Mainmenu crashes / loses fonts after a while

Question

Running 22.04.1 LTS.

My main menu "loses" its fonts/glyphs(?) after some time. Without any recognizable trigger, the clock, calendar, app finder and main menu don't show (most) text anymore:

The same goes for the notification window, weirdly, some characters remain here:

The only workaround I could find is logging out and back in or rebooting the whole machine which is unfeasible.

I realize this won't be an easy fix, but I would already appreciate pointers to relevant log or config files, I don't even know where to start with this one.

Edit: inxi -G:

Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 driver: i915 v: kernel
  Device-2: Cheng Uei Precision Industry (Foxlink) HP HD Camera type: USB
    driver: uvcvideo
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 resolution: 1: 1920x1080~60Hz
    2: 1920x1080~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2)
    v: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.5

Edit 2 It happened again, here is the tail of /var/log/syslog at the time:

Jan 12 10:30:52 rtkit-daemon[1928]: Supervising 8 threads of 5 processes of 1 users.
Jan 12 10:30:52 rtkit-daemon[1928]: Supervising 8 threads of 5 processes of 1 users.
Jan 12 10:33:06 gnome-shell[9630]: y Wnck::Screen=HASH(0x5629c2906490)
Jan 12 10:33:06 gnome-shell[9630]: fct_update_tray_menu was called by Wnck::Screen=HASH(0x5629c2906490)
Jan 12 10:33:06 gnome-shell[9630]: message repeated 13 times: [ fct_update_tray_menu was called by Wnck::Screen=HASH(0x5629c2906490)]
Jan 12 10:33:44 systemd[1]: Started Run anacron jobs. 
Jan 12 10:33:44 anacron[102424]: Anacron 2.3 started on 2023-01-12
Jan 12 10:33:44 systemd[1]: anacron.service: Deactivated successfully.
Jan 12 10:33:44 anacron[102424]: Normal exit (0 jobs run)
Jan 12 10:33:53 rtkit-daemon[1928]: Supervising 8 threads of 5 processes of 1 users.
Jan 12 10:33:53 rtkit-daemon[1928]: Supervising 8 threads of 5 processes of 1 users.
Jan 12 10:34:25 gnome-shell[9630]: fct_upd
Jan 12 10:34:25 gnome-shell[5567]: Window manager warning: WM_TRANSIENT_FOR window 0x3c14a41 for 0x3c14a4f window override-redirect is an override-redirect window and this is not correct according to the standard, so we'll fallback to the first non-override-redirect window 0x3c14457.
Jan 12 10:35:19 gnome-shell[5567]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaWindowGroup>:0x555bfb8b8680] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 12 10:35:19 gnome-shell[5567]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaWindowActorX11>:0x555bfe103ee0] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 12 10:35:19 gnome-shell[5567]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaSurfaceActorX11>:0x555bfb9b5140] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 12 10:35:54 rtkit-daemon[1928]: Supervising 8 threads of 5 processes of 1 users.
Jan 12 10:35:54 rtkit-daemon[1928]: Supervising 8 threads of 5 processes of 1 users.
Jan 12 10:35:54 gnome-shell[9630]: ate_tray_menu was called by Wnck::Screen=HASH(0x5629c2906490)
Jan 12 10:35:54 gnome-shell[9630]: fct_update_tray_menu was called by Wnck::Screen=HASH(0x5629c2906490)
Jan 12 10:35:54 gnome-shell[9630]: message repeated 12 times: [ fct_update_tray_menu was called by Wnck::Screen=HASH(0x5629c2906490)]
Jan 12 10:36:53 rtkit-daemon[1928]: Supervising 8 threads of 5 processes of 1 users.

Edit 3 Possible Workaround

I found this comment on gnome bugtracker and disabled the font hinting via gnome-tweaks. As it is discussed in the other thread and might be relevant: I have no gnome extensions enabled (or even installed).

Edit 4 Actual Workaround / Mitigation

The best way I found to get the fonts back without rebooting is resetting the GUI by pressing [Alt]+[F2], typing r into the command box and pressing [Enter]. This brings all the fonts back.

