ubuntu 11.10: toolbars and other gui items are missing

Hello,
i recently installed audacity (from the repository) on ny Ubuntu 11.10 , “oneiric”.
as the attachment shows, the main display items are missing (e.g. record and play toolbars, waveform windows, etc.).
is this a known issue with this Ubuntu distribution?
thank you !
audacity_ubuntu1110_oneiric.jpg

I’ve not seen that before.

Something to try:
Go to your home folder and enable display of hidden files and folders (probably Ctrl+h or in Nautilus “View” menu).
There should be a folder called .audacity-data (the dot at the beginning of the folder name makes it a hidden folder).
Open that folder and delete the file audacity.cfg
Restart Audacity.

A. thank you !
B. i deleted the configuration file, and restarted Audacity. the probelm is not resolved.
C. i suspect it is an issue with a widget package.
thank tou, again.

Which Desktop are you using? Unity?
Does Audacity run correctly if you boot into fallback mode?

Steve, thank you again gor your reply.
A. i run Unity.
B. falling back to classic gnome does not solve the issue. the main (record/play/stop/etc.) toolbar is still missing along with other gui items.

What’s your computer system language? Hebrew?

Yes!
Audacity does not function properly on my Hebrew Ubuntu 11.10 machine.
it does function properly on my English Ubuntu 11.10 machine.

hello, Steve (and thank you :slight_smile:.
following your advice i dug this thread:
https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/blank-display-on-ubuntu-maverick/18458/9
i followed the instructions in the link appearing in the last message (modifying both environment vars and Audacity preferences, in a controlled manner).
all in vain.
i further installed wx, http://wiki.wxpython.org/InstallingOnUbuntuOrDebian, on my PC, in order to match the settings on another PC i use which is English-installed-Ubuntu-machine (where Audacity functions properly).
that did not help either.

that summarizes the current status of my efforts.

Have you reported it to Ubuntu or tried other wxWidgets applications like FileZilla?



Gale

The right-to-left text at the bottom of your screenshot was the clue :slight_smile:
It’s also on the Ubuntu bug tracking site: Bug #734023 “Missing text and icons” : Bugs : audacity package : Ubuntu

There’s a possible workaround given at the end of that thread.
Launch Audacity by typing in a Terminal:

LC_MESSAGES=en_US.UTF-8 audacity

If this works for you then there’s a good chance that you could create a suitable launcher.

How far are you prepared to go with this? Finding a solution/workaround could turn into a hobby :wink:
I’m quite interested in trying to track down a solution, so if you’re game then I’ve a few ideas that we could try.

How familiar are you with Linux?
Have you ever compiled programs from the source code? (I’m not suggesting that you do that now).

Actually, I thought yonatanb had tried that ?

I followed the instructions in the link appearing in the last message (modifying both environment vars and Audacity preferences

Would it be better to use?

LANG=en_US.UTF-8 audacity





Gale

Well that was an interesting experience :confused:

I managed to install Audacity in Hebrew, and change the language back to one that I understand when I was finished.

I tried launching with LC_MESSAGES=en_US.UTF-8 audacity and with LANG=en_US.UTF-8 audacity .
Also tried changing the language to English.
Tried installing in English (worked fine) then changing the system-wide default language to Hebrew and the problem occurred.
Tied installing Audacity in Hebrew with the system language as Hebrew and the problem occurred.
I can reproduce the problem but I can’t find any workaround other than not using Hebrew.
It appears that the Audacity interface just doesn’t work when Ubuntu turns it round right to left.

Sorry, I can’t help.

Hello, Steve and Gale Andrews.
A.
i modified the environment variable and relaunched Audacity.

root@nehama-desk:/home/yonatan# env | grep "LC"
LC_MESSAGES=en_US.UTF-8

the problem persists.
B.
when launching via command line, i recorded the following display related issues:

root@nehama-desk:/home/yonatan# audacity 

[color=#FF0040](audacity:7516): Gtk-WARNING **: לא ניתן לאתר את מנוע ערכת הנושא הנטען ב־module_path:‏ "pixmap",

(audacity:7516): Gtk-WARNING **: לא ניתן לאתר את מנוע ערכת הנושא הנטען ב־module_path:‏ "pixmap",

(audacity:7516): Gtk-WARNING **: לא ניתן לאתר את מנוע ערכת הנושא הנטען ב־module_path:‏ "pixmap",

