind, this is pretty much the last unaddressed bug i am experiencing in what is surely imho going to be the best linux os to date.

I hunted this one down after getting white windows without maximizing.

For me it happens to when I minimize windows for applications that have more than one.

For instance, open two nautilus windows, minimize one, click the launcher button and the minimized window is white in the expose view. If you minimize all open nautilus windows, and click the launcher button, then all windows come back up with only the last minimized one still having its contents.

The same thing happens to Thunderbird with message windows too. Or any other application.

I'm also on a fully updated 12.04 with nvidia-drivers.

Now that I tried it, I'm seeing the exact same thing as Edwin with minimized windows.

I can always reproduce it with only one terminal window open.

this was fix with Unity 5.10 ( yet from ppa) good job !

Yeah, I've updated to the latest from the Unity ppa, and I can't reproduce it anymore. Excellent.

I don't see a specific changelog entry that I can point to for this bug, so I don't know whether the fix that did it was in the unity packages, or the compiz ones. I guess I'll remove the nvidia driver from the bug, now, anyway.

Updating to the 5.10 fixed this for me as well. That was the last issue I was having with 12.04. I am loving Precise

So, unity 5.10 is in the main repo now. I think this is fixed. If anyone can still reproduce it, do re-open this. Thanks.

Shayne, ghetto, I agree -- Precise and Unity are really coming along. :)

Solved! ;)

I'm sorry but I can't confirm the fix is working. Still got blank windows on switching.

Graphic Card: nvidia geforce 9800M GT
Driver version: 295.40 (from x-swat repository, nvidia-current)
Unity version: 5.10

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Fuzzy, if you're running the nvidia driver from a ppa, and not plain Precise, then trying vanilla Precise, instead, is the only thought I have. I don't have any technical particulars behind that thought, just hoping that you may see the fix, if you're running the exact same packages.

Thank you very much for your answer, Edward!
I did as you hinted and tried the latest version from official repositories (also 295.40) but still, no luck :(
I've even tried the original driver from nvidia, but same result.

Dang; well, thank you for trying that.

I don't have any other ideas right now. I don't know the code at all, nor where in the code this was fixed (for some of us).

I was the one who marked this closed, since everything looked good for a while. I was going to re-open it, now. But LP won't let me. I thought those priviliges were symmetrical; apparently I don't know Launchpad well enough. It's possible Shayne could re-open it, as the original reporter, if we think that's called for. But I don't even know; maybe it would take more than regular user privileges at this point.

Sorry I can't do more, Fuzzy. I'll be back if I think of anything.

Hey fuzzyq are you getting the blank window when maximizing an app from the launcher or is it something else? I read in your description that you get it on switching, can you elaborate more if possible. The last time i ran ubuntu was just after unity 5.10 was released and i couldn't reproduce this bug.

Hey Edward! No problem, you did the right thing. If I had found this bug report earlier, I may have made a difference, but since noone seemed to have any problems, it was a logical choice to mark the issue solved.

Hello Shayne, thanks for your interest in my problem.
Blank windows upon maximizing from launcher occur only rarely, but it's definetly still there.
Much more often however, to a really unnerving extend, windows blank out after dodging effect took place, meaning that one window lies beneath another, gets activated, and either one or both of the two windows blank out.
I have the dodge animation (windows slidging to the background when another is being activated) in place, but the bug also appears after unabling this effect.
I hope my description isn't too confusing and may be of any help.

Fuzzy, thanks for that description. I haven't tried 'dodge windows', so you're right, it is a little confusing to me. :) That's enabled through CCSM?

If so, you might want to try clearing any custom settings you have, moving config files out, if possible. (I don't know where CCSM keeps its settings.) If that helps with the blanking, re-activate your settings, one by one, and see if you it it again. I have exactly no idea whether that will accomplish anything. :-0

I do think that if it persists, it deserves a separate bug report. It seems like all the blank windows noted here were produced by maximize->minimize->restore. And it happened every time, in these cases.

If your symptoms aren't just the same as that, then I think a separate bug makes the most sense. Likewise, all the reporters of those symptoms say they're fixed now, and aren't seeing just the ones you describe. I think! If anyone is seeing the symptoms described in the post #34, or knows of another bug about that, hopefully they'll speak up.

Thanks, FuzzyQ, and all.

oops: "see if you it it" -> see if you get it... :)

FuzzyQ i can only think of a couple of things at this point

1.Type unity --version in a terminal and make sure you are running 5.10
2.Upload a video showing you are still having problems with windows blanking when you maximize from launcher.
3.The window focus problems are a different bug than this one, i suggest looking through the bug database and finding another similar report or start your own if you can't find another.

The developers are still polishing the unity bugs so be sure to update every day and i'm sure it will be sorted before launch day.

Alright, thank you Edward and Shayne for your time and sorry for posting in the seemingly wrong bug report. I will search for the right one. I can't help thinking that these bugs are related, though.

