I built vlc but there isn' t any interface (linux)

Question

I used apt build-dep vlc I installed all libvlc- packages. I also installed all the packages of the guide https://wiki.videolan.org/UnixCompile.

I built vlc 3.0 since the 4 required an high version of qt.

vlc -l | grep face
VLC media player 3.0.3 Vetinari (revision 3.0.3-1-0-gc2bb759264)
  lua                    Command-line interface
  lua                    Lua Playlist Parser Interface
  motion                 motion control interface
  gestures               Mouse gestures control interface
  dbus                   D-Bus control interface
  xcb_hotkeys            Global Hotkeys interface
  dummy                  Dummy interface
  hotkeys                Hotkeys management interface
  oldrc                  Remote control interface
  vdpau_chroma           VDPAU surface conversions
  vdpau_chroma           VDPAU surface conversions
  skins2                 Skinnable Interface
  skins2                 Skinnable Interface
  qt                     Qt interface
  qt                     Qt interface
  ncurses                Ncurses interface
  glconv_vaapi_drm       VA-API OpenGL surface converter for DRM
  glconv_vdpau           VDPAU OpenGL surface converter
  glconv_vaapi_x11       VA-API OpenGL surface converter for X11

vlc -I ncurses opens a "terminal" interface that is nothing more then the cli. ncurses interface

Now vlc or (vlc -I qt) get:

vlc
[...]
QPainter::setOpacity: Painter not active
QPainter::drawPath: Painter not active
QPainter::setPen: Painter not active
QPainter::setOpacity: Painter not active
QPainter::setBrush: Painter not active
QPainter::drawPath: Painter not active
QPainter::setBrush: Painter not active
QPainter::setOpacity: Painter not active
QPainter::setBrush: Painter not active
QPainter::setPen: Painter not active
QPainter::setWorldTransform: Painter not active
QPainter::restore: Unbalanced save/restore
QPainter::end: Painter not active, aborted
QWidget::setMinimumSize: (/QStatusBar) The largest allowed size is (16777215,16777215)
QWidget::setMaximumSize: (/QStatusBar) The largest allowed size is (16777215,16777215)
QWidget::setMinimumSize: (/MainInterface) The largest allowed size is (16777215,16777215)
QWidget::setMinimumSize: (/MainInterface) The largest allowed size is (16777215,16777215)
[0000560153078430] main playlist: playlist is empty
QWidget::setMinimumSize: (/FirstRun) Negative sizes (-491607381,-491607381) are not possible
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 2 (BadValue), sequence: 420, resource id: 0, major code: 1 (CreateWindow), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 421, resource id: 41943045, major code: 2 (ChangeWindowAttributes), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 422, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 423, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 424, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 426, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 427, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 428, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 432, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 436, resource id: 41943045, major code: 2 (ChangeWindowAttributes), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 437, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 440, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 441, resource id: 41943045, major code: 20 (GetProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 445, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 446, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 449, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 450, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 2 (BadValue), sequence: 452, resource id: 0, major code: 1 (CreateWindow), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 453, resource id: 41943049, major code: 2 (ChangeWindowAttributes), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 454, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 455, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 456, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 458, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 459, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 460, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 461, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 465, resource id: 41943049, major code: 2 (ChangeWindowAttributes), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 466, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 469, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 470, resource id: 41943049, major code: 20 (GetProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 474, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 475, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 476, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 479, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 482, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 483, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 500, resource id: 41943049, major code: 2 (ChangeWindowAttributes), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 501, resource id: 41943049, major code: 2 (ChangeWindowAttributes), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 502, resource id: 41943049, major code: 20 (GetProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 503, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 504, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 505, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 506, resource id: 41943049, major code: 20 (GetProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 507, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 508, resource id: 41943049, major code: 20 (GetProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 509, resource id: 41943049, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 510, resource id: 41943049, major code: 8 (MapWindow), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 512, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 513, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 2 (BadValue), sequence: 522, resource id: 0, major code: 1 (CreateWindow), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 523, resource id: 41943056, major code: 2 (ChangeWindowAttributes), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 524, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 525, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 526, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 528, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 529, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 530, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 531, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 535, resource id: 41943056, major code: 2 (ChangeWindowAttributes), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 536, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 539, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 540, resource id: 41943056, major code: 20 (GetProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 544, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 545, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 548, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 549, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 551, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 552, resource id: 41943056, major code: 12 (ConfigureWindow), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 553, resource id: 41943056, major code: 2 (ChangeWindowAttributes), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 554, resource id: 41943056, major code: 2 (ChangeWindowAttributes), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 555, resource id: 41943056, major code: 20 (GetProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 556, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 557, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 558, resource id: 41943056, major code: 19 (DeleteProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 559, resource id: 41943056, major code: 20 (GetProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 560, resource id: 41943056, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 561, resource id: 41943056, major code: 20 (GetProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 562, resource id: 41943056, major code: 19 (DeleteProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 563, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 564, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 565, resource id: 41943045, major code: 12 (ConfigureWindow), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 566, resource id: 41943045, major code: 2 (ChangeWindowAttributes), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 567, resource id: 41943045, major code: 2 (ChangeWindowAttributes), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 568, resource id: 41943045, major code: 20 (GetProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 569, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 570, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 571, resource id: 41943045, major code: 19 (DeleteProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 572, resource id: 41943045, major code: 20 (GetProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 573, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 574, resource id: 41943045, major code: 20 (GetProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 575, resource id: 41943045, major code: 19 (DeleteProperty), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 576, resource id: 41943045, major code: 8 (MapWindow), minor code: 0
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 578, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QWidget::setMinimumSize: (/MainInterface) The largest allowed size is (16777215,16777215)
QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 579, resource id: 41943045, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
QWidget::setMinimumSize: (/MainInterface) The largest allowed size is (16777215,16777215)
QWidget::setMinimumSize: (/FirstRun) Negative sizes (-491607381,-491607381) are not possible
QWidget::setMinimumSize: (/MainInterface) The largest allowed size is (16777215,16777215)