(audacity:7516): Gtk-WARNING **: לא ניתן לאתר את מנוע ערכת הנושא הנטען ב־module_path:‏ "pixmap",
[/color]ALSA lib pcm.c:2212:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.rear
ALSA lib pcm.c:2212:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.center_lfe
ALSA lib pcm.c:2212:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.side
ALSA lib confmisc.c:1286:(snd_func_refer) Unable to find definition 'cards.ICH4.pcm.surround71.0:CARD=0'
ALSA lib conf.c:4184:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib conf.c:4663:(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib pcm.c:2212:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM surround71
ALSA lib pcm.c:2212:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.hdmi
ALSA lib pcm.c:2212:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.hdmi
ALSA lib pcm.c:2212:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.modem
ALSA lib pcm.c:2212:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.modem
ALSA lib pcm.c:2212:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.phoneline
ALSA lib pcm.c:2212:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.phoneline
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1613:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1613:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1613:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1613:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:957:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) The dmix plugin supports only playback stream
Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory
Cannot connect to server socket
jack server is not running or cannot be started
Expression 'ret' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1666
Expression 'AlsaOpen( &alsaApi->baseHostApiRep, params, streamDir, &self->pcm )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1826
Expression 'PaAlsaStreamComponent_Initialize( &self->capture, alsaApi, inParams, StreamDirection_In, NULL != callback )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 2088
Expression 'PaAlsaStream_Initialize( stream, alsaHostApi, inputParameters, outputParameters, sampleRate, framesPerBuffer, callback, streamFlags, userData )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 2760
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4537
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4537
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4537
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4537
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4537
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4537

the red text in Hebrew translates into the following “Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: “pixmap””. since my problem is graphics related i handled the error by installing a bugfix package as suggested here http://askubuntu.com/questions/66356/gdk-gtk-warnings-and-errors-from-the-command-line :

apt-get install gtk2-engines-pixbuf

this made these specific warning lines disapper, leaving behind the other warning lines.
the problem which is the subject of this thread, by the way, persists.
C.
i did not report this issue to Ubunto support since i cannot pinpoint the problem.

D.
regarding the Right-to-Left hypothesis, i cannot help wondering why ~300M native Arabic speakers have not yet encountered this issue (according to my estimate there only <6M native Hebrew speakers, and … ~0.5M native Aramaic speakers), so i feel it is somewhat of a local problem with my PC.

E.
Steve, i am very interested in resolving this and would appreciate any help !
F.
i am new to Linux and never compiled anything targeting this operating system (i use an interpreted language for basic scripting). however, i did use GNU-compatible makefiles (on Cygwin) for compiling my own C/assembly code targeting consumer electronics products, so i hope i am proficient enough (even if i am mistaken, i would like to give it a try :slight_smile:

Thank you !

I made that offer when I had some ideas about how to possibly resolve the problem, however since then I’ve tried some things myself and I’m at a loss. I’ve no idea how to resolve the problem other than not using Right to Left.

That is indeed curious.
Do you know for sure that Ubuntu applies right to left layout if Arabic is the default language?

That may be relevant.
I noticed that when changing languages Ubuntu offered to change the names of certain paths (for example changing “home” to whatever “home” is in the selected language. It’s possible that this could cause problems if programs are looking for stuff in the wrong path. I’m greatly hindered investigating this by my lack of understanding of languages other than English :frowning:

Hello,

Gale Andrews, i used every conceivable permutation of language related environment variables. the problem was not resolved

Steve, thank you for conducting this thorough investigation !
it is worth noting, that most of the messages in the Ubuntu bug forum were written by users of audacity 1.3.xx.x. and not audacity 2.0
regarding the Arabic - like many languges in the Near East (including Hebrew), it is written right-to left, and that is the reason for the RTL settings.
however, as i have no access to an Ubuntu installed with Arabic locale, i am not certain.

I can have a look when I get time (testing in Virtualbox).
Do you happen to know the Arabic words for “OK”, “Cancel”, “Yes”, “No”?

unfortunately, i do not know Arabic.

Google Translator will translate English to Arabic.

@yonatanb: Even if you found a solution you would be disappointed with Audaclty 2.0.0’s Hebrew translation which is less than half complete.

Have you tried other apps built with WXwidgets like FileZilla or BitTorrent to see if they have the same issue?


Gale