Oh, FuzzyQ, let me stress, there's no matter for apology, and this is not a 'go away' message at all. The clarity of a tightly-defined bug case is a good thing. Bug 938658 as it grew here built up a very specific definition. That's nice when you can get it, and the narrowly-defined case seems to have been addressed. As evidence, me and Shayne's great minds apparently posted about this, around the same time. ;-)

Certainly related, I agree. There have been a number of bugs with blank windows (all on nvidia? I'm not sure). There were separate reports, even after duplicate-marking, for minimized windows just showing blank in the spread view. And clearly there are ongoing problems.

If we can say:

  OK: maximize->minimize->restore is no longer a guarantee of a blank window.
  Now, what problem cases remain? Just how are they defined and reproduced?

it helps manage the complexity.

Your friendly postings here are a fine way to compare your current symptoms to others'. From your helpful descriptions, the definition of those problems sounds a little different, than the set here that seem fixed. If so, we can wipe this one off the chalkboard, and get a clean slate for work on the next one. The underlying connections will be clearer to those who know the code, as I don't.

By 'we' in that sentence, I have to mean the community in general, but if you find a recipe where I can start to reproduce these symptoms, I will certainly subscribe to that bug, too. In this case, I'll say, go ahead and subscribe me to your bug, if you'd like, whether you find one or start one. I couldn't write it up, myself, 'cause I can't observe it, yet.

Finally, I speak with no authority here; this is just how these things usually work best, from my experience so far. This is my recommendation, for the best path to fixin' the problems you're seeing, not to buzz off. You don't have to buy it, either way.

And now I hope I have buried any seeming negativity in a flurry of words, and perhaps droned you into a comforting slumber. :-/

- Ed

In addition! I didn't emphasize this: Nobody who fixed 938658 commented on this page, or maybe even read it. That's one of the big reasons your shortest route to help is likely through a different bug report. You won't be missing anything here, just me writing a lot! :)

I'm still experiencing this, but I get it even when restoring non-maximised windows. I'm running Unity 5.10.0 with NVIDIA 295.40 on a GTX 560 Ti.

Cripes!

I am getting blank windows on restore, again.

* It doesn't happen every time, now.

* It's only windows that were maximized, then minimized. So not exactly the same as Fuzzy or Scott report. Which is frustrating! :)

* It has only happened when switching back to minimized windows with the keyboard. I haven't been able to reproduce it, when clicking on the launcher, yet. Which is different that what we were seeing before. It has happened with Alt-Tab, and Alt-Grave (key above Tab). Neither one does it every time. But keyboard, not mouse, is only distinctive pattern I can see.

The most recent package that's changed is compiz, to version 0.9.7.6-0ubuntu2. I have no idea if that upgrade was a regression, or it just strikes very sporadically. I'll try to downgrade later, to test.

Shayne, or anyone else - if you want to test some more, try:

  maximize->minimize
  then flip back and forth with Alt-Tab and Alt-Grave a lot

Of course, this is probably what you're doing with your windows, anyway. I can often see it within three tries. But, again, not every time.

I don't have much idea what to think at this point. (I can work around this, but it seems a shame to release this way.) I hope someone has more clue. Or that I get a lot smarter very fast. :-/

I've done some more testing on this, and found the following:

- Minimising windows go blank as soon as the button is clicked. (I have slightly slower animations, so I can easily see this - it's pretty gruesome).

- Restoring windows seem to go blank when the video memory is low (around the 900/1023MiB mark, according to nvidia-smi).

Scott, thank you -- boy, that is the smarter thinking I was wishing for. I had just come back, to note that my attempts to get a well-focused bug definition were falling apart. I actually tried to search for similar-but-open bugs, just now, but Launchpad was timing out on searches. I don't know what's best, but re-opening this one now seems probably as good as anything else.

I can't look into the video memory numbers on my box, right now, but maybe later. Maybe it's in better hands with you, anyway. :)

I'm still positive that my experiences and yours are related. Furthermore, I find Scott's theory very interesting. I'm running Ubuntu on a Samsung R710 laptop, my graphical memory is only 512MiB. I'm getting these blank-outs quite often, especially when the whole system is outmaxed.

I'm experiencing black-outs every now and then when restoring minimized windows. When the restored one was maximized, sometimes you can see the ones behind blank out. They restore when the focused window is minimized again.
When handling small (not maximized) windows, the effect is more visible. It doesn't make a difference how you restore the window, it just happens randomly.

Open ccsm, go to Animations -> tab Focus Animation -> under Animation Selection click the only entry -> set focus effect to Dogde and duration to something between 300 ... 500. You will then have the effect I've been talking about earlier. Windows will blank out much more often when raised into focus now.

It seems that every time a window has to be animated when raised into focus, this issue might occur, no matter how it is activated. Perhaps the animation effects cost too much video memory.

