FreeCAD 0.18 misbehavior in virtual machine

Post here for help on using FreeCAD's graphical user interface (GUI).
Forum rules
and Helpful information
IMPORTANT: Please click here and read this first, before asking for help

Also, be nice to others! Read the FreeCAD code of conduct!
manues
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:34 pm

FreeCAD 0.18 misbehavior in virtual machine

Post by manues »

Hi,

I am running Freecad on a virtual machine of Win10 (Win10 as a guest on VirtualBox 6.0.6 running on a Linux host RH rl7).

Freecad 0.17 was running perfectly this way (and all versions before too). For the new version 0.18 I get a very strange behavior. It starts up normally in the splash screen, however, if I start a new project "+ Create new ..." (or I open an existing one), the new window content is just a black surface. If I hover of the place where the menu is supposed to be, the corresponding dropdown will open, but the rest of the window is still black.

The following screenshot shows the situation (the splash screen (left) together with the project window (right), I have started a second instance), an opened drop-down menu is also shown (in project window on the right):

FreecadFail.png
FreecadFail.png (82.06 KiB) Viewed 6544 times

Are there new prerequisites for the 0.18 versions concerning the graphic card / 3D acceleration / ... ? Is there a place where this could be changed? I did not find any preference item, where I could change such prerequisite mode.

Any other Idea, what is going wrong here?

Thanks a lot
Manuel
kisolre
Veteran
Posts: 4164
Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2018 1:13 pm

Re: FreeCAD 0.18 misbehavior in virutal machine

Post by kisolre »

Just out of curiosity - why would you run it that way?
chrisb
Veteran
Posts: 53945
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:14 am

Re: FreeCAD 0.18 misbehavior in virutal machine

Post by chrisb »

We have seen similar issues on non virtual computers where the graphics card driver was the culprit. You can try a newer or older driver.
A Sketcher Lecture with in-depth information is available in English, auf Deutsch, en français, en español.
wmayer
Founder
Posts: 20245
Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:32 am
Contact:

Re: FreeCAD 0.18 misbehavior in virtual machine

Post by wmayer »

Are there new prerequisites for the 0.18 versions concerning the graphic card / 3D acceleration / ... ?
The responsible change that could explain the behaviour is the move from Qt4 to Qt5. Qt5 has a module QtOpenGL kept for backward compatibility but it's recommended not to use it and instead to port old code to the new API. At the beginning when we moved to Qt5 we used this module but it caused several problems and we then ported our code using the recommended API.

Under the hood the implementation of OpenGL support in Qt5 has changed a lot and it's hard to say what at the end is responsible if something doesn't work. But as said above in most cases it's the graphic driver that causes problems.
For more information also have a look here: https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/windows-requirem ... cs-drivers Maybe you can get it to work by setting the variable QT_OPENGL
manues
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:34 pm

Re: FreeCAD 0.18 misbehavior in virutal machine

Post by manues »

kisolre wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 9:26 am Just out of curiosity - why would you run it that way?
... for workflow reasons. I can run FreeCad directly under Linux, but it is much less convenient for me ...
manues
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:34 pm

Re: FreeCAD 0.18 misbehavior in virutal machine

Post by manues »

chrisb wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 10:54 am We have seen similar issues on non virtual computers where the graphics card driver was the culprit. You can try a newer or older driver.
... thanks for the hint. I will try.
manues
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:34 pm

Re: FreeCAD 0.18 misbehavior in virtual machine

Post by manues »

wmayer wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 11:17 am
Are there new prerequisites for the 0.18 versions concerning the graphic card / 3D acceleration / ... ?
The responsible change that could explain the behaviour is the move from Qt4 to Qt5. Qt5 has a module QtOpenGL kept for backward compatibility but it's recommended not to use it and instead to port old code to the new API. At the beginning when we moved to Qt5 we used this module but it caused several problems and we then ported our code using the recommended API.

Under the hood the implementation of OpenGL support in Qt5 has changed a lot and it's hard to say what at the end is responsible if something doesn't work. But as said above in most cases it's the graphic driver that causes problems.
For more information also have a look here: https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/windows-requirem ... cs-drivers Maybe you can get it to work by setting the variable QT_OPENGL
... all right. Thanks a lot for the information. I will have a closer look into the subject. I will get back, if I find a solution.
User avatar
Kunda1
Veteran
Posts: 13434
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 9:03 pm

Re: FreeCAD 0.18 misbehavior in virtual machine

Post by Kunda1 »

wmayer wrote:
Are there new prerequisites for the 0.18 versions concerning the graphic card / 3D acceleration / ... ?
The responsible change that could explain the behaviour is the move from Qt4 to Qt5. Qt5 has a module QtOpenGL kept for backward compatibility but it's recommended not to use it and instead to port old code to the new API. At the beginning when we moved to Qt5 we used this module but it caused several problems and we then ported our code using the recommended API.

Under the hood the implementation of OpenGL support in Qt5 has changed a lot and it's hard to say what at the end is responsible if something doesn't work. But as said above in most cases it's the graphic driver that causes problems.
For more information also have a look here: https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/windows-requirem ... cs-drivers Maybe you can get it to work by setting the variable QT_OPENGL
chrisb wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 10:54 am
This above explanation would be great to put in the Known Issues thread or wiki page of 0.18-0.19_pre
Alone you go faster. Together we go farther
Please mark thread [Solved]
Want to contribute back to FC? Checkout:
'good first issues' | Open TODOs and FIXMEs | How to Help FreeCAD | How to report Bugs
chrisb
Veteran
Posts: 53945
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:14 am

Re: FreeCAD 0.18 misbehavior in virtual machine

Post by chrisb »

Kunda1 wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 12:00 pm This above explanation would be great to put in the Known Issues thread or wiki page of 0.18-0.19_pre
I will add it (later).
A Sketcher Lecture with in-depth information is available in English, auf Deutsch, en français, en español.
brandneran
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon May 29, 2017 2:16 pm

Re: FreeCAD 0.18 misbehavior in virtual machine

Post by brandneran »

I have to run Freecad on a virtual computer too and I have the same problem. The QT.. variable did not help. Also I didn´t find any possibility to update drivers to get it work.

In my case the physical machine is a brand new HP-Server with windows 2016 server on it and the virtual computer is a windows 2016 server too.
Post Reply