Video Problems with Audacity 2.4.1

[bertradio]

I updated Audacity to 2.4.1 today and am having a series of video problems.

If I open Audacity with no file, I used to get solid gray between the top menus and toolbars, and the toolbars at the bottom. With the new version, this area shows what is on the desktop under Audactiy -- as if the area in Audacity is totally transparent. If I then load a file I see the waveform(s) as before.

In addition, when I close a project with Ctrl-W or the menu, the waveforms remain on the screen -- but are not there in function. In other words the section with the waveforms does not go back to solid gray.

Has anyone else seen this? Any ideas what might be going on? I would like to revert to version 2.3.3 but cannot find the .deb file on the internet.

Thanks

[phd21]

Hi bertradio,

It would help to know more about your system setup. If you run "inxi -Fxzd" and "lsusb" from the console terminal prompt, highlight the results, copy and paste them back here, that should provide enough information.

How did you install this version of Audacity using Flatpak, Snap, PPA, etc...

Audacity Fixes the Major Bug and Releases a Fresh Version 2.4.1
https://www.debugpoint.com/2020/05/auda ... m+Feeds%29

Are you having any other video issues?

Hope this helps ...

[bertradio]

Audacity was installed via the Software Manager. Having no other video issues with any programs.

Code: Select all

System:
  Host: desktop-linux Kernel: 5.3.0-53-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc 
  v: 7.5.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.4.8 Distro: Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia 
  base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Dell product: XPS 8300 v: N/A serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Dell model: 0Y2MRG v: A00 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A06 
  date: 10/17/2011 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i7-2600 bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Sandy Bridge rev: 7 L2 cache: 8192 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 54274 
  Speed: 1596 MHz min/max: 1600/3800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1596 2: 1596 
  3: 1596 4: 1596 5: 1596 6: 1596 7: 1596 8: 1596 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Caicos [Radeon HD 6450/7450/8450 / R5 230 OEM] 
  vendor: Pegatron driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: ati,radeon 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa 
  resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz, 1680x1050~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD CAICOS (DRM 2.50.0 / 5.3.0-53-generic LLVM 9.0.0) 
  v: 3.3 Mesa 19.2.8 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio 
  vendor: Dell XPS 8300 driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
  Device-2: N/A type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus ID: 1-1.2:4 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.3.0-53-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom and subsidiaries BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network 
  Adapter 
  vendor: Dell Inspiron M5010 / XPS 8300 driver: wl v: kernel port: e000 
  bus ID: 02:00.0 
  IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Broadcom and subsidiaries NetLink BCM57788 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe 
  vendor: Dell XPS 8300 driver: tg3 v: 3.137 port: e000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
  IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
  IF-ID-1: tun0 state: unknown speed: 10 Mbps duplex: full mac: N/A 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 3.69 TiB used: 1.68 TiB (45.6%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Crucial model: CT500MX500SSD1 size: 465.76 GiB 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Seagate model: ST3500413AS size: 465.76 GiB 
  ID-3: /dev/sdc type: USB vendor: Seagate model: Backup+ Desk 
  size: 2.73 TiB 
  ID-4: /dev/sdh type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: Ultra size: 57.28 GiB 
  Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: TSSTcorp model: DVD+-RW SH-216AB rev: D300 
  dev-links: cdrom,cdrw,dvd,dvdrw 
  Features: speed: 48 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes 
  rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 19.57 GiB used: 12.39 GiB (63.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
  ID-2: /home size: 68.66 GiB used: 54.37 GiB (79.2%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/sda7 
  ID-3: swap-1 size: 7.76 GiB used: 17.0 MiB (0.2%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 40.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 60 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 296 Uptime: 2h 33m Memory: 7.76 GiB used: 3.79 GiB (48.8%) 
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.5.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.20 
  inxi: 3.0.32 

[phd21]

Hi bertradio,

I have seen various issues with some systems and various editions and versions of Linux Mint when using Flatpaks. I did not know you could get the newest Audacity v2.4.1 through the Software Manager or Synaptic Package Manager (SPM) unless it is a flatpak.

I just installed the updated Audacity v2.4.1 from the PPA below and it appears to work fine on my older Dell optiplex 780 dual core system using Linux KDE Neon like Linux Mint 19.x which is what I happen to be in at the moment. I am using a newer Linux Kernel 5.3.4-050304-generic. I have not yet upgraded my Linux Mint Cinnamon from 19.2 to 19.3.

FYI: you should remove other versions of Audacity like from Flatpak or Snap before you use the PPA.

Audacity PPA Audio Editor and Recorder : Panda Jim
https://launchpad.net/~ubuntuhandbook1/ ... u/audacity

To install this using the PPA method, open a console terminal, type in, or copy & paste, each line below one by one: Click "Select All" above command, right click the highlighted command, select Copy (or Ctrl+Insert), click in the console terminal window, and right click paste ("Shift+Insert" or "Ctrl+Shift+v"), repeat for each command.

