Element stuck loading when opening

[lautriva]

Steps to reproduce

1. Update element from apt to 1.11.86
2. Run element-desktop

Outcome

What did you expect?

Be in main element interface with rooms, friends list, etc...

What happened instead?

White screen with a loader and the "logout" button

launch logs:

$ element-desktop 
/home/my_username/.config/Element exists: yes
/home/my_username/.config/Riot exists: no
Starting auto update with base URL: https://packages.element.io/desktop/update/
Auto update not supported on this platform
Fetching translation json for locale: en_EN
Changing application language to fr
Fetching translation json for locale: fr
Resetting the UI components after locale change
Resetting the UI components after locale change
Changing application language to fr
Fetching translation json for locale: fr
Resetting the UI components after locale change

Operating system

Linux Mint 21.3

Application version

1.11.86

How did you install the app?

packages.element.io via apt

Homeserver

Synapse (I don't know the version, its private server run by a friend)

Will you send logs?

No

[t3chguy]

Application version
1.11.83

Please try a newer version, you're 3 versions out of date

[lautriva]

Sorry it was a typo, I'm on 1.11.86

[lautriva]

Update :

When showing electron devtools, I got a bunch of errors like this:

Uncaught (in promise) ReferenceError: Cannot access 'V' before initialization
    at Object.J (init.js:1:82257)
    at b.start (ReadyWatchingStore.ts:30:30)
    at get instance (WidgetLayoutStore.ts:63:35)
    at ./src/stores/widgets/WidgetLayoutStore.ts (WidgetLayoutStore.ts:518:48)
    at u (bootstrap:19:32)
    at ./src/utils/WidgetUtils.ts (init.js:1:1409348)
    at u (bootstrap:19:32)
    at ./src/stores/ActiveWidgetStore.ts (init.js:1:1195811)
    at u (bootstrap:19:32)
    at ./src/stores/WidgetStore.ts (init.js:1:1222544)

[lautriva]

Tried to disconnect and then reconnect (ie. logout and then login back in Element), now it works

[Viehlieb]

Tried to disconnect and then reconnect, now it works

could you maybe expand on that? I got the same problem on Ubuntu 20 and element-desktop 1.11.86

[Viehlieb]

Tried to disconnect and then reconnect, now it works

could you maybe expand on that? I got the same problem on Ubuntu 20 and element-desktop 1.11.86

ah okay, got it myself. "logout" and then it works again.

[jahway603]

I was experiencing the same issue but downgrading to 1.11.85 fixed it for me.

Is there any way to further explore why this is happening to have a better solution than to logout and then login again (which creates another session that needs to be verified)?

[jahway603]

I was experiencing the same issue but downgrading to 1.11.85 fixed it for me.

Is there any way to further explore why this is happening to have a better solution than to logout and then login again (which creates another session that needs to be verified)?

I spoke too soon - Element Desktop v 1.11.85 has issues with messages not being sent in certain rooms.

Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this? I am stuck either never logging in with v 1.11.86 or stuck with not being able write messages in certain rooms with v 1.11.85.

[gschaffner]

In case helpful: Element also gets stuck loading like this on Ferdium 7.0.0 with Electron 33.2.0. Ferdium 7.0.0 with Electron 32.2.5 works fine, so conjecturally this may bisect to #1968, and the cause may be an upstream issue (Electron 33, element-web, etc.) rather than an element-desktop issue.

[tmoody]

Tried to disconnect and then reconnect (ie. logout and then login back in Element), now it works

Thanks, this worked for me after the latest update (Ubuntu 22.05.5, upgrading to element-desktop 1.11.87)

[Taranchul]

Same problem with Element 1.11.87 via apt from packages.element.io and via Flatpak from Flathub on Kubuntu 22.04. Both won't start but show a "white window of death" with a forever spinning circle.

edit: Snap version is fine … for now.

[setpill]

Issue still present in 1.11.88.

@t3chguy you requested more info, what info do you need?

[t3chguy]

Javascript logs would be needed to dig into this any deeper, the partial log in #2018 (comment) is expected and unrelated

[soda-pop-ice-cream]

Another issue with this problem: #2053
Thank god, the element taught me that .debs of older versions should always be saved and downgrading to .85 from any new versions fixes this.
Broken search, app not starting, broken export, you never know what you're getting with another great update.

[setpill]

Issue persists in 1.11.89. I have included the logs as exported from the electron dev tools, I hope they are sufficient to debug this.

vector-1735730300870.log

[Taranchul]

Same here with Element 1.11.87 from Flathub and 1.11.89 as Snap and Apt package on Kubuntu 22.04.

[setpill]

@t3chguy are the logs provided sufficient to remove the "needs info" label? If not, can you provide instructions (or a link to them) how to acquire the correct logs?

