Text is missing (All characters display as a box)

randomuser111 · November 9, 2022, 9:28am

I just installed the 3.2.0 Flatpak version from Flathub and initially it worked. Then I changed the Modules preferences from “New” to “Enabled” and restarted Audacity. Since then all text is missing. I then blindly tried every single option the Modules preferences to see if I can undo the damage this way, but it didn’t work. So I suspect it’s not actually related to that.

I already tried reinstalling it multiple times, but it makes no difference.
And I tried deleting my .audacity-data. And I tried leaving my .audacity-data as is and only delete the audacity.cfg. But the result is the same: Audacity doesn’t show text anymore.

Any ideas what I can do to fix this?

My audacity.cfg:

PrefsVersion=1.1.1r1
MenuBar=File,Edit,Select,View,Transport,Tracks,Generate,Effect,Analyze,Tools,Optional,Help,HiddenFileItems
AudioTimeFormat=hh:mm:ss
Importers=AUP,PCM,OGG,FLAC,MP3,LOF,FFmpeg,WavPack
Preferences=Device,Playback,Recording,MidiIO,Quality,GUI,Tracks,ImportExport,Library,Directories,Warnings,Effects,KeyConfig,Mouse,Module
SnapTo=0
SelectionFormat=hh:mm:ss + milliseconds
FrequencySelectionFormatName=Hz
BandwidthSelectionFormatName=octaves
Exporters=PCM,MP3,OGG,FLAC,MP2,CommandLine,FFmpeg,WavPack
DefaultOpenType=All files
LastOpenType=
SelectionToolbarMode=1
LastUsed=/home/**************
[Version]
Major=3
Minor=2
Micro=1
[Directories]
TempDir=/var/tmp/audacity-fedora
[Directories/Export]
LastUsed=/home/**************
Default=
[Directories/Open]
Default=
LastUsed=/home/**************
[Directories/Save]
Default=
LastUsed=/home/**************
[Directories/Import]
Default=
[Directories/MacrosOut]
Default=
[AudioIO]
RecordingDevice=X18/XR18 Multichannel
Host=JACK Audio Connection Kit
PlaybackDevice=X18/XR18 Multichannel
RecordingSourceIndex=-1
RecordingSource=
RecordChannels=2
PlaybackSource=
Duplex=1
SWPlaythrough=0
SoundActivatedRecord=0
SilenceLevel=-50
PreRoll=5
Crossfade=10
EffectsPreviewLen=6
CutPreviewBeforeLen=2
CutPreviewAfterLen=1
SeekShortPeriod=1
SeekLongPeriod=15
VariSpeedPlay=1
Microfades=0
UnpinnedScrubbing=1
LatencyDuration=100
LatencyCorrection=-76
PinnedHead=0
[SamplingRate]
DefaultProjectSampleRate=48000
DefaultProjectSampleFormatChoice=Format24Bit
[GUI]
EmptyCanBeDirty=1
SelectAllOnNone=0
EnableCutLines=0
AdjustSelectionEdges=1
EditClipCanMove=1
CircularTrackNavigation=0
TypeToCreateLabel=0
DialogForNameNewLabel=0
ScrollBeyondZero=0
VerticalZooming=0
Solo=Simple
TracksFitVerticallyZoomed=0
ShowTrackNameInWaveform=1
CollapseToHalfWave=0
AutoScroll=1
DefaultViewModeChoiceNew=Waveform
DefaultWaveformScaleChoice=Linear
SampleViewChoice=StemPlot
ZoomPreset1Choice=ZoomDefault
ZoomPreset2Choice=FourPixelsPerSample
Theme=dark
EnvdBRange=60
ShowExtraMenus=1
BeepOnCompletion=0
RetainLabels=0
BlendThemes=1
RtlWorkaround=1
PreferNewTrackRecord=0
SyncLockTracks=0
ShowClipping=1
ShowSplashScreen=0
[GUI/TrackNames]
RecordingNameCustom=0
RecodingTrackName=Recorded_Audio
TrackNumber=0
DateStamp=0
TimeStamp=0
[GUI/ToolBars]
[GUI/ToolBars/Tools]
MultiToolActive=0
DockV2=1
Dock=1
Path=0,0
Show=1
X=-1
Y=-1
W=66
H=55
[GUI/ToolBars/Control]
DockV2=1
Dock=1
Path=0
Show=1
X=-1
Y=-1
W=385
H=55
[GUI/ToolBars/CombinedMeter]
DockV2=1
Dock=0
Show=0
X=-1
Y=-1
W=338
H=27
[GUI/ToolBars/RecordMeter]
DockV2=1
Dock=1
Path=0,0,0,0,0
Show=1
X=-1
Y=-1
W=290
H=27
[GUI/ToolBars/PlayMeter]
DockV2=1
Dock=1
Path=0,0,0,0,1
Show=1
X=-1
Y=-1
W=290
H=27
[GUI/ToolBars/Edit]
DockV2=1
Dock=1
Path=0,0,0
Show=1
X=-1
Y=-1
W=150
H=55
[GUI/ToolBars/Transcription]
DockV2=2
Dock=2
Path=0,0,0
Show=1
X=-1
Y=-1
W=191
H=27
[GUI/ToolBars/Scrub]
DockV2=1
Dock=0
Show=0
X=-1
Y=-1
W=92
H=27
[GUI/ToolBars/Device]
DockV2=1
Dock=0
Show=0
X=-1
Y=-1
W=883
H=27
[GUI/ToolBars/Selection]
DockV2=2
Dock=2
Path=0
Show=1
X=-1
Y=-1
W=602
H=55
[GUI/ToolBars/SpectralSelection]
DockV2=2
Dock=0
Show=0
X=-1
Y=-1
W=305
H=55
[GUI/ToolBars/Audio\ Setup]
DockV2=1
Dock=1
Path=0,0,0,0
Show=1
X=-1
Y=-1
W=139
H=55
[GUI/ToolBars/Time]
DockV2=2
Dock=2
Path=0,0
Show=1
X=-1
Y=-1
W=250
H=55
[MenuBar]
[MenuBar/Optional]
[MenuBar/Optional/Extra]
Part1=Transport,Tools,Mixer,Edit,PlayAtSpeed,Seek,Device,Select
Part2=Navigation,Focus,Cursor,Track,Scriptables1,Scriptables2,Misc
[MenuBar/Optional/Extra/Part1]