Code: Select all

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/audacity

Code: Select all

sudo apt update

Code: Select all

sudo apt install audacity

I noticed your computer's Bios is from 2011, so you might check to see if there are any updated and apply those.

For some reason on my KDE systems, I cannot launch Audacity directly from the menu using its default menu icon? I have to use a modified desktop / menu launcher shortcut using the start program command:

Code: Select all

LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ audacity

Hope this helps ...
.

Audacity - recording my own voice

.

Audacity - custom desktop menu shortcut launcher command for my KDE systems

[bertradio]

Thanks for taking the time to give me a detailed reply.

The ppa on my system is ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntuhandbook1/audacity/ubuntu bionic main

I have 2.3.3 installed (reverted so it works) and Synaptic shows the latest version as 2.4.1 build 2. My Software Manager gave me the update the other day. I have neither Snap nor Flatbak versions installed.

I have checked on the Dell site and there are no BIOS updates for my machine.

I went on the Audacity forum and others are having the same problems as I am.

I guess for the moment I'll stick with 2.3.3.

Bert

[phd21]

Hi bertradio,

You are welcome...

[mykec]

Hi phd21,

I've been using Audacity since 2002. After being away from using it for a few months I was appalled tonight to find it failing so miserably - and frustrated for not knowing exactly how to describe the issue. I was completely unable to highlight or zoom in on any portions of the waveform I needed to select - rendering the editor completely useless. Also the time-counter widget at the bottom was grossly oversized, etc. Eventually I found this page and I can confirm that your solution works for me on my system running this:

Ubuntu:
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=18.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=bionic
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 18.04 LTS"

Mint: tessa
Kernel: 4.15.0-106-generic

The waveformh highlight and zoom features seem to be back to normal now.

Note: I needed to uninstall and reinstall both "audacity" and "audacity-data" for it to be happy with my CLI commands.

Thanks!
MykeC

Audacity PPA Audio Editor and Recorder : Panda Jim
https://launchpad.net/~ubuntuhandbook1/ ... u/audacity

To install this using the PPA method, open a console terminal, type in, or copy & paste, each line below one by one: Click "Select All" above command, right click the highlighted command, select Copy (or Ctrl+Insert), click in the console terminal window, and right click paste ("Shift+Insert" or "Ctrl+Shift+v"), repeat for each command.

Code: Select all

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/audacity

Code: Select all

sudo apt update

Code: Select all

sudo apt install audacity

[phd21]

Hi mykec,

You are welcome.

Glad to hear Audacity is working for you again. It is a great audio editor.

[bertradio]

Just tried to install 2.4.2 from Update Manager and have the same video issues. I do not have them on my laptop which is also running Mint 19.3.

Anyone else have these video issues? Solution?

Thanks

[ajgreeny]

See the reported bug at https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... ug/1876212 where in several posts including my own at #7 and #8 you can see how I solved the same problem.

It seems to be a problem related to xim and removing that .xinputrc file from my home completely solved this annoying problem and has caused no other difficulties as a result.

[bertradio]

Thanks. I checked .xinputrc on my laptop (where Audacity works) and my desktop (where I had the problem).

On the laptop, the line was 'run-im none'. On the desktop it was 'run-im ibus'. I changed the desktop to match the laptop and now Audacity 2.4.2 works like a charm.

Evidently .xinputrc was automatically created by im-config at some point in the past. I looked at man for im-config and it's purpose is to "set up input method configuration for X Window System". The man pages have a lot more details.

This was driving me a bit nuts and I never would have thought to look at that file without your post.

[ajgreeny]

That's great!
I have now deleted the .xinputrc file completely on my one machine where it existed, as I never have a need to make any changes to things that the file relates to such as input language.

The other machine, a laptop using the same OS of the same version did not have that file so there was nothing to be done there, and I did not see the audacity problem on the laptop at all.

Very strange situation, but I'm delighted to have been a help to you, and perhaps others who have this problem.

[bertradio]

Upon further reading, I found there there is a file /etc/X11/xinit/xinputrc which contains the line 'run_im default'. If ~/.xinputrc does not exist, this is the file that is used. I have renamed ~/.xinputrc on both my machines to just run the default and things seem to be just fine.

[ajgreeny]

Upon further reading, I found there there is a file /etc/X11/xinit/xinputrc which contains the line 'run_im default'. If ~/.xinputrc does not exist, this is the file that is used. I have renamed ~/.xinputrc on both my machines to just run the default and things seem to be just fine.

Yes, I found that also in man im-config but there is no mention of xim, which seems to be the cause of the problem in that system file, or not in mine anyway.

[bertradio]

Wikipedia on XIM;

The X Input Method (or XIM) was the original input method framework for the X Window System.[1]

It predates IBus, SCIM, uim and IIIMF. The specification[2] is published most recently in 1994 by (and copyright held by) the X Consortium. Although rarely used today, XIM is historically notable and has been supported in the enterprise products of IBM[3] and Oracle.[4]