[richvdh]

This sounds a bit strange. To be clear, it sounds like a problem that was introduced in 1.11.86?

Issue persists in 1.11.89. I have included the logs as exported from the electron dev tools, I hope they are sufficient to debug this.

vector-1735730300870.log

These logs don't seem to include the "verbose" log level, which I think would be very helpful. Could you enable them? Click on the "Default" dropdown at the top-right of the dev tools and tick all the levels:

[setpill]

@richvdh here you go, this is on version 1.11.90

vector-1737633655537.log

[richvdh]

Thanks. The last few lines are:

logger.ts:97 LocalIndexedDBStoreBackend: loading account data...
logger.ts:97 LocalIndexedDBStoreBackend: loading sync data...
logger.ts:97 LocalIndexedDBStoreBackend: loaded account data

... which suggests that startup has got stuck loading the sync data from indexeddb: it should look like this:

logger.ts:97 LocalIndexedDBStoreBackend: loading account data...
logger.ts:97 LocalIndexedDBStoreBackend: loading sync data...
logger.ts:97 LocalIndexedDBStoreBackend: loaded account data
logger.ts:97 LocalIndexedDBStoreBackend: loaded sync data
logger.ts:97 LocalIndexedDBStoreBackend: loaded initial data

[Cyberes]

Hey, is this going to get fixed? It's got the critical tag and a complete showstopper.
#2056

[dbkr]

I'll be taking a look at this, although I'm not currently able to reproduce it so it's going to be fumbling in the dark. If anyone is able to reliably reproduce this bug and can send as much info as possible (maybe even a copy of ~/.Element if you can do so on a test account with no personal data) that would help immensely.

[gmanskibiditoilet]

dammit, @dbkr + @t3chguy we need someone to open a new pull request to fix this issue asap.

[t3chguy]

@gmanskibiditoilet contributions welcome, but if @dbkr is unable to reproduce it then he's likely to be impossible to fix it. And if no one provides him with the necessary things he's asked for then this issue will remain unsolved until someone who can reproduce it can look into it.

[setpill]

Version 1.11.91 seems to have fixed it for me.

[Cyberes]

For me, this issue occurs on Ubuntu desktop after leaving Element minimized to the taskbar for a week. Signing out and back in fixes it temporarily.

@setpill I installed the latest Element and it started right up for me (my config files weren't removed on uninstall).

[setpill]

For sake of completeness:

I never did the "log out and log back in" thing that fixed the issue for others; because I did not want to lose a potential reproduction path. I have tried every version after the one that broke things for me, and confirmed that they all had the same issue, up to and including 1.11.90.

After 1.11.91 successfully started, I reinstalled 1.11.90 and it got stuck on the same screen as the original bug report for 1.11.86 showed. Reinstalling 1.11.91 fixed it again. So I can with reasonable confidence say that 1.11.91 included some change that fixed this issue as a side effect.

Imho this can be closed.

[gschaffner]

So I can with reasonable confidence say that 1.11.91 included some change that fixed this issue as a side effect.

It may be due to #2074. Electron was updated from 32 to 33 in 1.11.86 and downdated from 33 to 32 in 1.11.91:

https://github.com/element-hq/element-desktop/blob/v1.11.85/yarn.lock#L3417

https://github.com/element-hq/element-desktop/blob/v1.11.86/yarn.lock#L3638

https://github.com/element-hq/element-desktop/blob/v1.11.90/yarn.lock#L3648

https://github.com/element-hq/element-desktop/blob/v1.11.91/yarn.lock#L3623

If so, the issue may reappear when #2074 is reverted.

[t3chguy]

It's already been "reverted" - we're on Electron 34 already.

[richvdh]

It's already been "reverted" - we're on Electron 34 already.

In develop, rather than a released version, right?

I guess it would be good to hear from people if they are still seeing this issue in develop/the next release.

[t3chguy]

@richvdh depends if you qualify an RC release as a released version or not.

[setpill]

Semantically, I would argue that a release candidate is not a release in and of itself, in the way that a merge request is not merged.

Practically I will say I probably won't have time to install/test the RC unless you convince the Arch team to put it in the Testing repository.

[richvdh]

@richvdh depends if you qualify an RC release as a released version or not.

I don't care about the semantics, I'd just like to be explicit about the state of this bug. When you say "it's already been reverted", please could you clarify which version the change is in, or will be in.

[BubuOT]

@richvdh 9ce980d bumped this from electron 32.2.8 to 34.0.0 and is included in v1.11.92-rc.0 but not v1.11.91

[gmanskibiditoilet]

@richvdh 9ce980d bumped this from electron 32.2.8 to 34.0.0 and is included in v1.11.92-rc.0 but not v1.11.91

please release v1.1.92 asap. we need this update to solve this issue as we are on the brink of closing it.