Freecad 0.19 appimage is stuck in full screen mode

[plumanovento]

Hello,

I'm having the same issue as the OP. Just downloaded the Freecad 0.19 appimage today (Dec 25, 2020). I'm using Linux Mint 19.3. I found this thread by Googling "freecad 0.19 stuck in fullscreen". I would not call this a "maximized window" since the app covers the entire screen including the OS menu panel such that I can't do anything else with my machine unless I quit Freecad first. This behavior is what I would expect from hitting F11 (or alt+F11), except that key (or combo) does not toggle it out of fullscreen. Furthermore, the icons to "Minimize Window", "Maximize Window" or "Close Window" do not appear in the upper right corner of the window as expected.

[kisolre]

I just tried with latest (23463) build from Github and no config folder (fresh start). FreeCAD starts with normal window (not maximized) but occupying the whole screen area. If the window is resized and FreeCAD is restarted it starts with the new size. But I cant find where is that stored.
Might be that FreeCAD takes the user area size from the wrong window manages function?

[DougCoffland]

I don't think it is maximized because none of the window manager buttons at the top or bottom are displayed. According to 'screenfetch', my desktop environment is 'MATE 1.20.2'. My OS is Debian 10 buster.

[draker]

Hello,
I have this problem. I am a FreeCad newbie, just installed in a few weeks ago. I can't remember if it was ever in a window.
I'm running Ubuntu 18.04 on an ordinary Lenovo ThinkCentre AiO with the cinnamon desktop.
FreeCAD 0.18.4R from the freecad-maintainers/freecad-stable ppa.

I tried:

rm -rf ~/.FreeCAD
apt purge freecad
apt update && update upgrade # which reinstalled it
reboot

But none of these solved the problem. I believe it really is in full-screen mode, because it 'pops' to the front if my mouse passes over it in the background (which is the truly annoying, but normal fullscreen behaviour, otherwise it would be irrelevant). Alt-F11 or choosing Fullscreen from the menu does nothing.

Finally I logged out of (cinnamon) and into XFCE. Here freecad was maximized (or at least opened a window the size of the screen) but it had a window title bar and buttons. I could use Alt-F11 or the menu to enter and exit fullscreen mode. I made certain to exit fullscreen mode, and I dragged the corners to make a smaller window.

Logging out and re-entering my cinnamon desktop, freecad now opened at the same window dimensions I had left it. Alt-fullscreen now works as expected.

HOWEVER! Steps to reproduce:
1. enter full screen mode
2. quit the program from fullscreen
3. start freecad again. It starts fullscreen and CANNOT BE EXITED!

So for me, avoiding full screen mode and using 'maximized' instead seems important.

Otherwise it looks great and I look forward to fiddling with it to make parts to print in 3D.

[draker]

It starts fullscreen and CANNOT BE EXITED!

Sorry that was unclear. The program can be exited, it is fullscreen that can not be exited.

I confirmed this does not occur in XFCE. In that environment, it is (forced?) out of fullscreen on startup.

If this is the normal behaviour in Mac/Windows/OtherLinux, then I would suggest the easy fix is to add a check to never go fullscreen on startup, and no one will know the difference!

-D.

[kisolre]

It does not happen under Windows. Could it be that the window manager assumes that starting an app maximized it probably wanted (the app) to be in fullscreen mode?

[draker]

It does not happen under Windows. Could it be that the window manager assumes that starting an app maximized it probably wanted (the app) to be in fullscreen mode?

Definitely possible. But I can make Libreoffice maximized, quit & restart, and it starts again maximized (i.e. not possible to move the window borders. Click 'unmaximize' and it again can be moved). Libreoffice also has a full-screen mode, but you must leave it before quitting (!)

I mis-spoke in my earlier post where I said freecad had been re-installed. It was not actually purged. 'freecad' is a meta package. Anyway I re-installed and the problem remains.

I found another way to get around it. I can start on the command line:

freecad --geometry 800x600

and it obeyingly opens at that size, and so is no longer fullscreen. So I have an easy work-around now (without switching desktop environments).

[DougCoffland]

Opening with the --geometry 800c600 option worked. This caused FreeCAD to open in a window. Then, I can maximize the window and still have window controls. If I type ctrl-F11, it toggles in and out of full screen mode.

If I quit the program while not in full screen mode, the program comes up in window mode without specifying the --geometry option.

If I quit the program while in full-screen mode, it comes back up in full-screen mode and I cannot get out of it. I have to close the program and restart it with the --geometry option to get out. This seems like a bug.

But for now, I can do work because I have the ability to open in window mode and I will never use the full screen option.

Thanks for the help!