Edit: If I run env QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=0 vlc it works but it is not comfortable. How can I fix it? I cannot launch it from the applications or open with vlc.
How can I change the default interface (qt) to for example skins2?

No I did not. But there is not that flag. `Interface plugins: --disable-qt Qt UI support (default enabled)` . This is the only flag with qt. — Scorpion, Nov 29 '18 at 10:24
Can you add the output of `vlc -l | grep face` to your question? — scyrma, Nov 30 '18 at 02:41
updating vlc fixed it for me , as well as env QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=0 vlc — Hayden Thring, May 21 '20 at 10:23

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 02 '18 at 11:23

2

Add QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=0 to the file /etc/environment if it exists, if not create it and reboot!

answered Dec 02 '18 at 11:23

Scorpion

151
5

I'm glad you've figured out a solution :-) – scyrma Dec 04 '18 at 00:22

JonAar Livernois · Answer 2 · 2020-05-22T15:44:14.560

More than a few forums (sources below) cite this issue that occurs with VLC on Debian 9 (Stretch), and recommend below are a few things to work around it. The problem has to do with a QT installation misconfiguration - it is a bug that comes baked into your GUI installation.

Firstly, one idea is to work around this problem by reinstalling QT (downgrading to QT4). This, is a bad idea. It is certainly going to be a dependency for other apps on your OS, and you do not want to get stuck midway with no way out while trying such a solution.

The fix that worked for me: as another user has stated, you must change an environment variable passed to "vlc" that it picks up when it is run. You can do it by the simple command of prepending a command to the "vlc" command:

# run this at the terminal to solve this problem temporarily

env QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=0 vlc

This will allow the VLC GUI to show when running VLC from the terminal. However, you might want to run from elsewhere, such as via your GNOME Launchers screen.

Try this instead for a more permanent solution:

Go to the file /etc/environment (create it as super user if does not exist)
Add the following to that file to a new line QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=0
Reboot your system

After rebooting, run VLC again, by clicking the launcher icon. VLC GUI opens, and you have the desired result.

(evidence of this happening elsewhere: https://forum.manjaro.org/t/cannot-run-vlc-on-fresh-install-of-gnome-17-0-2/27846)

Also : (https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?t=144780)

(See this videolan.org question regarding the same issue and solution: https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=146342#p480536)

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 30 '18 at 02:40

0

I don't know about the svg interface, but it seems like the ncurses interface should work in a normal setup.

vlc -I ncurses

answered Nov 30 '18 at 02:40

scyrma

302
2
8

Since I built it some times. I did it form scratch now `configure: error: Requested 'Qt5Core >= 5.9.0' but version of Qt5 Core is 5.7.1. If you want to build VLC without GUI, pass --disable-qt.` But i have the newest version: `qtbase5-dev is already the newest version (5.7.1+dfsg-3+b1).` So i tried to build vlc-3 but make error. – Scorpion Nov 30 '18 at 16:28
This makes it look like you've got the wrong Qt5Core library (-dev package) installed your system. You must be on Debian stable (since you've got Qt 5.7), while the VLC version's Qt plugin you're building requires Qt 5.9. .. I'm curious to know: why are you building it yourself instead of installing Debian package "vlc"? – scyrma Dec 03 '18 at 02:12
Is the correct package as you can see the error find qt version 5.7.1 and `qt5base-dev` found the same version. Vlc 4 is the development/unstable version very new not yet released! Is better have the 3.0, but I discovered this after I tried to build the 4. I wanted to add a flag (when using `./configure`). I' m using debian stable which offers very updated/good packages (needs to use backports for some qt no). – Scorpion Dec 03 '18 at 11:20

I built vlc but there isn' t any interface (linux)

3 Answers3