[FIXED] Ticket #3945 - Can't move Preferences window under POP!_OS 19.04 (Ubuntu 19.04 based)

[deejay2]

The preferences window can't be moved/dragged anywhere. It's the main FreeCAD window that is moving instead.<

I have a laptop with an external monitor. The external monitor is my main monitor with desktop icons. I start FreeCAD 0.18.1 (from stable ppa) and it spawns on my main monitor. When I click Edit->Preferences, the Preferences window often spawns on my laptop monitor and can't be dragged anywhere. Trying to drag it strangely drags the main FreeCAD window which isn't even under the mouse pointer.

Ticket: https://www.freecadweb.org/tracker/view.php?id=3945

[kisolre]

There was amother problem with multimonitor support if somebodi could find it...

[vocx]

The preferences window can't be moved/dragged anywhere. It's the main FreeCAD window that is moving instead.<

I have a laptop with an external monitor. ...

I can confirm this very odd behavior. It used to happen a few months ago in the development version (freecad-daily) of FreeCAD 0.18, so maybe in the months of December 2018 to February 2019. The preferences window would be larger than the laptop's screen size so it was impossible to click on the OK or Cancel buttons, or to access the title bar. Eventually, an update happened and the problem appeared to be fixed.

I'm not sure if this is a bug in FreeCAD, but it may be a bug in Qt. In issue #3945, the reporter is using Qt 5.12; Ubuntu 18.04 uses Qt 5.9, and I don't see this problem anymore. There have been a few updates to the Qt libraries, so maybe this was addressed there. Also, just for reference, my graphics card is an integrated Intel HD Graphics 620, so nothing fancy.

Code: Select all

OS: Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.18.1.
Build type: Release
Python version: 3.6.7
Qt version: 5.9.5
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.3.0
Locale: English/UnitedStates (en_US)

[jmaustpc]

he preferences window would be larger than the laptop's screen size so it was impossible to click on the OK or Cancel buttons, or to access the title bar. Eventually, an update happened and the problem appeared to be fixed.

I have that here on my 1600x900 pixel display, to see the buttons disappear I have to first go to PartDesign WB then I see it with PartDesign or Sketcher settings. the scroll bar does not allow me to drag the window down far enough to see the OK and cancel buttons. For me the answer is to simply make the preferences window full screen, then the button are available.

If I just start FreeCAD with default start WB, then go to preferences, the buttons are there. So perhaps the reason you thought the disappearing buttons problem had gone away was just that you did not have enough workbenches open before you entered settings?

I have always assumed this is an O/S or QT issue and since I can workaround the issue by just maximising the screen, I have not thought any further about it.

OS: Kubuntu 18.04.2 LTS
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.18.1.
Build type: Release
Python version: 3.6.7
Qt version: 5.9.5
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.3.0
Locale: English/Australia (en_AU)

[jmaustpc]

The preferences window can't be moved/dragged anywhere. It's the main FreeCAD window that is moving instead.<

I have a laptop with an external monitor. The external monitor is my main monitor with desktop icons. I start FreeCAD 0.18.1 (from stable ppa) and it spawns on my main monitor. When I click Edit->Preferences, the Preferences window often spawns on my laptop monitor and can't be dragged anywhere. Trying to drag it strangely drags the main FreeCAD window which isn't even under the mouse pointer.

Ticket: https://www.freecadweb.org/tracker/view.php?id=3945

That is most likely an issue with your dual monitor settings, O/S and/or GPU driver, possibly even QT. Did you previously have an older FreeCAD version on that same system and if so (do you know which one) did it work properly with an older FreeCAD?

Have you noticed any other "QT5" programs doing something similar?

Also what is your GPU and which driver is it using? What desktop environment are you using? e.g. KDE, Gnome, something else?

This is your version data copied from the ticket, please post it in the forum topic whenever you want to ask something. please also discuss possible bugs on the forum before you make a ticket on the bug tracker, so we can keep the ticket quantities down and their quality up.

OS: Pop!_OS 19.04
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.18.1.
Build type: Release
Python version: 3.7.3
Qt version: 5.12.2
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.3.0
Locale: French/Canada (fr_CA)

[vocx]

So perhaps the reason you thought the disappearing buttons problem had gone away was just that you did not have enough workbenches open before you entered settings?

No. The problem is gone in my system. I have General, Display, Import-Export, FEM, CFD, Start, Draft, PartDesign, Sketcher, Arch, all in the Preferences view, but the window keeps the same size and doesn't stretch out.

I have always assumed this is an O/S or QT issue and since I can workaround the issue by just maximising the screen, I have not thought any further about it.

When I had the problem, I was not able to maximize the preferences window, so it was impossible to access the buttons. The window can't be minimized or maximized at all, it can only be closed with Escape.

The preferences window can't be moved/dragged anywhere. It's the main FreeCAD window that is moving instead.<

This is the main issue, which still happens. I think it's a strange interaction between the Gnome Shell desktop and the Qt libraries that some programs use. Maybe a system running the KDE desktop won't present the same behavior.

And yes, in Gnome Shell, many Qt5 programs behave similarly to FreeCAD. Essentially, a popup window like the Preferences Editor (that is created by the main window) cannot be moved. If you try to move it, the main window (behind the popup window) will move instead.

This happens with many popups that the program creates, like when you click on the ellipsis (three dots) in a property which opens a Link dialog, for example, the Base property of a Draft object.

[deejay2]

Here's a demo of the issue. Note that sometimes, the preference window may spawn to an undesired location and can't be moved...

https://youtu.be/BwpLEahBnAo


My laptop is a System 76 galago ultra pro (~5 years old) with Intel Iris-Pro 5200 graphics

[bejant]

If I resize the Preferences window by even the slightest amount, the title bar appears and I can drag the Preferences window. Even so, I agree that it should be fixed. I use 2 monitors and for me the Preferences window doesn't go to the bottom of my screen, if it matters.

OS: Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS
Word size of OS: 32-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 32-bit
Version: 0.18.1.
Build type: Release
Python version: 3.6.7
Qt version: 5.9.5
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.3.0
Locale: English/UnitedStates (en_US)

[Kunda1]

Can someone reproduce this with 0.19 ?

[jmaustpc]

to see the buttons disappear I have to first go to PartDesign WB then I see it with PartDesign or Sketcher settings. the scroll bar does not allow me to drag the window down far enough to see the OK and cancel buttons. For me the answer is to simply make the preferences window full screen, then the button are available.

As expected, it is still there in 0.18

OS: Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.18.4.
Build type: Release
Python version: 3.6.8
Qt version: 5.9.5
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.3.0
Locale: English/Australia (en_AU)

Can someone reproduce this with 0.19 ?

The related issue that I was referring to is now fixed in 0.19 from today's daily PPA

Today's daily from the "Daily PPA"
OS: Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS (KDE/plasma)
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.19.
Build type: Release
Branch: unknown
Hash: 537089b34609308bdb11a8b139dbf013dc7e6ce3
Python version: 3.6.9
Qt version: 5.9.5
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.3.0
Locale: English/Australia (en_AU)

For myself, I am happy if you want to mark this as "fixed in 0.19", including any related Mantis tickets, if there are any. Unless of course anyone else still sees an issue in FreeCAD 0.19, of course 0.18 is irrelevant regarding this matter now.

You probably know this already, but just in case, if we close a Mantis ticket and later decide we should not have, then we can just "un-close" the original ticket.

Jim