Ubuntu
gnome-shell package

Text is missing from shell panel and menus

Bug #1910938 reported by Philippe Volte--Vieira
60
This bug affects 9 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
gnome-shell (Ubuntu)
Confirmed
High
Unassigned
mutter (Ubuntu)
Confirmed
High
Unassigned

Bug Description

If you are using NVIDIA as your primary GPU then please subscribe to bug 1876632 instead of this one.

---

Hello [happy new year :) ! ]

Text information in the Ubuntu dialogs aren't displayed, or some times just a part of it.
I don't see the hours, but i see the icons like Firefox actually opened, my battery etc. and notifications are empty (just the "!" icon).
Text normally displayed when mouse-hover the applications icons is not displayed, when Ubuntu ask for my password the frame display only 3 or 4 characters, when i put the computer in standby and reopen it doesn't change anything, and the bullets of my password aren't displayed when i login.
The text normally displayed on the menus aren't displayed too, same for the application menu (when hitting the bottom left corner button) and icons of applications (like Discord options on the top right of the screen).
The only text from xorg that is displayed (if it's from xorg…) is the window's title (like "#Room - Discord" for Discord application, or "me@computer: ~/" above the terminal).
What is left works : Firefox can display text, and text is displayed in settings for example.

P.S: a reboot solved the problem.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+19ubuntu14
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-59.65-generic 5.4.78
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-59-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.14
Architecture: amd64
BootLog: Error: [Errno 13] Permission non accordée: '/var/log/boot.log'
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CompositorRunning: None
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Mon Jan 11 02:26:55 2021
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: focal
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes, if not too technical
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation HD Graphics 620 [8086:5916] (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Lenovo HD Graphics 620 [17aa:39e9]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-11-15 (56 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS "Focal Fossa" - Release amd64 (20200731)
MachineType: LENOVO 80V0
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.4.0-59-generic root=UUID=2342b448-1302-426d-9afd-b40fd298cdab ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 07/03/2018
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 3PCN20WW(V2.04)
dmi.board.asset.tag: NO Asset Tag
dmi.board.name: Lenovo ideapad 510S-13IKB
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: SDK0J40709 WIN
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: NO Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Lenovo ideapad 510S-13IKB
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr3PCN20WW(V2.04):bd07/03/2018:svnLENOVO:pn80V0:pvrLenovoideapad510S-13IKB:rvnLENOVO:rnLenovoideapad510S-13IKB:rvrSDK0J40709WIN:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrLenovoideapad510S-13IKB:
dmi.product.family: IDEAPAD
dmi.product.name: 80V0
dmi.product.sku: LENOVO_MT_80V0_BU_idea_FM_Lenovo ideapad 510S-13IKB
dmi.product.version: Lenovo ideapad 510S-13IKB
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
version.compiz: compiz N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.102-1ubuntu1~20.04.1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 20.2.6-0ubuntu0.20.04.1
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx N/A
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.20.9-2ubuntu1.1~20.04.1
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:19.1.0-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20200226-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.16-1

See original description
Revision history for this message
Philippe Volte--Vieira (melrok) wrote :
description: updated
Revision history for this message
Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt) wrote :

Please:

1. Try disabling/uninstalling any gnome-shell extensions you might have installed.

2. Attach a photo or screenshot of the problem.

affects: xorg (Ubuntu) → ubuntu
Changed in ubuntu:
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Philippe Volte--Vieira (melrok) wrote :

I'm not able to redo the bug, and i forgot to take a screenshot of it (how can i forgot this…) but i have modified a screenshot to show what i can remember about the bug.
The clock is from conky and was working.

Revision history for this message
Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt) wrote :

Maybe related to bug 1886345.

summary: - Ubuntu don't show text anymore
+ Text is missing from shell panel and menus
affects: ubuntu → gnome-shell (Ubuntu)
Changed in gnome-shell (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → High
status: Incomplete → New
Changed in mutter (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → High
Revision history for this message
Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt) wrote :

1. Next time the problem happens for real, please take a photo and attach it here. That's probably better than a screenshot because screenshots sometimes force a full screen refresh and can hide bugs.

2. Please open the 'Extensions' app and try disabling any extensions you might have installed yourself. We need to check this because so many bugs are caused by extensions.

Changed in gnome-shell (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
Changed in mutter (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Philippe Volte--Vieira (melrok) wrote :

Good to know, thanks. I'll do that if it happens again, or for any other bug actually.

I don't see any 'Extensions' app (and I don't remember installing any extension) but i can execute 'gnome-extensions list' (same result without '--enabled' option):
me@myComputer:~$ gnome-extensions list --enabled
desktop-icons@csoriano
<email address hidden>
<email address hidden>

Do I have to do something once they are disabled?

Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)
Changed in gnome-shell (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Confirmed
Changed in mutter (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Brettins (brettins) wrote :

Just found this after my own bug got marked a duplicate - I took a screenshot of a few of the places the issue occurs:

https://imgur.com/a/rvFuHHs

Revision history for this message
Davin (platinumlucario) wrote (last edit ):

This bug also occurs when staying in one of the voice channels on Discord for prolonged periods of time.

There is something interesting I've noticed about this bug though, it only occurs on X11 Display Server, it never occurred when I used the Wayland Display Server. So maybe this bug could also be a bug in the X11 Display Server?

I would also recommend testing this bug in different Desktop Environments as well, just to be sure if this is just gnome-shell 3.x and it's forked DEs (such as Cinnamon), or if it's actually the X11 Display Server itself.

Also, logging out of the session can fix the issue temporarily (until the steps are followed to reproduce the bug again).

I have also reported the bug in [here](https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon/issues/3442#issuecomment-997984435) and [here](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/issues/4889)

OS Information:
Linux Kernel version: 5.4.0-91-generic
Distribution release: Ubuntu 20.04
Distribution version: 20.04.3 LTS

DE Information:
GNOME version: 3
GNOME Shell version: 3.36.9

Display Server Information:
Display Server: X11
Display Server Version: X.Org 1.20.11

Display Manager Information:
Display Manager: gdm3

Processor Information:
Hardware: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-6100 CPU @3.70GHz
Cores: 2
Threads: 4

Video Card Information:
Hardware: NVIDIA Corporation: GM206 [GeForce GTX 950]
Driver: nvidia-driver-470 (proprietary, tested)

Here's one of the best ways to reproduce this issue:
1. Open Discord
2. Enter into any voice channel on Discord and just stay there for a day, it may range from 30 minutes to 24 hours for it to occur.

Expected results:
The text shouldn't vanish from the desktop environment and it shouldn't cause any graphical issues. Instead, if anything stops working, it should reload! And the Settings app should open without crashing.

Actual results:
The text vanishes from the desktop environment and/or other graphical errors occur, and the GNOME settings app crashes upon attempting to open.

Here's the screenshots (copied from Github):
![Screenshot from 2021-12-20 23-53-28](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1906189/146784524-df557a28-cf10-4b17-b71a-903ba0eb8416.png)
![Screenshot from 2021-12-20 23-56-57](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1906189/146784538-bb48bf2f-218a-406b-a3f0-58b913b6491e.png)
![Screenshot from 2021-12-20 23-57-09](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1906189/146784547-1cc8d322-672e-474d-b9a4-14ce6b85a1e5.png)

Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

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

Changed in xorg (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Davin (platinumlucario) wrote (last edit ):

I've taken some more screenshots of this bug, so everyone can see how problematic this bug really is.

However, this bug doesn't affect the windows though, only the desktop environment itself

Revision history for this message
Davin (platinumlucario) wrote :

And while not possible to open the settings app while this bug is in effect, I had the settings app open well before the bug occurs. But this screenshot shows how even the desktop icons only show, and all the text below them have vanished completely.

Revision history for this message
Davin (platinumlucario) wrote :

Now here's a screenshot showing how it affects the entire application menu, it becomes really textless.

Revision history for this message
Nicholas Schell (nschell) wrote :

Just got a new Lenovo Thinkpad and using Ubuntu 20.04, and I think I'm seeing a very similar issue. After leaving the laptop on for so long eventually a ton of the text menues and displays either show NO text at all, or half of the characters are missing. I'll attempt a screenshot the next time it happens, it doesn't take longer than a day it seems as already reported.

I also use Discord so I wonder if that is part of the culprit as well. Will try using without Discord for about a day.

I have found a simple logout/login is enough to fix all text menues. So it doesn't seem a full reboot is strictly necessary.

Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)
no longer affects: xorg (Ubuntu)
summary: - Text is missing from shell panel and menus
+ Text is missing from shell panel and menus (Intel GPU)
summary: - Text is missing from shell panel and menus (Intel GPU)
+ Text is missing from shell panel and menus
Revision history for this message
Goldy Jackal (goldyjackal) wrote :

Can also confirm that the same bug above is happening to me as well, triggered after being in a Discord voice channel for a long duration of time. Alt + F2 and then r is a workaround I found that fixes the problem temporarily until it happens again.

Revision history for this message
Óscar Frías (ofrias) wrote (last edit ):

This bugs affects me too. In my case it is triggered by running DIGIStorage or Koofr (same codebase) apps for a long time. If I stop using these app then there is no issue. I think it happens more frequently when the computer is idle for a while or the screen is blank and then you start using the computer again.
It happens to me both on Wayland and Xorg.

Revision history for this message
Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt) wrote (last edit ):

NVIDIA desktop owners: Please subscribe to bug 1876632 instead of this one.

description: updated
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