Edward, somehow I must have missed your very long post adressing me, so sorry for not answering earlier.
There was no offense taken, it's just that I'm still very new to this community and haven't found my way around, yet.
My experience so far was that there already is a bug report (or even a fix) for every problem I possibly can come up with, so I already try my best to find the one bug report that matches my problem best instead of posting the 20th report describing the same issue.
I understand and wholeheartly agree with your statement that a bug report should be as precise as possible though.

In general, I find this community to be very friendly and forthcoming and wish to contribute to the perfection of ubuntu as good as I can (which probably isn't of much worth, compared to your skills or these of most other users here).
Again, thank you for your time and your many kind words, they were well received.

Ugh, sorry for off-topic :-/

Thanks, FuzzyQ, and you're welcome, and, hey -- if we're a little off-topic, I started it. :)

I want to note that, currently, the windows never show blank in the spread view. Which I think they were, in my earlier round of symptoms, and there were bug reports related to that, too.

So at the moment, I don't see blank windows in the spread, or at any time other that following maximize->minimize. This may differ from symptoms seen by others. Have no ideas about this, yet.

(Now will attempt bedtime, then tomorrow will befall me, so pardons if I don't pick up the thread promptly. Thanks.)

I also get the blank windows now when maximizing with the keyboard shortcut but i can't reproduce when using the mouse.I have a nvidia geforce 210 with only 512mb and occasionally it's a little sluggish when windows maximize etc.Does anyone know if i can mark this as not fixed?

I can't seem to mark this as not fixed - all the options are greyed out.

Upon further testing, the blank windows when restoring a minimised window (regardless of being maximised) seems to be being caused by the animation. Since removing the animation on minimise/restore in the plugin, it no longer happens, even when the video memory is almost full (990/1023MiB).

Thanks for testing again, Shayne. I think it's pretty common to re-open bugs when necessary, and since you're seeing it too, I would definitely change it. (Probably to 'Triaged'.)

I would change it myself, if Launchpad would let me. As the original reporter, I think you can, and I think that's fine. (In a quick look, bug 631 shows that reporters are authorized to do this. :)

I don't have any clear idea, yet, of whether there's been any regression in the code, since the time it looked fixed to us; that is, if it got really fixed and then broken again. Or whether it was just partially fixed, and took longer to reproduce. Probably the latter.

I wish I knew the release process better. I'd kind of like to know whether we should work with great urgency, to try to make Precise, or whether it's really too late for that, and any fix would go out in an update, and we can be a bit calmer.

I have to step away again, but I just saw Scott's new insight, and will try to dig more, along those lines, later. Thanks.

On an unrelated report (bug 982767), I had the chance to ask release expert Steve Langasek about current bugs and Thursday's release. He said:

"Any fixes in this area will not make it for 12.04.0. They will be considered for inclusion in 12.04.1."

That was a different piece if software, but I'll guess it probably applies to this, too, and would answer my question about urgency. Thanks.

This could be a candidate for a "Known Issues" list, for 12.04.0. I'll try to learn how that happens. Of course if we can't even get the bug opened again right now, maybe that's wishful thinking. :)

@Edward: I suggest that you open another bug report describing exactly the condition for the remaining issues (quite a lot of noise in that bug report). I'll then have a look at it and see if it can be worked for a stable release update :)

Didier, thanks for the guidance. I'll do that, and link the new bug in the comments here. Maybe not today, but hopefully soon.

Another bug has been sucking up my bug-fixing time, but I still plan to file a new one.

For now, the main thing I have noted: restoring minimized windows with the Alt-Grave key is where I get blank windows. Restoring with the mouse, or with plain Alt-Tab does not. Alt-Grave does not do it every time; usually within three cycles of minimize-restore. It can happen, on my system at least, when video memory is mostly free, according to nvidia-smi. I haven't been able to correlate the bug with video memory levels, here. Thanks.

In-line with comment #56, I can confirm that the Alt-` (grave accent) window switch produces a blank window several times in a row, while Alt-Tab and maximizing by mouse works just fine.

Ok! It took a while, but I've filed Bug #995659 . It's focused on the Alt-` behavior.

Rainer, thank you for confirming that. And for reminding me that it's clearer to call it Alt-` more than Alt-Grave. (You have to spell out Alt-Tab, and I think that got me in that mindset.)

Anyone who sees that problem is invited to mark that bug as affecting you, and add any insight you may have.

Anyone who's still seeing blank windows, with other behavior, try to make (or find) a bug report defining that. From what Didier says, it's better not to re-open this one, but if you link to a new report, here, I will try to see if I can reproduce it. (On my GeForce GT 240.)

Thanks!

This bug is still an issue for a few people and is still open here --> bug 976189

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug 729979, so it is being marked as such. Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide, or to see if there is a workaround for the bug. Additionally, any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report. Feel free to continue to report any other bugs you may find.