Transport=Play,Stop,PlayOneSec,PlayToSelection,PlayBeforeSelectionStart,PlayAfterSelectionStart,PlayBeforeSelectionEnd,PlayAfterSelectionEnd,PlayBeforeAndAfterSelectionStart,PlayBeforeAndAfterSelectionEnd,PlayCutPreview,KeyboardScrubbing
Edit=DeleteKey,DeleteKey2,TimeShift
Select=SnapToOff,SnapToNearest,SnapToPrior,SelStart,SelEnd,SelExtLeft,SelExtRight,SelSetExtLeft,SelSetExtRight,SelCntrLeft,SelCntrRight,MoveToLabel
[MenuBar/View]
Windows=UndoHistory,Karaoke,MixerBoard
Other=Toolbars,ShowExtraMenus,ShowTrackNameInWaveform,ShowClipping
[MenuBar/View/Other]
[MenuBar/View/Other/Toolbars]
[MenuBar/View/Other/Toolbars/Toolbars]
Other=ShowTransportTB,ShowToolsTB,ShowRecordMeterTB,ShowPlayMeterTB,ShowEditTB,ShowTranscriptionTB,ShowScrubbingTB,ShowDeviceTB,ShowSelectionTB,ShowTimeTB,ShowSpectralSelectionTB,ShowAudioSetupTB
[MenuBar/Analyze]
[MenuBar/Analyze/Analyzers]
Windows=ContrastAnalyser,PlotSpectrum
[MenuBar/Transport]
Basic=Play,Record,Scrubbing,Cursor
[MenuBar/Transport/Basic]
Cursor=CursSelStart,CursSelEnd,CursTrackStart,CursTrackEnd,Clip,CursProjectStart,CursProjectEnd
[MenuBar/Edit]
Other=Clip,LabelEditMenus,EditMetaData,RenameClip
[MenuBar/Select]
Basic=SelectAll,SelectNone,Tracks,Region,Spectral,Clip
[MenuBar/Tracks]
[MenuBar/Tracks/Add]
Add=NewMonoTrack,NewStereoTrack,NewLabelTrack,NewTimeTrack
[MenuBar/Help]
[MenuBar/Help/Other]
Diagnostics=DeviceInfo,MidiDeviceInfo,Log,CrashReport
[Preferences]
Tracks=TracksBehaviors,Spectrum
ImportExport=ExtImport
[Prefs]
Width=1183
Height=688
PrefsCategory=17
[Prefs/KeyConfig]
ViewBy=name
[WaveTrackMenu]
[WaveTrackMenu/SubViews]
Extra=WaveColor,SpectrogramSettings
[FileFormats]
ExportFormat_SF1=131072
MP3RateModeChoice=SET
MP3Bitrate=0
MP3ChannelModeChoice=STEREO
MP3SetRate=0
MP3VbrRate=2
MP3AbrRate=192
MP3CbrRate=192
OggExportQuality=50
FLACLevel=5
FLACBitDepth=16
MP2Bitrate=160
ExternalProgramShowOutput=0
ExternalProgramExportCommand=lame - "%f"
ExportDownMixChoice=MixDown
LabelStyleChoice=Standard
AllegroStyleChoice=Seconds
AACQuality=160
AC3BitRate=160000
AMRNBBitRate=12200
OPUSBitrate=64000
OPUSCompression=10
OPUSFrameDuration=20
OPUSVbrMode=on
OPUSApplication=audio
OPUSCutoff=0
WMABitRate=128000
WavPackEncodeQuality=1
WavPackBitDepth=16
WavPackHybridMode=0
WavPackCreateCorrectionFile=0
WavPackBitrate=40
[FileFormats/ExportFormat_SF1_Type]
WAV_10000=6
AIFF_20000=2
[FileFormats/ExternalProgramHistory]
file01=ffmpeg -i - "%f.opus"
file02=ffmpeg -i - "%f.wav"
file03=ffmpeg -i - "%f"
file04=lame - "%f"
[TagsEditorDialog]
x=710
y=256
width=510
height=513
[Update]
UpdateScheduledTime=1667952000000
UpdateNoticeShown=1
DefaultUpdatesChecking=1
[FFmpeg]
Enabled=1
[LADSPA]
Enable=1
[LV2]
Enable=1
[Nyquist]
Enable=1
[VST]
Enable=1
[Vamp]
Enable=1
[Effects]
GroupBy=sortby:name
MaxPerGroup=15
[Warnings]
FirstProjectSave=0
MixMono=0
MixStereo=0
MixUnknownChannels=1
MissingExtension=1
DropoutDetected=1
[ExtendedImport]
OverrideExtendedImportByOpenFileDialogChoice=1
[AudioFiles]
ShowId3Dialog=1
SkipSilenceAtBeginning=0
[Spectrum]
MinFreq=0
MaxFreq=8000
Range=80
Gain=20
FrequencyGain=0
FFTSize=1024
ZeroPaddingFactor=1
WindowType=3
ColorScheme=SpecColorNew
ScaleType=0
EnableSpectralSelection=1
Algorithm=0
[Locale]
Language=System
[QuickPlay]
ToolTips=1
ScrubbingEnabled=1
[Quality]
LibsoxrSampleRateConverterChoice=MediumQuality
DitherAlgorithmChoice=None
LibsoxrHQSampleRateConverterChoice=BestQuality
HQDitherAlgorithmChoice=Shaped
[MidiIO]
Host=ALSA
SynthLatency=5
PlaybackDevice=ALSA: Midi Through Port-0
[Export]
Format=WAV
[LabelEditor]
Width=800
Height=337
[ActiveProjects]
1=/home/**************
2=/home/**************
3=/home/**************
4=/home/**************
[cloud]
[cloud/audiocom]
wasOpened=1
[VST3]
Enable=1
[Batch]
ActiveMacro=Normalize
[NewKeys]
Macro_Normalize=Ctrl+Shift+N
[Tags]
GENRE=Pop
YEAR=2022
ARTIST=*********
[Module]
mod-script-pipe=4
[ModulePath]
mod-script-pipe=/app/lib/audacity/modules/mod-script-pipe.so
[ModuleDateTime]
mod-script-pipe=2022-11-09T10:19:28
[Window]
X=1287
Y=620
Width=1407
Height=1114
Maximized=0
Normal_X=1287
Normal_Y=620
Normal_Width=1407
Normal_Height=1114
Iconized=0
[RecentFiles]
file01=/home/**************
file02=/home/**************
file03=/home/**************
file04=/home/**************
file05=/home/**************
file06=/home/**************
file07=/home/**************
file08=/home/**************
file09=/home/**************
file10=/home/**************
file11=/home/**************
file12=/home/**************

