Black squares instead of characters

Questions regarding the use of the UaExpert.

Moderator: uaexpert

Post Reply
biber
Jr. Member
Jr. Member
Posts: 2
Joined: 18 May 2022, 11:56

Black squares instead of characters

Post by biber »

I get black squares instead of font characters in UaExpert:

Image
Image

Version: UaExpert-1.6.2-439-x86_64.AppImage
OS: Fedora 36 64bit
Stdout:
Fontconfig warning: no <cachedir> elements found. Check configuration.
Fontconfig warning: adding <cachedir>/usr/lib/fontconfig/cache</cachedir>
Fontconfig warning: adding <cachedir prefix="xdg">fontconfig</cachedir>

Im happy to provide more info if needed.

User avatar
Support Team
Hero Member
Hero Member
Posts: 3064
Joined: 18 Mar 2011, 15:09

Re: Black squares instead of characters

Post by Support Team »

Hi,

it seems like your Fedora system does not allow access to the system fonts, hence UaExpert GUI made with Qt cannot access the fonts and has no characters to display. This is most likely a configuration error on your Fedora due to running AppArmor or Firejail.

We are currently installing a Fedora test system to reproduce the isssue.
Best regards
Unified Automation Support Team

biber
Jr. Member
Jr. Member
Posts: 2
Joined: 18 May 2022, 11:56

Re: Black squares instead of characters

Post by biber »

Hi,

thank you for looking into this.
I have neither AppArmor nor Firejail installed and SELinux does not report any denials. Any other application installed via Appimage does work fine too.

I tried older Versions of UaExpert and they work! Bisceting this issue by hand shows that Version 1.5.1 is the last Version that works for me. So it seems that Version 1.6.0 introduced the issue.

User avatar
Support Team
Hero Member
Hero Member
Posts: 3064
Joined: 18 Mar 2011, 15:09

Re: Black squares instead of characters

Post by Support Team »

Hi,

thank you for further investigation. We tested with the Fedora and (as you said) the access permission (Firejail or other) seem not to be the reason. Our second guess it the "old" QT version that we are using in UaExpert, but that is also not the cause of the issue, the even older 1.5.x series works fine. There might be something else missing in the app image, from our 1.5.x series to the 1.6.x series of UaExpert, which is present on all other Linux Distros, where the app image works like a charm. We experienced this only in combination with Fedora so far.
Still need further investigation.
Best regards
Unified Automation Support Team

cybusFA
Jr. Member
Jr. Member
Posts: 2
Joined: 20 Oct 2022, 10:15

Re: Black squares instead of characters

Post by cybusFA »

Could you please provide the download list for older versions so that we can bypass this issue?

I am having the same problem and can't find any download link for previous working versions.

Thanks!

hvbrand
Jr. Member
Jr. Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 27 Dec 2022, 12:09

Re: Black squares instead of characters

Post by hvbrand »

Same here. Fedora 37 shows only black squares.

User avatar
Support Team
Hero Member
Hero Member
Posts: 3064
Joined: 18 Mar 2011, 15:09

Re: Black squares instead of characters

Post by Support Team »

Hi,

the Fedora is missing some old font packages (which are present in other distros, like the Debian we typically use).

You can try to make it work with this approach:

$ ./UaExpert-1.6.0-414-x86_64.AppImage --appimage-extract $ cd squashfs-root $ scp $RHEL8/usr/lib64/libfontconfig.so.1.12.0 usr/lib $ cd usr/lib $ ln -s libfontconfig.so.1.12.0 libfontconfig.so $ ln -s libfontconfig.so.1.12.0 libfontconfig.so.1 $ cd - $ ./AppRun
Best regards
Unified Automation Support Team

cybusFA
Jr. Member
Jr. Member
Posts: 2
Joined: 20 Oct 2022, 10:15

Re: Black squares instead of characters

Post by cybusFA »

I tried your approach and it is still not working.

I am now on Fedora 37. Could you please provide a working AppImage or at least an older version where there was no issue with the fonts?

Thanks.

thorseye
Jr. Member
Jr. Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 27 Jan 2023, 08:15

Re: Black squares instead of characters

Post by thorseye »

Did you find a solution for this? I've got the same issue, running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.1 (Plow).

User avatar
Support Team
Hero Member
Hero Member
Posts: 3064
Joined: 18 Mar 2011, 15:09

Re: Black squares instead of characters

Post by Support Team »

Hi,

no, unfortunately there is currently no solution, except using the (old) UaExpert v1.5.x series. Long term customers will have that older version in their purchased delivery folder. Other alternative, insted of using Redhat/Fedora, is to use Debian, Ubuntu, or the like where UaExpert v1.6.x series works like a charm. Furthermore you could use the Windows edition of UaExpert which runs on all Desktop-Windows from WinXPsp3 up to Win11 including the related Windows-Server OSes and conenct to your UA servers remotely.

On the mid term we will update the UaExpert to modern QT library, hoping for better compatibility with different Linux distros.
Best regards
Unified Automation Support Team

ttaylor
Jr. Member
Jr. Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 22 Jun 2023, 21:05

Re: Black squares instead of characters

Post by ttaylor »

It's been almost 5 months since the last update in this thread, and this problem still exists with the latest AppImage version (1.6.3-448).

Any update on when those of us that don't have to option of switching linux distros or using Windows can have a working UA Expert version (even if it's the older one)?

User avatar
Support Team
Hero Member
Hero Member
Posts: 3064
Joined: 18 Mar 2011, 15:09

Re: Black squares instead of characters

Post by Support Team »

Hi,

you may want to try the new UaExpert 1.7.0, which now uses new Qt libs and should show fonds nicely on Fedora as well.
Best regards
Unified Automation Support Team

Post Reply