[Solved]Black screen by starting first document

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BBI_home
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 5:43 pm

[Solved]Black screen by starting first document

Post by BBI_home »

Hi,

Today I started my first experience with FreeCAD and after installing the software without any problems and after watching the FreeCad 0.18 Introduction on YouTube, I was convinced to be able to have a fluent start.
However I'm struggling with a black screen direct after CTR+N.
Also after a new installation, checking my disk space etcetera, so I need your input.

Looking forward to hear from you



OS: Windows 10
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.18.16110 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: (HEAD detached at upstream/releases/FreeCAD-0-18)
Hash: f7dccfaa909e5b9da26bf50c4a22ccca9bb10c40
Python version: 3.6.6
Qt version: 5.6.2
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.3.0
Locale: Dutch/Netherlands (nl_NL)
Attachments
CTR+N.png
CTR+N.png (10.22 KiB) Viewed 17884 times
chrisb
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Posts: 53930
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:14 am

Re: Black screen by starting first document

Post by chrisb »

I guess it has something to do with your graphics card driver, see here for more information: https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=30573.
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BBI_home
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 5:43 pm

Re: Black screen by starting first document

Post by BBI_home »

I'm not sure.

Version .17 is still installed on my pcas well and this is running fine without any problems.
So to me it is 100% related to .18. I'm not aware of the details behind the scene.

I'm able to open the menu structure by clicking blind on a suspected area.
Attachments
FreeCad error.png
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wmayer
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Posts: 20243
Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:32 am
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Re: Black screen by starting first document

Post by wmayer »

See here what has changed behind the scene and possibly a workaround: https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic. ... 46#p305546
Unfortunately, we don't have much control over what Qt does with OpenGL internally.

Btw, this reminds at a similar issue on Win10 I have seen some months ago with Qt5.12. A workaround was to set

Code: Select all

Qt::AA_UseDesktopOpenGL
in the source code or alternatively set the environment variable QT_OPENGL to desktop.
BBI_home
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 5:43 pm

Re: Black screen by starting first document

Post by BBI_home »

A simple solution was to buy a modern video card, in my case a MSI GeForce GT 710 1GB, for less then € 50,00
sukuwc
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu May 09, 2019 6:50 pm

Re: [Solved]Black screen by starting first document

Post by sukuwc »

When I downloaded the latest stable release (0.18 - 16110) the same black screen bug happened to me. I am very surprised because 0.18.15969 from the nightly builds worked flawlessly for 2 months or so on the same computer. This makes me doubt that Qt5 causes the issue... I attached screenshot of the two versions running at the same time. (Triple monitor setup makes screenshots weird)

I can use the older build for now but it worries me that I wont be able to upgrade if this issue is not addressed...
Attachments
freecad_display_bug.png
freecad_display_bug.png (360.43 KiB) Viewed 17666 times
triplus
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Posts: 9471
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2011 4:45 pm

Re: [Solved]Black screen by starting first document

Post by triplus »

sukuwc wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 7:19 pm This makes me doubt that Qt5 causes the issue...
If you click on "Copy to clipboard" button and paste the result in text editor. What does the "Qt version" say for each build?

P.S. But it is interesting, as i wouldn't expect anything beyond the viewport to have such issues. What happens if you close the viewport (Ctrl + W)? Any difference?
sukuwc
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu May 09, 2019 6:50 pm

Re: [Solved]Black screen by starting first document

Post by sukuwc »

You are right, it is different Qt version, I just automatically assumed that changing Qt was a big thing and it happened from 0.17 to 0.18 but I was wrong. Anyways, is there a way to use the newer builds with the older Qt versions?

Working:

OS: Windows 7
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.18.15969 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: master
Hash: 4765b7e2fe6d3609e9fbf3e3eb6648d7af1dd526
Python version: 2.7.14
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.2.0
Locale: English/UnitedStates (en_US)

Not Working:

OS: Windows 7
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.18.16110 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: (HEAD detached at upstream/releases/FreeCAD-0-18)
Hash: f7dccfaa909e5b9da26bf50c4a22ccca9bb10c40
Python version: 3.6.6
Qt version: 5.6.2
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.3.0
Locale: English/UnitedStates (en_US)
triplus
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Posts: 9471
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2011 4:45 pm

Re: [Solved]Black screen by starting first document

Post by triplus »

sukuwc wrote: Fri May 10, 2019 2:23 pm Anyways, is there a way to use the newer builds with the older Qt versions?
I took a quick look and on releases page:

https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/releases/

It looks like there are still Py2/Qt4 builds available for Windows for now. At some point in the future likely only Py3/Qt5 builds will be made available. Maybe newer versions of Qt 5 used in binaries will improve things.
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sgrogan
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Re: [Solved]Black screen by starting first document

Post by sgrogan »

sukuwc wrote: Fri May 10, 2019 2:23 pm Anyways, is there a way to use the newer builds with the older Qt versions?
In addition to what triplus has said, there is also a 0.19_pre https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/rele ... g/0.19_pre LP_12.1.2 build that uses QT5.12.1
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