Edit 5 More syslog info from a recent crash:

Jan 18 20:16:04 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaWindowGroup>:0x55e3f2a0c680] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:04 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaWindowActorX11>:0x55e3f779db10] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:04 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaSurfaceActorX11>:0x55e3f3fdadd0] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:04 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaWindowGroup>:0x55e3f2a0c680] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:04 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaWindowActorX11>:0x55e3f779db10] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:04 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaSurfaceActorX11>:0x55e3f3fdadd0] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:06 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaWindowGroup>:0x55e3f2a0c680] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:06 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaWindowActorX11>:0x55e3f779d330] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:06 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaSurfaceActorX11>:0x55e3f3fdb4d0] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:06 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaWindowGroup>:0x55e3f2a0c680] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:06 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaWindowActorX11>:0x55e3f779d330] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:06 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaSurfaceActorX11>:0x55e3f3fdb4d0] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:06 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaWindowGroup>:0x55e3f2a0c680] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:06 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaWindowActorX11>:0x55e3f779d330] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 18 20:16:06 nb01 gnome-shell[5692]: Can't update stage views actor <unnamed>[<MetaSurfaceActorX11>:0x55e3f3fdb4d0] is on because it needs an allocation

.

Can you find any related errors in /var/log/syslog that could help solver this issue? If this happen regularly, try checking the log file as soon as it happens and see if anything shows up there. — Dan, Jan 09 '23 at 16:36
Probably related thread, provided by @tekcins : https://askubuntu.com/questions/1281784/text-missing-from-main-titlebar-menus-in-ubuntu-20-04 — tannerli, Jan 10 '23 at 09:28
Could you add the output of inxi -G to your question? Might be a GPU driver problem — kanehekili, Jan 11 '23 at 09:01
Pressing Alt+F2, and typing r is called: restarting gnome-shell :) (And can also be triggered through e.g. switching between themes back and forth. (Though your shortcut is superior.)) — Levente, Jan 18 '23 at 21:45

kanehekili · Answer 1 · 2023-01-19T09:08:02.613

0

Usually, the intel driver works out of box. However, the "modesetting" driver might not be as good as the intel driver.

The following instructions work only with an XSession - not with Wayland! See how to change

My suggestion is to create the following file: /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf

Add

Section "Device"
  Identifier "Intel Graphics"
  Driver "intel"
  #Option      "DRI"  "iris"
  #Option      "AccelMethod"  "uxa"
EndSection

You'll need to reboot after a change, so the drivers are updated.

More changes: (Try one after the other)

For Intel GPUs starting from Gen8 (Broadwell), the Iris Mesa driver is needed:

Option      "DRI"  "iris"

If you experience issues with default SNA (e.g. pixelated graphics, corrupt text, etc.), try using UXA instead

Option      "AccelMethod"  "uxa"

Sorry, but this is trial & error. the # is a comment - so it will not be read. To activate the line just remove that sign.

In case of problems during startup, you can always remove or rename that file and reboot.

Font rendering

In some cases the fonts you are using can't be handled by the intel drivers (not Linux specific). You might try to change your fonts and/or your theme.

An example of a working font configuration can be found here

Update

Considering the new logs it seems this Bug is responsible for the spam.

This describes the problem more clearly and is a driver problem in conjunction with mesa.Fix in mesa 22.2.0-2

edited Jan 19 '23 at 09:08

answered Jan 12 '23 at 10:38

kanehekili

6,402

I am using X, not Wayland, so I'm good to go on your answer. The font-hintig tweak did not work. I have created the file, so far without enabling either "Option", and restarted X. I will keep you posted – tannerli Jan 13 '23 at 16:53
It happened again 5 minutes ago. Doesn't seem to work yet. I have now enabled the "DRI" Option. – tannerli Jan 16 '23 at 13:14
Not quite sure, but the drivers might need a reboot instead of a log out.. The "uxa" option would be my favorite. – kanehekili Jan 16 '23 at 14:01
I think so too. Logigng out and in probably won't reload the driver. I rebooted both times I changed the config file. No issue so far using the "iris" option. – tannerli Jan 17 '23 at 08:13
Thanks for the feedback. I'll update my answer accordingly. So I narrows the problem down to the driver, which was one of your objectives. – kanehekili Jan 17 '23 at 09:04
Thank you for your patient handholding. I'll wait a final few hours to see if the problem re-occurs – tannerli Jan 17 '23 at 09:21
ok, we celebrated too soon. It happened again. I disabled the "iris" option and enabled the "uxa" option and rebooted. Now it's waiting a few hours again... – tannerli Jan 17 '23 at 09:45
Could you see an entry in dmesg around the time the fonts got missing again? I'm still convinced it is the driver. Should be some kind of stacktrace or a "flood" warning. The latter might be a power preserving problem – kanehekili Jan 17 '23 at 16:39
Yes, this time there was possibly relevant output in /var/log/syslog: I've added it as edit 5 to my question – tannerli Jan 18 '23 at 19:20
Updated my answer - not clear if that leads to the broken fonts, though – kanehekili Jan 19 '23 at 08:32

Mainmenu crashes / loses fonts after a while

1 Answers1