randomuser111 · November 9, 2022, 9:53am

I’m on Fedora 35 btw.

steve · November 9, 2022, 10:56am

Try the official Audacity AppImage: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

It would probably be useful for the makers of the Flatpak version if you report the bug to them.

randomuser111 · November 9, 2022, 12:05pm

The issue with the AppImage is that it doesn’t integrate nicely with the rest of the system. It doesn’t show up as an installed app and it doesn’t update when I update all my other apps.
And besides that, with the AppImage, the UI looks different which I don’t like and I have never been able to enable the mod-script-pipe with the AppImage.

steve · November 9, 2022, 12:30pm

That is logged as an issue: https://github.com/audacity/audacity/issues/3734

So is that: https://github.com/audacity/audacity/issues/3324

The Flatpak version is not made by the Audacity Team. Any issues that are specific to the Flatpak version need to be reported to the developers that make the Flatpak version.

steve · November 9, 2022, 12:32pm

Just a thought - you could try resetting Audacity Preferences.
The 4th option in the second to last menu should be “Tools > Reset Configuration”.

Alternatively, look in ~/.var/app for Audacity’s configuration files.
audacity.cfg
pluginregistry.cfg
pluginsettings.cfg
(I’m not sure exactly where they will be in the Flatpak version)

With Audacity closed, delete those three files, then restart Audacity.

randomuser111 · November 11, 2022, 10:03am

Thanks for your help steve. Resetting the config didn’t help unfortunately.

I filed an issue with the developers of the flatpak version, but unfortunately I haven’t gotten a response so far.

I managed to come up with a hack to use the AppImage version with the script-mod-pipe.
But it’s less than ideal…

steve · November 11, 2022, 12:01pm

I saw that. Good work but I agree it needs to be fixed properly.

Personally I’m still using Audacity 2.4.2 (with a few additional bug fixes) as I don’t need any of the new features that are in Audacity 3.x. (I would like to be able to use the latest version of Nyquist, but I’ve not yet back-ported that to Audacity 2.4.2).