Can only see first 4 characters Mint 20

[Dukenukemx]

I gave this computer to my nephew and now I can only see the first 4 characters of anything in Cinnamon. The theme is Windows if you're wondering. I have no idea what's causing this issue. It doesn't happen to FireFox or other programs but I see it in Nemo, Cinnamon, and terminal. Anyone know how to fix this?

[JoeFootball]

The theme is Windows if you're wondering. ... Anyone know how to fix this?

Did you try other themes?

[Dukenukemx]

The theme is Windows if you're wondering. ... Anyone know how to fix this?

Did you try other themes?

Yes, and I even tried resetting all settings to default as well. It was working fine before but most likely my nephew was probably rolling around on this bed with the keyboard on it. No idea what series of keys was pressed to cause this.

[JoeFootball]

It was working fine before ...

Are you using Timeshift, where you could try to restore back to a state where it worked?

[gabfus]

Hello, today also my mint xfce start in this mode (unusefull!!), in recovery mode all work fine.
I try to reset xfce4 (panel/desktop) to default, but the problem is the same.

Other solution?
thanks

I gave this computer to my nephew and now I can only see the first 4 characters of anything in Cinnamon. The theme is Windows if you're wondering. I have no idea what's causing this issue. It doesn't happen to FireFox or other programs but I see it in Nemo, Cinnamon, and terminal. Anyone know how to fix this?

Screenshot from 2021-04-02 16-44-14.jpg

[Dukenukemx]

Hello, today also my mint xfce start in this mode (unusefull!!), in recovery mode all work fine.
I try to reset xfce4 (panel/desktop) to default, but the problem is the same.

Other solution?
thanks

I gave this computer to my nephew and now I can only see the first 4 characters of anything in Cinnamon. The theme is Windows if you're wondering. I have no idea what's causing this issue. It doesn't happen to FireFox or other programs but I see it in Nemo, Cinnamon, and terminal. Anyone know how to fix this?

Screenshot from 2021-04-02 16-44-14.jpg

By any chance are you using Oibaf PPA? I'm wondering if the graphic drivers are causing this.

[gabfus]

Yes I use oibaf ppa.

I try to remove ppa with purge, but no work!

[karlchen]

Yes I use oibaf ppa. I try to remove ppa with purge, but no work!

Removing the PPA does not revert any changes, applied to your system by installing the drivers from that PPA in the past.

[gabfus]

I solved with downgrade ppa.

this no work: sudo ppa-purge ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers

this work: sudo ppa-purge -d focal ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers

Thanks

[JOPETA]

I solved with downgrade ppa.

Do you mean you've solved the four letters problem?

There is another user with this problem looking for a solution. If the problem is solved, please edit your first post (click on the pencil icon on the right) and add [Solved] to the subject.

PD: Ooops I didn't notice you are not user (Dukenukemx) who opened this topic

[Dukenukemx]

I solved with downgrade ppa.

this no work: sudo ppa-purge ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers

this work: sudo ppa-purge -d focal ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers

Thanks

I'll test this out once I can get my nephew to turn back on his computer, otherwise I'd have to drive there. The machine has a Radeon HD 6850, so I'm wondering what you're using?

[cakemonitor]

I had the same issue and, via CTRL+ALT+F2, I tried the suggested ppa-purge command and it did not got well!

It stated that it was going to remove a lot of packages including cinnamon! I selected 'no' at the confirmation stage and it then suggested an alternative change that I didn't fully understand but it looked a lot less destructive so I accepted it because 1) someone here said the command solved the issue and 2) my computer was otherwise unusable due to only showing 4 characters of any line of text.

I now have no desktop at all and cannot install cinnamon due to unresolved dependencies.

I searched online via my phone and found a different linux mint forum post titled: ppa-purge oibaf graphics drivers likely to screw my entire system
It says:

The right command is actually

Code: Select all

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers

...and also (emphasis mine):

Mint software sources has a tool to downgrade foreign packages. Use that.
ppa-purge is dedicated to ubuntu. Using it on Mint can have disastrous results.

Long story short, I'm now backing up important files via a live environment and installing Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix.

[stikouhm]

Hi !

i have exactly the same problem (4 characters on console and all the system windows...).
it just appear after an update i did yeasterday, but i don't know which package ...


i use Mesa drivers, so i'm not sur the PPA-purge (oibaf) should help ...

any solution ?

Matthieu

[SMG]

it just appear after an update i did yeasterday, but i don't know which package ...

Do you have a Timeshift snapshot to which you can restore? That is the best way to undo package changes.

i use Mesa drivers, so i'm not sur the PPA-purge (oibaf) should help ...

If you are using the oibaf PPA, it updates itself at least once per day. That means the version you have today is not the same as the version you had yesterday.

[SimpleAone]

I'm having the exact same problem since the beginning of April.

It's very hard to 'revert' anything with Timeshift or any other app that has the 'only first 4 characters' visible because you can't make out what package you want to remove.
This problem does not appear with Firefox or Thunderbird or Chrome, it happens with programs that all seem to use the same method to write text.

Any help with this would really be appreciated!

It makes the system very difficult to use and i do not want to reinstall everything.

I'm using a Radeon GFX card if that might be a clue..

[SMG]

It's very hard to 'revert' anything with Timeshift or any other app that has the 'only first 4 characters' visible because you can't make out what package you want to remove.

Boot to a live session of Mint using an install usb/dvd and use Timeshift on the live session. That session will not be using any PPAs so you will be able to see all the characters. You can select a snapshot on your hard drive to restore your hard drive to the snapshot.

[SimpleAone]

Thank you for your reply!

It might have worked if Timeshift was active at the time, but it seems the last backup was 22nd of april..

I guess it's either reinstalling everything or hoping that someone at the Linux(mint) team has the same bug at some point and it gets fixed.
As far as i can tell the cause is still unknown.

[SMG]

Thank you for your reply!

It might have worked if Timeshift was active at the time, but it seems the last backup was 22nd of april..

I guess it's either reinstalling everything or hoping that someone at the Linux(mint) team has the same bug at some point and it gets fixed.
As far as i can tell the cause is still unknown.

The issue is because of something in the oibaf PPA which is not controlled by the Mint team. Therefore, there is no bug for the Mint team to fix. Those of us not using that PPA are able to see all characters.

PPAs are not part of the Mint install. We recommend anyone using PPAs take a Timeshift snapshot before installing the PPA so if there are issues with the PPA, one can revert back to a working version of their Mint install.

[mikeflan]

I am cross referencing 2 topics.
See this newer topic where an update and reboot fixed the problem:
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=349351